RBeddig

A proven solution is also KISSBOX. http://kiss-box.nl/product/io3cc-3-slot-io-cardframe/ We've used the DI8DC card for digital inputs to trigger 60 different show states in a fixed installation. The KISSBOX will send Artnet which can be used directly in WATCHOUT.

According to our tests the WATCHPAX 4 outputs are frame locked. We have tested this with 4x 1080p50/60 on 4 LED processors. WATCHPAX 4 does of course not support any cross server sync. BUT, I doubt, that you will be able to play out 4x 4K@60fps with WATCHPAX 4. The unit uses two SATA-3 SSDs in RAID 0 configuration. We have seen playouts of 4x 4K (UHD)@30fps but not at 60fps. Even a large 19" system can run into problems here since the FirePro graphic cards do not support 4x 4K@60fps. You can usually use two or three outputs with that resolution but not all of the outputs. It's related to the internal design of the graphic cards and the graphic card drivers.

What do you want to achieve? Run the user interface on the same computer as the WATCHNET server? For the normal operation as a GUI (panel) server, you do not need to log into WATCHNET locally. Only the browsers which you use to control the installation have to connect to the WATCHNET server and this can be done by pointing the URL directly to the correct panel. WATCHNET can be started through the autostart folder of Windows.

Hi, An affordable solution could be the Roland UA-1010 OctaCapture. We are using this in our Academy showroom and it works well with 8 discrete outputs. Another option is right on the doorstep with the next version of WATCHOUT - version 6.2. This will allow you to use up to 24 channels through ASIO. Best regards, Rainer Beddig

For less latency you could use Datapath cards. We measured slightly less than 2 frames with progressive HD-SDI (720p50/60) signals. There are cheaper LC cards now which should show the same latency, though not tested yet. BR Rainer Beddig

Hi, Starting the show from WATCHMAKER (production software) and then just logging out leaves the display computer without a control instance. Try to start the display computer using a startup script. In this case the display computer can load the show and control itself. This will probably solve your issue. BR Rainer

The list is there: Stage > View Stage List.... Here you can select all displays by name. One tip: First define 5 calibration points and align those to the real world, then add the 6th point. Nothing will move before the 6th point is defined. The positioning of a 3D object depends of the internal 0 in model space. It can be influenced on the general tab of the 3D Model Cue (Anchor Position within Model).

You can install Dante Virtual Soundcard on a WATCHOUT server if the server is not locked as is the case with WATCHMAX / WATCHPAX. I tried it on our own builds with WATCHOUT 6.1.6 and it worked fine. Dante supports 8 channels in WDM mode which you would need in this case.

Hi, You can not use OSC to control WATCHOUT but UDP can be used to control the programming software WATCHMAKER in a WATCHOUT setup. This is usually what you would like to control in a live show environment. You need to enable this under preferences.

Hi, The best option to control WATCHMAKER (the production software) would be to use WATCHNET since this is designed to retrieve a lot of information automatically. You can not use Dante Virtual Soundcard on a WATCHPAX since the partition holding Windows 7 embedded is locked. It works on standard computer hardware with unlocked OS.

We use a couple of Korg nano KONTROL which are handy and do not consume much space. The newer version nano KONTROL 2 uses MIDI control changes for the push buttons as well. One has to be aware but it is not a problem when using MIDI. I also bought an AKAI APC mini which is still compact but offers more push buttons. As Jim stated all MIDI devices which are detected by Windows should work with WATCHOUT. I would though focus on the USB connector a bit. We had some problems in the past with USB mini-B cables and our Korg nano units. The physical connection was not that tight and it could happen that pulling the cable a bit unintentionally could make MIDI disappear. Once this happens you have to close WATCHMAKER and open it again to reconnect the MIDI inputs. Units using the larger USB type B connector are more reliable in this aspect. If you need to control two or more WATCHMAKER computers in sync (e.g. with a full backup system) you should look at DMX/ArtNet devices. There are a few small format lighting controllers available. Most if not all of those use DMX which makes an additional DMX-ArtNet converter necessary.

Are you using a script file to load the show at the beginning and run the INTRO timeline? How do the strings look like you send from your Alcorn controller? I've just tried to simulate your issue but don't see any issues. Have you tried to send the control commands through a Telnet program instead of the Alcorn controller? This gives you valuable feedback when trouble shooting your system. If you do not succeed you can send me the show file without your media off-forum.

Very difficult to answer without knowing: which version of WATCHOUT are you using? how does your project file look like? what are you using to control WATCHOUT? which strings are you sending from your control unit? It is rather easy to control a WATCHOUT cluster through an external control system and it should not introduce any delays. I assume that the control software sends authenticate 1 when establishing the connection!? Does the controller keep the connection open or does it close the connection starting the first show? The best way would be to keep the connection open. If not the controller needs to send authenticate 1 again when it reconnects to the WATCHOUT cluster.

Hello, In WATCHMAX, WATCHPAX or servers built by Dataton Premium Partners for local markets all cores are normally turned on. This is the default setting of BIOS/UEFI. WATCHOUT has no influence over this and can only use what BIOS and Windows are offering. You can use all cores (virtual and real ones) and WATCHOUT will make use of it. We normally use 6-core and 8-core CPUs in our builds. Regarding network switches the rule of thumb is to use a dumb switch of a known brand. WATCHOUT uses TCP and UDP and all support issues regarding networks can normally be solved by swapping a "smart" or managed switch with an unmanaged switch without any user interface and settings. Anything blocking certain ports, UDP broadcast messages, firewalls,... can interrupt the communication between WATCHOUT computers. If you're looking for 10Gbit switches the chances to find unmanaged switches is probably very low. In this case you have to use the gui of the switch and make sure manually that the switch does not block broadcasts, UDP, etc.

Are you doing softedge projection or do you use "seamless" LCD displays or do you play on an LED using several LED controllers/processors? The tearing is vertically between the screens?

Can you tell us something about your computers? CPU, graphic card, Windows version,....? What sort of displays are you using? Are you using a sync board? Are the computers tweaked according to the list issued by Dataton?

We are not using Windows 10 yet since it introduces too many problems still. The error message points into the direction that the render engine can't render the files inside WATCHOUT. We had a situation with Windows 7 for a long time which looks related. In Windows 7 the Windows Media Center took control over certain codecs and blocked WATCHOUT from using them. That's why the tweaking list tells you to disable this function. I assume that there is an internal media playback software on your device which steals the codec thus preventing WATCHOUT to render it in the stage window.

Unfortunately (and due to the fact that most people use the stage as a 2D stage and would probably get really confused by a rotation using the mouse) you can't use the mouse for this. You can though look into the 3D stage from left (CTRL+Shift+L), top (CTRL+Shift+T) or front (CTRL+Shift+F).

Hi Quim, Pre-split always has the problem that you need to be sure about the real overlap on site. According to my latest experiences MPEG-2 will work better than H.264. Another option might be WMV. A client has an installation with WATCHPAX 2 driving two 1920x1080 monitors each and he used the following settings: *** Video Track Parameters *** - Format: Windows Media Video 9 (VC1) Advanced Profile - Size: 1.11 GiB - FourCC: WVC1 - Track number(s): 2 - Bitrate: Max.: --- Average: 50.0 Mbps Min.: --- Average: 25.000 - Bitrate mode: Constant - Encoding profile: Advanced@L3 - Width (Pixel number): 1920 - Height (Pixel number): 1080 - Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - Chroma subsampling format: YUV 4:2:0 - Interlacing: Progressive - Additional Parameters: Bits/(Pixel*Frame) ratio: 0.965 This works ok. Best Regards, Rainer

Hi Quim, I would at least try it using chunks since the cpu inside Watchpax 2 is not the strongest and chunks would make use of more than one core. Keep the data size and size of ssd in mind! If you have a sample file I could maybe try it on our Watchpax 2 for you - depending on my availability in the office. Contact me off forum for this. Best Regards, Rainer

When I get stuck with some control codes I always use a Telnet program, e.g. Hyperterminal, Putty,... to check the communication to the device. I do this from the production computer to see that the communication is not blocked somewhere in the system. Once the commands work from the Telnet program I use the same from WATCHOUT and usually I can make it work this way. The benefit of using a Telnet program is that you can also see the responses sent from the device you're trying to control. This sometimes gives you valuable hints too.

Have you tried to just let it run until the progress bar on the production computer has finished? We have seen this message too but normally the upgrade will work fine.

Hi Thomas, I used a production notebook with Win7 and basic tweaking only (just some important things turned off) and a small fully tweaked i7 server as well as a WATCHPAX 4 (still 6.1.5). I had no issues sending DMX and I use this feature always in our Academy trainings. The universe numbering can be a bit confusing. WATCHOUT and some other products count from 0...511 while some other manufacturers count from 1...512. The 0...511 approach is the one used by programmers and actually reflects the Art-Net standard. Art-Net counts from 0. The issue might also be the network setting itself. I'm not following the standard by using Art-Net in our normal class-C network 192.168.x.x / 255.255.255.0. This works when I send Art-Net to our KISSBOX converter and then into a DMX network. When you want to talk to a "real" Art-Net device, e.g. some lighting controllers, you would most probably have to use the class-A network addressing of the ArtNet standard, which is either 2.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x /255.0.0.0 But, the use of class-A addressing is only allowed within a closed network. It is important to make sure that Art-Net data is not routed onto the Internet. See http://www.artisticlicence.com/WebSiteMaster/User%20Guides/art-net.pdf p.8 for more details. A nice tool to analyse Art-Net is "ArtNetominator". We use this from time to time to check whether we are sending on the expected universe or not. BR Rainer