Alternatives to Wings Platnum/Proshow Producer

[Thomas Leong]

Hello Nils,

As you probably would know, Wings has various version one of which should suit your needs and if networking with other display computers is not required – Starter, Advanced, Pro, etc. The Pro version can do 2 screens max and cannot network with other display computers to increase this number. The demo version can be switched over to each version to test out one’s requirements (via ? > About Wings > Wings Platinum Licence). These versions are far cheaper than the Multi-display version. Stumpfl’s website should have the contact numbers for the US distributor. If you still have a problem, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the Singapore Asia-Pacific distributor.

Off-hand, I can’t recall similar alternatives at a better price. Maybe someone else can.

Thomas Leong

[Nils Hoover]

Yeah, thanks, I should have been more clear. I looked at the other versions, and I the cheapest option would meet my needs just fine, but it is still around $400 when I wouldn’t be using any of the advanced options really. I have looked at Queuing programs, some of which are cheaper (or free) but the fact that they aren’t really timeline based makes them a little more awkward to use for a linear, non interactive show, like mine.

[Thomas Leong]

Hello Nils,

Apologies, been away to China for a week working outdoors, and heavy drink sessions after followed by early mornings 🙂

Question to your stated requirements:
1. Why do you need a timeline-based software?
2. Are your files a mixture of still pix/graphics and video? Could this mix be finished in a video editing program, output to a single video file, then looped by a non-timeline-based software?

Thomas

[Nils Hoover]

I work at a (relatively small) 5 screen independent theater. We show old short films and ads in-between them. A timeline based system just works best for working with video, images and music (music goes with the ads).
I am just trying to decrease the complexity and time it takes to replace an advertisement or a short film, so that I can keep the short films fresh, and so when new advertisers come on, it is easy to update the ads (and we have at least one ad which changes weekly).

Really the main reason I don’t want to render it out has to do with the time it takes to render. Rendering out an HD 30 minute file, which has video files using all types of formats (I grab the shorts from the web), the rendering just ends up taking a lot of time.

The one nice thing about the ProShow Producer is if I have to render, I can make an EXE which doesn’t render out the images (plays them as a slideshow), but only the videos, so that cuts the render time way down.

[Thomas Leong]

Now that we know the ‘why’, perhaps digital signage type software may be a suitable alternative to your needs. One freeware (with limitations) that I know of is ‘Digital Recall’ – https://www.digitalrecall.com.au/Digital/default.asp – which is capable of looping, add/delete files you do not require, then update the player.

If I can think of other, I’ll let you know.

Thomas

[Nils Hoover]

First of all thank you for all of your help, I appreciate the time you have put into responding to this.

This is definitely a route I researched some, but in the end for my needs would be more costly as I would need to setup a computer with every projector, and maybe a little bit more time consuming to be as flexible as I would like it to be (in that I have create the media in one place, and then bring it into another to organize).

Let me go back a little bit.
Here is my plan right now:

One computer/server -> VGA Splitter/Distributed amplifier w/audio -> 5 individual Projectors.

The shorts/ads are on a loop, ad projectors get turned on between shows, off when the movie starts.

Have basically 2 ad sections but many shorts, so show goes something like this: short_1 – ad_1 – short_2 – ad_2 – short_3 – ad_1 – short_4 – ad_2 – etc.

My bosses want music during the ads, and want different music so it doesn’t get annoying, so although the images are the same on each ad sequence, the music has to be different mostly through out the entire loop.

On top of that there is at least one ad that gets changed weekly, which is a large reason I don’t want to use NLE software, having one huge file to render out each week becomes a bit of a chore.

Any way, I am beginning to realize that there may not be any perfect solution for me, especially when cost is an issue, but I am sure I can get something to work for me fine.

[Thomas Leong]

I can understand your concerns re budget limits. Perhaps you should present a new budget plan to your financial backers.

best of luck,
Thomas

[Walter Soyka]

[Nils Hoover] “I work at a (relatively small) 5 screen independent theater. We show old short films and ads in-between them. A timeline based system just works best for working with video, images and music (music goes with the ads).”

You might still be able to do what you need here with a cue-based system. Which systems have you looked at?

Thomas’s digital signage system suggestion is well worth consideration, too.

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

[Nils Hoover]

I have actually tried out several queuing systems, and I often run into problems around the slideshows w/ music and/or video, but I will give them another look. I have tried SCS 10, A weird program called Screen Monkey, looked at tutorials of Q-Lab (haven’t tried it, don’t have a mac, but it could still be an option), A free program called Multiplay, and probably some others. Do you have any suggestions of ones which have good video/image support?

[Thomas Leong]

If your main problem is mixing stills/video with music, have a look at Muvee – https://www.muvee.com/en/products/reveal which costs less than US$80. This may free you from limiting yourself to timeline-based applications.

Thomas