mediaserver or other solution?

[peteharding]

Hi all,

 

I have a situation where I need a media solution that is run from a lighting desk and wondered if anyone can throw any light on a possible solution. Cost is a issue as there are 10 sites around the uk where this happens for upto 4-6 weeks a year. Assume the lighting desk ouputs midi or DMX cues.

 

At the venues there are 3 shows (dancers, singers - tracked and lights) one pre dinner, one mid course and the last post desert. Each slot of the show is different and lasts 8 minutes each. The client wants us to film the 3 slots and then roll out the footage each night with the lampy providing the start cue for playback of the music and with vt coming from something like a media server / dvd player.

 

During the rest of the evening the client wants graphics overlayed, cctv shots of dance floor (maybe)and sponsor logos and or images from customers that could change everyday, controlled by the lampy desk, output to the screens.

 

I have a couple of ideas of how to do it, but wondered whether a media server is the way to go or should I look at rs232 dvd players, or cheap laptops with winamp/scumbox/etc?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Pete.

[Pete McCrea]

The Chamsys MagiQ will run both lighting and video cues. Not too sure on the full specs though.

 

http://www.chamsys.co.uk/

[peter]

It does sound like a media server would be a good solution to your problem. Personally, I'd go for one which has remote-control rather than cue-stack operation. The main two servers which fit into this catagory at the moment would be High End Catalyst or Scene Changes Hippotizer. Both are available in a variety of size options, so you can scale your package to suit your needs. Catalyst starts at express, which gives you 3 layers and 1 output IIRC. Hippotizer starts with Express, which is again a relatively small and low-cost package. I would recommend talking to Projected Image Digital, as they are the sole UK distributors for Catalyst and really do know their stuff.

 

Hippotizer

Catalyst

Projected Image Digital

 

Incidentally, whatever media server you go for, you're going to need a relatively high-end lighting desk (punn almost intended) to control the server with any level of buskability. The highest level of Hippotizer (HD) can be configured to take an entire universe of DMX, so they're very programmer intensive. Its worth choosing a decent control desk which has timecode or midi show control features, as it sounds like your application could well end up being run by a single operator, for a least parts of the night.

 

So, speak to PID - they'll be more than happy to talk you through it all, and spec the kit if you decide to go down the media server line.

 

 

Edit:

Little DJ, the Chamsys MagicQ interfaces with the Hippotizer (using their recently released H-MAP protocol) to deliver thumbnails of the clips direct to the lighting desk. As the protocol is (AFAIK) open source, I'd expect to see it in a few other lighting desks before long. So yes, if you wen't down the Hippotizer route, you could have thumbnails on your lighting desk. I believe Martins Maxedia will produce thumbnails on the desk as well, providing you're using a Maxxyz for show control. Whilst this may seem an attractive option, the Maxedia IMHO is more for visualisations and less for replaying video clips. I've spent a fair amount of time using their beta-software and whilst it does have the facility to replay video clips, I didn't like the way cues were triggered - it all seemed geared towards situations where the video is built into cues, which will never be altered from one day to the next, and then the cues are saved.

http://www.chamsys.co.uk/branding/mediaservercloseup.jpg

Maxedia

GrandMA video

Chamsys MagicQ

[Pete McCrea]

I'm not fully up on the way the MagicQ runs, but was aware of it as a lowcost option in the mediaserver-type field. We were meant to be seeing one for demo up at our unit but it hasn't been arranged yet by the lighting guy.

[noodles2000]

Hi Guys,

 

I couldn't help noticing your conversation.

 

If any of you would like to have a play with Hippotizer then let me know and I can bring one over for you to play with.

We are the UK distributors for this product and we love it !

 

I would be more that happy to answer any of your questions.

 

Thanks,

 

Nigel.

 

Scenechange

[jimbo_hippo]

Regarding your issue about gobbling up channels you can choose to run the Hippotizer in Preset Mode for DMX. This will require only 10 channels.

 

Regarding playback of sound, Hippotizer differs from many of the other systems in that it will play back audio. However, it is basic from a sound perspective. Although you can mix, fade, and adjust video parameters on a Hippotizer, the sound present on any media is just sent to the sound card with no level adjustment between layers. That said, if you pre-plan your sound requirements and make sure its only present on the clips you want to hear then it can be very useful. In the future we may look at sound options in more depth but for now its fine for simple requirements.

 

Regarding preset mode, take a look at http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?show...st=entry47839 so I'm not repeating myself.

 

Ta

 

James

[jimbo_hippo]

Just a thought while I'm here, the beat detection in the Hippotizer might prove useful if you use different music for different events. if you activate the beat effects on the master canvas you won't have to reprogramme (or re-render if you use DVDs) to have beat-related effects from an external sound source. Just feed a line-in or activate the microphone and it'll lock into whatever you play.

 

You are correct in saying that dvd's or laptops might do the job and in many circumstances they are more than adequate and a more cost-effective solution if your show doesn't change from day to day. However don't discount the fact that you will have to have some form of mixing to blend them all together. Either that or you will have to recreate a whole DVD to incorporate specific logos or even a single media clip change. Some people enjoy doing this, others prefer to go home earlier :blink: . Once you take this into the budget, it is sometimes cheaper to take a server.

 

Media servers aren't always the panacea they are heralded as but sometimes, by looking at the bigger picture, they can simplify things and save you a lot of time sipping tea while Adobe programmes render and DVD authouring programes output their finished articles. Then there's the burning, etc etc,

 

Hope this helps.

[Simon Allan]

Dear Peter,

 

Just to clarify a couple of points....

 

"the Maxedia IMHO is more for visualisations and less for replaying video clips."

 

The system is extremely capable of replaying several video clips simultaneously. Did you try running all of the AVI plugins at the same time to see how well it performed?

 

"I've spent a fair amount of time using their beta-software and whilst it does have the facility to replay video clips, I didn't like the way cues were triggered - it all seemed geared towards situations where the video is built into cues, which will never be altered from one day to the next, and then the cues are saved."

 

Whilst I realise that you have used the Maxedia for a fair amount of time (one week I believe) I feel that you may have missed the idea behind our Cue system.

One of the main aims when developing the system was that we wanted to avoide a system that used over a hundred control channels. The MaxEdia system will use a maximum of 25 control channels.

You can create your cues using just a MaxEdia with no desk and save these to be called up later either using a desk or run directly from the MaxEdia interface. This is ideal for "Set shows".

 

You mentioned that "it all seemed geared towards situations where the video is built into cues". I can only assume that you programmed a "busked show" with the system to come to this opinion? I have used the MaxEdia on busked shows where it was either run from a console or directly from the MaxEdia programmer and in both cases it performed very well. Maybe this was just down to the way I programmed it? Did you try running the MaxEdia from a desk? How did you find it?

 

Whislt I fully realise that only having 25 control channels you will never have as much control as a system with over a hundered control channels (when running from a console that is) I do feel that there is a trade off on both sides.I know that you only had time for a 15 minute introduction when you were loaned the system and I never recieved any calls after that asking any questions. I can only assume you found the system very simple and intuitive to use?.

 

It all depends on how you use a system , be it Hippotizer, Catalyst or MaxEdia as to weather not it fits in with the way you work. As with all the systems out there, its only when you start using them on real shows in the real world do you find there strengths and weaknesses.