Salient Blog

The new screen capture component for VideoFOCUS.

Direct file import is always the first thing to try when bringing media into VideoFOCUS even if it is proprietary video, but screen capture is the goto approach when the media simply will not yield to any of the VideoFOCUS direct import strategies.

VideoFOCUS has featured an integrated screen capture component since early versions of the application. The original implementation has evolved over the years guided by user feedback and forensic requirements and has served well; but now there are new and significantly different capabilities in the Windows 10 OS that allow for a suitable GPU to do direct screen content encoding which is a game changer for the screen capture of HD+ sized video, a format that is becoming prevalent in the security domain.

Capability and performance to support high resolution media and straightforward workflow are driving themes in our vision for VideoFOCUS. With that in mind we created QuickCapture as a new screen capture that would leverage the new Windows 10 capabilities and streamline the whole capture UI experience down to one dialog. Of course it was also an opportunity to add in other improvements that will help make screen capture as useful as possible:

• Full 4K MP4 capture (with suitable GPU).
• Capture up to monitor frame rate with zero frame drop (MP4 with suitable GPU).
• Significantly improved capture performance for non GPU assisted systems.
• Capture from any screen including scaled and unscaled HDPI displays.
• Direct selection and adjustment of capture location on any screen.
• Automatic magnified visualization for precise pixel boundary selection.
• Fixed dimension capture configuration options.
• Uncompressed video and loop back audio capture options.
• Efficient still image screen snapshot capability.
• Frame label record of frame drop locations in captured video.

For a quick visual of how the new screen capture is used check out the short video above and for a more detailed description visit the VideoFOCUS 10.0 release document.

At the recent DAC School Training in Phoenix, AZ, Jeff Hunter introduced the new VideoFOCUS Pro Version 6.1 software that we are working to release hopefully sometime in the next few weeks. In addition to numerous improvements to the user interface and support for additional DVR formats, the new features include:

1. Improved hierarchical visual organization of the sessions list;
2. Ability to arrange views in the MultiView sessions in any desired arrangement, with independent zooming;
3. Hashing (MD5, SHA1, and SHA2) for all imported and exported files;
4. Explicit indication of key frames in all views;
5. User-defined labeling of time regions across multiple videos within the same case;
6. Better handling of footage gathered from across different time zones, and;
7. New audio redaction function.

Please watch for our automated support messages informing of new releases, and also periodically check our support website for the newest versions of VideoFOCUS as they become available.

Since the release of Version 4.0 in 2012, both Perpetual and Subscription licensing have been available for all VideoFOCUS software products. As of Version 6.0, Salient Sciences additionally offers USB Dongle Activation for Subscription licences, allowing these date-limited licenses to be shared across multiple machines and operated without an internet connection in the same way as dongle-based Perpetual licenses – an important consideration for workstations housing sensitive data.

When a Subscription license is purchased with USB Dongle Activation specified, a special RTC dongle having its own real-time clock (or “RTC”) on board will be supplied at no additional cost. This independent RTC enables VideoFOCUS to reliably manage the subscription term, even when an internet connection to a trusted time server (e.g. nist.gov) is not available. For Perpetual licenses, which are not date-limited, a non-RTC dongle will be supplied. Pictures of the two dongle types are provided below.

Follows is a more detailed explanation of Perpetual vs. Subscription licensing:

With Perpetual licensing, the customer “owns and maintains” the software license. Analogous to buying a car, there is a significant initial investment to purchase the license, which includes an initial maintenance contract providing entitlement to all new versions that are released during that first year of ownership; thereafter, the customer can purchase a new maintenance contract each year to continue entitlement to the latest versions.

For most of our customers, Perpetual licensing is preferred, because they never have to worry about a critical forensics tool ceasing to work for them if budget is not immediately available to renew the maintenance. Even if the maintenance should expire at some point without renewal, the software continues to function indefinitely at the most recent version that was allowed under the last expired contract (also called the “last entitled version”).

But for smaller customer agencies who may find it prohibitive to absorb the larger initial cost for the Perpetual license, the “rent and maintain” model of the Subscription license may be more attractive. Like leasing a car, the initial cost is more modest – essentially, you pay for the first year’s maintenance contract and you can start using the software immediately with full entitlement to all updates while the contract remains active.

The main potential downside of Subscription licensing is that if the maintenance is ever allowed to expire without renewal, the software will simply stop working – possibly making for a bad day if the maintenance happens to expire in the middle of a critical case!

The other potential downside of Subscription licensing is the need for the software to have a trusted clock source to reliably enforce the subscription term. Traditionally, our Subscriptions have used Online Activation only, meaning that the computer had to have an internet connection or the software would not run – again, potentially a big problem for machines having sensitive data. However, this limitation is completely overcome in Version 6.0 with the USB Dongle Activation via the RTC dongle.

To minimize any disruptions of Subscription licenses, and also to ensure that Perpetual license customers continue their entitlement to all the latest versions of VideoFOCUS, Salient Sciences starts e-mailing maintenance renewal pro forma invoices within 3-6 months of the maintenance expiring, which hopefully allows time to purchase the renewal and avoid any issues. Where necessary and appropriate, temporary maintenance extensions can be quickly granted by Salient Sciences sales (just e-mail us at sales@salientsciences.com) to keep VideoFOCUS running at the latest versions while the maintenance renewal purchase is being processed.