diff --git a/openbr/core/resource.h b/openbr/core/resource.h
index ae18d36..a620969 100644
--- a/openbr/core/resource.h
+++ b/openbr/core/resource.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <QSharedPointer>
 #include <QString>
 #include <QThread>
+#include <openbr/openbr_plugin.h>
 
 template <typename T>
 class ResourceMaker
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ public:
         : resourceMaker(rm)
         , availableResources(new QList<T*>())
         , lock(new QMutex())
-        , totalResources(new QSemaphore(QThread::idealThreadCount()))
+        , totalResources(new QSemaphore(br::Globals->parallelism))
     {}
 
     ~Resource()
diff --git a/openbr/plugins/meta.cpp b/openbr/plugins/meta.cpp
index f00676c..7f827dc 100644
--- a/openbr/plugins/meta.cpp
+++ b/openbr/plugins/meta.cpp
@@ -645,17 +645,28 @@ public:
         QList<TemplateList> input_buffer;
         input_buffer.reserve(src.size());
 
+        QFutureSynchronizer<void> futures;
+
         for (int i =0; i < src.size();i++) {
             input_buffer.append(TemplateList());
             output_buffer.append(TemplateList());
         }
-
-        QFutureSynchronizer<void> futures;
+        QList<QFuture<void> > temp;
+        temp.reserve(src.size());
         for (int i=0; i<src.size(); i++) {
             input_buffer[i].append(src[i]);
-            if (Globals->parallelism) futures.addFuture(QtConcurrent::run(_projectList, transform, &input_buffer[i], &output_buffer[i]));
-            else                                                          _projectList( transform, &input_buffer[i], &output_buffer[i]);
+
+            if (Globals->parallelism > 1) temp.append(QtConcurrent::run(_projectList, transform, &input_buffer[i], &output_buffer[i]));
+            else _projectList(transform, &input_buffer[i], &output_buffer[i]);
+        }
+        // We add the futures in reverse order, since in Qt 5.1 at least the
+        // waiting thread will wait on them in the order added (which for uniform priority
+        // threads is the order of execution), and we want the waiting thread to go in the opposite order
+        // so that it can steal runnables and do something besides wait.
+        for (int i = temp.size() - 1; i > 0; i--) {
+            futures.addFuture(temp[i]);
         }
+
         futures.waitForFinished();
 
         for (int i=0; i<src.size(); i++) dst.append(output_buffer[i]);
diff --git a/openbr/plugins/stream.cpp b/openbr/plugins/stream.cpp
index 884176a..e02092c 100644
--- a/openbr/plugins/stream.cpp
+++ b/openbr/plugins/stream.cpp
@@ -160,9 +160,8 @@ class DataSource
 public:
     DataSource(int maxFrames=500)
     {
+        // The sequence number of the last frame
         final_frame = -1;
-        last_issued = -2;
-        last_received = -3;
         for (int i=0; i < maxFrames;i++)
         {
             allFrames.addItem(new FrameData());
@@ -181,51 +180,64 @@ public:
     }
 
     // non-blocking version of getFrame
-    FrameData * tryGetFrame()
+    // Returns a NULL FrameData if too many frames are out, or the
+    // data source is broken. Sets last_frame to true iff the FrameData
+    // returned is the last valid frame, and the data source is now broken.
+    FrameData * tryGetFrame(bool & last_frame)
     {
+        last_frame = false;
+
+        if (is_broken) {
+            return NULL;
+        }
+
+        // Try to get a FrameData from the pool, if we can't it means too many
+        // frames are already out, and we will return NULL to indicate failure
         FrameData * aFrame = allFrames.tryGetItem();
-        if (aFrame == NULL)
+        if (aFrame == NULL) {
             return NULL;
+        }
 
         aFrame->data.clear();
         aFrame->sequenceNumber = -1;
 
+        // Try to read a frame, if this returns false the data source is broken
         bool res = getNext(*aFrame);
 
-        // The datasource broke.
-        if (!res) {
+        // The datasource broke, update final_frame
+        if (!res)
+        {
+            QMutexLocker lock(&last_frame_update);
+            final_frame = lookAhead.back()->sequenceNumber;
             allFrames.addItem(aFrame);
+        }
+        else lookAhead.push_back(aFrame);
 
-            QMutexLocker lock(&last_frame_update);
-            // Did we already receive the last frame?
-            final_frame = last_issued;
+        FrameData * rVal = lookAhead.first();
+        lookAhead.pop_front();
 
-            // We got the last frame before the data source broke,
-            // better pulse lastReturned
-            if (final_frame == last_received) {
-                lastReturned.wakeAll();
-            }
-            else if (final_frame < last_received)
-                std::cout << "Bad last frame " << final_frame << " but received " << last_received << std::endl;
 
-            return NULL;
+        if (rVal->sequenceNumber == final_frame) {
+            last_frame = true;
+            is_broken = true;
         }
-        last_issued = aFrame->sequenceNumber;
-        return aFrame;
+
+        return rVal;
     }
 
-    // Returns true if the frame returned was the last
+    // Return a frame to the pool, returns true if the frame returned was the last
     // frame issued, false otherwise
     bool returnFrame(FrameData * inputFrame)
     {
+        int frameNumber = inputFrame->sequenceNumber;
+
         allFrames.addItem(inputFrame);
 
         bool rval = false;
 
         QMutexLocker lock(&last_frame_update);
-        last_received = inputFrame->sequenceNumber;
 
-        if (inputFrame->sequenceNumber == final_frame) {
+        if (frameNumber == final_frame) {
             // We just received the last frame, better pulse
             lastReturned.wakeAll();
             rval = true;
@@ -240,17 +252,57 @@ public:
         lastReturned.wait(&last_frame_update);
     }
 
-    virtual void close() = 0;
-    virtual bool open(Template & output, int start_index=0) = 0;
-    virtual bool isOpen() = 0;
+    bool open(Template & output, int start_index = 0)
+    {
+        is_broken = false;
+        // The last frame isn't initialized yet
+        final_frame = -1;
+        // Start our sequence numbers from the input index
+        next_sequence_number = start_index;
+
+        // Actually open the data source
+        bool open_res = concreteOpen(output);
+
+        // We couldn't open the data source
+        if (!open_res) {
+            is_broken = true;
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Try to get a frame from the global pool
+        FrameData * firstFrame = allFrames.tryGetItem();
+
+        // If this fails, things have gone pretty badly.
+        if (firstFrame == NULL) {
+            is_broken = true;
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Read a frame from the video source
+        bool res = getNext(*firstFrame);
+
+        // the data source broke already, we couldn't even get one frame
+        // from it.
+        if (!res) {
+            is_broken = true;
+            return false;
+        }
 
+        lookAhead.append(firstFrame);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    virtual bool isOpen()=0;
+    virtual bool concreteOpen(Template & output) = 0;
     virtual bool getNext(FrameData & input) = 0;
+    virtual void close() = 0;
 
+    int next_sequence_number;
 protected:
     DoubleBuffer allFrames;
     int final_frame;
-    int last_issued;
-    int last_received;
+    bool is_broken;
+    QList<FrameData *> lookAhead;
 
     QWaitCondition lastReturned;
     QMutex last_frame_update;
@@ -262,13 +314,8 @@ class VideoDataSource : public DataSource
 public:
     VideoDataSource(int maxFrames) : DataSource(maxFrames) {}
 
-    bool open(Template &input, int start_index=0)
+    bool concreteOpen(Template &input)
     {
-        final_frame = -1;
-        last_issued = -2;
-        last_received = -3;
-
-        next_idx = start_index;
         basis = input;
         bool is_int = false;
         int anInt = input.file.name.toInt(&is_int);
@@ -306,25 +353,31 @@ private:
             return false;
 
         output.data.append(Template(basis.file));
-        output.data.last().append(cv::Mat());
+        output.data.last().m() = cv::Mat();
 
-        output.sequenceNumber = next_idx;
-        next_idx++;
+        output.sequenceNumber = next_sequence_number;
+        next_sequence_number++;
 
-        bool res = video.read(output.data.last().last());
-        output.data.last().last() = output.data.last().last().clone();
+        cv::Mat temp;
+        bool res = video.read(temp);
 
         if (!res) {
+            output.data.last().m() = cv::Mat();
             close();
             return false;
         }
+
+        // This clone is critical, if we don't do it then the matrix will
+        // be an alias of an internal buffer of the video source, leading
+        // to various problems later.
+        output.data.last().m() = temp.clone();
+
         output.data.last().file.set("FrameNumber", output.sequenceNumber);
         return true;
     }
 
     cv::VideoCapture video;
     Template basis;
-    int next_idx;
 };
 
 // Given a template as input, return its matrices one by one on subsequent calls
@@ -334,21 +387,16 @@ class TemplateDataSource : public DataSource
 public:
     TemplateDataSource(int maxFrames) : DataSource(maxFrames)
     {
-        current_idx = INT_MAX;
+        current_matrix_idx = INT_MAX;
         data_ok = false;
     }
-    bool data_ok;
 
-    bool open(Template &input, int start_index=0)
+    bool concreteOpen(Template &input)
     {
         basis = input;
-        current_idx = 0;
-        next_sequence = start_index;
-        final_frame = -1;
-        last_issued = -2;
-        last_received = -3;
+        current_matrix_idx = 0;
 
-        data_ok = current_idx < basis.size();
+        data_ok = current_matrix_idx < basis.size();
         return data_ok;
     }
 
@@ -358,39 +406,41 @@ public:
 
     void close()
     {
-        current_idx = INT_MAX;
+        current_matrix_idx = INT_MAX;
         basis.clear();
     }
 
 private:
     bool getNext(FrameData & output)
     {
-        data_ok = current_idx < basis.size();
+        data_ok = current_matrix_idx < basis.size();
         if (!data_ok)
             return false;
 
-        output.data.append(basis[current_idx]);
-        current_idx++;
+        output.data.append(basis[current_matrix_idx]);
+        current_matrix_idx++;
 
-        output.sequenceNumber = next_sequence;
-        next_sequence++;
+        output.sequenceNumber = next_sequence_number;
+        next_sequence_number++;
 
         output.data.last().file.set("FrameNumber", output.sequenceNumber);
         return true;
     }
 
     Template basis;
-    int current_idx;
-    int next_sequence;
+    // Index of the next matrix to output from the template
+    int current_matrix_idx;
+
+    // is current_matrix_idx in bounds?
+    bool data_ok;
 };
 
-// Given a template as input, create a VideoDataSource or a TemplateDataSource
-// depending on whether or not it looks like the input template has already
-// loaded frames into memory.
+// Given a templatelist as input, create appropriate data source for each
+// individual template
 class DataSourceManager : public DataSource
 {
 public:
-    DataSourceManager()
+    DataSourceManager() : DataSource(500)
     {
         actualSource = NULL;
     }
@@ -411,29 +461,25 @@ public:
 
     bool open(TemplateList & input)
     {
-        currentIdx = 0;
+        current_template_idx = 0;
         templates = input;
 
-        return open(templates[currentIdx]);
+        return DataSource::open(templates[current_template_idx]);
     }
 
-    bool open(Template & input, int start_index=0)
+    bool concreteOpen(Template & input)
     {
         close();
-        final_frame = -1;
-        last_issued = -2;
-        last_received = -3;
-        next_frame = start_index;
 
         // Input has no matrices? Its probably a video that hasn't been loaded yet
         if (input.empty()) {
             actualSource = new VideoDataSource(0);
-            actualSource->open(input, next_frame);
+            actualSource->concreteOpen(input);
         }
         else {
             // create frame dealer
             actualSource = new TemplateDataSource(0);
-            actualSource->open(input, next_frame);
+            actualSource->concreteOpen(input);
         }
         if (!isOpen()) {
             delete actualSource;
@@ -446,30 +492,47 @@ public:
     bool isOpen() { return !actualSource ? false : actualSource->isOpen(); }
 
 protected:
-    int currentIdx;
-    int next_frame;
+    // Index of the template in the templatelist we are currently reading from
+    int current_template_idx;
+
     TemplateList templates;
     DataSource * actualSource;
     bool getNext(FrameData & output)
     {
         bool res = actualSource->getNext(output);
+        output.sequenceNumber = next_sequence_number;
+
         if (res) {
-            next_frame = output.sequenceNumber+1;
+            output.data.last().file.set("FrameNumber", output.sequenceNumber);
+            next_sequence_number++;
+            if (output.data.last().last().empty())
+                qDebug("broken matrix");
             return true;
         }
 
+
         while(!res) {
-            currentIdx++;
+            output.data.clear();
+            current_template_idx++;
 
-            if (currentIdx >= templates.size())
+            // No more templates? We're done
+            if (current_template_idx >= templates.size())
                 return false;
-            bool open_res = open(templates[currentIdx], next_frame);
+
+            // open the next data source
+            bool open_res = concreteOpen(templates[current_template_idx]);
             if (!open_res)
                 return false;
+
+            // get a frame from it
             res = actualSource->getNext(output);
         }
+        output.sequenceNumber = next_sequence_number++;
+        output.data.last().file.set("FrameNumber", output.sequenceNumber);
+
+        if (output.data.last().last().empty())
+            qDebug("broken matrix");
 
-        next_frame = output.sequenceNumber+1;
         return res;
     }
 
@@ -477,9 +540,14 @@ protected:
 
 class ProcessingStage;
 
-class BasicLoop : public QRunnable
+class BasicLoop : public QRunnable, public QFutureInterface<void>
 {
 public:
+    BasicLoop()
+    {
+        this->reportStarted();
+    }
+
     void run();
 
     QList<ProcessingStage *> * stages;
@@ -505,13 +573,13 @@ public:
     int stage_id;
 
     virtual void reset()=0;
-
 protected:
     int thread_count;
 
     SharedBuffer * inputBuffer;
     ProcessingStage * nextStage;
     QList<ProcessingStage *> * stages;
+    QThreadPool * threads;
     Transform * transform;
 
 };
@@ -530,6 +598,7 @@ void BasicLoop::run()
         current_idx++;
         current_idx = current_idx % stages->size();
     }
+    this->reportFinished();
 }
 
 class MultiThreadStage : public ProcessingStage
@@ -564,7 +633,6 @@ public:
     }
 };
 
-
 class SingleThreadStage : public ProcessingStage
 {
 public:
@@ -627,18 +695,20 @@ public:
         lock.unlock();
 
         if (newItem)
-        {
-            BasicLoop * next = new BasicLoop();
-            next->stages = stages;
-            next->start_idx = this->stage_id;
-            next->startItem = newItem;
-
-            QThreadPool::globalInstance()->start(next, stages->size() - this->stage_id);
-        }
+            startThread(newItem);
 
         return input;
     }
 
+    void startThread(br::FrameData * newItem)
+    {
+        BasicLoop * next = new BasicLoop();
+        next->stages = stages;
+        next->start_idx = this->stage_id;
+        next->startItem = newItem;
+        this->threads->start(next, stages->size() - stage_id);
+    }
+
 
     // Calledfrom a different thread than run.
     bool tryAcquireNextStage(FrameData *& input)
@@ -674,7 +744,7 @@ public:
 };
 
 // No input buffer, instead we draw templates from some data source
-// Will be operated by the main thread for the stream
+// Will be operated by the main thread for the stream. starts threads
 class FirstStage : public SingleThreadStage
 {
 public:
@@ -684,44 +754,51 @@ public:
 
     FrameData * run(FrameData * input, bool & should_continue)
     {
-        // Is there anything on our input buffer? If so we should start a thread with that.
+        // Try to get a frame from the datasource
         QWriteLocker lock(&statusLock);
-        input = dataSource.tryGetFrame();
-        // Datasource broke?
-        if (!input)
+        bool last_frame = false;
+        input = dataSource.tryGetFrame(last_frame);
+
+        // Datasource broke, or is currently out of frames?
+        if (!input || last_frame)
         {
+            // We will just stop and not continue.
             currentStatus = STOPPING;
-            should_continue = false;
-            return NULL;
+            if (!input) {
+                should_continue = false;
+                return NULL;
+            }
         }
         lock.unlock();
-
+        // Can we enter the next stage?
         should_continue = nextStage->tryAcquireNextStage(input);
 
-        BasicLoop * next = new BasicLoop();
-        next->stages = stages;
-        next->start_idx = this->stage_id;
-        next->startItem = NULL;
-
-        QThreadPool::globalInstance()->start(next, stages->size() - this->stage_id);
+        // We are exiting leaving this stage, should we start another
+        // thread here? Normally we will always re-queue a thread on
+        // the first stage, but if we received the last frame there is
+        // no need to.
+        if (!last_frame) {
+            startThread(NULL);
+        }
 
         return input;
     }
 
-    // Calledfrom a different thread than run.
+    // The last stage, trying to access the first stage
     bool tryAcquireNextStage(FrameData *& input)
     {
+        // Return the frame, was it the last one?
         bool was_last = dataSource.returnFrame(input);
         input = NULL;
+
+        // OK we won't continue.
         if (was_last) {
             return false;
         }
 
-        if (!dataSource.isOpen())
-            return false;
-
         QReadLocker lock(&statusLock);
-        // Thread is already running, we should just return
+        // A thread is already in the first stage,
+        // we should just return
         if (currentStatus == STARTING)
         {
             return false;
@@ -744,6 +821,7 @@ public:
 
 };
 
+// starts threads
 class LastStage : public SingleThreadStage
 {
 public:
@@ -774,11 +852,14 @@ public:
         }
         next_target = input->sequenceNumber + 1;
 
+        // add the item to our output buffer
         collectedOutput.append(input->data);
 
+        // Can we enter the read stage?
         should_continue = nextStage->tryAcquireNextStage(input);
 
-        // Is there anything on our input buffer? If so we should start a thread with that.
+        // Is there anything on our input buffer? If so we should start a thread
+        // in this stage to process that frame.
         QWriteLocker lock(&statusLock);
         FrameData * newItem = inputBuffer->tryGetItem();
         if (!newItem)
@@ -788,23 +869,18 @@ public:
         lock.unlock();
 
         if (newItem)
-        {
-            BasicLoop * next = new BasicLoop();
-            next->stages = stages;
-            next->start_idx = this->stage_id;
-            next->startItem = newItem;
-
-            QThreadPool::globalInstance()->start(next, stages->size() - this->stage_id);
-        }
+            startThread(newItem);
 
         return input;
     }
 };
 
+
 class StreamTransform : public CompositeTransform
 {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
+
     void train(const TemplateList & data)
     {
         foreach(Transform * transform, transforms) {
@@ -834,21 +910,17 @@ public:
         bool res = readStage->dataSource.open(dst);
         if (!res) return;
 
-        QThreadPool::globalInstance()->releaseThread();
+        // Start the first thread in the stream.
         readStage->currentStatus = SingleThreadStage::STARTING;
+        readStage->startThread(NULL);
 
-        BasicLoop loop;
-        loop.stages = &this->processingStages;
-        loop.start_idx = 0;
-        loop.startItem = NULL;
-        loop.setAutoDelete(false);
-
-        QThreadPool::globalInstance()->start(&loop, processingStages.size() - processingStages[0]->stage_id);
-
-        // Wait for the end.
+        // Wait for the stream to reach the last frame available from
+        // the data source.
         readStage->dataSource.waitLast();
-        QThreadPool::globalInstance()->reserveThread();
 
+        // Now that there are no more incoming frames, call finalize
+        // on each transform in turn to collect any last templates
+        // they wish to issue.
         TemplateList final_output;
 
         // Push finalize through the stages
@@ -864,7 +936,8 @@ public:
             final_output.append(output_set);
         }
 
-        // dst is set to all output received by the final stage
+        // dst is set to all output received by the final stage, along
+        // with anything output via the calls to finalize.
         dst = collectionStage->getOutput();
         dst.append(final_output);
 
@@ -876,7 +949,8 @@ public:
     virtual void finalize(TemplateList & output)
     {
         (void) output;
-        // Not handling this yet -cao
+        // Nothing in particular to do here, stream calls finalize
+        // on all child transforms as part of projectUpdate
     }
 
     // Create and link stages
@@ -884,6 +958,19 @@ public:
     {
         if (transforms.isEmpty()) return;
 
+        // We share a thread pool across streams attached to the same
+        // parent tranform, retrieve or create a thread pool based
+        // on our parent transform.
+        QMutexLocker poolLock(&poolsAccess);
+        QHash<QObject *, QThreadPool *>::Iterator it;
+        if (!pools.contains(this->parent())) {
+            it = pools.insert(this->parent(), new QThreadPool(this));
+            it.value()->setMaxThreadCount(Globals->parallelism);
+        }
+        else it = pools.find(this->parent());
+        threads = it.value();
+        poolLock.unlock();
+
         stage_variance.reserve(transforms.size());
         foreach (const br::Transform *transform, transforms) {
             stage_variance.append(transform->timeVarying());
@@ -894,6 +981,7 @@ public:
         processingStages.push_back(readStage);
         readStage->stage_id = 0;
         readStage->stages = &this->processingStages;
+        readStage->threads = this->threads;
 
         int next_stage_id = 1;
 
@@ -901,9 +989,7 @@ public:
         for (int i =0; i < transforms.size(); i++)
         {
             if (stage_variance[i])
-            {
                 processingStages.append(new SingleThreadStage(prev_stage_variance));
-            }
             else
                 processingStages.append(new MultiThreadStage(Globals->parallelism));
 
@@ -914,6 +1000,7 @@ public:
             processingStages[i]->nextStage = processingStages[i+1];
 
             processingStages.last()->stages = &this->processingStages;
+            processingStages.last()->threads = this->threads;
 
             processingStages.last()->transform = transforms[i];
             prev_stage_variance = stage_variance[i];
@@ -923,6 +1010,7 @@ public:
         processingStages.append(collectionStage);
         collectionStage->stage_id = next_stage_id;
         collectionStage->stages = &this->processingStages;
+        collectionStage->threads = this->threads;
 
         processingStages[processingStages.size() - 2]->nextStage = collectionStage;
 
@@ -945,6 +1033,10 @@ protected:
 
     QList<ProcessingStage *> processingStages;
 
+    static QHash<QObject *, QThreadPool *> pools;
+    static QMutex poolsAccess;
+    QThreadPool * threads;
+
     void _project(const Template &src, Template &dst) const
     {
         (void) src; (void) dst;
@@ -957,6 +1049,9 @@ protected:
     }
 };
 
+QHash<QObject *, QThreadPool *> StreamTransform::pools;
+QMutex StreamTransform::poolsAccess;
+
 BR_REGISTER(Transform, StreamTransform)