Basic Setup

[homersignalman]

Hi,

 

I have been asked to provide some video & stills to be projected as scenery for a production of Wind in The Willows being performed by a local primary school.

The script calls for various loops of video and some stills to be projected during the performance. I am reasonably confident with the hardware (projector & screen) but am less confident about the software required for control. The plan is to control the triggering of the video by DMX from a Congo Jnr.

We are filming our own video, most of which can be looped, ie passing river banks.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

John

[Shez]

Can the Congo output Artnet? If so, have a look at Screenmonkey - I've used it as a rudimentary media server controlled via Artnet by MagicQ. The free version is fully functional except for Artnet but that's not expensive to add on.

[alistermorton]

Alternatively, going the other way, you could use something like SCS to run the video/images/sound and send cue execute commands by midi show control to the congo, if you're not busking the lighting.

 

E2A

 

SCS pro is 104 quid.

 

http://www.showcuesystems.com/

[Nicktaylor]

I have just bought SCS. It seems great. I have an issue which might be the projector end. In between clips the projector flashes Computer I/P 1 No video seen, then almost instantly runs the VT. The projector is a Hitachi CP-x2510. Any ideas people?

[dwright2104]

if you have a mac to hand, then Qlab could be be a solution, its cheap to rent for education, and will take midi in or once programmed, is just simple space bar to change scenes, something the light operator could do.

[Shez]

In between clips the projector flashes Computer I/P 1 No video seen, then almost instantly runs the VT.

Sounds like the computer is messing with its output configuration for a moment so the projector loses sync. First port of call would be the computers own display settings - presumably you're running extended desktop - make sure you're outputting at the projector's native resolution and that there are no oddities there. Check the settings in SCS too; I've only used its video output a couple of times (the server I run it on is great for audio but struggles with video) but recall having to try a few different settings before it worked optimally.

If your projector (or a monitor) can display the resolution and refresh rate it's receiving, it might be useful to have a look at that to see if it changes between clips - might give you a clue as to whether it's defaulting to something else when it's not playing clips.

[the kid]

Check the video settings on SCS ... if all else fails have a look at the forums / email mike . 100% great service.

[Nicktaylor]

In between clips the projector flashes Computer I/P 1 No video seen, then almost instantly runs the VT.

Sounds like the computer is messing with its output configuration for a moment so the projector loses sync. First port of call would be the computers own display settings - presumably you're running extended desktop - make sure you're outputting at the projector's native resolution and that there are no oddities there. Check the settings in SCS too; I've only used its video output a couple of times (the server I run it on is great for audio but struggles with video) but recall having to try a few different settings before it worked optimally.

If your projector (or a monitor) can display the resolution and refresh rate it's receiving, it might be useful to have a look at that to see if it changes between clips - might give you a clue as to whether it's defaulting to something else when it's not playing clips.

 

That all makes sense. the complication is I am going to run three projectors via a vga splitter. They will all have different settings I guess? To sign up for the SCS forum you need the answer for the anti web bot question "What is the default name assigned by SCS to the first audio device" I have not got the time to work out what the answer is !

[the kid]

Having just done a world of videos with SCS. I found that a student had paused a video and not stopped it. This caused a flicker at the end of every video to show his big face on a screen.

 

Simple thing was to stop and restart SCS. May be a 100% different issue, but most of my SCS issues are fixed with restarting

[dbini]

 

That all makes sense. the complication is I am going to run three projectors via a vga splitter. They will all have different settings I guess? To sign up for the SCS forum you need the answer for the anti web bot question "What is the default name assigned by SCS to the first audio device" I have not got the time to work out what the answer is !

 

"Initially there will just be one Audio Device displayed, which will have 'Front' as the Name Used in Cues."

[Nicktaylor]

I discovered the menu setting on the projector, something like text or graphic "on" Turned this off and nothing shows. I do believe though that the files on SCS should all be the same format. For some reason on location the play list did not work. After a transfer of seventeen clips to the format of the working three all ok!