[Thomas Leong]

Got it (the software popular with WO users) –
https://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

[Thomas Leong]

IF there is any stuttering/jerky playback in Watchout, I seriously doubt it is due to PAL per se. If I’m not wrong, Watchout originates from a PAL country!

The cause, other things being equal, may be due to the fact that most, if not all, projectors are made to operate ideally at 60Hz, rather than 50Hz AC frequency regardless of whether it is made to operate in a PAL or NTSC environment. This does not jive with PAL’s 25fps, but suits NTSC’s 30fps better.

Watchout has (had?) a setting for multiples of 25fps or 30fps as the case may be. The idea, I think, was to match the graphics card’s refresh rate to a multiple of the video’s frame-rate. However, I never managed to see positive results with any setting here. That was with version WO2 – last I did a program with WO. Might have changed since.

Additonally, try/test a software to force the graphics card’s refresh rate to a rate that matches the projectors. There was a one such software popular with Watchout users but I’ve forgotten its name. It was made in Taiwan, and is similar to this –
https://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/
or
https://reclock.free.fr/

your mileage may vary,
Thomas Leong

[Thomas Leong]

The link from the info page of DRS’ site does not work (apologies). But it works from the main ‘Download’ page.

Thomas Leong

[Thomas Leong]

I’m a Win person :), therefore –

https://www.drs-digitrax.com/sdeboard.htm

or their other (smaller) software –

https://www.drs-digitrax.com/sdecrawler.htm

or, one of their teleprompter software that allows multiple files to be selected/loaded and played while the one on-screen loops in the meantime. The way I envisage it is that new messages are quickly saved to an ASCII text file, and uploaded to the prompter software, and selected for play. Process is repeated as and when necessary.

Thomas Leong

[Thomas Leong]

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.

[Thomas Leong]

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]

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]

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.

[Thomas Leong]

Frame-syncing 2 or more video sources has never been easy, or cheap even in the old days of tape.

Nowadays, you can try starting the same video on two media players or PCs but it is more miss than hit. Try with the freeware Input Director (https://www.inputdirector.com), create a macro key that will start playing the video on 2 networked computers, and visually check the sync on 2 monitors. Chances are it won’t be frame-synced. Therefore the need for specialized software.

[Thomas Leong]

If you are PC-based, look at AvStumpfl’s Wings Platinum.

You will need the Pro version as a minimum (look up the Versions Table in its Help files for features of various versions; free download and install).

The Pro and the Multi-displays versions are both capable of outputting dual frame-synced video streams from a 3rd party’s graphics card dual outputs. But you would loose the control screen in the process unless you add a 3rd monitor via a USB2VGA solution or Soundgraph’s FingerVU? (I haven’t tried).

Cheaper might be hardware-based Rokulabs’ Brightsign players.