Mike Fahl

This is normal behavior on the production computer, where the stage window preview drops down in framerate while not running the timeline. Some computers/graphics cards show this more pronounced than others, for some reason. Mike

Yes Yes Yes Mike

As you know, WATCHOUT allows you to synchronize the timeline to timecode. This is fed as a LTC SMPTE/EBU signal through the line level input jack on the computer. Sometimes, it's handy to have an easy way to test this functionality. To this end, I've found this free app a useful tool: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timecode-toolbox/id493560306?mt=8 It's an LTC timecode generator/reader, with programmable timecode and user code data. Easy to use, and does what it says on the tin. Mike

Yes, you can do that. Requires two license keys, though. Mike

Adding media that's located in the same folder as the .watch file (or a subfolder thereof) always gives a relative path, regardless of how the media is added (by using Add Media command, by dragging the media files or the folder containing them to the Media, Stage or Timeline window). Adding media that's located outside the folder containing the .watch file always results in an absolute path. You can fix absolute paths after the fact by doing either of the following: 1. Consolidate the show to a new folder. This moves/copies all media so that relative paths are be used. 2. Manually move the media to the desired sub-folder, then replace the path by using the Find/Replace command in the Media window, replacing the previously absolute path with the new relative path (see the User's Guide for details). Using a relative path to all media makes it easy to move the entire show by just copying the folder containing the .watch file. However, sometimes it's advantageous to use absolute paths during the production process, e.g. to access files on a shared file server, also accessible from other production tools. Mike

I generally import by dragging media or folders with media into the media list, rather than chosing the import command. I find this even faster. Mike

Yes, passive stereo works fine. Using two projectors, with appropriate filters. Infitec recommended. but polarized works fine too. And corresponding glasses of course. See page 78 in the User's Guide for details. Mike

How's those videos encoded? Mike

How's your video encoded? What resolution and frame rate? Is it pre-split?

We expect to release WATCHNET shortly (soon after Infocomm, which is next week). If you want to learn more about this new product right away, check out our documentation page here: http://academy.dataton.com/watchnet The tutorial section contains a number of intro videos that walks you through the program. Enjoy! Mike

To clarify, you need to make a WOB only if you're gping to use WATCHNET to distribute the show to clusters on show-site without the production computer. As an alternative, you may of course bring the production computer on site and download the show directly to the cluster using the production software, as usual. The end result in the cluster will be the same. Mike

This indicates the display computer is crashing out for some reason. What kind of video file are you trying to play when this happens, and how was it encoded? Could you send a sample video file to support@dataton.com for a closer look? (Check with them for FTP access if it is large, or use dropbox if you have one.) Make sure you have no software installed on your display PC that may add codecs of its own, as such software has been known to interfere with WATCHOUT from time to time. Such software sometimes comes with "DVD burners" and other media-related programs. Mike

I recently ran a 4700 wide MPEG-2 in WATCHOUT. The maximum size here may be graphics card dependent. And of course overall performance is computer dependent. Running such a large video as a single file requires a sufficiently fast computer. I would think the same applies to H.264, although playback here is quite a bit more demanding, so it tops out sooner than MPEG-2 in terms of maximum resolution your computer can handle. Mike

What I meant was that even using his own control program, he can still use WATCHOUT's powerDown command to shut down the computers. He wouldn't need to install some third party application just or that purpose. In general, it's a good idea to avoid installing/running other programs concurrent with WATCHOUT, in case they affect performance or stability. Mike

I believe that layer conditions also control the execution of Control cues, so that may actually be possible. Try it, and let us know. Mike

You don't need a special program to power off over the network. WATCHOUT already has a command to do so. No, the "magic packet" needs to be sent individually, once command per machine, as well. There's no global wake-up command that will turn on all machines. Mike

Om display computer, you should only specify the show name - not the path. All shows are located in the Shows folder. But there's a gotcha: under Windows Vista/7, unless you disable UAC, as described in the manual, the Shows folder will be relocated elsewhere by Windows. You should still be able to load the show by name, though. Anyway, you may want to disable UAC, to get the show folder to appear inside the application folder after re-downloading the show. If you do so, don't remember to remove the relocated shows folder, to not unnecessarily waste disk space. Mike

Yes, you need to connect to each display computer individually to power it down. Mike

Yes, the MSC functionality is quite independent from Note inputs, so you should be able to combine both. Mike

If you specifically want to make a copy of the media files, after copying any cues/tasks that refer to them, you could then use the Consolidate command for that purpose. If you want to arrange the copied media files ino a different folder structure, you can subsequently use the Find/Replace command in the Media window to update all access paths accordingly. Mike

You can name the folder, of course. However, most media items get their name form the attached media file. So if you want to change the name, just rename the media file before bringing it into WATCHOUT. For text items, those don't have a separate name, but are named from the text itself. However, the question have come up a couple of times, so perhaps it could make sense to allow a text media item to have an explicit name set. Mike

You may use MSC (MIDI Show Control) to trigger cues and timelines in WATCHOUT. Another option may be to use timecode from your sound system to sync WATCHOUT to an external source (assuming your sound system can output timecode). Mike

You need to use TCP rather than UDP in order to get replies. TCP provides a reliable bi-directional communication path needed for the kind of command/response mechanism you want. UDP is one-way only, and unreliable, so it's not well suited to this communication pattern. Mike

Around this summer. It's a standalone program for controlling WATCHOUT. Mike

Sounds like some kind of permission issue. Is the disk full? Have you turned off UAC as descrived in the manual/release notes? Mike