indyld Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Josh, Initially when you posted this, I assumed it was a "hey, I wonder if I can get this to work" kinda project. As the thread has gone on, it seems to be less of an enthusiastic tinkering attempt and more of some DIY multi projector set-up for a gig, presumably involving edge blending? I'm sure you have your reasons but I'm struggling with the "why?" as much as the "how?" on this particular line of enquiry. The combination of netbooks (not known for their media serving specs), networking latency and all the other issues mentioned so far, I'm wondering what's wrong with a dual head graphics card, a few Tripleheads and a piece of software such as Resolume Arena that has some simple edge blending/ multi stage/ multi out tools that have worked fine for me. I know that as a keen technician-geek, it's tempting to cobble stuff together just to prove you can but surely there are better ways of skinning this particular cat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 No edge blending planned, it's likely to be an abstract placement of screens to make one "big" screen. I'm playing with Resolume at the moment and will probably try the edge blending at some point. If I can get 2 of the graphics cards I linked to working with 3 discrete outputs each then I'll be able to do just that for Sub £600. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 No edge blending planned, it's likely to be an abstract placement of screens to make one "big" screen. I'm playing with Resolume at the moment and will probably try the edge blending at some point. If I can get 2 of the graphics cards I linked to working with 3 discrete outputs each then I'll be able to do just that for Sub £600. Josh Although still in beta, Resolume 4 Arena is stupidly easy to sort that kind of mapping. It's not full of complex features you see in Pandora's Box etc. but is a synch to define output areas, based on either specfic parts of your input stage, or the whole image. Complex shapes or curves too. It is also easy to set either perspective based warping or fire it straight on to a perspective surface. If you went down that kinda route, have you considered using a single projection source and mapping your abstract screens like that? My seven year old daughter can do it (she loves Resolume BTW), we were creating a mini "videowall" using my Mac and a TFT last weekend. Next up is mapping to 3 sides of a cornflakes box using a lil projector. All dead easy within the interface. The only thing I can't work out how to do is to switch between different mapping/warping presets during the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'm going to look at Resolume, I'd need to purchase as I don't have access to the Beta until I purchase. To clarify, I can use 6 projectors horizontally, edge blended, as one large screen. I can control this over DMX and I can also project onto a complex shape with multiple projectors? My issue with using on source is that I already have the projectors (ex install, 2k desktop jobbies) In theatre, they'll be for digital backdrop so rear projection onto a tensioned screen from close up. I'll play around and see what I can do. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henny Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Take a look at vvvv.org. Espeshley the bodygroping stuffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 To clarify, I can use 6 projectors horizontally, edge blended, as one large screen. I can control this over DMX and I can also project onto a complex shape with multiple projectors? Although originally for the VJ market, I think Resolume has great potential in the small/medium scale events market now Arena has added some mapping/warping and edge blending features. I took a punt and bought it because they have a pre-sale offer on AND I (and you) can get a 50% educational discount which put the license around £260 or something. You can slice up different areas of the "stage" (my term for the final mixed output of all layers etc). You can send these to different outputs and overlap them, adding a soft edge that you can adjust the parameters of. This gives you your edge blending capability. You can slice up and warp/map the resulting outputs, assigning them to different physical outs. This gives you some pretty easy ways to map onto 3D shapes or slice up different screens from one projection source. If you've played with Resolume Avenue, you'll know that it uses some slightly different concepts to things like Catalyst, when it comes to clip selection (especially from a lighting console). Instead of picking clips on a Layer, Media Folder 254, 001 Clip, Play/Loop etc. it uses a combination of Layers, Columns, and Decks which gives you the possibility to do more things but it take a different approach. What would need some thought would be if you had a bunch of, say, 1024 x 768 images that you wanted to send individually to each projector - a different one for each like you could using Qlab for example. Resolume mostly works on a "send different bits of one big picture to different places" so you'd be working with a large "stage", so doing that more piecemeal approach might take some cunning. Arena is still in Beta, and the forums suggest that it's not without issues for it's users. My own issue is on the fact that somewhere they have messed up the DMX mapping in v4, so the channels are all over the place. This isn't the case for Avenue 3, which I've controlled from the MagicQ fine. I am also hoping that they add thumbnail support over MSEX or whatever, which would make it seriously attractive to console users over things like Arkaos. Apparently they are working on fixing the DMX map and I've no idea if they plan to add thumbnail support but it would foolish not to if they want that market. I really rate Resolume and would encourage people to take a look at it (mind you, I was banging on about the MagicQ for years before anyone had heard of it...) It does audio too, of course. I'm thinking of doing a review of Arena at On Stage Lighting, looking at it's uses for lampies/visuals peeps in the events market. I'm also thinking of tweaking the MagicQ personality and creating a demo composition. All I need is the time to do it :unsure: I'm not known for slack in my schedule. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Also have a look at Avo's new AI software. I have had a play with that and it does some pretty amazing automatic mapping stuff, you just model your projection environment in 3d and it does all the image manipulation for you in real time.They are going to sell a software-only version (as well as the full media server box) but I do not know how much it will cost. However they are quite keen to get it into the hands of potential users so give them a call and see what deal can be struck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitlane Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Also have a look at Avo's new AI software. I have had a play with that and it does some pretty amazing automatic mapping stuff, you just model your projection environment in 3d and it does all the image manipulation for you in real time.They are going to sell a software-only version (as well as the full media server box) but I do not know how much it will cost. However they are quite keen to get it into the hands of potential users so give them a call and see what deal can be struck... There was a price list at PLASA. Literally only one copy of it so lots of us took a picture of said list. According to that list dongle price went from 1,200 to 4,000. Obviously, treat this with a massive pinch of salt but it might give us a ballpark figure at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 I'm looking at Resolume 4 at the moment and it looks as if it'll do exactly what I want it to. Thanks for all the help with this one, I'll let you know what I decide. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 OK, so I had a rare day off, avoiding marking lighting design projects (back to it tomorrow) and in order to recover from Christmas shopping, have reviewed the pre-release Resolume 4 Arena with the live events/concert Lighting Designer in mind. Includes a screencast look around the interface and a bit of a heads up about some things that could be of interest. Hope everyone finds it useful. Resolume 4 Arena - Pre-release review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 not a million miles away from what you're trying to do..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 That's pretty much sold it for me Rob, I'm going to go with Arena 4 on a nice high spec media server. Thanks to all those who contributed. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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