Cuda done it quicker - see what we did thar?
Naturally, Nvidia saw Computex as a chance to talk up C for Cuda and cosy up to several GPU-based video editing software houses. One such was a little Japanese firm by the name of Loilo, the lovechild of two Japanese game developers.
We caught up with Loilo last week in Tokyo and found out a bit more about the firm and its LoiloScope video editing software, which, amongst other things, boasts high speed video processing and encoding by porting directly to the GPU using CUDA-Accelerated Encode.
With a simplistic, even child-like, user interface and version names like 'Mars' and its upcoming 'Venus', the app appears to be squarely targeted at the younger, novice user rather than ye old seasoned video editing pro. Files can be dragged and dropped into the editing space, tossed to one side, or even several held together using 'magnet' bars which help users keep track of bits and bobs in ordered groups.
Once the files are added to the editor timeline, users can start fiddling about with filters, effects and a plethora of other options using four simple tabs entitled: Home, Share, Effect and Art. Users are also given the option of saving videos as WMV, MOV, AVI and MP4 files, uploading them to YouTube at the touch of a button, and using GPU video playback to remove stress from the CPU.
Loilo reckons its software can encode HD video 10 times faster due to its GPU porting, but the claim is based on users having a high-end GTX 285 card - something mainstream users would never need, let alone want to pay for. The average punter is unikely to buy an expensive high-end card for video editing, so claims of 10X improvement over CPUs using a 9600GT card for example (a much more palatable product for the mainstream video user) are pointless.
The boast also fails to take Intel's Nehalem into account, with Intel having stepped up to offer significant improvements in video of late. Loilo and Nvidia's comparison during the demo was made against a Core 2 Duo rather than Intel's Nehalem beast - another reason to take 10X-improvement with a sack of salt.
Loilo was incredibly keen to demo on touchscreen machines, claiming that the advent of Windows 7 and falling monitor prices will result in significant touchscreen uptake. Really? All the analysts we've heard say the chances of this happening still appear slimmer than an LCD monitor.Touch screen notebooks and desktops will likely remain a niche market for a couple of years yet. But having said that, the app could find significant appeal for touch screened mobile devices - a market that's expected to grow in excess of four billion in 2012. This could plausibly include the Iphone, Palm's Pre, or, dare we even say it, Nvidia Tegra-based mobiles.
Loilo was also keen to point out it was planning Google Android-based versions of its software in the near future."Video applications scale very well," Nvidia's Japanese rep told us, adding that movie editing was becoming very popular. "We don't just push hardware, we push software too now," he added.
Nvidia told us it was planning to promote Open CL as well as Cuda for video apps, but still gave us the tired old line of Cuda supporting any type of API. At the end of the day, in our humble opinion, CUDA is not an open standard like Open CL. Yes, its APIs are based on standards but they are still fundamentally a proprietary variant of the 'C' programming language, so to call it 'open' is taking liberties.
Still, Loiloscope is a fun little app, despite its inflated $US88 price tag (or even its $US69 promotion price tag).
A free two-week trial version is available on loilo's site, so don't take our word for it, give it a go yourselves.
theinquirer.net (c) 2009 Incisive Media
Issue: 107 | December, 2009