[Thomas Leong]

Apologies, missed that.
Not familiar with nVidia, more familiar with AMD.
Yes, if the nVidia can be setup to ‘merge 3 displays as one big one’, you do not need the Matrox. The only question remaining is whether the rest of the system can play the one big file without hiccups. Only a test will tell.

[Thomas Leong]

[Susie Su] “1. I could combine all 3 videos in one large video with a width of 3 x 1920 = 5760 and a height of 1080. Then I can play one single video.
– What codec and what player software could be used in this case?”

A: With a Matrox TripleHeadToGo or a made-in-China equivalent, not sure what codec – try h264, but better would be HAP (under a .mov wrapper) which pushes the decompression and playback workload to the graphics card. Software would be Quicktime or VLC. My guess is you would need at least an i7 processor to handle playback of 3×1920 resolution, and SSD or M.2 ‘disk’.

[Susie Su] “2. I could use a software which can show the 3 separate videos in sync.
– What (reasonable priced) player software can do the task to show the videos in sync even after hours?”

A: Try MadMapper or Mapio2Pro both priced at about euro350. Resolume or Resolume Arena could do it as well, I guess, but I’m not familiar with Resolume.

Framesynced exactly when looped may be asking too much of these software at those prices. A frame or two out of sync after a loop or two is more likely, and chances are it would not be noticeable to the layman not looking for it with an eagle eye.

[Thomas Leong]

Not sure if this is what you are after –
Apply a Layer > Blending Mode > Difference to each media item > then Opacity to crossfade
The lower layer’s brighter parts will visible first during the dissolve. Seems quite similar to the dissolves when I was doing 35mm Transparency shows between slide projectors.

Edited:
“Difference to each layer” changed to “Difference to each media item”

[Thomas Leong]

No, I don’t. BTW, I have retired.

At a guess, meet up with/write to the PR Manager of both places may reveal the requirements.
For KLCC, KL Bandaraya near Merdeka Square would be good place enquire for permits (danger of terrorism planning, etc considered).

[Thomas Leong]

If your projectors have VGA in + VGA out, that would be as simple as daisy chaining them with the source signal feeding the first one in the chain.
If the projectors do not, then a VGA Distribution Amp (ebay?) would be a relatively low cost solution.
With VGA, runs can be as long as about 100m without much loss. With other types of signal, eg. HDMI, DVI, etc. you will probably need Extenders ($$) for long runs. SDI can also have pretty long runs without loss, but SDI capable equipment are inherently more expensive (cameras, projectors, output devices, etc.).

Another alternative is a Matrox Triple-Head-to-Go unit which sees the source signal as one, and splits it up into 2-3 separate signals. This allows you to create, in say Photoshop or After Effects, or ??, a larger than single image (eg. 2048×768 or 3072×768 for 1024×768 projectors). Cabling would depend on Matrox model – HDMI, DVI. Not sure if they have a VGA model.

Good luck!
Thomas Leong

[Thomas Leong]

Wings6 Pro, with the Async features you want is Euro800. Not expensive versus the Multidisplay VIOSO version:
https://hdav.org/en/wings-platinum-6/licences/
It is basically a single fullscreen output, with control/program on another monitor. The dual screen output for panoramas, stereo, etc is only available via the Template when one starts a new design. Was not like that, but it is now.

[Thomas Leong]

1. Not familiar with Mac, only Windows.
2. Not Open Source, but paid software (read: USB Licence Keys).
3. Two I know of: Dataton Watchout, and AvStumpfl Wings Platinum.
With Dataton Watchout, there is only one price per usb licence, and you need two to start with, one to program, and one for the fullscreen display.
With Stumpfl Wings, one licence has the control program on one monitor, and you can send the video out via another monitor.

With both software, the properties of audio and video files have ‘loop’ and ‘free running’ (Watchout) / ‘asynchronous’ (Wings) features which you can enable, i.e. when the Timeline is in pause mode, the enabled media will continue to run.
In Watchout, it would be a mix of Auxiliary Timelines and Cues calling Aux Timelines and Opacity and Volume Tweens to fade in/out the Video and/or the Music, on cue.
In Wings, it would be Mix Groups to fade in/out of media groups, on cue.

Wings can be operated remotely with Powerpoint-like clickers. Watchout cannot – needs MIDI buttons/controllers or pre-programmed RS232 buttons to operate remotely or Artnet compatible DMX.

Both have downloadable demos, with no expiry limit.
Wings, however, have a 1-minute limit output with ‘DEMO’ layered on it. It has various versions and features. The Demo version allows you to choose/switch between versions (check the Help files under Table of Versions for the features you require).

good luck!
Thomas Leong

Addendum 1:
Forgot to mention that Watchout does not play well with Wings in the same PC.
Though both use the MainConcept codecs, the Wings version is tied in with MediaLooks using the qtsourcepxt.dll file. You would have to uninstall Wings for Watchout to operate troublefree.

Addendum 2:
I just downloaded and played around with Wings Platinum 6. You would need at least the Platinum Pro v6 to have the Loop and Asynchronous feature. Version 6 seems to have dropped the Mix Group feature which I have used with my version 4 to group various tracks together and trigger a fade out of the entire group whilst fading in a new group, from a Timeline Pause position. Should still be able to do this with version 6, except it would not be called ‘Mix Groups’ anymore. Just assign tracks to Groups from the Track Head, enable media to Loop and Async, pause the Timeline just before a fade out whilst having the next media paused to fade in, and when you manually trigger the Timeline to continue playing past the Pause Marker, voila! {FYI, Async for video is in the Object’s Properties Window accessible with a double-click on the video itself. Async for audio is in the Track Head – the left-most section with the speaker icon. Don’t know why AvStumpfl split their locations.)

Wings Pro v6 is much cheaper than Dataton’s Watchout, and you would need only 1 licence key for both Program Control and Output to a single screen with one PC, with dual fullscreen outputs available depending on your graphics card’s outputs.
One other thing I noticed though is that the Display Warp feature for geometric correction is not available in all versions except Wings VIOSO.

[Thomas Leong]

Your cheapest option may be to go with what Walter has suggested. But first check your motherboard manual/specs. Chances are, if your motherboard is a Z97, the most RAM you can have is 32GB. If, however, it is 64GB max and your current RAM sticks are each 8GB, then they will have to be discarded as you will need 16GB x 4 sticks to make 64GB. And be reminded that your current RAM is DDR3.

As for your friend’s Xeon (not Xenon, a type of lamp), check to ensure it is for LGA1150 which is the number of pins in the cpu socket of your current motherboard. If not, then your friend’s Xeon will not fit that socket, and a new motherboard is necessary for the Xeon.

If you have more money to splurge, then go for a new system based on LGA2011-3 and DDR4 RAM, etc!!

Thomas Leong

[Thomas Leong]

Ah, yes…the Triplehead2Go. Forgot about that as I have never played with it ‘cos it requires that you create/present to the Triplehead2Go one large and wide file all the time, and it in turn splits it into 3. If that is all you require all the time, then should work out fine. Watchout is much more flexible, and obviously does have more features than you require.

As for Propresenter, suggest you try a demo first. Last I tried it, in demo mode, it was not reliable (i.e. crashes). That was a few years ago. Maybe it was me or my pc as a newbie then. Hopefully latest version is more reliable.

[Thomas Leong]

What is the budget? IMO, USD20,000 and above would be good.

What you seem to require may be summarized as –
1. 4 synced outputs to 4 Display Monitors
2. One or more overlay of Specials over one, two or all 4 monitors every 20s
3. A second overlay (animated smoke) over the taco
4. Hands-free, idiot proof operation every day, preferably with Remote over the choice of Specials
5. Reliability and stability

Offhand, you need either –
1. A Digital Signage system that would permit scheduling, and two or more overlays, plus the ability to ‘program’ the sequences required.
2. A multi-display system like Dataton Watchout or AVStumpfl Wings Platinum

I am not that familiar with Digital Signage systems that can fulfill the requirements above. There are many on the market. Example you may want to look at is Brightsign.biz and their HD product range. I have 2 units of their old range, and the two units will loop all day in sync linked by a simple ethernet router. Control is zilch but some of their units allow GPIO attachment for control. Brightsign units are basically media players with additional features. I use their freely provided BrightAuthor to author the SD cards inserted into each unit, but have to produce the media files (stills, video, etc) with After Effects to store on the SD Cards. If I’m not wrong Brightsign units accept only MPEG-2 files and/or H264, therefore alpha-channel video (for the smoke effect over the taco) may not be possible. Changes require the SD cards with the changes to be uploaded or re-written to the SD cards, i.e. stopping the playback till all changes are done and transferred, rebooted. Some units allow update of media files via a network.

I am familiar with the multi-display systems mentioned, and of the two, I would recommend Dataton Watchout with their new Watchpax 4 (4-outputs) as the Display PC, or you can build your own Display PC with, say, the AMD Firepro W4100 (or newer WX4100) graphics card with 4 outputs. The Watchpax 4 is a locked down embedded Windows PC (i.e. no Windows changes possible; just power up, power down every day) – quite ideal for installing in a client’s premises. Control of Watchpax can be with a free ‘Watchout Remote’, an app for IOS or Android. Needs a wireless connection to the Watchpax for this. With the remote app, client can call out the Specials as and when, or pre-programmed to 20s call outs.

Watchout requires a ‘Production PC’ with a licence key to program your required sequences. This ‘Production PC’ can be a laptop, connected to the Display PC/Watchpax4 via ethernet cable, and when programming is done and the instructions and media files are transferred to the Display PC/Watchpax4, the Production PC can be disconnected. Thereafter a reboot of Watchpax 4 is required. Daily, when powered in the morning, it will autoload the instruction program, run all day, and merely powered off at the end of the day with no damage to Watchpax4 nor the embedded Windows. Changes/Additions, however, need the Production PC to be re-connected for the changes to be made and re-transferred.

Budget for 1 Watchout USB licence key (required for the Producton PC) + one unit Watchpax 4 will be about USD13,000. Watchpax 4 includes a Watchout licence built in. You will have to add some necessary accessories like 4 ACTIVE mini-Display Port to DVI adapters, DVI-?? converters and cabling to the 4 monitors, and the cost of the 4 monitors, installation, etc. And your fees, of course. Therefore, I foresee at least a 20K budget.

You may download a free copy of Watchout from Dataton’s website. One major limit without the licence key is that you cannot communicate/transfer files/instructions to the Display PC (Watchpax 4). Other than that, you may preview your program, save, etc. There is no time limit.

If you wish to go the Dataton route, I can send you an example program ‘xxxx.watch’ that will show you how you may achieve your requirements using media files from your own pc as examples.

Thomas Leong