Unable To Render DS Video

[TimFranklin]

Hi all,

Every so often I am getting a render error in Watchout 6.1.1 -

 

From Video "Watchout Media/Footage/FOOTAGE LOOP HAP.mov" of Media Folder "Loops" of Media List, 2017-11-05 2:14:44 am

Error: Unable to Render DS Video

 

Some details - 

I first saw this when I created a few virtual displays in my project, but it happens now even if I'm not using them.  I've also noticed that it happens around the time when I set the preview to high quality.  It's happened with multiple HAP files.

 

Some of the time the element won't display on the display machines until I remote in and actually delete it from the display server and update.

 

Has anyone seen this?

Thanks!

 

 

[Erik Rönnqvist]

Hello!

 

There has been a few bug fixes between 6.1.1 and 6.1.6, so trying a later version could solve your issue. 

Have you installed any codecs on the display and/or production computers? The Hap decoder is built in into Watchout, so there is no need to install an external Hap codec. In fact, installing an external Hap codec may confuse Watchout and give similar errors.

Are the files looping? How many are you trying to play at the same time, and which resolution? It could possibly be a problem with playing too many files at the same time, but without knowing anything about the show it is hard to tell. Is it standard Hap, HapQ or HapAlpha movies? Also be aware that by checking the looping checkbox in the Cue's dialog, the resource usage will increase quite a lot.

 

/Erik 

[TimFranklin]

Thanks for the response, Erik.  We haven't installed any extra codecs on either the production or display machine.

 

For this project we are working with 1080p@29.976 standard hap codec files and almost always have the free running/looping checked.  While testing HAP I've been able to playback about 25-30 of these until I hit a video memory error.  I've seen the problem with at most 7 on one display machine and as little as 2. 

 

One setup I have in the project involves one video file spread across 5 virtual displays which I believe is the root of the problem. The cues are then just placed on regular 1080 displays.  I couldn't really find  much information on how virtual displays handle resources. How much more processing would this take vs 5 regular outputs?

 

Is there by chance extra overhead in any way by simply having a lot of virtual displays in the project while not using them?  I have about 15 virtual displays and 16 regular 1080 displays. I generally only use 5 virtuals at a time.

 

I re-encoded the files I've gotten the error on and will test this Friday.  I'll try and have our software upgraded as well.

Thanks again!

[Erik Rönnqvist]

Virtual displays use some resources, but I doubt that is the problem here, although I'm not ready to rule it out. What kind of hardware are you running on (GPU, RAM size etc), and which Windows version? 

Please give us an update when you have had the time to upgrade to 6.1.6 and tested the reencoded files. 

 

/Erik 

[TimFranklin]

Hi Erik,

I finally got a chance to test this and have discovered that it's the production machine that's causing the problem.  When I use high quality previews with HAP codec I get the error.  I rarely use best quality previews and have only recently needed to use it with a set of virtual displays to aid in alignment.  Even after turning off Best Quality I continued to get the errors for a period of time.

 

Here are some specs on the production machine-

Watchout 6.1.1

Nvidia GeForce GT 610

Driver Version - 9.18.13.4752  Date: 02/05/15

Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.5Hz

Windows 8.1

Hap Codec is not installed.

 

I haven't been able to get the Watchout version up to date yet as we will be using this machine for a bunch of shows coming up in the next week.

 

The production software will use it's own HAP decoder as well, correct?

 

Thanks!

[Erik Rönnqvist]

Yes, both display and production software use the built in Hap decoder.

 

/Erik 

[J Sikorski]

Hello!

 

i am experiencing this same issue with our current production. Running Watchout 6.2.2 through a ShowSage 4 output server. Are there any updates regarding this?

[Guest Angelica Cederin]

1 hour ago, J Sikorski said:

Hello!

 

i am experiencing this same issue with our current production. Running Watchout 6.2.2 through a ShowSage 4 output server. Are there any updates regarding this?

Hi J Sikorski, 
I don't really understand what you mean by updates? If you look at Tim's post from November 19, 2017 he says that "I finally got a chance to test this and have discovered that it's the production machine that's causing the problem.  When I use high quality previews with HAP codec I get the error.  I rarely use best quality previews and have only recently needed to use it with a set of virtual displays to aid in alignment.  Even after turning off Best Quality I continued to get the errors for a period of time."

So the questions is, what type of production computer are you using and which version of Windows?

Best Regards,
Angelica

[J Sikorski]

Hi Angelica

 

Sorry about that. It seems like we probably have the same issue regarding the production computer. We are using a probably underpowered machine for our production computer. It has an i3-3240 and 16gb RAM with Intel HD graphics running windows 10.