I want to b a VJ please help

[Krayzie99]

Hi all. I'm based in South Africa, Johannesburg. We have awesome parties and events but we lack VJs and 1.A/Vs in clubs. I want to bring this to my country. All that I have is the following equipment:
2.MACBOOK PRO with Retina Display (2.2GHz quad core Intel Core i7)
3.ASK Proxima c520 Projector(Two of them). Will get remaining two later
.4
Resolume Arena (Demo version for now. Will buy in few months time).

But I want to be in a position of displaying these visuals on four walls using HDMI. How will this work because HDMI slots are limited.
Please provide inputs with equipment that I need and please feel free to advise me further.

[Oaktown]

The easiest and most stable option for you will be to use a Datapath X4 which will give 4 discrete outputs. Since the Proxima c520 is XGA you'd output a 2048x1536 signal and split it in quarters.

Your laptop has 3 outputs (2 MiniDP and 1 HMDI) so another option will be to use one MiniDP to HDMI adapter and Matrox Gear on the other MiniDP output (TripleHead2Go DP Edition or DualHead2Go Digital ME New) with DVI to HDMI adapters which would give you 4 HDMI outputs,

[Krayzie99]

Thanks Oaktown.

I did actually view datapath x 4 and it's features. I'm just worried about doing video mapping with arena.. Because now, datapath x4 will have one source to the Mac and a output of four channels. Now when I do mapping, won't it affect other displays ? I think it will because I don't just want to display on four walls but I might need to do some mapping because the pub/club where I might launch at, it has irregular stylish walls . I don't want to be messy when displaying the visuals... So I figured that getting a desktop, might work well. Father desktop I'd have to install Resolume then on hardware, install x2 dual port HDMI video cards. I think I'll be able to map efficiently. What do u think?

[Oaktown]

The Datapath X4 will act as if you had 4 different outputs. The only trick is that in the advanced output, it will be one screen with 4 slices. Here is it what it would look like with a 3840x2160 comp and four 1920x1080 outputs:

Then in the datapath interface you'd set the four outputs to match these four areas and you'd be set.

Now if you wanted to do blends, you would treat the four slices as if they were actual outputs. Take a look at these 2 screenshots where Slice 1 & 3 have a blend area:

Now, if you choose to use a desktop with a GPU, find one that can handle 5 outputs and you'll be set. A lot of AMD cards can handle 6 outputs with MST and a couple can handle 6 straight out (HD5870 & 7870 Eyefinity 6). I have used the HD5870 Eyefinity 6 on many projects and they handle XGA pretty well but make sure you have only 2 passive adapters.

[Krayzie99]

Thanks a lot man. Then all that I need to do is to purchase datapath x4 for now. That I can at least afford. In the long run, using a desktop with the outputs u mentioned below would be an added advantage for future live large events where I'd have to use about 14 projectors.

Thanks again man. This information is truly helpful.

Coolio...

[Oaktown]

You're welcome!

I use the datapath X4 on a lot of gigs and it's rocksolid, you will love it. Quite often I used 2 datapath X4 units with a dual link DVI splitter to get eight screens from one 4K output and it works like a charm!