Native OpenEXR playback with the full AOV tree — multi-layer, multi-channel, float16 and float32 at any resolution. Alongside EXR, mh_PLAYer handles PNG, TIFF, JPEG, DPX, and Radiance HDR (.hdr) image sequences, plus MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WebM, and WMV video files via a bundled FFmpeg build.
Colour management is built in. Choose from sRGB, ACES Filmic, Power Gamma, or Linear display modes.
Load a .cube or .3dl LUT.
Or plug in a full OpenColorIO pipeline — OCIO is bundled in the distribution, requires no separate installation, and picks up the $OCIO environment variable automatically if your studio already has it set.
EXR headers are inspected on load to detect ACES containers and scene-linear data automatically, applying the correct display mode without manual selection.
A three-level frame cache — L1 and L2 in RAM, L3 on SSD — keeps playback smooth even for large EXR sequences. L1 stores raw float data so channel and colour mode changes are instant. L2 stores display-ready uint8 frames for immediate playback on revisit. L3 persists across sessions and pre-caches playlist clips in the background.
Frame stride lets you load and play every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th frame at real-time speed — indispensable for a rapid first pass on a long overnight render. The ×N label in the transport bar cycles stride on the fly.
The transport bar has a collapsible icon toolbar — 14 icon buttons covering display, colour mode, HUD, guides, annotation, A/B compare, scopes, pixel inspector, info bar, fullscreen, quick save, remote review, manual, and preferences. Sidebar-anchor icons expand the panel and scroll directly to the relevant section.
A/B compare gives you two modes. Wipe mode — press [ — freezes the current frame as a B reference and overlays it behind a draggable divider. Load an independent B sequence for live frame-by-frame comparison as you scrub. Diff mode computes the absolute per-pixel difference |A−B| amplified up to 32×, making single-pixel compositing errors visible against solid black.
The annotation toolset covers freehand pen, line, arrow, rectangle, and text overlays, stored in normalised coordinates so they scale correctly across proxy levels. Each frame can carry a voice note — a per-frame WAV recorded directly in the player, saved in a sidecar JSON and restored from the workspace file.
View and composite stereo pairs as anaglyphs directly in the player. Load two separate eye sequences or open a single multi-camera EXR and let mh_PLAYer auto-detect the layer pair — supporting 11 common stereo naming conventions. Four anaglyph presets cover the main production workflows, with optional gamma correction to reduce colour fringing on scene-linear EXRs.
Correct anamorphic and non-square pixel sources on the fly. Select from 13 standard presets in the transport bar or sidebar, and the canvas redraws immediately — letterboxed or pillarboxed as needed. The active ratio is saved to preferences and workspace. The CLI --ar flag applies the same correction headlessly to all output formats.
mh_PLAYer is a fully functional player without a license. Download it, extract the ZIP, and use it immediately — no account, no time limit, no reduced quality. The core player, all display and colour management tools, the full QC toolkit, stereo/anaglyph, aspect ratio correction, and the pipeline CLI are available to everyone. A license unlocks the production workflow features designed for active review sessions and delivery pipelines.
✓ All formats — EXR, DPX, PNG, TIFF, MP4, MOV…
✓ Multi-layer EXR & AOV browser
✓ Colour management — sRGB, ACES, OCIO, LUT
✓ EV exposure & gamma controls
✓ Channel isolation (R / G / B / A)
✓ Frame stride playback
✓ Three-level frame cache (L1/L2/L3)
✓ Aspect ratio correction — 13 presets (GUI + CLI)
✓ Stereo / Anaglyph viewer — 4 presets, stereo EXR auto-detect
✓ Waveform / parade scope
✓ Histogram
✓ Pixel inspector (float readout)
✓ HUD overlay (frame number, SMPTE TC, shot name)
✓ Pipeline CLI (viewer / convert / check / anaglyph)
✓ Nuke flipbook integration
✓ Remote review server
✓ No time limit
✓ Per-frame voice notes (WAV sidecar)
✓ A/B Compare — wipe & diff modes
✓ |A−B| × amplify difference view (1–32×)
✓ Playlist — multi-clip with per-clip In/Out
✓ SSD pre-caching between playlist clips
✓ Audio import (WAV/MP3/FLAC/AIFF)
✓ Export Frames — PNG, TIFF, EXR with burn-in
✓ Export Video — H.264, H.265, ProRes
✓ Slate — shot, scene, take, artist, company, logo
✓ Burn-in — frame number, TC, custom text, watermark
✓ Workspace save/load (.mhplay)
✓ Quick Save (one keystroke, current frame)
A single exe ships three operating modes — GUI viewer, headless video encode, and sequence validation. Farm-safe. No display required for convert and check modes.
MH_PLAYER_PATH, drop into your .nuke folder, register in menu.py — replaces Nuke’s default flipbook with $OCIO passed through automatically.
.mhplay file.
The --convert mode supports headless anaglyph compositing and aspect ratio correction — no GUI, no display required. Both work with all output formats (PNG, TIFF, EXR, MP4, MOV) and can be combined in a single pass.
--anaglyph — Enable anaglyph compositing in convert mode--anaglyph-mode — rc_half · rc_grey · ab_half · gm_half (default: rc_half)--right-eye FILE — Right-eye sequence (two-sequence mode)--stereo-exr — Input is a single multi-camera EXR (auto-detects L/R layers)--eye-swap — Swap L/R eye assignment (invert depth)--anaglyph-gamma — Linearise before mix, re-gamma after--ar RATIO — Aspect ratio correction (e.g. 2.39 Scope, 1.85 Flat, 1.778 HD)
mh_PLAYer --convert --anaglyph --stereo-exr camera_stereo.####.exr out.mp4
mh_PLAYer --convert --anaglyph --anaglyph-mode rc_grey --eye-swap left.####.exr --right-eye right.####.exr review.mp4
mh_PLAYer --convert --ar 2.39 beauty.####.exr scope_review.mp4
mh_PLAYer --convert --anaglyph --ar 2.39 left.####.exr --right-eye right.####.exr scope_anaglyph.mp4
mh_PLAYer is distributed as a self-contained ZIP archive. Extract it to any folder — no installer, no admin rights, no Python. FFmpeg and OpenColorIO are bundled. Use Help → Manage Shortcuts… to create Desktop and Start Menu shortcuts pointing to the correct exe location, wherever you chose to extract.
◆ Signed release catalogue (
release_manifest.cat) shipped with every release◆ SHA-256 checksums (
SHA256SUMS.txt / SHA256SUMS.yaml) for every file◆ Signed self-extracting archive — verify what you run before you run it
◆ Submitted to Microsoft WDSI and VirusTotal before every release
• HDR / Radiance RGBE (.hdr) — Reinhard tone-map
• DPX, PNG, TIFF, JPEG image sequences
• MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WebM, WMV via bundled FFmpeg
• R / G / B / A channel isolation on all source types
• Frame stride — play every 2nd–5th frame at real-time
• Smart zoom — 100% for small images, fit for large
• Three-level frame cache — L1/L2 RAM + L3 SSD
• Sequence gap detection with exact missing frame ranges
• SMPTE timecode — configurable start, click to toggle
• LUT support — .cube and .3dl
• OpenColorIO — fully bundled, no install required
• Auto-loads $OCIO environment variable
• Auto colour space detection from EXR header on load
• EV exposure (±8 stops) and gamma — spinbox, live labels
• EV resets on new file open (workspace preserves value)
• Diff mode — |A−B| × amplify (1–32×) full-frame difference
• B Offset — sync sequences with different start frames
• Annotation tools — pen, line, arrow, rectangle, text
• Per-frame voice notes — WAV sidecar, mic device selectable
• HUD overlay — frame number, SMPTE TC, shot name
• HUD shot name — from filename, folder, or custom text
• Waveform / Parade scope — vertical RGB stack, solo buttons
• Pixel inspector — linear float readout, hex sRGB, clipboard
• Histogram — live RGB overlay
• Stereo EXR auto-detect — 11 naming conventions
• Two-sequence mode — load L + R eye sequences independently
• Swap eyes / gamma correct before mix
• Headless anaglyph convert via CLI (--anaglyph)
• Aspect ratio correction — 13 presets (GUI + CLI --ar)
• Presets: 4:3 · 16:9 · 1.85:1 Flat · 2.39:1 Scope · IMAX · 2K/4K
• AR saved to prefs and workspace
• CLI PATH Setup — adds to user PATH, no admin rights
• Nuke flipbook integration — $OCIO passed through automatically
• Remote review — built-in HTTP server, any browser on network
• Workspace save/load — complete session state in .mhplay file
• Keyboard shortcuts dialog — two-column reference
• Video export — H.264, H.265, ProRes (MOV)
• Slate — shot, scene, take, artist, company, logo
• Burn-in — frame number, timecode, custom text, watermark
• Aspect ratio correction applied to all export formats
• Quick Save — current frame, PNG/TIFF/JPEG, one keystroke
• FFmpeg and OpenColorIO bundled in distribution
• Help → Manage Shortcuts… — Desktop & Start Menu
• Collapsible sidebar — Tab key or click strip; full-canvas mode
• Collapsible icon toolbar — 14 icons; state saved across sessions
• Sidebar anchors — toolbar icons scroll to relevant section
• Playlist — multi-clip with per-clip In/Out and SSD pre-caching
• Preferences — cache sizes, default colour mode, timecode, FPS
• Digitally signed; signed release catalogue + SHA-256 checksums
• Studio — organisation-wide, no expiry
• Trial — all features, 10 days, available on request
• Core player, QC tools, stereo/anaglyph, AR — always free
• WDSI + VirusTotal submitted before every release
See License Agreement for full terms of use.
No expiry. All licensed features included.
Delivery by email within 24 hours.
No expiry. All licensed features included.
Delivery by email within 24 hours.
License keys are issued manually. See License Agreement for full terms.
anti-matter-3d.com | © Martin P. Heigan