David Organ

Sad to hear the news. He was a great help to me and his contribution to the forum will be missed.

Thanks MIke, But can you explain further.. "trigger things in WATCHOUT from a console." I presume console = A lighting desk of some merit? re "Bring in a couple of channels and set up the triggering conditions in the Task window". If you've a page reference in the manual i'll re read the manuals. Finally re "You can also use DMX to modulate tween tracks in WATCHOUT." again and sorry to be so slow here... how? Your help is much appreciated Regards David.

Is there a way to use the Enttec box with a DMX/ ARTNET style command to get Watchout to Play. pause. Stop etc? i'm tentatively learning WO6's new features and just wondered if the black art of controlling playback via DMX lighting desk has simplified/improved since I last attempted it 2 years ago. I have the Enttec Ethernet to DMX unit (still boxed) but didn't have any success... alas too complex for mer!!! By WO playing timecode out and Qlab listening and then Qlab controlling the lighting desk was far easier solution to run a huge lighting rig at an large exhibition. Needless to say I had an easy job as WO playing Timecode was far simpler than setting up Qlab and the lighting desk. Sadly this isn't possible this time as WO is going on a live gig tour and as we are just playing back video clips i felt it was time to dust off the ENTTEC box and try again... As always any advice much appreciated, Many thanks, David

Audio playback selection on Prod or Display doesn't seem to have this option in v5. Is this option new to V6?

Dear dnmeid, Please can you (or anyone esle) recommend a FFmpeg GUI to use as reading this post makes me wan't to try again with FFMPEG however the command line option was too difficult (too lazy) to proceed. Many thanks, David

Hi Forum,to I am testing the budget Decklink Express SDI HDMI card and got it work after using the elusive 25i setting. Having small latency issues with this capture but happy with the quality. Will look at lowering capture quality to ease latency. Any tips on what else to change much appreciated. Regards David

Tested both 5100 and 4100 on 4k content. They've to run 2 x 12 mins shows. So thanks for the link.. Regards David

Hi Jan, I realise that the w7000 and 7100 have been discussed previosly but I am looking to spec 4 display pcs with 4 outs . Is the AMD FirePro W5100 4GB Graphics Card a sensible option for 4 outputs running blended video content?It matches my budget and has four matching connectors which keeps things tidy at the back. Regards David

Wow! Sorry for the delay but best wishes Jonas. AND needless to say Many Many thanks for all your hard work. David

Hi Watchout Buddies, This question is always gets me thinking too... especially at this time of year. When providing content for large 3.7mm LED Walls and the same content is running for 12 hours a day, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. colour intensity and quality are the issue of the day as the file size is not in the gigabytes size. I wont be able to test encoding so if anyone has any opinions about LED content and a good "recipe" for h.264 encoding in WO i'd be most happy to read bout it. Regards David

Hi All, I am running 4 LED Screens and want to sync with an Avolites Titon lighting desk. I have been able to use a Nano Kontrol2 USB fade opacity and a tween tracks but I am very confused about how to Start & stop using Midi commands or Midi MSC. The problem I have is understanding how to setup Inputs, Parameters, Tasks & an Expressions. I have read the 5.2 manual but the Midi information is sparse & in various places so I've gotten very confused. Can anyone offer some simple advice or supply a Sample Watch file? I have used V-Control to connect a non WO Laptop to send MSC commands to the Production PC. Whislt thisa is a step forward I am still needing some help here. Thanks David PS Sorry for the spelling errors - I was typing on my iPhone

Has anyone linked Watchout using Midi in or out on an Avolites Pearl Tiger Desk? I tried to create test DMX out show using the 1 Universe ethernet box but the signal appeared unclean and stuttery to the 100 odd LED fittings and fades were very stuttery. I'm not sure whether that was because we were trying to be too precise with fades and colouring so we gave up on DMX out from Watchout. On looking at the Avolites Pearl tiger desk I can see a Midi in and out and as I am unable to use the unit to test wondered if another Watchout user had successfully linked the desk up using either midi in or out? Thanks in advance, David

Use Auxillary timelines. Cut the scene into several small auxillary timelines with possibly a loop sequence just before the end and then a final Out auxiliary timeline. Sorry for double post - Chrome hiccup !

We have been using multiple auxiliary timelines to get around the problem of matching the speed of the actors and musicians. By having a scene made up of an intro, a middle and an end loop, all on auxiliary timelines, we can match the live action better. This is not a very sophisticated solution but it is certainly better than playing one long movie and having to jump to F Keys. regards David

Is it at all possible for DATATON logo to be added to this PDF so that when i send it onto a client that these recommended settings are not something I have jsut made up myself but that the brains behind Watchout have tested and agree on. Thanks David

I'm a bit late reading this topic but I whole heartedly agree and really look forward to this new type of "countdown cue" being invented/implemnted.

I love this Watchout app. Sorry for this early morning exclamation but it is truly awesome little app. It makes the iPhone worth having just for that. Thanks again Dataton. David

Whoop Whoop! I knew you'd have the answer Jonas : We'd been discussing this off forum and like Neil i have avoided capture cards in WO following delay issues using the older Osprey 210 version. Thanks Jonas.

Great question. it would be great if it was just once and saved the presplit.

Thanks Jacquie, what a great link. I just setup my new, for Christmas, iPhone 4S to control Watchout less than half an hour ago.. THAT leap in Watchout control totally blew me away. Sorry for being so late getting on that bus but I had to wait till my contract was up to get an Apple handset. And now Dynamic Server updates using Ipda/Iphone data entry. Extreme Cool!. A big thanks to support for the App. David

What is the new URL/ Old URL of the Old Showroom Forum? d

I have worked on two shows where the Blacky (http://www.theblacky.de/) or a very similar mechanical device was used on two XF47s. It was a great "Get out of jail FREE" card (Monopoly) when we were setting up during dress rehearsals with wrong MPEG encoding and lots of blue screens of Death! Watchout SO didn't like the encoding - a heart stopping day and the manual shutters were a real bonus. I just wish Watchout wouldn't waste time uploading an epic MPEG when it has no intention of playing it Regards David

LOL I didn't spot the APS logo on the stage. But how did they do it? Triple head to go? x2... Regards David AT COW HUT

Now this You Tube movie I saw a month a so ago but I am not sure if it ever got onto the Watchout forum. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8Bh5iI2WY In the YouTube tags Dataton Watchout gets no mention but old hands will recognise the tell tale Watchout Menus in the movie. See 5:09, 9:11 and 11:36... Can you spot any more Watchout menus??? I also see Isadora being used...(i think) at 9:31. Can you ask for the Dataton Watchout tags to be added into the YouTube movies Tag listing after its posted? Without Watchout I don't think the simulator would have been possible (not strictly true of course). http://www.igloovision.com/page.php?Plv=2&P1=3&P2=44&P3=&LvL=2&id=44 Regards David

I agree with Jonas 100% (nice PDF by the Way) - with the correct MPEG settings pre splits are a dream. The wrong encoding of an MPEG and its a nightmare. I have used Procoder and TMPGENC and am a big fan of the getting the MPEG encoding correct at the beginning of a job. QT is possible with edgeblending but despite the better colour reproduction with QT I would stick with MPEG as this format puts less strain on the Display PC and sound syncing was more accurate. Last year i had a huge learning curve with clients wrongly encoding MPEGs that wouldn't run on my Display PC & I STRONGLY recommend test test 'n' re test as QT playback seemed OK on a single run through but on a loop we had real audio syncing issues which were not apparent when using the MPEG pre splits. The old Watchout forum had masses of good ENCODING settings but Jonas has distilled that all down into one nice PDF for you. Regards David AT COW HUT