360° - 22 Outputs

[Benni Brostian]

Hi Community.

 

In the next weeks i will have a job with a 360° Projection and 22 Projectors.

 

Now i have a question depending on the Codec for the Videocontents.

 

Some people told me to use .proRes 422 HQ.

 

Usually i´m using .wmv or .h264

 

At the last Show i had a few problems with the sync of the clips using h264. (That was a 6 Projector Softedge)

 

After converting to wmv it was running perfect and smooth.

 

For the 360° we have to run with a 100% Sync of course.

 

We are using Machines with a Quad Output, so each of them has to show 4x 1080 + 4 Displays (means 3 SE Curves) + 1 Audio Track.

 

So what would u prefer? I think that .proRes is really Performance Intensive.

 

It would be great to get some information.

 

I wish u all the best for 2013. 

 

Best regards.

 

Ben

 

 

 

 

[Jonas Dannert]

I'll suggest that you do not use ProRes.

MPEG-2, properly encoded,, with Episode, for example, is still the most stable solution for multi-output playback.

 

Bitrate and framerate is also critical to look at.

 

Please look here in the forum for more encoding info, PDF at the bottom. Pre-split in 22 pieces is strongly recommended.

 

http://forum.dataton.com/topic/734-watchout-5-technical-notes/

 

/jonas

[mindopera]

Hi Jonas, I am running a similar scenario only with 10 projectors overlapping on one seamless screen.  What would the benefit be for splitting every video output into 10 separate videos (this is the first time I've heard this when using multi-headed video cards) if my computers are running 3 or 4 video channels out?  Wouldn't it be far less labor intensive for me to split the video into 3 pieces - Left 3574x720, Center 4720x720 and Right 3574x720.  I using the h264 .mp4 file.  I am also noticing that the that h264 .mp4 file is limited to 4096 even though the recommended codecs document shows it as any width.   I'm rendering the files directly from After Effects.  Just trying to figure out the most stable way to create and playback loops.

Thanks

David

[Jonas Dannert]

Hi David,

 

My answers below.

 

Hi Jonas, I am running a similar scenario only with 10 projectors overlapping on one seamless screen.  What would the benefit be for splitting every video output into 10 separate videos (this is the first time I've heard this when using multi-headed video cards) if my computers are running 3 or 4 video channels out?  

 

Smother playback, easier on the hardware because each video-file is in an own thread.

It's not new, and it's still valid for multi-output Display PC setups.

 

 

Wouldn't it be far less labor intensive for me to split the video into 3 pieces - Left 3574x720, Center 4720x720 and Right 3574x720. 

 

I can understand that, feel free to try it, we are not in any way prohibiting this.

It might be quite a bit more demanding on your playback hardware, though.

 

 

I using the h264 .mp4 file.  I am also noticing that the that h264 .mp4 file is limited to 4096 even though the recommended codecs document shows it as any width.  

 

There are limitations to ALL codecs, some end at 1920, others at higher resolutions.

This is another reason for pre-splitting content when playing back large files.

 

 

The encoding document meant is a guidance, not a bible... ;-)

"Any width/height" refers to the difference to MPEG-2 and other older codecs, which are more constrained in these areas.

MPEG-2 still seems to be the most stable codec for multi-display playback use.

 

 

 

I'm rendering the files directly from After Effects. 

 

Through Adobe Media Encoder then?

 

 

Just trying to figure out the most stable way to create and playback loops.

 

That my was my point with the pre-split recommendation for larger files.

Using a standard output filesize, whenever possible, will always be more stable, in my experience.

 

 

Thanks

David

[mindopera]

Thanks for your thorough explaination.  I still have so much to learn.