watchout

[marc]

Evening all,

 

I have an application for projection on a show I’m working on in the beginning of next year, I need to / want to project the set, the venue for the show is quite small, and proper set is not an option.

 

Having just come off a tour where the back drop was projected I am sure this will work, what I was thinking of using was Arkaos - see earlier post about it, that had no replies! But the DMX version so I can change the set and lighting at once, nice and slick.

 

I’m now thinking about using watchout, but just interested about what its limitations are. I was thinking of buying a system any way, but I wanted to check about using a VGA capture card into the system and what the quality is like with split projection e.g. 3 projectors making up one screen.

 

The other option is that Arkaos claims to out put on DV / Firewire and watchout claims to take that as an input, same question, how quick is the processing? Much distortion to the image? I know its some what dependant on what PC's I install the software on, but I work on some live outside broadcast jobs where I would like to use the same system to get multiple screens running, but the quality has to be good enough to show pictures of live surgery in enough detail for instruction to surgeons.

 

I am talking to XL video as well, but it’s always nice to get lots of opinions!

 

Thanks

 

Mk

[dbuckley]

... I need to / want to project the set, the venue for the show is quite small, and proper set is not an option ... DMX version so I can change the set and lighting at once, nice and slick.

 

If what you want to do can be driven out of a video card on a PC (twin monitor extended desktop setup with one as a user monitor, the other leading to your projector / splitter thing) and you want DMX lighting as well, you can do this with PCStage using the MediaSync plugin, it'll do your sound effects and any other control requirements as well, and is fairly cheap - the only cost is for the DMX interface which is 250 quid. There is no cost for the software so you can download it and see if it works before comitting money.

 

This solution is not a media server in any sense of the term, but if one projector (or more accurately, one image, maybe split across several projectors) is all you are driving then it may be all you need.

 

Edit: I should say this is, from my perspective, theoretical, I've read you can do this stuff in the documentation files, but never actually tried it. Not really my bag baby.