v4.6.0

Helmut4 Client

There are three Helmut4 clients instances for different operating systems. The one for Windows and Macintosh are intended to be used for all kind of actions (export, import, copy, ..) - the Linux client is targeted for unattended machines with almost the same function except any kind of Adobe action (AME rendering, AAF export, ...)

  • Windows 10 / 11

  • Mac OS X (Catalina 10.15+)

  • Linux (generic) - only command line

Download Helmut4 Client

The easiest way is to download the client from within the Helmut4 GUI once you logged in as an admin. According to the current installed Helmut4 version (license container version) a corresponding client download will be present at the bottom of the side menu. It can be choosen between a WIN and MAC version and the latest client version will be referred.

If needed you can also download the latest client installer by requesting via API

Get client version http://HELMUT-IP/v1/license/client/version Download client http://HELMUT-IP/v1/client/Helmut_Client_Setup_$helmutClientVersion.exe Example http://HELMUT-IP/v1/client/Helmut_Client_Setup_4.2.0.18.exe

Helmut4: Server vs client version

Every stable/snapshot release does have a dedicated client. The dedicated client version for the server can be found on the admin webpage or via API. The most recent versions pairs:

  • Server 4.6.0 - Client 4.2.0.30

  • Server 4.5.0 - Client 4.2.0.27

  • Server 4.4.0 - Client 4.2.0.23

  • Server 4.3.0 - Client 4.2.0.18

Prerequisite Helmut4 client installation

Before you run the client installer, make sure all necessary Adobe applications have already been installed. If there is none present during installation, no extension will be installed on the local machine!

Windows client

The client installation is straight forward, simply run the executable and follow the installer dialog. It is possible to install the client as a service but we do not recommend this option unless you know exactly what you are doing!

Macintosh client

The client installation is straight forward, simply run the package installer and follow the installer dialog.

Linux client

The Linux Client is quite similar to the common Helmut4 client and has the same functionality when it comes to pickup and execute jobs. Since it is running inside a docker container, functionality is limited by the availability of apps installed to that OS, e.g. there is no possibility to use Adobe related nodes. Not having a user interface for the Linux OS, UI interacting nodes will not work either or at least have no visible effect. Beside of this a Linux client is capable of processing jobs the same way a Windows or Macintosh client can do but provides more flexibility.

Examples:

  • Spin up multiple clients or shut them down again according to the amount of queued jobs in the dashboard

  • Centralizing processes and offload performance from Win/Mac workstations to the Linux slient(s) like project index, file copy processes, prestream handling, FFMPEG rendering, communicating with third party apps and so on

It is mandatory to setup an autologin file to let the client connect automatically. The autologin file needs to be placed in the host and mounted into the client via volumes. Moreover FFMPEG can be activated optionally and Mediainfo is preinstalled already. Please contact the MoovIT Support Team for further information regarding installation and setup of the Linux Clients

version: "3.7"

networks:
  mcc:
    driver: overlay

services:
 helmutclient01:
   
   image: repo.moovit24.de:443/mcp_hc:4.2.0.27
   restart: always
   volumes:
        - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
        - /root/test/rendernode01.helmut.auto.login:/root/MoovIT GmbH/HelmutClient/helmut.auto.login
        - /mnt:/Volumes

   networks:
        - mcc
   deploy:
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.hostname == hostname
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '4'
          memory: 2500M

ffmpeg for Linux client

As the Linux client is not able to do any Adobe rendering, it is possible to render asserts with ffmpeg. Due to license, ffmpeg needs to be added manually to the container - the client needs a static version, which can be downloaded officially from https://www.johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg Place the binary on the host system of the linux client(s) so it can be accessed it via the container volume which needs to be set. Make sure that the permission for ffmpeg are set to 755 or above. You can download load it from within the host system via

wget 
https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz

unpack tar xf ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz

It has to be "full path to ffmpeg binary on host:/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg". As an example (as seen in the recoding):

volumes:
        - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
        - /root/test/rendernode01.helmut.auto.login:/root/MoovIT GmbH/HelmutClient/helmut.auto.login
        - /mnt:/Volumes
        - /usr/share/ffmpeg:/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg

Finally test by going into the container with "docker exec -it bash" or via Portainer (Container) and execute "ffmpeg". You will see the standard printout for this command.

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