[Bob Bonniol]

If the sync to music is less of an issue than resolution, you ought to run the slidshow of photos out of iPhoto directly.

If sync is primarily important, then you should go ahead and make a DVD. It is the most economical, reliable way to go, and the Hotel AV will be able to deal with it just fine. It would also probably be fairly acceptable in terms of quality.

There ARE ways to do very high quality sync’d playback (at HD or better quality) but they demand specialized playback systems like media servers (Watchout, Wings, Catalyst, Hippo, etc) that are clearly very expensive and way beyond the expertise of the hotel AV.

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[Bob Bonniol]

I’m going to assume you mean video mixer. You need to look at that output criteria: do you mean the SAME output to 2 to 4 projectors, or are you talking about 2 to 4 discreet feeds ? in that case you are entering complex territory.

I suggest you look at the Edirol switchers, they are used in many academic environments (they are not so costly)…

Bob

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

I’ve never tried running IMAG through Watchout… The only situation where I had to mix Watchout with IMAG we used a BARCO Encore to window the IMAG and the Watchout output.

In most common media servers the frame delay is around 2 frames. It can depend on the quality of the input card, and of course it may be effected by the node’s platform bandwidth.

Given the rehearsal restrictions Watchout or Wings is a good choice… their timeline interfaces make for quick and intuitive programming and updating. I have run powerpoint through watchout, with mixed results… I am going to put my eggs in Thomas’s basket here. You might want to consider a multi input windowing system like Spyder, Montage, or Encore to ensure smooth implementation of IMAG and external PP.

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

touche Nick… Fundamentally, I agree with you. It IS often the simple things that work best.

And I think that the inherent power of computers today, paired with a simple solution like ProVideo Presenter, make for a cheap and robust solution that probably strikes a bit of fear into the more expensive products.

That said, many of the aspects I mention prove critical for show situations. More and more we see irregular screens or actual scenery we have to project on, as well as a desire for unified control. I can’t even count the number of clients who show up with media of every conceivable kind; leading to a situation where built in encoding becomes utterly necessary and not just convenient.

The great thing is that ProPresenter will probably be incorporating all of this in time, and probably without significant price change.

Best,
Bob

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

Run anything ?

Can it warp to adjust for irregular objects ?

How many displays can be blended into a combined raster ?

Can I run 2k or 4k footage on it ? How many layers ?

Does it have built in media encoding ?

Can I ramp speed up and down on live input feeds ?

Can I run it with DMX control, and taking MIDI triggers simultaneously ?

Just asking…

Bob

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

You don’t want wings to fire the lighting… you want it the other way around. It’s way easier to have the lighting controller firing midi, DMX, or TC to the media playback. This would go for most any system like Wings (watchout, Pandora’s Hippotizer). I ‘think’ Wings can take Midi Note commands to trigger timeline events. Most lighting consoles can fire Midi. Putting a DMX card into the wings setup is costlier… And I don’t know that Wings can be assigned a DMX value… Certainly it probably can for triggering straight cue go’s…

I haven’t run into a lot of installed Wings, or much support in the UK… They really seem to skew towards Watchout, Hippo, and other stuff (like Vista Montage) over there…

Let us know how it goes…

Bob

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

Two ways: If you’re running in a predictable cueing environment, you could precompose the clip in, say After Effects, with a time remap that ramps up… Even smoother with a plug like Twixtor. Conversely, any media server that can ramp playspeed (Hippotizer, Pandora’s Box, M-Box) could start the clip at 0 fps, and ramp it in, freezing on the final frame of the look you needed. These can be found (one or the other) in many regional renting and staging companies.

Bob

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

First I suggest doing a search in this forum for syncing projectors or syncing displays. There have been many cogent discussion threads on this very topic.

The short answer is: yes of course. A virtual plethora.

There are systems like Watchout, Wings Platinum, Barco Encore, and Vista Montage or Spyder that are built to do spcifically this. They are media cueing and serving devices built for many multiple outputs.

Also available are media servers common in the concert market like Hippotizer, Pandora’s Box, or Catalyst that can also do multiple blended outputs. They also have the ability to be cued from lighting control systems, which centralizes show control. A google of any o the above info will yield very detailed info.

There are design studios with a specialization in this, and there are also AV vendors that have more, rather than less info to actually execute this.

I love the idea. I worked on the design of the Broadway and National Tours of Civil Way (which we accomplished with projection). It’s an amazing era, full of great stories, and with a good deal of photographic documentation. We were able to amass quite a collection… Good luck.

Best,

Bob Bonniol

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

There are new DRM features built in that go with the new iTunes rental scheme. This DRM in 7.4 has DEFINITIVELY broken rendering to QT in AE. The web is absolutely busting out with AE users worldwide being stopped cold by this. We have one machine in the studio that got updated and it IS a problem.

Many of you know me around here, I’m not an alarmist, but this is a freakin disaster. DO NOT UPGRADE to QT 7.4

Bob Bonniol

MODE Studios
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[Bob Bonniol]

My experience with Pro Presenter is that yes, it will allow itself to be set to a native pixel resolution, But it doesn’t support multiple layer playback at the scale a Media server like Hippo, pandoras, Watchout or Wings will. It doesn’t have (therefore) layer interaction modes (i.e. the full range, additive, multiply, darken, soft light, etc, etc). I couldn’t figure out how to get it to do a CUED blend change on blend areas (I like to adjust cue to cue based on luminance, color, and content.) It doesn’t have built in encoding, I don’t know it to have the ability to map it’s control parameters to midi control surfaces, I also don’t think it’s controllable via a DMX network (very desirable these days in uniting lighting and video control). It also doesn’t seem to be able to take SMPTE TC, or to have a really flexible timeline type interface.

I don’t mean this to be a slam. ProPresenter is a GREAT product for a market that is wringing a bunch of value from the dollar. The application in faith based presentations is often a little different than big retail brand experience and trade show stuff. ProPresenter functions really well in it’s market, but there are so many more layers of functionality that usually need to be present in a top level AV installation (some of which I outlined above). I just can’t recommend it in this thread for this kind of gig being discussed. But that in no way means I don’t think ProPresenter rocks. SOmetimes you need a screw driver. Some times you need an impact wrench.

Best,
Bob

MODE Studios
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Contributing Editor, Entertainment Design Magazine
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