Thomas Leong

Sounds like you are new to Watchout! 1. You must have a Watchout USB Licence Key on both the Production PC and Display PC for them to communicate with each other. 2. The Display PC runs Watchpoint.exe; the Production PC runs Watchmaker.exe. 3. The Display PC can be remotely accessed from the Production PC. When Display PC is being remotely accessed, whatever show is loaded stops running, i.e. you should not access the Windows interface when the Display PC is running a loaded show. I would suggest your next best step is to approach the dealer you bought the Watchout licence keys from, for basic training, as he would be the most qualified person to help you get your systems operational. good luck! Thomas Leong

My two cents: Perhaps, modifying current features in Watchout to accommodate a seamless loop may not be the way to go as it may likely affect the behavior of current features and need extensive beta testing of all before release. An idea is the addition of a new type of Task, called "Looped Aux Timeline" wherein any media in such Timeline is automatically looped. There is then no Timeline Preview Cursor to pause with a Control Cue and figure out how it affects the loop when re-activated. The Stop behavior of such "Looped Aux Timeline" is different from the normal Aux Timeline. Activating the Stop of such Timeline does not actually stop it immediately, but is allowed to run to the end of the media contained within before stopping. Obvously, a Control Cue can be used to call another (normal) Aux Timeline when the looped media ends, and before the stop actually occurs; OR the next Aux Timeline in the hierarchy is automatically started when the Looped Aux Timeline stops. Such a "Looped Aux Timeline" can then be tested on its own, hopefully not affecting all the other current features of Watchout. Thomas

Could be related to the bug posted by Luca, and replied to by Eric Ronnqvist. My tests of the Looping and Free Running feature were on 5 Production PC machines, ranging from a i5 Laptop with Win 10 (latest updates), to desktops with i7-4770K, i7-4790K, i7-7700, and i7-6800 with either Intel GMA4600 gfx drivers or AMD Pro drivers for W4100 and WX4100. I tested with h264 (mp4), wmv, mpeg2, and mov files. The wmv file (supplied std with Windows 7 Wildlife.wmv) would not even play though the Timeline Preview cursor kept 'playing'. The h264 files played once fine, but on the loop, more often than not, the audio was silent. Similar anomaly with the mpeg2 file. The mov file showed no problem. So my conclusion is that v6.2 has some bug to work out with Looping and Free Running enabled. Thomas

Rainer, I'd probably use a Timer.mov positioned outside the Displays in the Stage Window to be able to visually see where in the loop Video 2 is. Knowing where my Pause Cue is, and the amount of secs or frames it has to run to transition out, one could estimate when to trigger to make the clean transition. The Timer.mov obviously is created to the duration of Video 2 and set to free run and loop as well. Thomas

I'd do it with a Pause Cue just before an Opacity Fade Out near the end of the 2nd Video which Properties have been set to Free Running and Loop. If the 2nd Video is in an Aux Timeline, ensure such Aux Timeline is open and active. Put the 3rd Video in an Aux Timeline. Put a Control Cue to call/run the 3rd Video at the end of the 2nd Video's Fade out. When the time comes, hit the Spacebar to let the 2nd Video fade out, it calls the 3rd Video, and voila! (Note: Won't work with 6.2, until 6.2x) Thomas Leong

Here's another bug which I'm not sure others are experiencing. Opening a simple one media item .watch file (originally created in 6.2), the Production interface will start up, but hangs trying to populate the various windows. I have to stop Production with Task Manager, go the folder and delete the particular show cache, then .watch file will open properly. Occurs regardless whether the .watch file is opened with Production's startup interface, or by clicking on the .watch file itself. Does not occur with v6.1.6. Thomas Leong

I know Watchout 6.1.6 'sees' and works with the Focusrite Scarlett 6i6. Had a chance to use it last weekend at an open air event: Watchout > Scarlett 6i6 > Ovation > Sound Desk. Excellent sound.

Since you asked, I have been running Win10 Pro OEM on Display PC for a few months now. My Win 10 is updated up to v1607 (Anniversary Update), and disconnected from the net since. However, my laptop's Win 10 is up to date with all updates as of today, used as a Prodn PC and have not had much problems except one, mentioned below. Win 10 as Prodn PC This is a laptop using the free upgrade from Win 7. Version is Win 10 Home Single Language 64-bit with all auto updates as Microsoft sees fit. No problems with Watchout 6.1.x and the 6.1.2 beta 16 except in Remote Access of another Win 10 Pro Display PC. Needs to 're-launch' Watchpoint via the remote access after accessing otherwise Watchpoint runs but with a black screen(s). A re-launch solves the problem. This does not happen with remote accessing Win 7 Pro Display PCs. Win 10 Pro OEM as a Display PC v1607 Basic PC specs: ASRock Z270M Pro4 with i7-7700 (I screwed up the K version trying to manually de-lid it), 128GB PNY SSD for OS, 512GB Samsung SM951 M.2 on PCIe Adapter for Watchpoint data, Firepro W4100, Noctua NH-L12 Air Cooling with single fan, 450w SFX power supply, all in a 19" 2U chassis. Surprisingly, very little tweaking of Win 10 is required to operate it as a Display PC if you do not mind the multitude of apps that comes with the OS. One could of course run through the Start Menu, right-click on any app you do not want or do not intend to use, and if allowed, delete/uninstall it. Some apps do not allow un-installation, but I have not had a problem with them being present in the PC maybe because the Display PC has never been online since initial install and updates (before Creator's Updates). Standard stuff to disable, of course, are the Firewall and Auto Update of OS, and manual setting of IPV4 Address. Windows Defender can be disabled, but it will enable itself later or after a re-start. I understand, there is a procedure via Command Prompt as Admin to disable it but I did not venture that way, and let Defender run to see if it interferes. I did set Defender not to run in real time though. So far no problems, no interference with Watchpoint running, over an hour long test show/loop more than once. For initial installation from a CD, I performed the following actions - 1. Choose Customise setup (not Express Settings) 2. Turn off all : - Personalization - Connectivity and error reporting - Browser, protection and update (especially Smartscreen) 3. When Cortana pops up, answer 'Not now' 4. Thereafter, proceed as normal/auto. Note: Steps 2 and 3 above can be done after install one by one, but doing it here is easier. Edit 1: forgot to add that in multi-monitor mode, the Task Bar by default appears on all displays. You can set it to Monitor 1 only in the multi-monitor settings. Edit 2: Win 10 boots up really fast, IMO, at least 3 times faster than Win 7 even with the disparity between an i7-7700 (Win 10), and an i7-6800K (Win 7). I notice this with my laptop too, an i5. And network connectivity seems to have gone to the top of the boot process in priority versus Win 7. However, I have not checked out how this affects the amount of delay to startup Watchpoint in an autostart situation. Thomas Leong

The Preview Cursor has to 'run over' the Control Cue in the Main Timeline for the cue to execute. If the cursor is parked at the beginning of the cue, it won't execute what it has been told to do. So back up a fraction of a sec or two before you hit the spacebar.

Only time I had this problem was with .wmv files, not other file types. This may seem unrelated and counter-intuitive, but it worked for me and my wmv files were eventually read as video files, not sound files. Control Panel > Realtek HD Audio Manager (or whatever audio chip comes with your motherboard) > i (for 'Information') located in the corner of the panel > and tick 'Disable Front panel Jack Detection'. Thomas Leong

Medialooks logo is from the file qtsourcepxt.dll (if my memory is right). You could search your disk for this file and see what application it is related to, i.e. an application which uses this file is installed in your Display PC (eg. Wings Platinum?).

"...Z400 machine that has a brand new build (OS, drivers, applications, etc.)..." A not so obvious possible cause of the freezing you are experiencing is a manufacturer's application. The Z400, being a pre-built hardware from HP, I would look hard at those applications. If able to, uninstall one, test Watchout, uninstall another, test Watchout, etc...until hopefully a culprit puts its hand up. Thomas Leong

No. Dataton is a company that produces many other related things: http://www.dataton.com One of these is Watchout, a multi-screen production and display software using the Windows OS (recommended Windows 7). Watchout can do compositions rendered live via the gpu (unlike, say, Adobe After Effects). However, though live, effects compositing are limited unlike After Effects. Watchout, with a capture card(s) installed (Datapath, Magewell, or Decklink), can composite the live capture into a presentation and send that out to the Displays in real time. The normal procedure would be to capture the output of the VJ's laptop using a capture card installed in the Watchout Display PC with the appropriate port connector (VGA, HDMI, SDI). If the Watchout Production PC does not have a capture card, use Thumbnail to represent the capture, scale and position the capture in the Stage Window, and send the info and control data to the Display PC. If the Watchout Production PC has a capture card, then the VJ's output will have to be sent to both Production and Display PCs via a splitter. Another alternative is to have a multi I/O Matrix Switcher selecting between Watchout Display PC outputs and the VJ's outputs and send those to the projectors.

Songyost, As far as I know, there is no limit.

Did Watchout Production give any error messages, eg. Display Connection Lost. Check the logs in Watchout Production, Watchout Display (both in the folder where Watchout is installed), and Event Viewer of both Production and Display. Any leads in these logs? Thomas Leong

Q1: Are you sure signal to monitor is lost when going online? The std behaviour when going online is a black fullscreen, assuming the Production PC is in pause mode at the beginning of the Main Timeline. Did you try to play the Timeline? Please ignore. Read your other posts and you seem to be an experienced user. Apologies.

I assume this is occurring on the Production PC because a Display PC would not play display 3x1920x1080 unless it is a 4K Display. Perhaps the cpu and/or graphics card are not sufficiently powerful enough to handle 3 x 1920x1080 even in a scaled full quality mode in the Stage Window. Use thumbnails instead. Or to test, Try only one 1920x1080. If that works, then try two 1920x1080. If that is ok, then the system is not able to handle three 1920x1080. [above edited by Thomas]

"Loading to store presentation" where? To USB Flash drive? To harddisk mounted in the desktop? To...???? At first glance, sounds like a FAT32 problem where the max is 4GB. Re-format the drive to NTFS to remove the limit.

If the live feed is to a capture card like Decklink, Datapath, or Magewell, then that capture card must be installed in the Display PC. If you only have one capture card and this is installed in the Display PC, then for the Production PC use 'Thumbnail' to position, scale, and control the live feed. If using a laptop with a webcam as Production PC, you can use the webcam instead of 'Thumbnail' to represent the live feed while the actual live feed goes to the capture card in the Display PC. If you have two capture cards, one in Production PC, one in Display PC, then you need to duplicate the live feed to each capture card. Note that in all cases, the Display PC must be set to receive the live feed at the correct input (Ctrl+Shift+Alt remote control from Production PC). Thomas Leong

I have been able to replicate the message 'Facility 34934' with one on my desktops with a Z87 motherboard/onboard graphics which uses the 'Windows Std VGA Graphics adapter/driver' under Windows 7 Pro. This occurs as soon as Watchmaker tries to load even a simple, basic .watch file. On another desktop, a Z270, Watchout itself gives a warning that the graphics adapter is not up to specs, and certain features may not display, but proceeds to load the .watch file. This uses an 'Intel Basic Display Adapter' for the onboard graphics under Windows 10 Pro. In both cases, reverting to the 3rd party AMD graphics card and drivers solved the problem. My laptop, a Lenovo i5 uses the 'Intel HD Graphics Family' adapter and this seems to work fine with Watchmaker 6.x without having to point to the NVidia GeForce 840M in the laptop. Benjamin, You said : "On one of those two Production Computers i get the Error Facility 34934 as soon as i want to start a new WO show or open a show. ... By the way - Graphic card driver are all the same, Windows is all the same etc..." Based on my tests, the 2 Production Computers are NOT using the same Graphics Adapter for Watchout if you get Facility 34934 on one and not on the other. To solve, go to Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > nVidia Control Panel on the problem pc, and set the nVidia gfx adapter as the default adapter for Watchmaker.exe. If the problem pc has no 3rd party graphics adapter, then you need a pc that does.

Haven't done a musical, but would strongly suggest using Aux Timelines (appropriately renamed to suit each act or actor, and maybe prefixed by a number to denote order of appearance). There will be changes to your programming, probably before rehearsals, during rehearsals, after rehearsals, and if all are on a Main Timeline, the shifting of assets/cues are going to be a hassle, if not confusing. Doing it in a 'shortened version' with respect to each actor is far easier. And if there is any re-ordering in the order of appearance, moving an Aux Timeline up/down the order is easier than time shifting along the Main Timeline. Note that with Layers Active/Standby, a layer does not stop taking up computer resources even when inactive or in standby. This puts a bigger strain on your pc resources (processor time, ram, hard-disk/ssd playback) versus just an Aux Timeline in 'Stop' mode. As for MIDI Trigger of Watchout from a lighting console, word of advice is test, test and test. IF the LX Console outputs MSC, there was a post giving some insights on using MSC to trigger Aux Timelines. Do a search in these forums. Artnet DMX is definitely do-able triggering Watchout and Aux Timelines. Should be similar to using MIDI Controller values, in which case you may want to put a lower limit value to the trigger in Watchout to avoid accidental triggering, meaning something like 'do not trigger when DMX value is less than 10%'. Good luck! Thomas Leong

Recently, a client provided a provisional 3840x800 .mov file that was stuttering in Watchout 6.1.6 and 6.2b9 where in-camera pans up/down screen were concerned. The codec used was JPEG at 237 Mbps 24fps. No audio. [1.53GB available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/ointl8ouxcestbr/Sulhwasoo_opening_Port.mov?dl=0 which will be deleted in 2 months from today] To cut a long story short, my problem was solved with the following Windows Update, listed under OPTIONAL: Platform Update for Windows 7 (KB2670838) obtainable from - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2670838/platform-update-for-windows-7-sp1-and-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1 Release Date: February 26, 2013 Summary of the OPTIONAL Update This article describes a platform update for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. This update improves the range and performance of the following graphics and imaging components: Direct2D DirectWrite Direct3D Windows Imaging Component (WIC) Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP) Windows Animation Manager (WAM) XPS Document API H.264 Video Decoder JPEG XR codec Compatibility issues on certain computers that have hybrid video cards Important Some computers that have a combination of Intel and AMD video cards in a hybrid configuration have drivers installed that are incompatible with this platform update. The problem file I have plays 99% more fluently except for a bit of stutter towards the second last edit which I think is in the encode. So if you are having issues with your video playback in Watchout, suggest you check that you have the aforementioned update installed. It may not be your hardware at fault. Thomas Leong

I'm not familiar with your "Processor: Intel Genuine @2.00GHz 18 cores". If it is an LGA2011 or LGA2011-3 platform, then the processor supports 4-channel RAM. This means you need at least 4 sticks of RAM for optimal performance.

I doubt the i7-7820X comes with a stock cooler. If it does not, then you must get a 3rd party cooler. For an AIO it depends on the case and the space it has provided for an AIO - 120mm, 240mm or 360mm. For air cooling, the height and width of the cooler matters as it affects the RAM modules used (low or high profile) and the case height or width relative to the cooler's height.

In my case, I had 3 BIOS updates, which including the original, means I had 4 BIOS versions to choose from. I tried each one at a time, and the last version had Hap running smoothly with nothing else changed. There was no mention of improved video playback with whatever codec, etc. So I would recommend you try the latest though the Notes do not seem relevant.