feature request Feature Request ? Post here

[Alex Ramos]

Possibility to run batch files from within WO.

Please check the video as I explain it better.

video request

[Tyskern]

The option to have have corner tween without keyframing. 
i make so much unwanted animation here..

and have ie. arrow keys for fine-tuning of corner points without zooming-in drag -> zoom in drag..

 

 

[Josef Swanberg]

On 11/28/2018 at 10:00 AM, Tyskern said:

and have ie. arrow keys for fine-tuning of corner points without zooming-in drag -> zoom in drag..

 

 

In version 6.2, and later, you can move the corner points with the arrow keys. Just select a point and then hold Ctrl while pressing the arrow keys.

[matkeane]

It would be really helpful if there was a simpler/quicker way to enable/disable displays and assign them to player machines than double-clicking each display one-by-one. Once the output ID is set in the display dialog, it would be great to be able to drag-select a group of displays (on the stage or in the stage list panel) and change the player, either in the contextual-menu, or maybe by dragging onto a player machine in the network window. I know that I can assign a player name to a different machine in the network window, but that's not exactly the issue...

On a recent project, I had 21 displays, plus another 21 for the backups. Pushing media to all 10 player machines was slowing down show programming enough that I disabled the backup machines while working on the show with the client, then enabled them at night to push media to all machines. I realise I could have cut-and-pasted the backup displays into a text file as a workaround, but a quick drag-to-select then right-click to enable/disable would be quicker still.

On the same project, a group of 14 displays required geometry correction. I did the warping on the main displays, then copy-pasted the displays onto the backup tier, but then had to manually reassign the player machines for all 14 displays one-by-one. If, for example, I could drag to select displays 1-4, and right-click to 'assign to Backup 1' etc, it would be a real time-saver.

For managing backup displays, it would be even better (from a UX point of view) if I didn't have to duplicate displays on extra tiers at all - if it were possible to associate displays with more than one player, I wouldn't need to copy-paste geometry between sets of displays, I could just right-click and 'add player' to assign an additional machine. In the meantime, anything which speeds up the process and reduces the wear on my left mouse button would be a welcome improvement.

[matkeane]

Multiple, related, requests in one: Can we please change the defaults for 3D object import, so that they aren't silently scaled to 1000px? I first noticed this in 6.1.6, but 6.3.1 has the same behaviour.

 

If Watchout insists on scaling a media file on import, can we at least generate a warning message so that the change doesn’t go unnoticed (and I dumbly start scaling stuff on the stage before I realise the source of the problem)? The Media window displays the object's pixel size, but it never occurred to me that Watchout would modify media specifications without asking/warning me.

 

It would be nice if, after I have set the media settings of the first object imported to be at 100%, subsequent imports used the same settings, to save having to make the same change on every object. Currently, when importing several 3D objects where it's important to respect the relative sizes, I have to change the settings for each one.

 

Better still, could we please add the ability to select multiple media files and change settings with one click? That way, I could just drag all the 3D objects into the media window, select them all and set their scale to 100% in one go. Or, for example, when the graphics person sends me 80 title PNG files with a weird alpha channel, I could select all the images in one go and change the alpha interpretation.

[kai]

On 10/6/2018 at 4:26 PM, Diego Marchente said:

Good morning, there are often needs that I have not yet seen integrate and that I would often need. The list for practicality:

• OSC In / Out protocol
• Dante In / Out Protocol
• MIDI Out Protocol
• NDI Out Video and Audio Protocol
• A coutdown for videos that can be added to the STATE window or separately and can be sized as desired
• You can decide in the Tasks the size of the STOP and PLAY keys
• Possibility to color BACKGROUND TASK TITLE in a separate and independent way
• Possibility to color CONTROL CUE in a separate and independent way
• Possibility to color BACKGROUND LAYERS in a separate and independent way
• Integrate a real hot backup system (with a Master and Slave system) for the Producer
• A multipoint Warping system similar to that of Panasonic or Epson but maintaining the curvature management that already exists
• Create a multi-layer Warping system similar to the D3 Desguise
• Have a window that allows you to see and possibly force the Display Computer EDID without having to log in Remote and do it on the Driver
• You can import SketchUp * .skp files into the media without having to convert them
• To enable a grid or a measurement tool in the STAGE that allows you to accurately calculate the mapping of the pixels used or displayed
• To convert, if you wish, the VIDEO in HAP directly from the MEDIA window (Desguise has released the HAP Encoder for free)

Thank you for your attention.

Best regards

+1 for this, it's all perfect but I hope next release it's have osc in/out in Watchout,

Thank you so much 

[Josef Swanberg]

On 12/28/2018 at 1:57 PM, matkeane said:

It would be really helpful if there was a simpler/quicker way to enable/disable displays and assign them to player machines than double-clicking each display one-by-one.

I can recommend to you this feature, available from version 6.2 (from release notes):

• Properties of multiple displays can be edited all at once, by selecting them and double-clicking one of them, or via the Specifications command in the Edit menu or in the popup menu.

[matkeane]

3 hours ago, Josef Swanberg said:

Properties of multiple displays can be edited all at once, by selecting them and double-clicking one of them, or via the Specifications command in the Edit menu or in the popup menu.

Thanks Josef - I can't believe I missed that in the release notes!

[designhero]

Audio meter similar to non-linear editing software to view current audio dB levels.

[Allan Dickinson]

Hi. 

I would like the ability to add warping and masking to virtual displays. The same functions you can do on the output displays.

That would be a game changer for me. 

[Luca]

Possibility to show in an overlay box % cpu load, % gpu load, % disk load etc.

 

It would be useful to understand which bottleneck are you reaching with your show if something goes in an unexpected way.

 

And the possibility to create and edit 3d object without using a 3rd party software like blender etc.

[Brian]

This needs a fix: 

Millumen can do this as a no-brainer and makes WatchOUT look silly.

 

Second: the ability to view times in either true time code, or even better - frames! The 0.xxx thousandths of a second are basically useless without mental gymnastics.

 

Third: yet another request for countdown timers. Having to drop in extra video files just so I can give a proper/accurate countdown is ridiculous.

 

Thanks!

[Brian]

On 12/28/2018 at 4:57 AM, matkeane said:

It would be really helpful if there was a simpler/quicker way to enable/disable displays and assign them to player machines than double-clicking each display one-by-one. Once the output ID is set in the display dialog, it would be great to be able to drag-select a group of displays (on the stage or in the stage list panel) and change the player, either in the contextual-menu, or maybe by dragging onto a player machine in the network window. I know that I can assign a player name to a different machine in the network window, but that's not exactly the issue...

On a recent project, I had 21 displays, plus another 21 for the backups. Pushing media to all 10 player machines was slowing down show programming enough that I disabled the backup machines while working on the show with the client, then enabled them at night to push media to all machines. I realise I could have cut-and-pasted the backup displays into a text file as a workaround, but a quick drag-to-select then right-click to enable/disable would be quicker still.

On the same project, a group of 14 displays required geometry correction. I did the warping on the main displays, then copy-pasted the displays onto the backup tier, but then had to manually reassign the player machines for all 14 displays one-by-one. If, for example, I could drag to select displays 1-4, and right-click to 'assign to Backup 1' etc, it would be a real time-saver.

For managing backup displays, it would be even better (from a UX point of view) if I didn't have to duplicate displays on extra tiers at all - if it were possible to associate displays with more than one player, I wouldn't need to copy-paste geometry between sets of displays, I could just right-click and 'add player' to assign an additional machine. In the meantime, anything which speeds up the process and reduces the wear on my left mouse button would be a welcome improvement.

You run your main and backup from the same file?

[Brian]

On 5/4/2012 at 2:45 PM, Walter said:

Default fades for cues would be nice... Beats fiddling with / copying of opacity handles. Or was this already requested? Of course with a general duration setting somewhere.

+1000000

 

Please!!!

 

Having a set of "global" Tweens would be nice. Or the option to set a Tween as Global or Local. Global settings would be all changed in one place and Local uses the settings in the cue itself. You could use Global Opacity to set a 1 second crossfade default timing and then quickly/easily update those all to 2 seconds when someone wants slower changes. This has happened to me and it takes forever to go through and reprogram all the fades!!

[Brian]

On 6/6/2018 at 8:35 AM, mikefynn said:

Hello developers and programmers. Thank you for an amazing product.

Please see if you can implement my feature requests.

Just like the way you are able to see whether a clip is using ADD / DARKEN / MULTIPY etc. just by looking at it on the timeline, it would be great to see whether a clip is LOOPING or FREE RUNNING just by looking at it on the timeline. Maybe rather than the clip having the word loop or free run displayed like ADD and MULTIPLY, the clip border could change colour, say purple for loop and blue for free run? And since it is such a common tween to use, can we not make a shortcut for it, like select the clip and push 'L' for loop and 'F' for free run? or add it to the right click options. It certainly doesn't need to be under the advanced tab as its used on almost every clip I put on the timeline, and it just seems like a lot of clicks for a simple tween.

Adding to this, is it not possible to select multiple clips on the timeline, and push 'L' or 'F' to add the same loop of free run function to multiple clips simultaneously.

Many thanks.

Mike.

In addition to this:

 

An indicator as to where a Free Run video happens to be in it's playback would be nice. A small line within the clip graphic itself would be enough. Being able to know "how long until this loops" would be possible to check if we had this indicator.

[jfk]

2 hours ago, Brian said:

... Second: the ability to view times in either true time code, or even better - frames! ...

There is some ability to do this already. i.e. current main timeline position can be displayed in true time code  (hours:minutes:seconds.frames).

Window - Status - add Timeline display and double click the time display to change the display format to the timecode format of your choice.

[matkeane]

On 3/27/2019 at 4:02 PM, Brian said:

You run your main and backup from the same file?

Quite often, yes. There's another thread on this forum about strategies for show backups/spares, but quite often I run shows with main & backup player machines controlled from 1 producer machine (usually with a spare producer laptop nearby). Occasionally, on bigger shows, there are redundant systems for everything - production, players, projectors - but then it all syncs to one timecode source...  It usually comes down to the budget for the project.

[matkeane]

The recent update to thread about the Photoshop import script reminded me of a feature I think would be a big improvement to Watchout: a scripting API for show creation and modification. 

When building shows with Watchout, I seem to spend a large part of my time double-clicking and copy-pasting. I’ve already created scripts and small apps to speed up some things, but the current ‘copy-and-paste’ API has its limits. A scriptable API for Watchout would make automating repetitive tasks simpler and quicker. The creator of the Photoshop import script has also created a clipboard manager app for storing frequently used Tweens, etc, which is a good example of what could be simplified.

An example I encounter quite often: I have a folder of client videos, each with a different duration. I create a Task with the first files, add the audio file with a generic input for the volume, a countdown and fade out for the end, and so on. Then I duplicate the Task and replace the video file, try not to forget the audio file, drag out the video file to the new duration, move the countdown, slide the opacity tween points to the new end point, rename the Task and so on and so on with my folder of videos, all the while hoping I don’t get distracted in the middle of the process and skip something.

If, instead, I could write a little script (Python, Java, Javascript, Lua, whatever...) to loop through all the videos in a folder and build the tasks, with the video set to the correct duration, generic inputs created and assigned, it would be a big time saver. Imagine if, at conferences with hundreds of participants, I could point a CSV file at the Watchout text tool and build all the names with one click!

When I’ve shown Watchout to people in the past - especially those familiar with other media server systems - their reaction is often that the Watchout UI is a bit ‘clunky’. A scripting API wouldn’t require adding any complexity to the UI, so it wouldn’t change using Watchout in the normal way. But, when I look at the eco-system of plugins and scripts that has developed around After Effects, for example, I think Watchout could benefit from the added flexibility. It could make it easier to add certain feature requests using scripts - re-usable tween curves anyone? Check out the Flow script for After Effects! Need to change the blend mode of 97 video clips without going crazy? Check out this little script… etc, etc.

In the meantime, if it were possible to copy the duration of a video clip from the Media window, that would already be an improvement. 

[Josef Swanberg]

This is all great feedback, matkeane!

Some comments:

On 4/8/2019 at 11:44 AM, matkeane said:

Need to change the blend mode of 97 video clips without going crazy?

Maybe this is not exactly what you are looking for, but since 6.2 you have been able to copy tweens from one cue, and pasting them onto multiple other cues at once.

On 4/8/2019 at 11:44 AM, matkeane said:

In the meantime, if it were possible to copy the duration of a video clip from the Media window, that would already be an improvement. 

This shouldn't be too difficult to add...

[matkeane]

Hi Josef,

On 4/10/2019 at 8:28 AM, Josef Swanberg said:

Maybe this is not exactly what you are looking for, but since 6.2 you have been able to copy tweens from one cue, and pasting them onto multiple other cues at once.

On 4/8/2019 at 10:44 AM, matkeane said:

Yes, and that is a really nice time-saver, but it would be even better if it were possible to change the 'advanced' properties of multiple cues (blend mode, etc) at once - similar to the way it's now possible to edit the specifications of multiple displays at once.

[cowboyclint]

Hi All,

Having gotten used to After Effects time jumping methods, I sure would love to have Watchout do the same thing.

In AE, I type minutes(decimal)seconds(decimal)frames. 01.01.10 and I go to 1 minute 1 second 10 frames.

If I could do the same thing in WO then I would never have to take my hand off the number pad after I type CNTRL J.

I know it wouldn't be frames, that's fine, I just don't want to move my hand to hit Shift ; all the time.

Please and Thank you.

[matkeane]

To piggyback on Cowboyclint's suggestion, it would be nice if it were possible to change the timecode display format for a timeline (or for all timelines based on the Project frame rate) and let Watchout deal with the conversion to milliseconds. Content creators (in my part of the world at least) are more familiar with working at 25fps, and doing timecode calculations in my head while also multiplying by 40ms per frame seems like something a computer would probably do faster and more accurately! Also, the ability to enter relative timecodes would be great - e.g. hit ctrl+J and then type +12.20 to jump forward 12 seconds and 20 frames from the current timeline position.

[matkeane]

I would find it really useful to have a master opacity and volume control for all cues within an auxiliary timeline, so that I can say something like 'Task 11 - fade out nicely over 2 seconds and then stop!'. Currently I'm doing this by creating generic inputs for my_task_opacity and my_task_volume, but then I need to add them to every media cue in each task timeline, which can be a slow process. For some simpler tasks, like live inputs, I nest a composition in a task with a fade-in/pause/fade-out which achieves the same thing but, having to create compositions for every task is also time consuming. If I could do something like 'setInput my_task_01.opacity 0 1000', I'd find that really useful.

[Mike Fahl]

On 6/20/2019 at 11:52 AM, matkeane said:

I would find it really useful to have a master opacity and volume control for all cues within an auxiliary timeline…

You can get close by moving the cues into a Composition, which is then brought into an Aux timeline as a cue, to which you apply opacity and volume. These tweens will then affect everything in the Composition. Not as convenient as what you suggest, but doable.

Mike

 

[matkeane]

21 hours ago, Mike Fahl said:

You can get close by moving the cues into a Composition, which is then brought into an Aux timeline as a cue, to which you apply opacity and volume. These tweens will then affect everything in the Composition. Not as convenient as what you suggest, but doable.

Mike

Hi Mike,

The problem I have encountered with compositions is that (sometimes) when media cues within a composition use a blend mode other than normal, the cues 'pop' on and off instead of fading smoothly, once I apply an opacity tween to the whole composition in a task. I initially ran into this with a fairly complex wait loop containing free-running loops and various blend modes. Nesting the whole thing in a composition gave hiccups with opacity tweens and looping, but placed in a task everything ran smoothly, but then it was difficult to fade everything out mid-sequence if necessary.