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Video Installation: Technical advice needed
Hey all,
I’m doing a video installation at the Milwaukee Art Museum and could use some advice on some technical issues. Without going into the concept too much, the piece incorporates two separate “booths” (essentially opaque boxes with a camera on the inside), and the video feed from each booth is then intended to be projected side by side on a large screen. The screen is quite a ways away from where the booths will be, so the plan was to hardwire the two video feeds into a mac pro station, and then output through the museum’s network into a another mac station near the projector. My guess is that this is a fairly problematic approach, because I foresee a lot of issues with the speed of data transfer, etc., but I’m admittedly in way over my head here. Is there any way this would work? If so, what software would be best for joining the two feeds and then sending them out as one? Are there any other things I need to consider?
Our budget is going to be pretty steep as it is, so I’m looking for a way to do this as inexpensively as possible.
Thanks,
William B.
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4 Replies
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I’m not Mac-knowledgeable, but I would think that capturing two live video sources and streaming them across a network requires some high-end gear capable and configuration. Doubt if copper wires can do it, so you’ll probably need at least fibre-optic stuff.
I can only suggest a Windows solution – StereoscopicPlayer and/or its sister app, StereoscopicMultiplexer. It is likely the SPlayer can do it on its own, as it seems to be able to take dual Live Video feeds into it, and spit it out onto 2 displays.
Doing it this way, it is dual camera feeds direct into a dual-input video capture card (eg. Osprey cards from Viewcast.com), processed by SterescopicPlayer, then out of a dual-output graphics card to the two projectors. This can be by DVI- or VGA-to-Cat5 Extenders where you’ll need two transmitters and two receivers seeing as you have two discrete outputs.
Next thing to consider is Control – how to control which output goes to which projector and if you wish to switch or combine one source to the two outputs, etc. I would suggest a simple Matrix Switcher. Kramer switchers comes to mind, but most are not seamless switchers (i.e. there will probably be a glitch as you switch). Seamless switchers cost a lot more. Google is your friend.
Best of luck.
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The VGA or DVI over Cat5 extender systems generally do not use TCP/IP, and thus they shouldn’t be patched into your network. Fiber extenders may be a better bet.
I’d consider trying to rent some fiber extenders and a switcher like a Barco ScreenPro II, which could place your two feeds in side-by-side PIPs.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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Is the computer doing anything else for you? Recording? Storing? Processing?
Or are you really just needing to send direct camera feeds to a different location?
I would avoid using cat5 encoders in a permanent install because IT guys tend to repatch cat5 assuming its data and not a video link.
I would look at DVI fiber link connections. Running fiber is fairly inexpensive and the encoders/decoders are a one time purchase.
Are you also transmitting audio?
Are you HD or SD? -
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone here for their suggestions and assistance. We ended up coming up with a viable solution integrating MAX/MSP’s jitter into our workflow, and everything went off without a hitch.
Thanks again,
Will B.
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