Resolume Forum

Hello everyone,

i just started with Arena and am excited to do so, looks like a powerful tool. I have a question about connecting 2 projectors and projecting 2 different compositions on the object.

I have a desktop computer with a GTX 1070 GPU. What i would like to do is project one Comp to the front of my object with one projector that's located in front of an object, and another comp on the side of the object, from another projector. Currently, that object is a bottle.

I connected my desktop monitor to DVI output of GPU, and the projectors to HDMIs on it. I get the output on the front projector, when the other one is not connected(the output on projector works only if i set the projector as main display and then drag the arena window to the monitor, I guess that's the way you do it)

However, if i connect second projector(side one) and start arena, arena freezes and goes to not responding, without giving me any possibility to change anything.
Of course, I would like to be able to change stuff on my monitor, while the compositions are played over projectors.

Is this setup even possible with one GPU? Is it possible with this particular GPU?
My GPU driver is latest, 375.95.

Can you please help this newbie?
Thanks in advance

You can't open multiple versions of resolume and you can't use multiple comps. You would use one comp with multiple layers. Look into the layer router for using multiple layers to go to one projector.

Connect all your displays/projectors to the computer, check in windows display settings that they have been recognised, you should also see your wallpaper on them if they have been enabled properly.
Start Arena,
The simplest way to do a setup like this is to double your composition width, position layers to the left for one side, then layers to the other half for the other side of your object.
Then in advanced output you create 2 screens one for each side of your composition, both will have one slice which you adjust to cover your left and right side of your composition in the Input section - see rightClick menu.
You can select the Screen's output by selecting the screen on the left side, then you'll see a drop down on the right side where you can select your projectors, one for each screen.
Then you can adjust your slice to the correct position on the Output section to fit your object.
You don't have to drag Arena anywhere.

As for the freeze, it is possible that your card can only handle 2 outputs at the same time even if it has 3 connectors.

Both of the solutions mentioned above are great. If you plan to do a lot of layering with multiple clips playing at once with layer/comp FX, the layer router might confuse you?? I personally prefer to use the layer router method (layers 1 and 2 are ran through layer 3's layer router and layer 3 goes to it's own screen/projector, then layer 5 and 6 are ran through layer 7's router which goes to it's own screen, and layer 4 is just a black video) just be sure to add FX on clip or layer level and not comp level unless you want that fx applied to both screens.

a simple comp that only has 1 screen playing one clip at a time could be setup with 2 layers and each layer is sent as a input source for each screen. then just setup 2 screens in your advanced output

finally, ravensc's method is great as well. if you have two 720p projectors just make your comp 2560x720 and shift the X axis of your layers to fit. or make 2 slices and route a layer to said slice.

Plenty of great video tutorials out there too if you need a visual aid as well. you got this!!
nice gpu btw. not sure why it's freezing?

Thank you all for great input.

Actually I'm an 3D animator and compositor, whose boss decided that I should learn how to do projection mapping for the cost reduce, so that we don't have to pay for the guy who knows Arena :S

Ok, I think i get it. I will do my animations and effects in Adobe After Effects, then render out both videos(Front and Left) in same Comp, it should be 3840x1080, because one composition is FullHD(both projectors are 1920x1080)

Then in Arena i put this video in one of the layers and in Advanced Output add two screens, where on the right side of the window i choose the intended projector, and map the right side for the screen. Is this the right workflow, did I get it?

I connect the projectors, both are recognized in windows, scaling is 100%, I see the extended desktop on both(both are connected on HDMI). When i open arena, it just freezes and goes to not responding after i click whatever.

Also, I have a problem where only ONE projector is connected, i have to put it as main display, so my fullscreen preview will work. Then i drag the Arena window to my monitor display and it works, the preview is on the projector. If i don't do that, Arena freezes and crashes. That's what I meant when I said that i have to drag the Arena. Of course, only one Arena window is opened.

It seems to me that this is the problem when i connect two projectors. Does this sound familiar, is there any fix?

@dinga thanks for the compliment for the GPU, I'm overwhelmed by the power of this card
I googled a bit, and think that GTX1070 should handle more than 3 outputs...

I have a problem where only ONE projector is connected, i have to put it as main display, so my fullscreen preview will work. Then i drag the Arena window to my monitor display and it works, the preview is on the projector. If i don't do that, Arena freezes and crashes. That's what I meant when I said that i have to drag the Arena.

This is a problem with Optimus enabled laptops, described further here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13529&hilit=black+output