Sealing wizard

The sealing wizard creates seals based on ASC MHL which are used to ensure the completeness and data integrity of files within volumes and folders throughout the digital production pipeline from set to post. During the sealing process, all files without existing hashes in the ASC MHL history will be hashed and registered so they can be verified in post-production using MediaVerify, or other applications that use this standard.

Below, you will find detailed information on working with the sealing wizard. If you want to learn more about the sealing workflow itself, read the article about sealing volumes in Silverstack. There are two ways to start sealing:

• Click the Media button in the top left corner and select Seal
• File > ASC MHL > Seal

The sealing process is divided into three steps, which are also reflected in the user interface:

1. Scanning & configuring
2. Sealing
3. Completion step

1. Scanning & configuring#

After selecting the path, the wizard immediately starts scanning the disk. This includes a comparison of the available files on the disk with the assets in your library as well as the ASC MHL history. At the top, you can view the scan result with coloured messages informing you about the state of the files.

1.1 Header#

There is a color coding system that will guide you through the wizard and helps you to evaluate the severity of each file’s case. The logic is as follows:

• Silverstack and ASC MHL are used to track and monitor each file
• The state of each file on the disk is defined by both instances (e.g., is it available or missing according to the instance)
• The disk and the tabs share the same colours (states) as the messages

These messages always refer to the Silverstack library and/or ASC MHL and summarize the content shown in the table:

• Green means that all referenced files are available
• Blue means that there are files not referenced
• Yellow means files do not have any hash available in the library
• Red means files are reported as missing

As long as you see two green confirmation messages for both instances, sealing is possible. Missing files are blocking errors which need to be solved manually by the user.

Target Summary
In the top right corner, you see a summary of the selected path for sealing. Depending on whether you selected a volume or folder, you see a different icon with the target name and path. The icons allow you to open the path in Finder or reload the target with the current seal settings.

1.2 Volume / Folder Summary#

The summary section lists all files with their individual state: missing, new, passed, all and ignored. The columns carry the following information:

• Name: The file name and the path relative to the path shown in the top right target summary
• Disk: Shows whether the file is available on disk or not. Color coded like the messages
• Library: Shows whether the file is registered in the library or not. Yellow means the library does not contain a hash for this file
• Hashes (Library): The hash format stored in the library (e.g., XXH64)
• ASC MHL: Shows whether the file is referenced in the ASC MHL history or not
• Hashes (ASC MHL): The hash format stored in the ASC MHL history (e.g., XXH128)

Context Menu
Enables additional options via Right-Click:

• Copy Library Hashes
• Copy Path
• Reveal in Finder

Selected Items
Shows the amount of selected files in the current tab.

Search
Allows to search the table for specific files and accepts expressions like *.mov

1.3 Seal Settings#

The seal settings have two sections, one to configure the ASC MHL seal options and one to enable additional export files.

Checksum Method dropdown menu
Sets the checksum method used to generate hashes during sealing for files that do not yet have a hash.

Comment dropdown menu
Allows to enter a default or custom comment for the root ASC MHL history. The default is “Write Sealing Path” which will use the seal path.

Ignore dropdown menu
Sets and shows the applied ASC MHL ignore patterns. There are two types: regular and adaptive patterns. The regular patterns are applied globally while the adaptive patterns are used to ignore missing files to continue sealing. If you want to apply custom ignore patterns, switch to custom mode. Doing this the first time will import all patterns into the custom field where you can edit, add, or remove patterns.

Open ASC MHL Settings button
Enables you to quickly access the global ASC MHL settings that can also be found under Settings > Copy&Jobs > ASC MHL > Settings

Sealing Logs checkbox
By checking this option, a flattened ASC MHL manifest (containing all sealed files) will be created after sealing at the specified location.

Create Library Archive checkbox
Creates a .psla file at the sealing target, containing all library assets.

Create Library Archive checkbox
Creates a .psla file at the sealing target, containing all library assets.

Close button
Closes the sealing wizard (also works with esc )

Seal button
Starts sealing (also works with Enter ). When errors exist, sealing is not allowed.

2. Sealing#

During sealing itself, you will see a progress bar and three sections below informing you about the progress:

• Hashing Progress: This section refers to data that needs to be processed and hashed during sealing.
• Sealing Progress: This shows the overall sealing progress, including the files that already contain an ASC MHL history.
• Duration: An estimation on how long the process will take.

Cancel button
Allows to cancel sealing.

Back button
Allows to return to the scanning & configuration step.

3. Completion step#

Open in MediaVerify… button
The button is only visible when MediaVerify is installed. It opens the path in MediaVerify.

Close and Eject button
The option is only shown for volumes. It unmounts the volume and closes the sealing wizard.

Close without Eject button
The option is only shown for volumes. It closes the sealing wizard without unmounting the volume.

Close button
The option is only shown for folders. It closes the sealing wizard.