jfk
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Posts posted by jfk
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11 minutes ago, Romanof said:
Hey jfk,
First, thank you for your answer,
Concerning the part of the codec used, we use only HAP and some HAP alpha files, so i guess the problem don't come from this part, right ?
Agreed.
11 minutes ago, Romanof said:Concerning the VNC part you right, i will try to delete it and use the vnc embeded but why that's work well on my producer backup wich have also tightvnc.
You can try. My experience has been that uninstalling does not always clear all remnants. Hopefully you archived your tuned Windows install prior to adding VNC. If not, you may consider starting the tuning process from scratch and archiving accordingly
11 minutes ago, Romanof said:For the watchdog log, i see nothing inside ( on the producer side ), do i need to look inside the display side log ?
Yes. That is the only place you may find clues to why watchpoint is failing.
11 minutes ago, Romanof said:Do you think is possible to have something wrong in my encoding show which can create a conflict on some computer ? like play severals aux timelines in same times, severals trigger, etc....
highly unlikely
Something is taking watchpoint down. So many potential reasons. Things as basic as the OS indexing a drive in the background, checking for updates in the background, etc.
A good way to determine if it is OS tuning or media would be to attempt to duplicate on a WATCHPAX.
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1 hour ago, Romanof said:
Hello everyone,
We are having issues with watchout right now and we start arriving at the edge of our knowledge…
Basically, we are getting brief random “connection lost”, “unknown commands”,"No response" or also "dissapeared" errors, that forces us to go ONFFLINE/ONLINE during the day like this picture.
It happens randomly, twice or three a day on different display each time.
The different avenues we look(ed) at :
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2 separate network 1Gb/10Gb
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We got rid of the 10GB and kept only the other one, the issue continues
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We got rid of the 10GB and kept only the other one, the issue continues
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VNC
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We are using Tight VNC on producers to calibrate over Wifi
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We know that the community encourages not to use VNC service other that Watchout but use really often this method with others kit without any problem. So i'm pretty sure the problem don't com from that.
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We are using Tight VNC on producers to calibrate over Wifi
For the moment i run the show with a producer backup with exactly the same spec and there is no issue since 3 days. So i'm wondering what's happen with my producer main.
I know that this problem is not necessarily due to a network problem and the error messages can be misleading so i try to looking inside the .log file but i don't understand what i see, so may be there is a clue inside this message you can help me to understand.
Attached the WATCHMAKER.log file
The differents messages seem's not coming from this issue because it's not at the same time but may be i'm wrong.
My next step to try to fixe that is to flash the OS.
Thank you very much at all the community
Thank's
First, i dispute your dismissal of VNC. I will bet no other product you have run uses the archaic DirectX 3D multi-output rendering method used by WATCHOUT. Vnc and rendering are interrelated. Furthermore, WATCHOUT uses DirectX 9, which almost no one else still uses. Any observations with other product likely mean nothing as it relates to WATCHOUT.
Just the same, it is probably something else. My best guess is you are seeing watchpoint crashes with watchdog reset. The most common cause of watchpoint crash is incorrectly encoded mpeg (AVC / mpeg 4 / h.264). unless you are expert at codec settings minutiae, avoid mpeg (AVC / mpeg 4 / h.264). If settings are wrong, mpeg movies will play, but become time bombs, eventually crashing the system. Default encoder settings for mpeg will be the wrong settings. 'Best' encoder settings for mpeg will be wrong (and best is a misnomer, multiple choices can provide the same quality depending on other settings).
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2 separate network 1Gb/10Gb
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Not sure where to start. Best accomplished in cluster mode (ie turn off production and control display). In its simplest form, the IP command to play is
run
and the rewind is
gotoTime 0
or possibly
reset
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1 hour ago, Benoit said:
You can always use the control protocol.
In the perference menu, control tab, check "production computer control UDP".
Create a string output with the following settings: Network port / address: 127.0.0.1 / Port number : 3040 / Protocol UDP
Then you can drop this output in a timeline and write "enableLayerCond 1$0D" in the data to send.
So when you play the timeline the cue will make the producer to speak to himself to enable the condition 1.
Hope this help.
Benoit
Yes, that is true. i went there first too. Then i discovered the timecodeMode command is not available in watchmaker.
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18 minutes ago, davidh said:
Hi
Looking for a way to quickly turn on/off timecode, during a show I dont want to enter preferences during a show to turn it on/off.
is there a way to do that?
From watchmaker - no.
Yes, in cluster mode. As watchmaker was never intended as a show controller, it lacks many show control features that are available in cluster mode. watchmaker is a composition assembly / editing tool.
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2 hours ago, qqweii said:
How to enable the command line directive Nologo, thank you😁
Please visit the link provided above. Instructions on how to enable NoLogo are there. If you need information on how to prepare command line option, it is in the WATCHOUT User Guide on the previous page (accessed from the link at the bottom … ← D. Command Line Options)
2 hours ago, qqweii said:Before installing 6.4 without any settings, update it will not appear logo
That is simply incorrect. Possibly you have an old shortcut with the modification already in place or whatever. Please consult your Dataton partner for further assistance.
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It is normal for the logo screen to appear during update.
If it was not appearing in an older version, then someone enabled the optional command line instruction -NoLogo. When you updated versions, you lost the optional switch.
reference: https://www.dataton.com/watchout-users-guide/appendix/d-command-line-options/display-software
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5 hours ago, artboy said:
I have a lot of experience that show files do not work properly during version migration.
The content that was normally played does not work after the update (of course, it works normally when you create and import a new show)
There is also an experience that the queue made does not work.
In particular, 5>6 had more frequent problems
I don't migrate as much as I canIf necessary, the version upgrade is performed by recreating the show by hand
Seems an example of “your milage may vary”. I am not sure what you have experienced but that is not always the case. I have a fair amount of experience migrating shows from old versions, including moving shows from v4 to v6 and shows from v5 to v6. While i have observed issues with audio cues - video, stills and tween animation have been trouble free. In almost every case the migration included display upgrades that increased display resolution at the same time. To accomodate increased resolution i would move the original content to a different stage area where virtual displays at the original resolution were added. Then the virtual displays were scaled to the higher resolution new displays. That technique maintains original programming while providing access to the new resolution for new content.
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Nine times out of ten, the network error message you observe is NOT a network issue. The significant part of that message is “… Connection lost…”. While a network error is one possible explanation for a lost connection, far more common is the WATCHOUT Display software (watchpoint) has crashed and stopped communicating, resulting in connection lost.
So, when you see this message, observe what is occurring in WATCHOUT Display (watchpoint) to determine the more likely cause. If watchpoint is displaying its logo screen, that most likely means it has crashed and the monitoring part of watchpoint (aka watchdog) has restarted the watchpoint software.
If you determine watchpoint has crashed / restarted, forget production and its meaningless message and focus on watchpoint and the possible causes for its crash.
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You asked for info on WATCHPAX. WATCHMAX are not available in the North American market so i do not track them.
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22 minutes ago, Ali Serdar Gulseren said:
To request from local Dataton partner. It would be nice to have a web page where we can follow the latest update image (ISO-file) versions of all WATCHPAX.
This is not an official Dataton web page, it is one i maintain personally for that purpose.
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WATCHOUT 6.7.2 is in public release: Dataton WATCHOUT current version
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Check the watchpoint audio output menu to confirm the audio is correctly assigned to the 2i2.
Switching from v5 to v6 may break audio cues, they may lose their assignment to a server. It is best to update all audio cues from the old ‘assign by an icon on the stage’ to the newer ‘assign by server name’.
I also encountered a v5 system that when updated would not play some of its wav files (that worked in 5). Opening them in an audio editor and resaving them cleaned that up.
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14 minutes ago, Jacques Collin said:
Thank you Jim, Would ASIO4ALL be an alternative? I will look into WASAPI.
Very possibly yes. Won’t hurt to try . Given a choice, i would pick ASIO.
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The audio driver should come from the entity providing the audio hardware. In the case of motherboard audio, then the motherboard vendor. If this is not possible, i believe there maybe generic WASAPI drivers that may do the trick. Hopefully someone can assist with a source for that.
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WATCHOUT prior to v6.2 uses DirectX WDM for audio. WATCHOUT 6.2+ changes to ASIO or WASAPI for audio. Most likely you will need to find a different / appropriate ASIO or WASAPI driver for audio to function properly.
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7 hours ago, Jacques Collin said:
… By the way Installation of 6.7.1 does not complete, thus the 6.6.7.
fyi This is now a known issue with some variants of Window 7. WATCHOUT 6.7.2 will correct this issue.
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It is pretty tough to beat the Notebook offered by Show*Sage. They have optimized so many details, for example, the keyboard has a separate number pad to take full advantage of WATCHOUT shortcuts. And more. https://www.showsage.com/beta/docs/workstation_guide.pdf
More important, they have performed the tuning and critical confirmation testing. And should anything go awry, they support the notebook / WATCHOUT combination. Put a price on that
I am sure the AMD processors will work fine. The few users who have gone that route have not reported any issues. On the other hand, that is a small sample size. The overwhelming majority of WATCHOUT server cpu s in the field are Intel based.
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Society of Motion Picture and Televison Engineers — SMPTE
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The servers rely on UDP timing data from the master to maintain synchronisation with each other. Possibly something is disrupting those transmissions?
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On 9/14/2022 at 5:23 PM, jaygrovr said:
... They both have link lights as soon as the power is turned on. ....
OK, that indicates
- a valid network cable / hardware / electrical connection
- Powered off, may indicate ready for Wake-On-LAN.
It does not tell you if or when the OS driver is loaded and initialized.
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7 minutes ago, dunnetahl said:
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? ...
Correct. And this is a situation where the duration may exceed the clip length as it will keep lopping for any duration.
7 minutes ago, dunnetahl said: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?
I was answering that one when this post appeared
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1 hour ago, dunnetahl said:
... 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?...
It is an oversimplification of a precaution. If media starts at 0.000 AND the timeline is stopped, when you send it a play it will not have the media loaded as the auxiliary timeline is not in memory / stopped. It will transition from stop to play as commanded, but since no media is loaded, it will stumble while it tries to catch up. Creating that empty space at the beginning provides time for media to load. There are other ways, however.
If you want to set media at 0 time, you must first tell the auxiliary timeline to Pause, which will cause it to activate and load media but not start playing. Then when you send it a play it will work as expected. You can have multiple auxiliary timelines in pause, ready to fire on cue, but there are limits determined by memory, content loaded, etc.
Personally, I am completely against using auxiliary timelines in a scripted show that always follows the same sequence. And I blame the Dataton academy for unintentionally sending people down that path
. For most scripted events, one timeline is the best way to go.
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1 hour ago, dunnetahl said:
... What exactly is the behaviour if I uncheck free running but still have looping checked? ...
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.
1 hour ago, dunnetahl said:... 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?...
Possibly. You need to go into Timeline settings and trim the composition duration to the end of the clip and then lock duration.
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Network error: Display computer : Connection lost/No response/Dissapeared
in WATCHOUT FORUM
Posted
To be clear, I do not suspect any network issues. Identify the watchpoint station that is crashing in your current scenario and substitute the WATCHPAX in that position. Change nothing else. The idea is to attempt to duplicate the crashing on the substituted WATCHPAX in the same manner as you are currently observing.