[Content across 2 display computers begins to run out of sync over time]

5 hours ago, RBeddig said:

Be aware not to set the actual clips to free running and looping if you place them into a composition. Then the composition needs to be set to free running and looping instead. To make sure that the composition has the right length in the end, I usually first place my cues into a normal timeline, then open an empty composition, then set the composition length to a value shorter than my cues. Finally I copy and paste the cues from the timeline into the composition where the ruler sits at 0:00. The composition will gain length according to the length of the copied cues automatically.

Thanks, I did not set the clip to loop or free run, just the composition and it was working fine mostly for the first few hours. After a few hours I got a half second black flicker, and then another hour or so later I got another one. Then another one 20 minutes later, and another like a few minutes after that so I took the show offline and back online.

For the composition length, I copied the duration from the media asset to the composition so they were the same. Is this functionally any different than what you described?

[Content across 2 display computers begins to run out of sync over time]

8 minutes ago, jfk said:

When the timeline pauses, the clip stops.

Free running basically indicates, once a free running clip is started, if the timeline pauses while the cue is still present, the clip continues.

As a result, free running and looping clips should have a minimum duration to handle the effects and no more. For example, whenever I set a clip to free running, I typically shorten its "duration" to 2-4 seconds.

So if looping is checked but free running is unchecked, it will loop at the end of the media asset as long as the timeline is still running?

8 minutes ago, jfk said:

Possibly. You need to go into Timeline settings and trim the composition duration to the end of the clip and then lock duration.

Thanks, the documentation manual did not explain this in the section on compositions. Changing the composition duration to match the media duration has it looping smoothly now.

 

Time to just wait and see if it falls out of sync or if Morgan's suggestion worked.

 

As for the 5 second rule, can anyone weigh on this? It seems like just a superstition in my corner of the industry or is there some reason I should start all my timeline builds @ 5 seconds instead of 0?

[Content across 2 display computers begins to run out of sync over time]

2 hours ago, wiesemann said:

Looping… Always a big topic..

I would recommend NOT using pause and play cue OR free running. But instead make really long timelines. Like 24 hours if needed. Put the films end to end, copy, repeat.. Do that with stills as well, when working with dissolving stills.

This way you avoid the sync AND the transparency-jump issues at the end of loops.

 

How do you do this practically? If I have a minute long clip and I was to loop it for 24 hours, there must be a much better way than just pasting it into the timeline and lining it up with the last clip 60*24 times, right?

 

20 minutes ago, Morgan Wong said:

try put those videos in composition, and loop/freeruning the composition.

 

I gave this a try, just added the clip by itself to a composition, added the composition to a timeline and added my tween to the timeline, put it as free running and looping, at the end of the media it goes black for a second before it restarts. Is there a step I'm missing here?

 

Also I was advised not to place any of my assets before the 5 second mark in the timeline because it causes 'issues' however no one has told me what issues exactly. It doesn't seem like I can do that in this context. Is it advisable to build all timelines from the 5 second mark or is this a myth?

 

Thanks again for all the help guys.

[Media disappears from stage at pause cue randomly]

6 hours ago, Morgan Wong said:

i always reserve layer 1-4 for control cues & notes.

so you can easily see when will stop or when is next cue/scene.

Interesting, and thanks. This utilization of play and pause cues is very beyond my comprehension. My background is entirely in running live shows cue to cue and this is my first show using any kind of timeline based software. People have told me it is similar to Adobe Premier (in terms of how you build a show) but I've never used anything like that.

 

Are there any videos you could recommend for me to check out that would show a good utilization of all these play and pause cues?

 

Basically the way I designed my show is with all my clips looping and free running with an opacity tween followed by pause cue for a fade in and then another opacity tween and pause cue a second later for fade out. I could imagine how to use a play cue to trigger consecutive assets without having to manually click to them, but the way you have multiple cues stacked together in the image you uploaded is, again, beyond my ability to imagine exactly how it is used and as I previously mentioned it is very difficult to find many WatchOut tutorials, especially any that explain the utilization of timelines to run a show. If you can point me to anything, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks again for your help.

[Content across 2 display computers begins to run out of sync over time]

2 hours ago, RBeddig said:

"free running" means just this: WATCHOUT is not controlling the media position when it is set to free running. It will only re-sync the cue when your timeline runs into the cue again.

Since computers have their individual speed, they will fall out of sync over time since one computer works faster than the other.

Thanks. That makes sense. So if I throw in a play cue to go back to an earlier part of the clip, will it sync back up if I leave it free running?

What exactly is the behaviour if I uncheck free running but still have looping checked?

 

Basically I have an opacity tween (from 0-100%) for the first second and if I take it off free running and put a play cue at the end to go back to the beginning, either it goes black before the opacity tween or I jump to right after the opacity tween and the clip doesn't loop nicely because the image jumps by a second.

 

What I did before was leave it looping and free running with a pause cue 1 second after the opacity tween and then another opacity tween to 0% right after with another pause cue so I could fade it out when needed. What would be the best way to accomplish this while still getting the clips to resync between the 2 display computers?

 

Thank you for your help.

[Content across 2 display computers begins to run out of sync over time]

So I have a piece of video content as shown in the video of the production computer stage, it moves across 3 displays. Display 1 & 2 go to a display computer that controls 2 side pillars of a video wall, Display 3 is going to another display computer with a 4k output to a widescreen LED wall in the centre.

 

The other 2 videos, one of them shows the media when it is first launched and everything is in sync (IMG_1168). The media is free running and looping on a pause cue. After about 30 minutes or so the 2 display computers seem to become increasingly out of sync and I would need to restart the timeline to get them to sync back up. The other video (IMG_1167) shows how the media looks after about 30 minutes and it has fallen out of sync between the 2 display computers.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of what might be causing this and how to fix it?

Thank you kindly for your time and assistance.

[Media disappears from stage at pause cue randomly]

21 minutes ago, Morgan Wong said:

Do you mean the video disappear on the Production PC Stage window?

or Display output?

I can see your "pause" cue are overlapped with the video (red line)

Please try to put the pause cue on different layer, see if it helps.

Thanks, to clarify it was disappearing from the stage window as well as the output display. 

I did as you suggested and it seems to have fixed the issue. I see what you mean about the red lines now. I didn't realize that all the play/pause cues should be in a separate layer. It is my first show using Watchout and I have just been trying to figure it out based off what a couple people have told me.

 

I have one timeline with about 20 layers of like a letters popping up one after the other for a chant and I wasn't able to get through it without at least one or two letters disappearing. I edited the timeline so that all my pause cues are on a separate layer and now I've gone through it 5 times without any issue so thank you, I believe this fixed the issue.

 

It would be great if Watchout had a video tutorial of running at least a basic sample show with cues and stuff. I watched all the videos in the training academy but they were pretty much all different kinds of setups but none actually running a show with a bunch of cues and assets.

 

Anyways, thanks again for the help.

[Media disappears from stage at pause cue randomly]

So I am rehearsing a show right now and I have a handful of auxiliary timelines that are built similar to the one in the uploaded picture. As I've been rehearsing I'm having some of the media randomly disappear from the stage as they hit the pause cue. I can go back and re-trigger and it doesn't happen. It isn't happening consistently at all. I can often run through the entire timeline without any issues but then randomly on a run through a media asset or two will disappear right at the pause cue.

 

I have tried reconsolidating my show, restarting my control machine and display machines, etc. pretty much everything short of rebuilding my entire show. I remember vaguely someone I was working with about 5 years ago having a similar problem and they had to rebuild their entire show. Has anyone experienced this and does anyone have a potential fix or solution?

 

Thanks.