Resolume Forum

Hi!

I just started with Arena have a few questions regarding my project set up, hardware and workflow..
I would like to know if i'm heading in the right direction... Thanks in advance! And sorry in advance for possibly silly -newbie- questions!

I have a gig coming up in a couple of weeks where I'll be using 3 projectors to project one large image on a wall, with sections mapped to certain parts of the wall. I am using the latest MBP with AMD Radeon R9 and 1TB ssd.
Below are screenshots of the venue and the output map I made for the mapping. The comp size is: 3072 x 768px.
I created slices for each section, and linked each slice to a layer. I also have a slice for the full composition. So that's 5 layers in total.
My questions are:

1) Since you have to assign a slice to one screen/projector, how can I trigger a slice that's on the border between two projectors? So that I can use 1 layer to control that slice?

2) I will be using my 2 thunderbolt outputs and 1 hdmi output, I read in the forum that there's a delay between the two outputs. Is it correct that I will need active adapters? 2 thunderbolt > vga and 1 hdmi > vga.

3) What's the best way to switch from one clip to another in the same wall section/slice. Should I just duplicate the layers that have the separate wall sections clips, and mix between the two?!

Thanks forum!

This is going to sound like grandpa getting on his high horse again, but to me, this is a good example of how layer to slice routing is often the wrong tool for the job. It's certainly not the first tool you want to reach for, because you run into dead ends like you're running into.

Personally, I would do all positioning and cropping in the composition. You would have four layers (red, pink, lime and blue), that are each positioned roughly where you want to have them in the final output.

Red and Blue are simply positioned to the far left and right. You can just use the Position X value of the layer for this. Judging by my eyeballs, they would have a dimension of about 1364x768. You can use the Layer Width and Height for this, or use a Crop effect. I'd use a Crop, because it keeps the content's aspect ratio in tact.

Lime is cropped using a Crop effect on the layer to about 340x768 (eyeballing here), and kept in the center. Pink is positioned to the left, and uses two Crop effects on the layer to keep the two columns.

Then in the advanced output, you simply create slices that take their input from these positions, and warp them to match the surface you're projecting on. Take note that I mean taking input by positioning the input of the slice over the same area, *not* setting the Input Source that layer. The Input Source can always stay on Composition.

Think of your advanced output as just a tool to align your composition to the surface you're projecting on. All positioning and cropping happens on the layers themselves. The advanced output is just there to do the final alignment.

This solves your following problems:
1) Problem solved, because you're no longer assigning layers to slices, so it doesn't matter where in the comp your layer is. You can freely position layers within the comp, the advanced outputs will take care of the warping based on that position.

2) There is no delay. We've done edge blending tests with the MBP, and it works fine.

3) The best way is just to trigger another clip in that layer. If you use the technique I describe above, you can also do what you suggest. The good thing is that you can duplicate as many layers as you like, without having to worry about their assigned slices (because, again, you're no longer assigning layers to slices).

Thanks Grandpa J! That clears up a whole deal.
Please feel free to step on your high horse anytime

I'm going to play the devil here... I've definitely seen lag when doing a three projector blend using the two thunderbolt outputs and the hdmi, from memory the HDMI was slightly behind. For that reason I always try to use just the two thunderbolt outputs together, getting more "outputs" by using a Datapath X4.

Yes, of course mileage always varies. We didn't have problems with it, but when you do, no amount of active adapters is going to help. The only way to guarantee framesync 100% is to run all projectors out of a single output, like with a Datapath.

I'm going to play the devil here...

The greatest trick the devil pulled.... Wait, what...