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What version of WATCHOUT? What type of WATCHOUT Display server? DNS server error is a very unusual error message from WATCHOUT, do you have a picture or screenshot of the message?

WATCHOUT is not generating that message, Windows is sending that message. When Windows generates an error, WATCHOUT passes it along so that WATCHOUT may remain in the foreground. (Otherwise WATCHOUT would need to step aside and allow Windows to take control). This is done to attempt to keep WATCHOUT running past operating system errors. Anyway … https://knowledge.dataton.com/knowledge/interpretation/translation-of-error-codes-in-watchout

and thank you for discovering the problem and solution and sharing it with the forum.

First off, the most common issue with mp4 encoding is bi-directional frames, they should NOT be used. There are other concerns, like do not use transport streams. Have you consulted dataton’s tips on mp4 encoding? (btw h.264 is mp4 video encoding with audio encoding options not supported in mpeg4 containers. Since you should NOT include audio for WATCHOUT, movie files should be video streams only for WATCHOUT, the audio variables are irrelevant.) https://knowledge.dataton.com/knowledge/how-to-encode

No, you will not be able to add software to a WATCHPAX. They are locked for a reason. Changing the configuration of the locked down server defeats the purpose, so it is not permitted.

Although nothing has changed as it relates to WATCHPAX, the comments about other servers under a much older version are out of date. In 2017 WATCHOUT still used WDM for audio. Since then WATCHOUT switched to ASIO for sound interface and up to 24 channels can be sent via Dante Virtual Sound Card on custom servers.

probably need a carriage return to terminate the string. i.e. %power 1$0D of course, production must be online to actually send the string

Add a status indicator (Active / Disabled) to the production software Outputs window. ( Which is simply an online / offline indicator ).

Yes, when operating in production mode, the production station does generate the ArtNet data. The online state (license) is required to enable production computer output.That includes all forms of output - IP strings, DMX, display computer communication. What is confusing is input is always active, regardless of online state. Also confusing, when offline, the production computer will show output status changes in its output window, even though nothing is actually being sent.

WATCHOUT installs codecs to playback .mp4. There should be no need to convert them to .mov container. In fact, for WATCHOUT, .mp4 container is preferred over .mov. On the other hand, your phone may encode the video for smallest file size which may include bi-directional frames. B-frames are not recommended for WATCHOUT, B-frames have been known to cause instability with prolonged playback. So you may wish to re-encode them as an .mp4 without B-frames and without audio for best results.

Not with WATCHOUT, maximum six outputs and those must be on a single graphics card. (multiple gpus to increase output count are not supported by DirectX multi- output).

Dynamically assigned. Ports used will be greater than 1024, but that is all that is predictable. The firewall of concern would be on your production computer. No, this is not the problem. As I said originally, “Licence key not found” during a propagated version change is normal and unrelated to the failure you are experiencing. Nothing has killed your WATCHPAX license. Please move on from the licensing and focus on the real problem. That strictly had to do with an old outdated power up initialization issue and is unrelated to the version change process.

The “License key not found” message is normal when propagating a new version to WATCHPAX. At some point during the process, both the old and new version are loaded. The new version will be denied the key until the old version releases it. In your case, at some point, the new version fails to respond to production. Possible Firewall issue? When upgrading from some older versions, an autostart script setIP command causes issues as the new version fails to process the script comand and reverts to DHCP, triggering the unreachable message. Temporarily revert production and WATCHPAX to DHCP to complete the update.

May not be your issue, but it happened to me once on a computer prepared by someone else … The shortcut that starts WATCHOUT Display has a field called “Start in:”. If that field does not correctly point at the directory where WATCHPOINT.EXE is located, WATCHOUT could still start but the autostart.txt file will not run at all.

How are your movies encoded? I have seen what you describe occur with mpeg encoding that uses bi-directional frames. (which Dataton specifically indicates should not be used.) The Main Concept decoder will play starting frames out of order when B-frames are used. https://knowledge.dataton.com/knowledge/how-to-encode

Yes, the issue is corrected in the most recent release …

Again, the WATCHPAX 60 has nothing to do with the error shown. The error shown is a WATCHOUT Production error related to the motherboard audio coprocessor and its software. So the above suggestions all apply.

Sound from a video file is not recommended and is a known possible cause of a crash. The sound should be exported as a .wav file and the video re-encoded without sound. You can still play sound from the WATCHPAX 60 and turn off sound playback on your production computer.

The error has nothing to do with WATCHPAX 60, the error is a production computer error. As Rainer points out, the error appears to be an issue with the production computer sound co-processor. Do you even need audio playback from the production computer? Possibly turning it off in production is a simple solution.

Create an additional display on each end to force the blends at each end. For these phantom displays, uncheck. Enabled: Use this display that will tell watchout not to attempt to connect to the phantom display. WATCHOUT will still apply the blend for the display, whether it is enabled or not.

not sure what is going wrong with this forum system, the above was sent to me as a post moderation notification, but did not appear in the thread. And the notice is truncated so this is just the beginning of the original post submission. Anyway … It does not quite work that way. The lowest cost way to replace a still without using WATCHOUT Production or WATCHNET to prepare the image would be to use the URL function and store the images to be replaced at a URL via a web server instead of a shared folder. Then a simple aux timeline could be used to refresh the image that appears in WATCHOUT Display via a run timeline command. Alternately WATCHOUT Dynamic Image Server can provide the function using a shared folder, no commands are needed to update the image, it will automatically update as soon as a file is replaced. Only downside would be the requirement for another standard WATCHOUT license to enable the WATCHOUT Dynamic Image Server software.

There is no IP command named Update. More important, what do you expect to occur from an “Update” command? More than likely the function you require is available through a command of another name.

That seems an oversimplification. The i9 processor should not be any different than an i7 from a WATCHOUT perspective.

This might help ... TN 3475 Ektapro Smartlink home build Never diagramed that one. If you want to use the correct connector for the SMARTPAX side, I believe they are still available. However, all my research was done when that connector was provided by AMP. AMP has since been sold, so the old AMP part numbers I have will be superseded by the new owner's part numbers. But here are the AMP part numbers to start from. Dataton SMARTPAX® female device connector -three parts, — receptacle, — pins for receptacle, and — outer squeeze to release (STR) shell AMP STR Female Cord Guard 745002-1, 745002-2 (part numbers for two different cable diameters for the cable strain relief ) AMP STR Receptacle housing 9 pin 207752-3 AMP pins for female 66504-9 There is a bit of a gotcha in the above. The pins require a precise tool for close to perfect crimping or they will never insert correctly into the receptacle. Even when crimping with the proper tool (AMP Pro Crimp PN 58448-2) if you do not get it just right, it will not insert correctly. binned a few for that reason

That is correct, the hardware is in the WATCHMAX so it will not show up in the production computer input hardware settings. The only input devices that will show up in the production computer are input hardware that is physically in the production computer, and this is exactly what you are seeing. When programming, you program the display server input behavior by defining a Live Video object from the Media menu and associating it referencing the WATCHOUT input number defined in the WATCHMAX. Be sure to leave preview set to thumbnail. You only set it to live video when there is capture hardware in the production computer and you are feeding the signal to that capture hardware in the production computer. ;) OK, this seems separate from your input issues and is less clear. Can you provide screen shots of the display configuration that is working and the ones not working? As expected. Your capture card inputs are not in your production computer and therefore will not show up in your production computer.