jfk
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Posts posted by jfk
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edits in gray
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From what I can tell:
1-Production Computer connects to the Network switcher via Ethernet Cable.
2-Network switcher then connects to the Watchpax2 via Ethernet Cable.
3-WatchPax2 connects to the 12kw Projectors (display device) via an Adapter Mini DP-DVI Female out of the “Mini Display Port”.
4-Mini DP-DVI adapter then to cable to the projector
all that is correct ...
Both of the time we use a doubled, stacked projectors for a converged single image. Does this mean we would use the second Mini Display Port and Mini DP-DVI adapter for the second projector?
Yes, that would be preferred.
I see people converge the two images using a grid to line-up the pattern as one. Can you converge the grid patterns using Watchout
Yes, using two outputs would provide you the ability to independently converge
each projector using WATCHOUT's geometry control.
You therefore create a display object (rectangle on the stage) for each projector.
Use Stage Tiers to create a new tier, and then place one projector on each of your two tiers
at the exact same stage co-ordinates. (maybe name the displays top and bottom for clarity)
Overlapped stage displays (projectors) only blend when they are on the same tier.
So for double stacked single converged projectors you want to place each on its own tier.
(If both were one the same tier, each would run at 50% opacity to create an un-needed blend.
)or is this done in projector setup?
Thank you,
DonD
If the projector setup provides that function, that is an alternate option.
Should you choose to use a projector's geometry functions instead of WATCHOUT's,
then I would recommend using a single WATCHPAX output / single stage display object
and a 1x2 DVI splitter / distribution amp to feed the two converged projectors.
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First off, WATCHOUT does not care about the format of the input signal.
There is nothing inherent in WATCHOUT that would prevent this.
But that is not the issue, the issue is the signal type and capture hardware / driver, not WATCHOUT.
Yes, WATCHOUT does support RGB 4:4:4 input.
The DataPath VisionRGB E1 and E2 (SL DVI) bothprovide that type of signal to WATCHOUT without any issues.
Somebody correct me here, but by definition, is not SDI limited to YUV?
I have never heard of RGB signals over SDI.
So the conversion from your computer to SDI is the cause of your confusion,
what you observe is normal for SDI signals.
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With a properly prepared PC, you will not lose anything with Windows 8.1
In fact, according to AMD, when attempting to drive multiple 4k displays,
you will gain additional capacity with Windows 8.1+
While we have not confirmed that AMD claim just yet,
we are working with AMD support to verify their claims
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Hi gents, just to add my two cents regarding Watchout 5 and Mac.
We have successfully run many shows using our MacBook Pro Retinas's as display machines, with absolutely no problems, in fact, watchout runs so well on our macs, that we are about to purchase the new Mac Pro's as our primary display computers.
That has a considerable amount to do with the content.
I suspect you primarliy perform video rolls and
do not overly stress with tweens, masking, keying, etc.
i.e. the GPU in the laptop has much lower limits than a dedicated GPU graphics card.
As long as you stay within those limits, you will be fine.
But it is naive to think an onboard low power mobile GPU can perform equally to a full blown graphics card
in all content situations.
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OK,
thank you, I'll try.
But for the wake-up, I presume that there is no command.
sure, there is an IT industry standard command for Wake On LAN.
no watchout command, because obviously watchout is not running
I must make a wake on lan by calling the mac address of each watchpax?
with a Magic Packet, yes. Wake On LAN is a computer industry standard.
There is plenty of documentation online on the operation of Wake On LAN.
As far as obtaining the MAC address, cluster protocol includes a query to obtain that.
for more details, see this post -- IP power down
is it ok like this or must I configure something in the start-up script?
That is a vague question. The WATCHPAX will power up into its logo screen.
Since you have a control system sending the Wake On LAN,
then it would make sense for the control system to tell it what to do next,
so then no need for startup script.
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Usually see that error when production is open or had been connected.
Try rebooting the WATCHPAX with no production system and retest.
Problem should go away.
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Hi all
What are the limitations regarding the "computer screen" feature?
resolutions?
Pretty sure the resolution limit is determined by the source hardware and the VNC server software on that hardware.
number of screens?
multiple screens are supported, again, the server software chosen provides the limits.
Would it be possible to add 2 screens from 1 computer,
Yes.
if there for instance is 2 detected screens in display properties?
maybe it doesnt work that way at all, but its a long shot.
The other way is capture card, any news on that scene?
Im looking to get 12 inputs into 3 machines, so 4 inputs on each.
been looking at the datapath vision card with 2 dvi in.
With the proper motherboard, two DataPatch VisionRGB E2 will work.
We have successfully tested three of those cards with WATCHOUT.
Since we are not latency sensitive at this particular job, maybe there is another card that can do the same job but for a cheaper price tag?
Latency per se is not so much an issue with Remote Computer (VNC).
Frame rate is. It is not for full motion content. Great for static screens.
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The Club 3D Multi Stream Transport (MST) Hub DisplayPort 1-3
we have tested with a FirePro W7000 did work, with a very important caveat.
It was not completely stable.
It would be inconsistent on activating all outputs through boot cycles.
Most of the times it worked as expected - but not all the time.
Sometimes an output would randomly fail to appear.
So does it work - yes, sort of. It is reliable - no, not yet.
caveat emptor
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Hi Jonas!
Thank you for your answer.
I am brand new to Watchpax2. And my last encounter with Dataton dates from the times when slideprojection was en vogue.
I am planning an installation with 8 full HD displays. Fed by 4 Watchpax 2.
Every out from the Watchpax needs to feed one display, audio included.
Each WATCHPAX has a stereo audio output via a mini-jack.
That is all the audio a WATCHPAX provides.
Some may see this as one of the WATCHPAX weaknesses, as there are no
other options for audio output short of using a standard PC / license as a dedicated audio server.
And the whole resolution of all displays also must be fed by the Watchpaxes.
I am not sure what that means. Each WATCHPAX 2 is capable of feeding its individual outputs at full resolution.
What about a scenario where I have 8 films running with audio.
How can I get the 8 audio-streams out of the watchpaxes to deliver them to single speakers localy, bunchned blasting only in
front of one display?
Could you please advise?
Thank you!
Well, with four WATCHPAX you have a total of eight discrete outputs, so you should be good to go.
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Hi
I'm facing a problem, which is probably workflow/user generated. I create a new task with a live video input. I fade it up from zero to e.g. 1 second, and then pause it, with a Pause action in the timeline. When I continue playback, I have placed control cue, which makes the cursor jump to zero, and the pause. The problem is when the users open the show, all the tasks are set to stop, and I know it's done so, so none of the tasks contribute to the show. Until they are activated and played out. What we see is, that when you fade up a live video signal, and the timeline is set to "stop", the fade up flickers and lags, and sometime just jump to a 100%.
Exactly, The aux timelines can not go from stop (nothing loaded) to complete load in 0 time.
In the case of a live video input you can probably work around that by
keeping the live video input active, but hidden.
The simplest way to do that is to place a live video cue
in a STANDBY LAYER the full length of the main timeline.
Then when you run the aux cue the video input signal is already established
because standby content is always loaded, including when standby is off.
So then the aux timeline is just revealing it.
Of course, if you are using standby, there are other tricks.
Is there a method, e.g. starting the fade up one second later, so you don't experience these issues, when you start up a new show?
Yes, the one you mention next ...
I have to mention, that when it have played out the first time, the task is set to pause at zero, and then it works fine from there.
That is a good way to address that.
Use control cues from the timeline with the first cue to set all the aux tasks to pause right up front.
There is a limit to the number you can "pre-cue" like that before something chokes,
trial and error to determine the threshold.
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Hi
I'm facing some issues using HDMI output's from Watchout. I'll leave the long technical explanation out, since it's irrelevant here.
The system I work with, uses a Decklink Quad HDSI board for live video input. Since the video card also have 4 output channels, my question is, if anyone have tried to use Watchout with that configuration?
They will not work, those BMD Decklink cards / outputs do not support Microsft DirectX 3D acceleration
on the output side, which is an absolute requirement for WATCHOUT.
The system is configured with an AMD Firepro W9000 as the output card, but that only delivers HDMI, and I don't want to convert HDMI to HDSDI.
No one does, but that is the only option to get to HD-SDI today.
There are no DirectX 3D accelerated GPUs with native HD-SDI output available today.
Rumour has it AMD is working on a DirectX 3D capable GPU with HDbaseT outputs,
and a variety of signal types, including SDI, would be made available for the receiver side.
But I would not hold your breath waiting for that.
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Hi,
So what would you recommend to change in this setup?
Motherboard, processor, and four channel memory (4 ch memory must be supported by the motherboard / cpu).
A bit of overkill,
but an x79 based motherboard with an i7 Extreme Edition cpu and appropriate memory should do the trick.
Also, SSD speed / throughput is important, capacity is irrelevant to performance -
sustained throughput is what matters,
evaluate your current SSD choice from that perspective.
The gpu is not much of a factor as it relates to movie decoding, so it should be fine.
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Hi,
I've been trying to set up a projection and blend it with 4 projectors. The playback is laggy. What can be the problem? I'm using computer with spec:
i7 3770K
8 GB RAM
Radeom R9 290
SSD hard drive 32 Gb
I'm using windows 8 (due to other on-site requirements).
I think that this setup is strong enough to cope with four projectors, but lag is big, wideo can stop for a second. What can be wrong with it?
I would disagree.
Of course, encoding is the big variable, both codec, and codec settings can have a big impact on this.
but for encoding to best quality using Dataton's recommendations,
I would not expect four simultaneous 1080p30 decodes on that platform.
When selling hardware for a project with that spec,
we would not recommend a mid-range performer like your spec.
Three is more realistic for that spec.
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More than likely you are experiencing a network issue related to loss of UDP traffic,
which is consistent with your trouble description.
Reference the third post in the topic Routed Watchout? for a possible solution.
If the UDP loss is only between your production and display (which is the most common issue),
quit WATCHOUT and open WATCHOUT remote to run the show, it will most likely work fine.
If the show is already loaded, be sure to force a reload from WATCHOUT Remote for correct results.
Oh, and the 100mbit switch (more likely a hub) is probably not an issue.
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When using the Watchnet, you have to consolidate your watchout project and wrap it as a zip/wob file to load it in to watchnet.
You do not 'have to'.
More like an alternate option for uploading a show to a cluster.
If you never make a .wob file, WATCHNET will still work the same,
as noted above, you will just use watchmaker to upload shows and changes.
so more like ...
When using the Watchnet, you have to consolidate your watchout project and wrap it as a zip/wob file
if you wish to use watchnet to upload it to displays. instead of the production computer -- either / or.
If I make a correction on the watchout-file, or a media-file, will I then have to do all this again?
/Kasper
Short answer is yes, at least for now.
But, I thought I heard that when the next release of watchmaker
adds an export .wob file function,
some kind of incremental .wob file for updates will be made available
to eliminate having to move the entire project for small changes.
Either I misunderstand that,
or more likely the Linköping crew are mum about unreleased function
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Hi, we are producing a show on Watchout version 4 which will be saved and transfered to Version 5
What process would work well for maintaining geometry and file charastics properly?
I've found during my first attempt images are blurred
Could it be because I don't have my KEY yet (in the mail)
many Thanks
Rob
From what you describe, it sounds like you are referring to images in the
WATCHOUT Production (watchmaker) Preview Window.
I suspect you also experienced error messages upon opening the file in v5,
regarding missing media files.
Did you consolidate your v4 show in v4 prior to transferring it to v5?
This corrects all media file links for safe transfer.
Also, prior to consolidation, you must be able to open the file with no error messages.
Otherwise, the same errors will occur in v5.
Degraded preview of still images will occur
when the media file is not where it is supposed to be (aka not found),
as watchmaker is unable to cache the original image for preview,
and has dropped back to using the thumbnail from the .watch file.
Correct the broken media links and your preview quality will be restored.
BTW This is not about v4 to v5 upgrade of an existing show,
it is about safely moving a show file and all of its media items.
(the .wob file format available in the next release of WATCHOUT
will make this even easier)
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Please turn off Windows Media Center.
This is a known issue and is clearly stated in the compuer preperation tweaking lists found in the Technical Notes at the top of this forum.
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Is the "small window to write precision cordinate of points" a dialog?
You can select a point and hit enter to open a dialog for numerically adding the values
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Regular audio files render a graphic of the waveform in the cue.
Occasionally run across files that have problems with that rendering process.
This does not always work, but is worth a try ...
Try bringing the audio file into WATCHOUT as a media proxy, which skips the waveform rendering.
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Thanks JFK. I was looking for a way to do it from production computer based on MIDI inputs or something.
But i can work with TCP : D
Thanks,
Rob
You can do it with MIDI inputs. Use the basic concepts in this method:
http://forum.dataton.com/topic/1318-set-input-value-via-timeline/?p=5235
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I also need to understand better the sintax on the Trigger command line, in ths task window.
Have you read the WATCHOUT 5.2 User Guide,
Chapter 12, Tasks and Expressions, starting on page 209 ?
Perhaps you could be a little more specific on your areas of uncertainty?
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What does "... map MIDI controllers ..." mean?
The MIDI input learn capability typically makes it pretty easy to link a WATCHOUT input object to a specific action on a MIDI device.
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Sorry for the vague question JFK - i guess i simply don't understand how to use layerconditions.
What i take from your response is that they will respond to TCP commands - is that correct?
Correct
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Hi Everyone,
I have read the watchout manual on the topic, but i still cannot seem to understand how to get conditional layers to work.
I am assuming these aren't exclusively for use with pickups etc, and can be used with control inputs etc?
IP control, yes.
Any further advice or guidance regarding setup / usage would be brilliant.
Thanks,
Rob
Bit of a vague question. Let's start with what is documented in the User's Guide.
the IP control command is enableLayerCond, which is used to turn conditional layers on or off [page 265].
Granted, combining the state of all 32 conditions into a single value (page 255)
puts some of the work on your control system.
i.e. you can not send a simple command that only affects one condition.
You must send the desired state of all 32 conditions just to change one of them.
so the control system must maintain the status of all conditions
and combine them into the single value needed by the command.
Can you re-phrase your question from that baseline?
Also, the behavuor of the Preferences - Condition tab can be confusing.
Any condition you check on that page becomes a 'default' ON condition.
When any conditions are enabled in preferences,
and you send a enableLayerCond 0,
it will NOT turn them all off.
Instead, it will leave on any condition enabled in the preferences Condition tab.
So if you want all to really go off when enableLayerCond 0 is sent,
they must also be all off on the preferences condition tab.
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Live Input Freezes.
in WATCHOUT FORUM
Posted
Either take the opacity down to only 3%, or,
if you are not using standby, place a live video input cue the length of the timeline on a standby layer.
Reference: Datapath Input Freeze