WATCHOUT 5 shuts down unexpectedly

[Alexey]

Hi everyone!

I have a problem with my fix installation. There are 3 PCs with 2 HDMI outputs each, 6 projectors Panasonic RZ470 and 6 DVI to CAT5 extenders Gefen without any EDID equipment unfortunately. All together they make a 15-min show on the round 360° screen. Sometimes one of the computers stops running Dataton software. We can see on the screen a warning sign like this - “Dataton Watchout software doesn't work..... Close the program.” It happens randomly on the different screens at the different time. After restarting the computers the problem disappears. For a while. 

I've heard about some problems with CAT5 extenders. They could lose the signal for a short time. However I'm not sure it could cause crashing Watchout5 like this.

My question is – is it enough just to add the EDID emulators to each output or should I pay attention to something else?

Thank you.

[Jonas Dannert]

 

Hi everyone!

I have a problem with my fix installation. There are 3 PCs with 2 HDMI outputs each

 

Specs on these computers? (Processor/graphics card/SSD etc)

Specs on the video content used? (File-size in pixels/Bitrate/Codec used etc)

 

 

 

6 projectors Panasonic RZ470 and 6 DVI to CAT5 extenders Gefen without any EDID equipment unfortunately. All together they make a 15-min show on the round 360° screen. Sometimes one of the computers stops running Dataton software. We can see on the screen a warning sign like this - “Dataton Watchout software doesn't work..... Close the program.” It happens randomly on the different screens at the different time. After restarting the computers the problem disappears. For a while. 

 

It might be due to a mismatch between the PC hardware at hand and content used, see above.

 

 

 

I've heard about some problems with CAT5 extenders.

They could lose the signal for a short time. However I'm not sure it could cause crashing Watchout5 like this.

 

Yes, that's exactly what will happen.

If an output is lost in Windows, there is nothing WATCHOUT can do about it.

 

 

 

My question is – is it enough just to add the EDID emulators to each output

 

Yes, it might, in this case.

This is the only way to be sure that an output stays consistent.

 

 

or should I pay attention to something else?

 

Yes, the content spec vs your hardware at hand, see above.

 

 

/jonas

[Alexey]

Here you are:

Computers

i7/ RAM 8GB/ video Radeon R9 280X 3Gb/ 2 SSD 240Gb/ Win7 Home Premium 64 bit.

 

Content contains lots of pictures, mp3 files and a few videoclips. The most heavy pictures have a resolution 20352x1080, 20Mb. They are used as backgrounds.

Videoclips:

2 HD quicktime movies with alpha channel, 1920x1080, bitrate 209535 (oops.. quite a lot), each one has about 2Gb

1 HD mpg file, 1920x1080, bitrate 18884, 34 Mb

1 HD mp4 file, 1920x1080, bitrate 22642, 153 Mb

[Jonas Dannert]

Here you are:

Computers

i7/ RAM 8GB/ video Radeon R9 280X 3Gb/ 2 SSD 240Gb/ Win7 Home Premium 64 bit.

 

Seems capable enough.

 

 

Content contains lots of pictures, mp3 files and a few videoclips. The most heavy pictures have a resolution 20352x1080, 20Mb. They are used as backgrounds.

Videoclips:

2 HD quicktime movies with alpha channel, 1920x1080, bitrate 209535 (oops.. quite a lot), each one has about 2Gb

 

If this means 209 Mbps for a 1920x1080 file, I would say that here is your problem.

Instead of Animation codec, try use a h264 with green, blue or black background and

apply a Keying tween track on the file. It will save you valuable resources.

 

 

1 HD mpg file, 1920x1080, bitrate 18884, 34 Mb

1 HD mp4 file, 1920x1080, bitrate 22642, 153 Mb

 

Seems normal.

 

/jonas

[Alexey]

If this means 209 Mbps for a 1920x1080 file, I would say that here is your problem.

Instead of Animation codec, try use a h264 with green, blue or black background and

apply a Keying tween track on the file. It will save you valuable resources.

That's right, exactly 209 Mbps. I'll try to remake it, although there is a problem with a green shirt of the main character:) Probably it is necessary to add 6 EDID emulators also...

Jonas, thank you for your help

[Jonas Dannert]

You're welcome!

 

You can use either green or blue for background, or selective for any pure color.

From the manual P40/P185:

 

Using Transparency P40

In order to include transparency information in the movie file, you must choose

the QuickTime Animation codec set to use “Millions+” of colors. The “+” at the

end stands for the transparency information. This is sometimes called

“Millions+Alpha”. You must also use an application that’s capable of repro-

ducing and/or generating transparency information, such as Adobe After Effects. 

 

 

Key (Green/Blue) P185

Makes a green or blue background transparent. This is sometimes referred to

as a “green screen” or “chromakey” effect, and is typically used with live

video, although it can be used with any kind of image. Adjust the Threshold

and Contrast parameters for best effect.

 

◆ HINT:For non-rectangular video playback, you can often use a pure green

             or blue background, combined with this tween track, as an alternative to a

             true alpha channel. This allows you to use to use more efficient video codecs

             than QuickTime Animation, such as MPEG-2 or H.264.

 

 

Key (Selective)

Makes any specific, pure color transparent. This can, for example, be used to

make a black background transparent (sometimes referred to as a “luma

keyer”). Select the color using the color swatch, then adjust the Threshold and

Softness parameters for the desired effect.

 

◆ HINT: Use this feature to display Powerpoint slides, fed through a capture

              card Live Video or a Computer Screen media item, on top of a background

              produced in WATCHOUT. Specify a suitable background color in the

              Powerpoint presentation, which is then made transparent using this effect. 

 

 

 

/jonas

[Walter]

May I suggest a third and effective option for either alpha channel or keying?

Alpha channel uses lots of bandwidth as you both indicate, and keying often leaves you with ugly borders or sometimes other artifacts.

A perfect way to solve this is rendering a white alpha channel-output of the movie from your NLE. Use this as mask above your bandwidth-effective h264 or mpg2 content and you're set. Works like a charm with pixel perfect results incl semi-transparency whilst just basically doubling the bandwidth.