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Graphics Plugin Administrator Guide

Version 2.3 | Published September 14, 2023 ©

Software Requirements

This section covers the following topics:

Client Software Requirements

Graphics Plugin has been tested with the following software:

Adobe 2.3

Note:

  • The metagraphics import workflow is only possible with Premiere Pro New World option turned off when using Premiere Pro 14.0.4 or older versions. It is required to have Graphics Plugin for Adobe version 2.3.0 and Adobe Assistant 3.0 or newer.

  • The metagraphics import workflow is only possible with Premiere Pro New World option turned on when using Premiere Pro 14.2 or newer. It is required to have Graphics Plugin for Adobe version 2.3.2 and Adobe Assistant 3.2 or newer.

  • The metagraphics import workflow is not possible in Premiere Pro 14.1.

  • Graphics Plugin for Adobe on Windows:

    • Microsoft Windows 10, 64-bit

    • Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2021 or newer ( please check the previous release notes for version specific compatibility issues )

    • Viz Pilot 6.0.0 or newer

    • Viz Pilot 1.5 or newer

  • Graphics Plugin for Adobe on Mac:

    • Apple macOS 10.15 or newer

    • Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2021 or newer ( please check the previous release notes for version specific compatibility issues )

Avid 2.3

  • Graphics Plugin for Avid on Windows:

    • Microsoft Windows 10, 64-bit

    • Avid Media Composer 2020 or newer

    • Viz Pilot 6.0.0 or newer

    • Viz Pilot 1.5 or newer

  • Graphics Plugin for Avid on Mac:

    • Avid Media Composer 2020 or newer

    • Apple macOS 10.15 or newer

EDIUS 2.3

  • Microsoft Windows 7, 64-bit or newer

  • EDIUS 8 or 9

  • Viz Pilot 6.0.0 or newer

Server Software Requirements

The server components used by Graphics Plugin have different system requirements. Although a summary is provided here, please refer to the individual release notes and manuals for details.

Note: It's not recommended to install all components on a single server.


  • Connection Broker 4.0

    • Optional, it is still possible to specify a specific Viz Engine directly.

    • Requires Microsoft .NET 4.5.

    • It can be installed on the same server as a Media Sequencer or a Viz Engine, or on a separate computer.

    • Connection Broker 1.0.0 can be used, but some of the new features in Viz Engine 3.5 will not work. This may impact performance.

    • Connection Broker 1.1 can be used but some of the new features in Viz Engine 3.7 will not work.

  • Media Sequencer 2.0.3 and 3.0.0

    • Requires Microsoft .NET 4.0.

    • Connecting multiple Graphics Plugin workstations to the same Media Sequencer makes it easier to share graphics elements between Graphics Plugin clients.

    • Elements saved to an MSE from Viz Trio on Windows can be used from the Graphics Plugin Editor for Mac OS X, and vice versa.

    • Installing it on a Viz Engine server is not recommended since high memory usage can interfere with Viz Engine performance.

  • Viz Pilot 6.0.0, Pilot Data Server 6.0.0

    • Used by Graphics Plugin Editor (the Mac OS X editor) as a source for images to be used in graphics.

    • The components are optional. If they are not used, Graphics Plugin Editor can still use images from Viz Engine.

  • Viz Engine 3 / Viz Artist 3

    • Viz Engine 3.7.0 and 3.8.0.

    • If you need to use older versions the recommended versions are 3.2.8, 3.3.1 and 3.5.1.

    • Viz Engine 3.7 or newer is required to take advantage of the new aspect independent frame fetching.

    • Viz Engine 3.5 or newer is required to take advantage of the new custom resolution frame fetching and anti-aliasing.

    • Viz Engine 3.5.0, 3.3.0, and 3.2.7 or earlier have some known issues that can cause (rare) rendering artifacts when multiple NLE clients are using the same engine. We recommend Viz Engine 3.2.8, 3.3.1 and 3.5.1 or newer.

    • It is highly recommended to have a fast (Gigabit) network connection between each NLE workstation and Viz Engine.

    • This version of Graphics Plugin only supports UTF-8 encoding for Viz Engine.

Software Limitations

There are certain limitations as to what a Graphics Plugin solution can do compared to a full SDI in-and-out Viz Engine renderer.

General Limitations on Both Windows and Mac

  • Media Sequencer 1.19 or newer, Viz Engine 3, and Connection Broker 3.0 or newer, do not announce their presence on the computer network. The Graphics Plugin configuration tool will therefore not automatically discover these services.

Specific limitations on Windows Only

  • For Avid installations, not all Graphics Plugin versions prior to 1.5 are automatically removed when upgrading.

Specific limitations on Mac only

  • It's only possible to input text, change numeric values, and select images/geometries/fonts/materials. There is no support for input of boolean values. There is no support for editing ControlList/Tables or Scrolls. However, the editor can pick up Viz Trio pages created using a regular Viz Trio, and render them, even though they may have these field types.

  • The Graphics Plugin Editor cannot create shows and import scenes, so you must use Viz Trio 2.6 or newer to create shows and import scenes for the Graphics Plugin Editor to use.

  • It is not possible to select images from a local path in the Graphics Plugin Editor.

Viz Trio is considerably slower on Windows 10 systems when connecting to a Graphic Hub that contains many scenes.

Note: For more details on software limitations, see the Graphics Plugin Release Notes.