Sydney
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Posts posted by Sydney
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Sorry, should have added:
Production PC - Windows 7 Pro.
Display PC (server) - Windows 8.1
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I have a bespoke Quad output Display PC which was tweaked by the system supplier, connected to my own build (and previously reliable) Production PC.
I have just updated Watchout to latest version on both systems.
The network connection appears to be healthy and when I go online with a new presentation the Production PC connects to the Display PC as normal.
But it's unable to transfer the media files to the new Shows folder. A string of error messages runs on every attempt (see uploaded image). I've created a number of different test presentations but the problem is obviously a network/system setting issue which I just can't unlock?
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Have you tried installing with a BMD HDMI to SDI converter at both ends of the signal path?
In other words:
WO server W7100 card > DP to HDMI active converter > BMD HDMI to SDI converter > long SDI cable run >BMD SDI to HDMI converter > HDMI to display.
Does this hold up?
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end of that aux timeline place the powerDown commands.
Could you explain how to accomplish this placement of the powerDown command?
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Many thanks for the ideas and detailed instructions.
We're using a single standalone WO server/display PC for the show here, would that change your recommendations for a controlled shutdown?
Our timeline is 50 minutes duration which repeats continuously over a six hour day.
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The WO server will be powered on manually each day and a script will start the show running after startup.
The show then runs on repeat for around six hours.
Were installing in a listed historic building therefore the mains power supply has to be shut-off overnight, so no scope for control the server over a network connection. We can't send commands such as powerDown (I can't find any information about this command in the user manual by the way).
The invigilators could just switch the server off at the power supply each night but for obvious reasons I'd prefer to run a controlled shutdown.
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I have a standalone, unattended WO6 server in a show.
Does anyone have tried and tested recommendations for automated daily shutdown?
Windows Task Scheduler?
Or a third-party app such as Wise Auto Shutdown perhaps?
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I have a showSage built four output watch tower that uses display port to hdmi natively out of the card and then use Black magic hdmi to sdi boxes per out put
Works like a charm
The only thing I don't like is hdmi connectors don't lock. But the install is all rack mounted so less chance of movement.
Ben
Have you tried edge blending two or more outputs from this system?
Just wondering if there's any visual sync issue using multiple converters?
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Four more years!
Wonder where we'll be with Windows in 2020?
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At the risk of asking a really dumb question, what are the benefits of running Windows 10 for Watchout 6 over Windows 7 Professional?
Obviously W7Pro will go end of life at some point.
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The Decimator MX-HD Cross converter is similar. Seems to have an 'EDID Manager" built-in. Disconnect the output end, and Windows does not even blink an eye. Decimator is also about half the price of the DAC-70.
A friend/Watchout user recently did a latency test between the DAC-70 and the Decimator. If I recall right, the DAC-70 had 2 frames of delay from original, and the Decimator 3 frames.
Thomas Leong
The Decimator can also be used as a 1 to 4 distribution amplifier by the way.
Thomas - How did you or your friend connect the Watchout display PC to the Decimator?
Did you use an active DP to HDMI adapter?
In terms of latency, I wonder if this might cause an issue if more than one converter was used on a graphics card.
For example on a two screen edge blended projection you might put converters on Display Port output 1 and 2.
If the latency was slightly different on each converter the blend could be visually out of sync.
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For HDMI to SDI conversion there's also this:
http://decimator.com/Products/MiniConverters/MD-HX/MD-HX.html
Comes with an optional software control panel to set internal settings.
Also features a large set of test patterns.
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Based on many years experience of multi-screen video installation from standard definition up to the present day, a coaxial cable always works, a data cable installation works beautifully on some shows and never works properly on others. Nobody want this kind of headache. It may well be that SDI isn't the best option for Watchout based shows for the reasons mentioned above. I'm just posing the question for those who would like to use SDI.
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Okay, so as things stand with graphics cards such as the AMD W7100, what would you recommend for conversion to HD/3G SDI?
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I'm picking up an issue that's been discussed but perhaps not resolved in other posts.
A lot of new DLP installation projectors come with HD/3G SDI input as standard.
This has a number of desirable benefits over data cabling for multi-screen video projection, particularly the simplicity and cost benefit of running long single, coaxial cables to each projector.
Personally I've found the combination of Displayport to DVI active adaptors to long DVI leads, probably with EDID Emulators as well as DVI extender/boosters to be very expensive, cumbersome, hard work to install and far from reliable.
My question therefore - For Watchout users is there a tried and tested solution to convert from say an AMD W7100 card with DP outputs to SDI?
Is SDI and baseband video transmission a fundamental problem for Watchout which needs a data connection to the display?
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I'm working on a show which requires long video cable runs of 25m and beyond.
Rather than breaking out over Cat5/6 I've tried connecting a 40m boosted/active HDMI lead to my display PC's FirePro w600 card with active mini display port to HDMI adaptors. There's no signal to the display but if I connect a professional media player to the same 40m boosted HDMI cable run it works okay.
Is the active HDMI lead incompatible with my active display port to HDMI adaptors, or is there another reason why the long cable isn't working??
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The Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II AMD Radeon 3GB, six output card recommended in your March 2013 pdf is now end of life.
Some new versions of the 7970 have appeared on the market but with lots of overclocking.
Does this present any issues for WATCHOUT users putting together a new display PC?
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Yes,
ECHO Audiofire8 works well with WATCHOUT, Windows 7 up to 8 channels. This seems to be the maximum number of channels achievable in Win7, at the moment.
WATCHOUT relies on the soundcards DirectSound/WDM-driver for this, not ASIO.
/jonas
Is it still the case a eighteen months on from this thread that Watchout relies on DirectSound/WDM driver and doesn't use ASIO ?
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Having a problem with a Display PC which had been working okay but then hangs on startup with the 'show will start shortly' message on screen.
From within the show folder I deleted the media files, the Cache and the CachedFiles.
Then went back on-line with the Production PC.
This updated and replaced the files.
Reboot the Display PC and the show now starts running okay.
Rebbot the Display PC again and this time we're stuck again on the 'show will start shortly' screen.
Any ideas how to fix please??
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Is there anything else which could cause this unpredictable behaviour?
Bearing in mind that the same thing is happening on two separate show systems.
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Hi Jonas, the Echo AudioFire 12 units for both installations are connected to mains power.
Its the internal Firewire 400 PCIe card which doesn't have an onboard molex or sata power connector.
I'm not sure if this has any effect on stability of data streaming ?
We have two seperate shows, both with the same setup and both suffer from intermittent loss of audio.
Yesterday one of the shows lost audio after only five minutes and after a restart was okay for the rest of the day!
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Have just installed two seperate shows, both comprise two edge-blended HD displays and six channels of audio. The audio is an uncompressed, extensible WAV. The show is 55 minutes long and is repeated in the timeline for continous playback for six to eight hours during exhibition opening times.
About once or twice a day the audio disappears, usually after a few hours of running. The picture continues running.
There's no consistent pattern to the exact time this happens, its unpredictable.
We have to restart the show to bring the audio back.
The display PC is connected to an Echo AudioFire 12 via a PCIe Firewire 400 card (without onboard power). In turn the AudioFire outputs six analogue audio outputs to our sound system.
We've ruled out the obvious such as PC overheating and errors in the timeline, so things are staring to point to a possible issue with the Firewire breakout.
Anybody had similar issues, or any thoughts??
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Presumably you mean that the video resolution is higher than 1920x1080?
Are you trying to import a video in to Premiere or transcode a sequence out of Premiere?
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Media files not transferring to Display PC
in WATCHOUT FORUM
Posted
Many thanks for your reply. Yes, I had tried and checked the things that you mention. The WMV file was just for testing purposes, not a final show file.
After a long process of trial and error I found a solution with thanks to WO version 5 after I rolled back my software on the Production and Display PC. Going online with version 5, Windows flashes up a warning message about Watchout being blocked by the Firewall on the Production PC. Clicking accept allows the media file transfer to proceed. The transfer was being blocked even though Watchout was already on the list of apps allowed through the Production PC Firewall. It seems that switching off the Windows Firewall completely on the Production PC is the only way to allow media file transfer.
WO version 6 doesn't seem to prompt the same warning response from Windows and your left scratching your head. Especially as Watchout reports ''Network Error; Display Computer: No Response'.