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  • videowall 3+ monitor on different pc SYNC

    Posted by Marco Romani on June 10, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    hello all! 🙂
    im really stuck in this situation:
    i have to stream 3+ video on 3+pc in a LAN.
    that one has a dedicated gigabit router so there’s no problem with the streaming of the contents.
    i must have a watermark impressed at runtime on every monitor, so not rendered in the video.

    the server has 3+ vlc players opened, and stream to the other pc the videos.
    how can i sync the players?

    i’m using vlc 0.8.0, so netsync is available.
    but noone on their forum can help me to solve the situation. seems that netsync is broken.

    anyone has a software solution for play and sync these videos?

    thanks a lot in advance for every advice!

    Walter Soyka replied 16 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 8 Replies
  • 8 Replies
  • Walter Soyka

    June 10, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    I would use Dataton Watchout for this; others on this forum might also use AVStumpfl Wings.
    In either case, you will be shocked by the price if you are on a VLC budget. You might look into renting license keys instead of purchasing them.

    Walter Soyka
    Principal & Designer at Keen Live
    Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
    RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
    Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

  • Thomas Leong

    June 10, 2010 at 6:28 pm

    On a budget, test out –

    1. Multiscreener (GPL Licence) from https://zachpoff.com; or

    2. Syncmaker Pro from https://www.syncmaker.com/

    Not sure if they are frame-sync accurate like Dataton and AvStumpfl’s products.

  • Marco Romani

    June 10, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    really thanks for the reply guys!
    i read documentations and the features of all software you suggested me.

    seems like the only valid solution for my purposes are “multiscreener” and “dataton watchout”.
    unfortunately multiscreener works very bad with 1080 videos..watchout instead is PERFECT under all aspects, but the usb dongles for the license are really really really too expensive for a videowall with 9 slaves.

    also “syncmakerpro” looks a valid software, but it doesn’t permit the impression of a logo…i really need to place a line of pixel on the top of the monitor, over all the other contents: is a line wich control the hardware of the monitor (they’re 3d stereoscopic monitors).

    maybe is off topic, but if you know how can i place this line on the bottom of a fullscreen video, syncmakerpro could be the right solution!

    thanks again!

  • Thomas Leong

    June 11, 2010 at 6:48 am

    Sorry, overlooked the part where you needed to overlay a logo

    Enquire with https://svconline.com/mag/avinstall_chyron_chytv/
    They may have come out with a better than composite video box since.
    Then again, you would also need a multi-res matrix 4×4 matrix switcher to assign the logo to the 3 other outputs.
    An alternative is a 4th pc with one Blackmagic Design I/O cards that allow you to key grahics over anything.
    Costs and complications mount as you add all these things.

    I’d recommend AvStumpfl’s Wings Platinum Multidisplay version. With version 4 of the software, they have a 2-, 3- and 4-output per pc versions, something which Dataton does not have. To elaborate, Dataton requires the Master PC to run only the Master Controller program, and the Display PCs to run the displays, in your case 4 licences with 4 PCs to output to 3 displays (where’d you get the figure ‘9’ from?). In AvStumpl’s case, with the 2-output version of Wings 4, you only need 2 licences and 2 PCs to output to 3 displays ‘cos the Master can run both the Controller program AND one of the displayed outputs (using the secondary output of a dual-display graphics card), and the one Slave PC can output to 2 displays using both outputs of a dual-display graphics card.

    With multiple layers in the timeline, you can then overlay your logo over all 3 individual displays without extra hardware and complicated connections.

    Needless to say, since you intend to use 1080 file res, the PCs and graphics cards must be up to the task, especially when asking the Slave PC to output 2×1080 files without a hiccup. Not impossible with today’s hardware offerings.

    Price? Varies between countries. Ask the dealer/distributor of your country. But I dare say, AvStumpfl’s per pc licence key for the Multidisplay version is lower than Dataton’s.
    I’m using their version 3, bought when the Euro was much higher than today. Having said that, Dataton does have a Starter Pack at a lower than individually-purchased price which comprises of 4 licence keys, good enough for 1 Master and 3 Displays.

  • Thomas Leong

    June 11, 2010 at 7:33 am

    Here is something I’ve just found, freeware too!

    VideoMagic Producer Pro 0.92 by Hollix Communications Inc (web-site under construction)
    downloadable from https://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/superimpose.html

    It has its own player, which allows you to overlay graphics (resized, positioned, etc) over live video playing in the player…and (hehe) allows you to ‘doodle’ over the live video as well, something I myself has been searching for, for a long, long time (versus the ultra expensive broadcast stuff called “Telestrators”).

    You’ll have to try it (the player) with Syncmaker Pro to make sure they work together.

  • Thomas Leong

    June 11, 2010 at 7:46 am

    Something cheaper (freeware again, but need experimenting to check frame-sync between PCs over the LAN –

    Input Director from https://www.inputdirector.com/downloads.html
    sort of a software KVM like Synergy where you create a Macro to trigger/control the Slave PCs. Example, specifying F5 and Spacebar as Macros to start Powerpoint and advance slides across 2 or more networked PCs. With still pix and graphics in Powerpoint, the sync across the LAN works perfectly, but videos in Powerpoint do not play to frame-sync amongst the networked PCs.

    I have not tried Input Director with VideoProducer Pro (where Ctrl+Shift+P is the macro for ‘Play’) across a LAN yet.

  • Marco Romani

    June 11, 2010 at 8:10 am

    Thomas Leong i rarely found person like you in the other forums!
    really thanks for all this suggestion, im gonna check everything you suggested me.

    i have no budget available so i have to make some “magic” moves 🙂

    thanks again!

  • Walter Soyka

    June 11, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    [Marco Romani] “Thomas Leong i rarely found person like you in the other forums!”

    Thomas is great — his passion for multi-display really shows in his posts.

    I’m sure we’d both love to hear back about how you overcome these challenges.

    Walter Soyka
    Principal & Designer at Keen Live
    Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
    RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
    Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

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