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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................ 7 System Overview .............................................. 8 Software Overview ......................................... 12 2 INSTALLATION ........................................... 15 Software ........................................................ 15 Network......................................................... 16 License Keys ................................................... 16 Display Devices ..................
7 8 9 WINDOWS .................................................95 Stage Window ............................................... 97 Main Timeline Window................................. 101 Auxiliary Timeline Window ........................... 106 Composition Window ................................... 106 Media Window ............................................ 107 Input Window .............................................. 110 Output Window ........................................... 110 Task Window ....
C DISPLAY ISSUES ........................................ 239 Display Technologies .................................... 239 Wiring......................................................... 242 General Troubleshooting ............................... 243 Jerky Movements .......................................... 243 Banding....................................................... 245 Hot-Spots ..................................................... 248 Creeping Shades ..........................................
Dataton WATCHOUT™ software and this manual © Copyright 2012, DATATON AB (“Dataton”). All rights reserved. Dataton and the Dataton logo are registered trademarks of DATATON AB. WATCHOUT and PICKUP are trademarks of DATATON AB. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a term in this publication should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license.
1 INTRODUCTION 1 Welcome to Dataton WATCHOUT™, a fully digital, multi-screen display technology. It combines the qualities of traditional multi-image with digital imagery, video and the graphics power of contemporary computer technology. Use it with projectors for large, seamless images, or hook it up to monitors, video wall cubes or plasma screens for other creative screen arrangements.
This section provides a brief introduction to the various components in a very basic WATCHOUT system, and how they fit together. SYSTEM OVERVIEW Main image area using overlapped projectors Separate plasma display Production computer • Safety • Speed • Tires! Display 2 Display 3 Display 4 Display 1 Projectors Ethernet Network Production Computer 8 Display computers This is the focal point for your WATCHOUT production work.
The production computer talks to the display computers through the network, transferring media files for you as required, as well as controlling the playback of the show. It can also be used for audio playback while running the show. Display Computers You need one display computer for each display device, or group of display devices, used in your presentation (projector, monitor, etc). Display computers handle all the hard work associated with rendering still images and video.
Minimal System Configuration Display Although you can use the WATCHOUT production software on its own in order to get acquainted, you won’t be able to appreciate the full power of WATCHOUT until you connect some display computers. The illustration to the left shows a minimal system, consisting of the following components: • A computer running WATCHOUT production software. • A computer running WATCHOUT display software • A display device (for example, a monitor or a projector).
Images, Sound and Video A WATCHOUT presentation uses multiple media, such as still images, video clips, sound files, etc. WATCHOUT accepts a wide variety of still image and video file formats. Transparent areas (alpha channel) are supported in both still images and video files. For more details on the various kinds of media supported by WATCHOUT, see “Media” on page 33. Live Feeds In addition to pre-produced content, WATCHOUT can also incorporate live feeds of various kinds: • Video camera, e.g.
SOFTWARE OVERVIEW This section gives a brief introduction to the WATCHOUT production software. Stage Window The Stage window allows you to organize the displays (screen areas) to reflect their expected placement. It also provides a preview of the end result, and allows you to manipulate the placement and movement of images. Timeline Media files are dragged from your hard disk into a timeline window, where they appear as cues. Each cue features a thumbnail icon of the media.
Chapter 1 Introduction 13
WATCHOUT Training Videos To learn more about WATCHOUT, you may want to watch the training videos available here: http://dataton.com/watchout/support/training Where to Go From Here To use WATCHOUT for running actual, full-scale presentations, you need to hook up display computers and projectors (or other display devices) as shown on page 8. Chapter 2 provides details on setting up and configuring a complete system.
2 INSTALLATION 2 This chapter tells you how to install the required software components as well as how to hook up the hardware. SOFTWARE Obtain the “WATCHOUT Installer”, either from the WATCHOUT license key or by downloading it from http://www.dataton.com/watchout/support/downloads Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions. This installs both the production and display software components, adding them to your Start menu.
NETWORK The production computer and all display computers must be interconnected using a TCP/IP compatible Ethernet network, which comes standard on most computers. Wireless networks are generally not recommended. Stand-alone System Connect all computers to a hub or switch. Production Computer Display Computers Ethernet switch For stand-alone operation of a WATCHOUT system, this is usually all you need to do in terms of hardware hook-up.
DISPLAY DEVICES WATCHOUT can be used with most display technologies, including DLP and LCD projectors, LCD monitors, video wall cubes and plasma screens. Generally speaking, you can use any display device that’s compatible with the display card in the display computer. For projection purposes, DLP projectors with a high contrast ratio (2000:1 or better) is recommended. See “Display Issues” on page 239 for further details on various kinds of displays, and how to connect them to WATCHOUT.
Using Multiple Sound Channels You can have multiple display computers playing at the same time, thereby providing multiple audio channels. The synchronization between computers is generally good enough for multi-language support or special effects sound tracks, but not for true, phase accurate, multi-channel sound reproduction. Another option is to install a multi-channel sound card in a display computer. Such sounds cards can handle up to eight phase accurate sound channels.
Software Driver Installation Most capture cards require specialized software drivers. Although such a driver is usually delivered with the card on a CD-ROM, it’s often a good idea to check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest driver version. For a list of suitable capture cards, see “Live Video Input” on page 224. WATCHOUT Configuration Configure each WATCHOUT display computer that will show live video as described under “Add Live Video” on page 145.
VNC SERVER SOFTWARE If you want to use the Computer Screen media item in WATCHOUT to integrate a live computer display into your presentation (for example, to display Excel or Powerpoint as part of a speaker-support presentation), you must install VNC server software on the remote computer. This must be a separate computer – it can not be one of the computers running WATCHOUT software. ◆ NOTE: This software is not required for basic WATCHOUT functions.
The first time you run the VNC server software, you will be prompted to enter a password. The VNC server software then appears as an icon in the lower right corner of the screen while running. Pointing at this icon displays the IP number of the VNC server. Double-click the icon to change the settings. VNC Server software settings. Enter the desired VNC server password here.
COMPUTER SETTINGS Each computer needs to be configured for TCP/IP networking. Click the Start button and choose Control Panel. Open the “Network and Sharing Center”. Make sure there’s a “Local Area Connection” shown in the list. Click “Change adapter settings”. Right-click your local network connection and choose “Properties”. Click “Change adapter settings”, then right-click your Local Area Connection and choose “Properties”. You may need to type your password to continue configuration at this point.
Ensure that “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” is available and selected.
Choose “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”, click “Properties…” and enter the numbers as shown below. ◆ NOTE: The example shown is appropriate if you’re building a stand-alone system. If your WATCHOUT subnet is connected to a larger network, you should consult your network adminstrator.
Firewall Settings The Windows firewall may interfere with normal operation of WATCHOUT. You can avoid this either by disabling the firewall, or by configuring the firewall to allow WATCHOUT to function. To disable the firewall, open the “Windows Firewall” control panel, as shown below. If the firewall is on, click “Turn Windows Firewall on or off.” This opens the “Windows Firewall Settings” window (see next page), allowing you to turn off the firewall.
▲ IMPORTANT: A WATCHOUT system should not be accessible from the Internet, or other external network. If you need to access the Internet from your system, use a separate firewall device to protect your complete system from security attacks. The firewall feature should be turned off. Otherwise it may interfere with the ability to connect to and download media files to the display computers.
DISPLAY COMPUTER SETTINGS To achieve best performance and reliability in your WATCHOUT system, you need to adjust several settings on all your display computers. Most of the settings below are found by clicking the Start button and choosing Control Panel. Network Open the “Network and Sharing Center” control panel and configure TCP/IP as described on preceding pages. Specify a unique IP number for each display computer by changing the last group of IP address digits.
Display Properties • Right-click your computer’s desktop and choose “Screen Resolution.” • Set “Resolution” to match the desired resolution for the display. If you have multiple displays connected, select each display and set its resolution and other parameters. ◆ IMPORTANT: When connecting multiple displays to one display computer, all those displays must be set to the same resolution and connect to a single graphics card.
• Click “Advanced settings.” • Click the Monitor tab and set “Colors” to “True Color” and “Screen refresh rate” as set in the “Display Framerate” according to your WATCHOUT presentation (see page 121), and click OK.
If you don’t intend to use video, or if you have mixed PAL and NTSC video, choose “60 fps” in the WATCHOUT Preferences dialog box, and set the display’s refresh frequency to 60 Hz. ◆ NOTE: Some video projectors and LCD displays work better at 60 fps than other refresh rates even when displaying PAL video. If you experience jerky motion and/or video playback, you may want to try setting both the WATCHOUT Preferences and your display computers to 60 fps/Hertz.
Sound Settings When using a display computer for sound playback, you must enable the correct sound output and turn up its volume. Open the Sound control panel and make sure the correct output is activated. If not, select the desired playback device and click “Set Default”. Indicates the currently active (default) sound output port.
Once you have selected the desired output in the list shown on the previous page, click Properties and turn up the volume under the Levels tab. Turn up the volume. ◆ NOTE: The look of this window may vary depending on the features of your audio interface.
3 MEDIA 3 WATCHOUT is a compositing tool; it does not include any media creation or editing functions. All media to be used in your presentation must be supplied and edited using other means. This chapter provides an overview of the media and file formats supported by WATCHOUT, as well as examples of popular applications used to create or edit such media files. ▲ IMPORTANT: Keep a show’s media files in a folder that is located in the same folder as the WATCHOUT show file, or in a sub-folder.
STILL IMAGES Still images can be used as backgrounds or superimposed on other images. You can control the degree of transparency, scaling, rotation and other effects for all images (stills as well as moving images). Supported Formats WATCHOUT reads most popular image formats, including BMP, GIF, JPEG, Photoshop, PICT, PNG, Targa and TIFF. Preferably, use an image format native to the application used to create/edit the images.
Transparency Some image formats include transparency information in addition to the image itself. This transparency information is sometimes referred to as an “alpha channel”, although some image editing applications use this term for other functions. Transparency can be used to create non-square images, holes inside images or semi-transparent areas, such as drop shadows. Photoshop, PNG, TIFF and Targa file are examples of file formats that support transparency. + Background image.
Double-click the name of an image in the Media window to change its specifications. Click the Browse button to link the media item to another file. This updates all cues to show the newly selected image instead. Image Specifications Transparency Optimize For... In most cases, WATCHOUT can determine the kind of alpha channel (transparency) being used in the image, if any. If the automatic detection fails, choose the correct type of alpha channel here.
MOVING IMAGES WATCHOUT can play back movies and videos saved in a Windows Media (DirectShow) or QuickTime-compatible format, such as MOV, WMV, AVI, DV and MPEG-1/2/4 (including H.264/AVC). High Definition Video WATCHOUT supports high definition video using either MPEG-2, H.264 or the Windows Media 9 format. Video can be encoded by, for example, the Grass Valley ProCoder: http://www.grassvalley.
Computer-generated Animations When using computer-generated moving images, you must specify the frame rate and resolution of the resulting movie during rendering. Generally, when combining computer generated and pre-recorded video material, the frame rate is dictated by the live material. Alternatively, if your playback computer is fast enough, match the rendered frame rate to the WATCHOUT display frame rate (see “Display Framerate” on page 121); for example, 60 fps progressive.
Assembling Individual Frames Some applications, most notably 3D animation software, often save the resulting frames as individual image files. This may also be the case when scanning images frame by frame from film. Such a sequence of images must be converted into a movie file, with the appropriate frame rate, before it can be incorporated into WATCHOUT. This can be done using, for example, Adobe After Effects or Apple QuickTime. The individual images must be saved as files all ending in a frame number.
Using Transparency Some applications support inclusion of transparency information in the generated movie file. Such transparency can either come from the source material (for example, a computer generated animation), or be added afterwards (for example a mask applied to a video clip). Being able to create arbitrarily shaped movies, or movies with holes in them, means you can combine moving and still images in many creative ways.
MPEG-2. High quality. Used on DVD video discs. Optimized for camera video at normal frame sizes. Also supports high definition formats with some encoders (see “High Definition Video” on page 37). The WATCHOUT MPEG2 decoder performs de-interlacing automatically when required. Quicktime Animation. Very low compression. Optimized for computergenerated material. Supports transparency when set to “Millions+” of colors. DV. High quality. Medium compression. Optimized for video editing.
Pre-splitting Large Movies Modern computers are generally capable of playing at least one high definition video file. Fast computers may be able to play several high definition videos at the same time. As long as what you need to play fits within the realm of your computer’s capabilities, you should generally choose among the MPEG-2, H.264 or Windows Media high definition formats.
This can all be avoided by splitting the image using the originating application, prior to compression. Most applications allow you to crop the output to any desired rectangle. In some cases, you can even set up batches to generate all the individual movie files in one go. A 1200 x 480 movie to be pre-split across two overlapping 800 by 600 display areas.
This is how you would split a movie using Adobe After Effects: Crop the resulting movie as required on each side.
AUDIO Audio is used in WATCHOUT in a way that’s very similar to moving images. Simply bring the sound file into WATCHOUT and place its icon on the display in the Stage window where you want the sound file to play. Audio waveform displayed inside cue on timeline. ◆ NOTE: Do not place the sound file’s icon so that it straddles multiple displays, unless you specifically want the same sound file to play from multiple display computers.
Using Embedded Audio Some video files contain an audio track in addition to the video. In this case, the sound will play from the same display computer(s) as the video does. If you don’t want this, cut the sound track out of the movie and place it in a file of its own, thereby ending up with two media files: one containing the video and one the audio. This allows you to place them separately in WATCHOUT, making the sound play from any computer.
LIVE VIDEO Live video can be integrated into your presentation. This is particularly useful in speaker support applications, since it allows you to bring an image of the speaker onto the screen. It can also be used to play video from DVD or other external video playback devices, or to use video originating from satellite links or video conference feeds. Video is brought into WATCHOUT by connecting the video source directly to each display computer that will show the live video.
From a production point of view, you use the live computer image just like any other image. Simply add a Computer Screen object to the Media window and drag it onto the Stage or Timeline from there. See “Add Computer Screen” on page 143 for more details. Using an RGB Capture Card Although the VNC-based solution discussed above provides excellent image quality at virtually no additional cost, it does require a fast computer for running the VNC server software.
The advantage of this media type is that it requires no additional hardware installed in the computer and that it adds new kinds of video sources. A possible disadvantage is the noticeable delay incurred by the network stream processing, making it unsuitable for on-camera speaker display (IMAG), or other applications calling for low latency. Assuming that you have such a network streaming source available, it can now be incorporated into your presentation by choosing “Add Network Video” on the Media menu.
URI Enter the Uniform Resource Identifier of the stream’s source. The details here vary with the camera or application sending the stream, so you need to consult the device’s documentation. As an example, an AXIS network camera used the following URI (where the group of digits is the IP address assigned to the camera): rtsp://192.168.0.178/axis-media/media.amp Preview Dimensions DYNAMIC IMAGES Select “Live” to see the network video in the Stage window.
• Provide content for the image server in the form of still images or Flash (SWF) files. • Choose “Add Dynamic Image” on the Media menu to add the corresponding media item to your presentation (see page 148). • Drag the media item onto the Stage or Timeline to make it appear on screen. Please refer to “Dynamic Images” on page 217 for more details on how to use this feature.
TEXT This media type makes it easy to add headings and other texts to your WATCHOUT show without having to use an external program, such as Adobe Photoshop. To add a text to your presentation, choose “Add Text” on the Media menu, enter your text in the checkerboard area and click OK. To display the resulting text, drag it onto a timeline and position it on stage. The text is shown on a transparent background and is used like a still image.
Width Specifies the width of the resulting text image, in pixels. The height will be determined automatically by the amount and format of the text. Font menu Choose any font installed on your production computer and apply it to the selected text. Note that you must select some text before you can apply a new font. The same goes for most other settings, as they apply on a per-character basis. Text Color The color swatch next to the Font menu specifies the color of the text.
Bullets and Numbering Margin Style Reset Text Set Style Update and Auto Update Optimize For… 54 These checkboxes display a bullet or a paragraph count in front of each selected paragraph. Use the Hanging Indent setting to control the distance between this embellishment and the text itself. Adds additional spacing on both sides of the text, as a percentage of the font size. This may be required to account for certain italicized fonts.
Style You may define text settings that can subsequently be applied across several Text media items, thus maintaining a consistent style throughout your presentation. To define a style, click the Styles tab in any Text media item. A non-editable preview text is displayed in the checkerboard area of the window. If you have typed anything into the Text media item, that text will be used for the preview. Otherwise, a default text sample is shown.
Add/Delete Style Text Effects Click Add to create a new, named style based on the current settings, then enter a style name. To delete a style, first select it in the list, then click Delete. The controls along the bottom of the window allow you to add a drop shadow and emboss effect to the rendered text. Your settings here are reflected in the preview area of the Styles tab, but do not appear in the main editing area of the Text tab. A text style with Emboss and Drop Shadow effects applied.
DMX-512 RECORDING WATCHOUT can control individual lighting channels directly (see “DMX-512 Output” on page 205). However, when using numerous lighting channels, or moving lights, a dedicated lighting console is generally required. By recording the data from the console into WATCHOUT, you can then simplify such systems by removing the console and use WATCHOUT to play back the lighting control as it was recorded.
Ready to Play. Recording. Not recorded. • Drag this new item from the Media window onto a timeline. Note that the symbol on the cue is displayed in yellow, indicating that it is ready to be recorded. Place this cue where you want the recording to start, and extend it to cover the duration of the recording. • Run the timeline along with the lighting console. You may simply start WATCHOUT and cue the console manually. Alternatively, use timecode to synchronize them.
4 PRODUCTION 4 This chapter goes through the steps required to produce a presentation using WATCHOUT. It assumes that you have already produced the source media assets, as described in the previous chapter. STAGE The Stage window allows you to arrange the display areas and provides a preview of your presentation. Portions of images that appear inside a display will be shown by that physical display. By arranging displays side by side or vertically, you can make images span multiple displays.
arrangement and separation of the monitors or image areas, images that span multiple display areas will line up properly. Displays deliberately set apart to account for the frame on LCD or plasma screens. Overlapping displays using projectors. To arrange the displays, simply drag them to their desired positions using the mouse. Alternatively, you can position them numerically by selecting a display and choosing Specifications on the Edit menu.
Complex Display Arrangements If you have complex display arrangements, such as multiple display areas or different sets of display showing the same part of the stage, use Stage Tiers to keep them apart. See “Tier” on page 133. MEDIA The term “media” refers to moving and still images as well as sound. These media types are treated in very similar ways, with only minor differences where appropriate. See Chapter 3 “Media” for more details.
▲ IMPORTANT: Whenever possible, store media files in a sub-folder of the folder containing your WATCHOUT show file. This allows WATCHOUT to use relative file paths, making it easier to move the show elsewhere. Editing a Media File To open a media file in its designated editing application, double-click its thumbnail in the Media window, or Alt-double-click an associated cue in the Timeline. To track down the media item associated with a cue, double-click the cue and click “Locate Media”.
the file name in the Media window and choose another file. This will affect all cues that use this media list item. ◆ NOTE: You can only relink it to another file of the same kind. You can not change from an image file to a sound file, for example. Using Media Proxies Occasionally, you may want to use media in your presentation but can not import it simply by dragging.
TIMELINE The Main Timeline window shows the temporal relation of cues and effects, as well as the layering of overlapping media. Cues control the display and presentation of media, and use tween tracks to control various aspects of the media. The amount of time displayed in the timeline window can be controlled using the button in the lower left corner. Zoom in to increase the precision by which you can position cues and set their duration, or zoom out to get a better overview.
Positioning Media on Stage When media is added to the timeline, it also appears in the upper left corner of the top/left display in the Stage window. To make the image appear elsewhere, drag the image’s preview in the Stage window, or double-click the cue to set the position numerically. ◆ HINT: For precise positioning of selected images, hold down the Control key and press the Arrow keys to nudge the image one pixel at a time. Add the Shift key to move ten pixels at a time.
Layering Media The horizontal layers in the timeline window allow you to control the stacking order of images in the Stage window. To move an image towards the front, drag its cue up to a layer with a higher number. To move the cue without changing its time position, press the Shift key while dragging. Use the commands on the Timeline menu to add or remove layers. Click the triangle to expand the layer to see the entire cue. Drag to move the partition between the cue pane and the tween pane.
Changing a Cue’s Duration When adding moving images or sound, the duration of the cue is set to the duration of the file. When adding still images to the timeline, the duration is set to a default value. Change the duration by selecting the cue and dragging the vertical bar located at either end of the cue. ◆ NOTE: If the cue has any tween tracks, their tween points will, by default, remain stationary in relation to the timeline.
Using Control Cues In addition to media cues, you can also add control cues to the timeline by choosing “Add Control Cue” on the Timeline menu. When reached during playback, a Control cue set to Pause causes the timeline to halt. This is useful when cueing a presentation manually. Adding a Control cue to the current layer of the timeline. ◆ NOTE: If you want a Control cue to coincide with the start of another cue, then put the Control cue on a separate layer.
TWEEN TRACKS Tween tracks control the behavior of media dynamically throughout the cue. For instance, you can use an Opacity tween track to make an image fade in and out, or a Volume tween track to reduce the volume of a sound or movie file. Adding and Removing a Tween Track To add a tween track, first select the cue then chose the desired type of tween track on the Tween menu. Likewise, remove a tween track by de-selecting it on the Tween menu. Drag this partition to enlarge the tween pane. Tween pane.
Adding Points Adding a tween track to a cue generally has no effect in itself unless you use it to change the value governed by the tween track. This is done by adding and adjusting tween points along the tween track. These tween points provide values acting as key-frames along the cue’s tween track. To add a tween point, click anywhere on the curve in the tween track where there isn’t already a tween point. To edit the value of a tween point, drag it using the mouse.
A corner is represented by a diamond-shaped tween point. A sequence of corner points causes the value to change gradually, and linearly, between the points. Often, this is the desired behavior, particularly when controlling opacity or volume. A smooth point is represented by a round tween point, and is added by Control-clicking. It acts as a pin attached to the curve by a rubber band. When you move the smooth point away from the curve, the rubber band stretches, causing the curve to bend.
OPACITY Use an opacity tween track to fade objects in and out, or to make objects semitransparent. An opacity tween track can be applied to all images. See “Opacity” on page 180 for more details. To cross-fade from one image to another, you only need to fade the opacity of the image at the front. You don’t need to do anything to the image behind it, as this will be obscured by the front image unless the front image contains transparent or semi-transparent areas.
Use a rotation tween track to control the angle of images, or to make an image rotate over time. Rotate the image by dragging the rotation handle or the rotation tween point. You can rotate by degrees as well as by number of revolutions (or a combination of the two). See “Rotation Z” on page 184. ROTATION Z Anchor point. …or by dragging a rotation tween point. Rotate by dragging the rotation handle… ◆ NOTE: The rotation handle may be hidden underneath the anchor point.
ANCHOR POINT 74 Images scale and rotate around the anchor point. The anchor point is indicated by a white crosshair in the Stage window (see illustration above). To change the anchor point, double-click the cue and change the values under “Anchor Position within Image”. See “Cue Specifications” on page 170 and “Anchor Position” on page 172 for more details.
POSITION Use the position tween track to position an image on stage, or to make an image move along a path. Select one or several images on stage, then drag them in the Stage window. Alternatively, press an arrow key while holding down the Control key to move the selected images one pixel at a time. Press the Shift key as well to move in 10 pixel increments. ◆ HINT: The initial stage position can also be changed numerically inside the cue’s dialog box.
Moving Along a Path To make the image move along a path, first add a tween point by clicking at the desired time position along the tween track, then drag the image to the desired position in the Stage window. A line indicates the image’s motion path in the Stage window. Controlling the Speed of Motion Double-click a position tween point to change its incoming or outgoing speed. A value of 1 indicates nominal speed, with smaller values being slower and greater values being faster.
Speed handle. Direction handle. Dragging the direction handle farther away from the point increases the curvature. Add tween points for better control over the path’s shape. ◆ HINT: To make an image rotate while moving, so that it always points along the motion path, double-click the cue and select “Auto-orient along Motion Path” (see page 178). 3D Motion Paths Images can also be moved along the Z axis, or using a 3-dimensional motion path.
3D/STEREOSCOPY WATCHOUT allows you to produce and present stereoscopic presentations, to be viewed using appropriate display technology and glasses. These are sometimes referred to as 3D presentations, giving a perceived three-dimensional viewing experience. Such presentations can incorporate still images as well as video.
5 PRESENTATION 5 This chapter tells you how to take your WATCHOUT presentation from your production computer onto the display computers, and run the presentation. It discusses the various ways in which your presentation can be used and controlled. CONNECTING TO THE DISPLAY COMPUTERS Progress bar shown during transfer of files. Unable to connect to this computer.
Downloading Media Whenever you go online, WATCHOUT will check to make sure that all required media files have been transferred to the display computers. WATCHOUT will only transfer the files actually required on the individual computer. If you modify a media file, WATCHOUT will detect this and transfer the updated file. While media files are being transferred to a display computer, a progress bar will be shown in that display in the Stage window, as well as on the display computer itself.
Updating the Stage If you make changes to your show while online, transfer them to the display computers using the “Update” command on the Stage menu. This includes adding new media or cues. RUNNING THE PRESENTATION Once all media has been transferred to the display computers, the WATCHOUT logo on the display computers will disappear. You are now ready to run your presentation. To run it, click the play button in the lower left corner of the Timeline window, or press the spacebar.
External Control Options DMX512 You can use a touch panel, such as an iPhone/iPad, or other external control system to remotely control your WATCHOUT presentation, as well as the presentation environment. Since WATCHOUT uses the ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol, it can communicate with virtually any computer system or device. ◆ HINT: Download the free WATCHOUT Remote app for iPhone: http://itunes.apple.
EXTERNAL CONTROL For more complex applications, you may want to integrate WATCHOUT with other control systems. This can be accomplished by means of external control of your WATCHOUT system through the network. To control the production computer, connect the external controller to the network and activate the TCP/IP control port in the Preferences dialog box. Activates external control through the network port on the production computer.
Display Cluster Control Instead of controlling the WATCHOUT production software, as discussed above, you may choose to control a cluster of display computers directly. This removes the need for a production computer during playback. Please see “Display Cluster Protocol” on page 257 for details. TIMECODE CONTROL WATCHOUT can accept a standard timecode signal for controlling the main timeline. This timecode synchronization feature uses the LTC format according to the EBU or SMPTE standards.
Controlling the Display Cluster Connect the timecode signal to Line In of the primary display computer and activate timecode synchronization using the timecodeMode command, as described on page 268. ◆ NOTE: This method can not be used in conjunction with the WATCHOUT production software. When the production software goes online, it temporarily disables any timecode input to the cluster.
STEREOSCOPIC PRESENTATIONS WATCHOUT includes full support for stereoscopic (“3D”) presentations. In terms of production, you can create the stereoscopic effect through proper positioning of images along the Z axis, or by incorporating stereoscopic video into your presentation. See “3D/Stereoscopy” on page 78 for more details. You must use separate outputs from WATCHOUT for the left and right eye channels. Set the left/right channel assignment in the settings dialog box of each display accordingly.
6 USING COMPOSITIONS 6 A composition allows you to group a set of cues together on their own subtimeline. This can then be used from other timelines similar to how you can play a video. A composition makes it easy to re-use or re-arrange show sections or short snippets. It also makes it easier to apply the same effect to a group of media elements – for instance, to move and scale a set of images together. A composition behaves like other media elements, such as still images and video clips.
Moving and scaling a video together with a surrounding still image frame. CREATING A COMPOSITION 88 Start by choosing “Add Composition” on the Media menu. Give the composition a name, and type a suitable size into the “Reference Frame” field. In this case, it is a good idea to make the reference frame just slightly larger than the still image frame around the video. This reference frame will be used later when manipulating the composition as a whole from the main timeline.
Open the composition’s timeline window by double-clicking the newly added composition item in the Media window. The timeline window of a new composition. Notice that the content of the Stage window changes when the composition window appears. Instead of showing the display rectangles, it now shows the reference frame of the composition. While editing a composition, its preview appears in the Stage window, temporarily replacing the preview of the displays.
ADDING CUES You add cues to a composition in the same way as you do to other timelines. In this example, we will add a video with a still image frame on top. Drag those images onto the composition’s timeline. Their preview will appear in the Stage window. Composition preview mode. Stage window content temporarily replaced to show a preview of the composition. This rectangle represents the composition’s reference frame. Media added to the composition’s timeline.
USING THE COMPOSITION To use your newly created composition as a whole, simply drag it from the Media window onto the main timeline. Drag a composition from the Media window onto the Main Timeline. The yellow selection rectangle around the composition corresponds to its reference frame. A composition cue appears on the Main Timeline. Add tween tracks to move and scale the entire composition.
NESTING COMPOSITIONS A composition may be used inside other compositions. This can be applied in a hierarchical fashion to build complex animations one step at a time. This example shows how to build a four cylinder car as a composition, starting by creating a single cylinder from still image parts. Still image components. Preview of the PistonLoop composition. Composition timeline to make one full revolution of the engine.
Once the single “Piston Loop” composition works as desired, go ahead and create the next, outer composition, naming it “Four Cylinders”. Add four copies of the “Piston Loop” to this composition by dragging them from the Media Window into the “Four Cylinders” timeline window. Add four instances of the “Piston Loop” composition. Scale down all but the frontmost instance by increments of 10% each, and offset their positions as shown. Stage window preview of the resulting “Four Cylinders” composition.
Once the complete engine works as desired, create the next outer level. This level puts the complete cylinder engine into a car. While we could have done this last step on the main timeline, doing it as yet another composition makes it easier to do things with the car as a whole, such as driving it off stage. Create a “Car w Engine” composition. Add a cue for the “Four Cylinders” sub-composition. Fade up an image of a car. Use Position and Scale tween tracks to put the engine into the car.
7 WINDOWS 7 Media window, listing all media used in your presentation. Stage window, showing the display areas and a preview of the presentation. Main Timeline window, showing the layers, cues and tween tracks. Other windows are described later in this chapter.
Manipulating Windows All WATCHOUT windows reside inside a desktop window, with a menu bar running along its top. You can resize the desktop window by dragging any of its outer borders or corners. Minimize or maximize it using the buttons in the upper right corner. Clicking the close box is equivalent to choosing Quit on the File menu. Move a WATCHOUT window by dragging its title bar. Resize a window by dragging any of its corners or outer borders.
STAGE WINDOW The Stage window is used to add and arrange the display areas used in the presentation. It also provides a preview of your presentation as you move along the timeline, and lets you to position media on stage. On/Off line indicator, corresponding to the “Online” Stage menu item. Control-Alt-drag to scroll the window using the hand cursor. Displays added to the Stage window. Selected display. Adding Displays To add a display to the Stage window, choose Add Display on the Stage menu.
Positioning Media on Stage You can position media on stage by dragging its preview in the Stage window. To do so, first select the timeline window, then drag the image in the Stage window. Press the Shift key to constrain the move. See “Positioning Media on Stage” on page 65. Double-click a Cue or an individual Position tween point to edit the position numerically (see “Initial Stage Position” on page 172 and “Position” on page 182).
Merely adding all six displays to the stage will not work as desired for the following reasons: • The large plasma display overlapping the three projectors in the center will cause WATCHOUT to attempt to edge blend all these four displays (overlapping displays automatically get an edge-blend gradient). • Panning large images sideways on the large center area, or on the side screens, will make those images intrude on the adjacent display areas.
3D Views When working with images positioned in 3D space, or rotated around their X or Y axes, it is sometimes hard to see where things are if you only view them from the front. For instance, if you want to make one image orbit another image along a horizontal plane, the motion path will look like a straight line when viewed from the front. Choose “View Top” on the Stage menu to view the stage from the top. Orbiting image viewed from the front. Displays appear as lines when viewed from the top.
MAIN TIMELINE WINDOW The timeline window holds the cues that make up your presentation. Cues are arranged along layers, representing the back-to-front stacking order of images on stage. Increasing layer numbers move the image closer to the front. Current time position and indicator. Jump button. Currently selected layer. Time ruler. Lock layer. Collapsed layer. Layer. Layer attributes. Disabled layer preview. Tween pane. Time scale button. Play button.
Setting the Current Time Position Click the time ruler to jump to a time position. To set the time numerically, choose “Timeline Settings” on the Timeline menu. To go to the beginning of a cue, or to a tween point, click it with “Click Jumps to Time” selected on the Timeline menu (see “Click Jumps to Time” on page 151). Adjusting the Time Scale Click the magnifying glass areas of the time scale button to zoom in and out by a fixed amount.
Adding and Removing Layers Layers can be added, removed and renamed using the corresponding commands on the Timeline menu (page 103). Disabling Layer Preview To disable the layer preview in the Stage window, click the layer preview symbol to turn it off. Shift-click to disable/enable all layers. Disabling a layer allows you to manipulate images in the Stage window that otherwise would have been covered by other images. Disabling a layer’s preview has no effect on its playback on screen.
Lock all Cues on this Layer This checkbox is equivalent to the padlock symbol in the layer’s header pane. Selecting it prevents cues on this layer from being changed or deleted. Hide Layer in Stage Window This checkbox is equivalent to the sunshine symbol in the layer’s header pane. See “Disabling Layer Preview” on page 103. Perform Normal/In Standby By selecting “In Standby”, images and other media on this layer will perform only when in Standby mode.
Normally, the Stage window previews media on enabled conditional layers only. You can override this using the Preview menu (see “No / All / Enabled Conditional Layers” on page 137). ◆ NOTE: The name of a conditional or standby layer is shown in italics in the Timeline window. Stage Tiers Click the “Stage Tiers” tab to constrain cues on this layer to a specific stage tier or set of tiers (see “Using Stage Tiers for Complex Display Arrangements” on page 98 for an overview of stage tiers).
AUXILIARY TIMELINE WINDOW The window associated with an auxiliary timeline is very similar to the main timeline window. The main differences are: • An auxiliary timeline can be stopped. This is indicated by a red Stop button in its lower left corner. When stopped, it doesn’t contribute to the stage. • The auxiliary timeline’s window is opened by double-clicking its name in the Task window.
MEDIA WINDOW The Media window lists all media items that have been added to the presentation. It provides a thumbnail preview of each item, along with a description of its name, type, file location, size and other information, as appropriate for each kind of media. Drag to change column width. Thumbnail and description of each media item. Double-click thumbnail to open media file in its associated application. Double-click name to edit the media specification. Group media items into folders.
choosing “Select Unused” on the Media menu. It is not possible to remove media that’s currently in use in the presentation. Removing media list items in this way does not affect the files stored on your computer’s hard disk. ◆ HINT: Use the Find command in the Timeline window to track down media references by the name of the media item. File Location Indicates the location of each media file.
Editing the Media File To open a media file in its associated application, double-click its thumbnail. This provides convenient access to a media file in order to view or edit it. ◆ NOTE: Your computer must have been set up properly in order to associate each file type with the appropriate application. ◆ HINT: You can also open the media file associated with a cue by Alt-doubleclicking the cue on its timeline.
INPUT WINDOW The Input Window lists external inputs available for use in expressions. Expressions are used to control tween track parameters and to trigger tasks. Click to add more inputs. Name and description of each input. Current input value. Drag to simulate a change in value. For details on the various kinds of inputs see page 197. For more on Expressions, see page 212. OUTPUT WINDOW The Output Window lists outputs allowing you to control external devices using cues.
TASK WINDOW The Task window lists all the auxiliary timelines of your presentation, along with their status and triggering expression. Click to add more tasks. Double-click to open the timeline. Task’s triggering expression. Paused timeline. Timeline’s time position. Playing timeline. Drag tasks vertically in list to re-arrange their front-to-back ordering on stage. Stopped timeline. The status of each task is shown in the Status column.
To move an auxiliary timeline closer to the front, drag it towards the top of the Task window. ◆ NOTE: This behavior can be overridden in the Timeline Settings dialog box of an auxiliary timeline. Here you can choose that it always starts out as frontmost, regardless of its position in the Task window (see “Auxiliary Timeline Settings” on page 152). STATUS WINDOW The status window provides a user-configurable set of status items that can be sized as desired. Click to add status items.
MESSAGE WINDOW The Message window lists the messages sent to you by WATCHOUT. Such messages may originate from the production software or from the display computers. Some messages are merely informative while others indicate errors requiring your attention. An error message from a media list item telling you that it can’t find its associated media file. An information message reporting the result of the Refresh command. ◆ NOTE: The Message window appears automatically when a message is posted.
Chapter 7 Windows
8 COMMANDS 8 FILE MENU The File menu provides commands related to the entire presentation, such as Opening old presentations or creating new ones. New Creates a new presentation, specifying the name and location of the WATCHOUT presentation. Navigate to the desired folder using this control and by doubleclicking folders in the list. Type the name of the show here, then click Save.
Open Opens an existing WATCHOUT presentation. Navigate to the containing folder. Select the desired show then click Open. Open Recent Provides a list of recently opened presentations. Choosing an item from the sub-menu opens the selected presentation. Save Saves the presentation that is currently open. Save a Copy As Saves a copy of the presentation that is currently open. This is useful for saving backup copies without changing the name of the current presentation.
Consolidate To Moves or copies the entire presentation, including its media files, to a folder. You can use this command to consolidate all the relevant files in preparation prior to burning the presentation onto a DVD. This command is also useful if you’ve been using media files stored on servers or removable disks, or if you want to weed out unused media files intermixed with files actually used in the presentation.
the show. Unused media files are left in their old locations, and are not copied or moved. Move. Instead of copying them, this moves all actively used media files that reside on the same volume as the target folder. This is much faster and requires no additional disk space for files already located on the target volume. Media files residing on other disks, partitions or servers will be copied, however. The consolidated presentation is then opened automatically.
being used. The formats available may vary depending on the version of Quicktime you have installed. Navigate to the desired folder. Name of the new movie. Portion of timeline to save. How to compress the movie. Exporting an Auxiliary timeline Export Audio To export an auxiliary timeline, first open and select its window, then choose “Export Movie” on the File menu. Exports a stereo mix-down of the audio from the main timeline of your show, as a Wave-file.
Allows you to specify miscellaneous settings of the presentation. Preferences Enter the common part of your display computer’s IP addresses. Sets the frame rate to be used by your display computers. Determines the fade rates for the Standby command. Default image duration for new image cues and volume level for audio and video cues. Display Address Prefix Default anchor position for new image cues.
Display Framerate Specifies the frame rate used by the display computers. This setting lets WATCHOUT optimize its behavior to match the frame rate of any video being used in the presentation, as well as the display devices. Your display computers should use a matching refresh rate (see page 28 for more information). Standby Rates Specifies the fade out and fade in rates for the standby command (page 134). Default Image Duration Default Audio Volume Display duration used for images added to timelines.
Control This tab provides various options for controlling the WATCHOUT production software from the outside. ◆ NOTE: For more control options, see “Inputs” on page 197. Go Online Automatically. When selected, WATCHOUT will automatically attempt to connect to the display computers when opening this show. Production Computer Control (TCP and UDP). Activates external control of the WATCHOUT production software.
DMX-512 Universe. Specifies the Artnet protocol “universe” number to be used to receive and transmit DMX-512 data. This relates to the DMX-512 Input and Output respectively. See page 201 for more details on how to use DMX512. Default Dynamic Image Server Address. The default server address used by Dynamic Image media items, if not specified explicitly (see “Add Dynamic Image” on page 148). Enabled Layer Conditions Specifies which layer conditions will be enabled.
Video In Associates video input cards in the production computer with video input device numbers, subsequently used in “Live Video” media (see “Live Video” on page 47). This allows you to view live video in the production computer, if desired. It serves the same purpose in the production computer as the “Video In” menu does in the display software (see illustration under “Add Live Video” on page 145). ◆ NOTE: The “Video In” settings in the Preferences dialog box apply only to the production computer.
perspective. You may think of this value as controlling the focal length of a lens used to view the images, where a wide angle lens (smaller value) results in a more pronounced perspective. This value also controls the degree to which images moved along the Z axis (towards or away from the viewer) change their apparent size. ◆ HINT: Sometimes, the perspective effect can make it harder to edit the position and orientation of images in the Stage window.
Cut Transfers selected objects to the clipboard, allowing them to be pasted in elsewhere. Use this, for example, to move cues to another position along the timeline, or to another presentations. Copy Copies selected objects to the clipboard, allowing the copies to be pasted in elsewhere. Use this, for example, to transfer display configurations or cues between presentations.
Specifications Opens the Specifications dialog box for the selected object. This is equivalent to pressing the Enter key or double-clicking the object. Example specifications dialog box for a still image. See “Display Specifications” on page 158 and “Cue Specifications” on page 170 for more details. For media proxy items, see page 139. Moves the selected objects by a specified number of pixels. Applies to cues and displays.
Find/Replace Finds and optionally replaces specified text. When applied to the Media window, this allows you to locate media items by specifying the name of the media file, or any part of its path name. The command operates on the information shown in the “File Location” column of the Media window, indicating the relative or absolute path to the media file. Search text. Replacement text. Check this box to replace the found text. Finds/replaces one at a time or all at once.
production. You have now copied these files into a folder named “Media” located in the same folder as the WATCHOUT presentation file. You would then enter the following values into the Find/Replace dialog box to update all relevant media paths accordingly. A leading ‘/’ character indicates an absolute path. Check to replace. NOTE: No leading ‘/’ character indicates a folder relative to the folder containing the presentation file.
Snap When enabled, objects exert gravity on each other as they are dragged with the mouse, making them snap together. This makes it easier to align images, cues and tween points. • When dragged in the Stage window, images will snap to the edge, center or corner of displays and other images. • Cues will snap to adjacent cues when dragged in a timeline window. • Tween points snap to other tween points within the same cue, as well as to the beginning and end of the cue.
STAGE MENU The Stage menu applies specifically to the contents of the Stage window. Add Display Adds a new display of the specified size to the Stage window. After adding a display, open its specifications dialog box to enter its specifications (see “Display Specifications” on page 158). ▲ IMPORTANT: Displays can not be added while Online is selected on the Stage menu. The secondary menu provides some common display sizes as shortcuts.
Manage Display Computer Remote Access The commands on this sub-menu allows you to operate the display computers from the production computer. This is particularly useful if the display computers have no mouse or keyboard connected. Opens a remote access window onto the desktop of displays selected in the Stage window. For this to work, WATCHOUT display software has to be running on the display computer.
▲ IMPORTANT: There are a two prerequisites for this command to work: • The computer must be configured to “Wake on LAN” (sometimes referred to as “Magic Packet”). This setting may be found under the “Power Management” tab of the Local Area Network Connection’s Properties dialog box, or in the computer’s BIOS settings. • The production computer must at some point have given the Power Down command to that display computer, allowing it to learn the computers network card hardware address.
Online Connects the production computer to the display computers. Once connected, the display computers will follow you as you jump around on the timeline and start/stop the presentation. ◆ NOTE: Choosing “Online” also locks all displays in the Stage window. You must deselect “Online” in order to make any changes in the Stage window. A stop sign inside a display in the Stage window indicates failed connection to that display computer (see “Connecting to the Display Computers” on page 79).
PREVIEW MENU The items on this menu control the preview of cues shown in the Stage window. These commands do not affect the display computers or what appears on their outputs. Click Selects Frontmost Image When this option is selected, clicking an image preview in the Stage window always selects the corresponding cue in the Timeline window. While this is the most natural behavior in many cases, it may get in your way if you want to move an image that appears partially obscured behind another image.
Best Quality. Renders high quality preview of all cues except those explicitly set to “Stage Preview: Reduced” (page 175). ◆ HINT: As an alternative to selecting global thumbnail preview for images or video, you can set individual cues to preview as thumbnails by selecting “Reduced” on the “Stage Preview” pop-up menu in each cue. Perspective In general, you want the Stage preview to match what you see on screen in terms of image placement and perspective.
Preview Standby Layers When activated, the Stage window will show the same images as the display computers while in standby mode (that is, any images from standby layers – see “Perform Normal/In Standby” on page 104). This allows you to edit such images through the Stage window. However, in most cases, you probably prefer to see the normal images in the Stage window even while in standby mode, in order to preview and possibly edit those while the display computers show the standby images.
specified on the Stage Tier sub-menu. Selecting “Specific Tiers” brings up a dialog box where you choose any combination of stage tiers to preview. ◆ NOTE: Layers set to All Stage Tiers in their Timeline Layer Settings dialog box (see page 151) will always be included in the preview, regardless of the preview mode chosen using these menu options. Background Color 138 Sets the background color of the Stage window.
MEDIA MENU The Media menu applies specifically to the contents of the Media window. Add Media File Opens a dialog box where you can choose a file to be added to the Media window. Alternatively, simply drag the file into the Media, Stage or Timeline window. Add Proxy Adds a proxy media item of the kind specified. Use a proxy to handle media that can not be added simply by dragging into the Media window, as described under “Using Media Proxies” on page 63.
Pre-split This option applies to video media only. Check this if you have pre-split a large movie, as described on page 42. In this case, the resulting files must be placed in a folder specified in the File/Folder field. This folder must contain one file per display intersecting the movie, each file named after its target display. For example, assume you have a large video called “LargeMovie.mpg” that intersects two displays named “Display 1” and “Display 2”.
File/Folder The title of this field reads “Folder” if “Pre-split Files for Multiple Displays” or “Use Separate Left and Right Files” is selected, otherwise it reads “File”. In this field you specify the file or folder associated with the media item. You can use the “Choose” button next to the field to choose an existing file/folder.
Thumbnail Allows you to choose a thumbnail image to represent the proxy in the Media window, inside cues and in the Stage window preview. If not specified, a default icon will be displayed. Dimension Specifies the size of the image. Applies to still and moving images. Transparency Allows you to specify whether the image contains transparent areas, as well as the form of transparency used.
Add Composition Add a Composition to the Media window. A composition allows you to group images together (including their tween tracks) in a way that can subsequently be used as a media item on other timelines. See Chapter 6 “Using Compositions” for some examples. See “Composition Settings” on page 154 for a description of the fields in the dialog box shown by this command. Add Computer Screen This feature allows you to incorporate a live image of a computer screen into WATCHOUT.
images are sent across the network to all display computers, you can show the computer display across multiple display computers. Computer Screen Settings. In the Computer Screen dialog box, type the IP number of the remote computer into the Address field, and the VNC password into the Password field. Set Dimensions to the size of the display of the VNC server (reducing the resolution may improve performance). The Screen field is rarely used, and should generally be set to zero.
Add Live Video This feature allows you to display live video, such as a camera feed, as part of your WATCHOUT presentation. The live video feed must be connected to each display computer that is expected to show it. For instance, if you want to show live video across two displays, the video signal must be fed to both display computers (typically using a video distribution amplifier). See “Live Video Input” on page 224 and page 18 for more details.
To use Live Video in your presentation, do as follows: • Add a Live Video media item to the Media list using the command on the Media menu, configuring it as described below. • Drag the Live Video object from the Media list onto the Stage or a timeline, just like any other media object. Live Video supports the same capabilities as video played from disk, allowing you to program its position, scale, rotation and opacity.
device designed to be used with computers, results in visual artifacts often referred to as “combing” around the edges of moving objects. Use the Deinterlacing pop-up menu, set to “Good Quality” or “Best Quality” to rectify this problem when required. ▲ IMPORTANT: Do not use this feature unless necessary. Some video material and some cameras that can be set to a “progressive scan” mode do not need deinterlacing, and using it may reduce the image quality. Stage Preview.
Using Multiple Video Inputs WATCHOUT supports up to eight video input devices. The number of video inputs that can be displayed simultaneously depends on your computer hardware, type of video input device, etc. Most video input devices have multiple connectors – often for different kinds of video signals (for example, Composite and S-Video). You specify which one to use in the Live Video media dialog box. Add more Live Video media objects to access different inputs on the same device.
nient to enter a different value here, which will make the dynamic image server scale the image accordingly. Server Path. The path to the still image or SWF file on the dynamic image server. This is specified relative to the location of the image server application. For example, if a file named “CNN_News.swf” is in a folder named DynImg, located next to the “WATCHOUT Image Server” application, set this to: DynImg/CNN_News.
that has been changed or all media regardless of the file’s last modified timestamp. Select Unused Selects all unused items in the Media window. After reviewing the selection, you can choose Clear on the Edit menu to remove the unused media items. ▲ IMPORTANT: Only media items directly or indirectly associated with cues on the Main Timeline, or any auxiliary timeline, are considered as being used.
TIMELINE MENU The Timeline menu applies specifically to the contents of timeline windows. It is only available when a timeline window is selected. Click Jumps to Time Deselect this option to keep the time position stationary while manipulating cues and tween points. The state of this mode is reflected by the color of the current time indicator. ◆ HINT: Turn off this option to use the current time indicator as a ruler for aligning cues and tween points. See “Snap” on page 130 for more details.
Timeline Settings Choosing this command while the Main Timeline Window is active will display the settings associated with the main timeline. Jump to specified time position. Total duration of the timeline. Extended automatically as more cues are appended. ◆ HINT: Typing a value into the “Time Position” field jumps to that time. This is often more accurate than trying to click a specific time in the time ruler.
Stacking Order; Task List Order This is the default stacking order. In this mode, multiple active auxiliary timelines render their images in the order in which they are listed in the Task window. You can change this order by dragging tasks up or down in the Task window, thereby affecting how multiple, active and overlapping auxiliary timelines interact on screen.
To displays its settings, choose “Timeline Settings” while a composition’s timeline window is active. Composition Settings The name of the composition (shown in the Media window). The reference frame is displayed as a gray, dotted rectangle in the Stage window while editing the composition. It is also used to manipulate the composition when subsequently used from other timelines. Jump to specified time position. Duration of the composition.
to select and manipulate the composition as a whole when used as a media item on other timelines. ◆ NOTE: The reference frame doesn’t constrain or clip the content of the composition. Images may extend outside the reference frame if desired. TWEEN MENU The Tween menu is available when a media cue is selected. It allows you to add tween tracks to the cue. Likewise, tween tracks can be removed by unchecking the corresponding item on the Tween menu.
Chapter 8 Commands
9 DISPLAYS 9 Displays include projectors, monitors, video wall cubes and plasma screens. Make sure you install and configure your displays properly, as described on page 17. Read more about different display technologies on page 239. Adding Displays To add a display to the Stage window, choose “Add Display” on the Stage menu. This menu includes most standard display sizes. The size can be altered afterwards using the “Display Specifications” dialog box (page 158).
Removing and Duplicating Displays To remove a display, first select it, then choose “Cut” or “Clear” on the Edit menu. To duplicate it, first choose “Copy” then paste the duplicate back into the Stage window. When pasting a display, keep in mind that the duplicate initially occupies the exact same location in the Stage window as the original did. You must move the duplicate to another location and change its name and address before using it.
address is “192.168.0.51”, you would put “192.168.0.” into the “Display Address Prefix” field in Preferences (note the trailing period), and then put 51 into the Address field in “Display Specifications”. Output. Selects the output number of the graphics card to which the display is connected. This allows you to drive multiple displays from one computer by entering the same Address but different Output numbers. Peer and Test Connection. Indicates the on-line status of the associated display computer.
Rotation. Rotates the display to an arbitrary angle. This allows you to use a vertical display format, as well as other creative display arrangements as shown in the illustration under “Alternative Display Layouts” on page 10. ◆ NOTE: Edge blending will only work properly between displays that are on the same stage tier with the same rotation angle and stage size. Stage Position of Display Center.
Smooth. Avoids abrupt kinks in points by keeping all tangents straight. Uncheck to allow opposing handles to move independently of each other. Perspective Correction To compensate for the keystone-shaped image caused by off-axis projection, choose Perspective on the Correction pop-up menu and drag the corners of the grid until the image appears rectangular on screen. Enable “Corner Shapes” to compensate for optical distortion. Drag a corner point to adjust the perspective.
Horizontal or Vertical Correction Adds bezier handles to the top/bottom or left/right sides, allowing you to compensate for projection on a curved surface. Adjust the curvature by dragging the yellow handles. Examples of screens requiring horizontal and vertical correction respectively. Sets the curvature numerically. Mirrors adjustments vertically. ◆ HINT: If projecting from a plane at the center of the screen, select the mirroring checkbox to adjust both sides together.
Full Correction Adds bezier handles to all sides, allowing you to compensate for projection on spherical surfaces. White circles indicate mirrored adjustments of points. Rectangular handles control the distribution of grid lines. Selects one of the handles attached to each point. Sets distribution of grid lines numerically. Drag a corner of the dialog box to enlarge it for better precision. Examples of spherical surfaces requiring full correction.
Adding Correction Points In Full correction mode, you can add control points to the grid by Control clicking at the desired location. This can be used to handle geometry adjustments when projecting on asymmetric or uneven surfaces, such as a three dimensional map. Control-click in grid to add points. To delete such a point, select it and press the Delete key. For maximum flexibility in adjusting points, deselect Constrain and Smooth. Drag a corner of the dialog box to enlarge it for better precision.
COLOR & STEREOSCOPY Ideally, all projectors in a system should be properly color matched. However, sometimes you may have to deal with projectors with different lamp life or other minor discrepancies. In such cases, WATCHOUT lets you adjust the color balance of a display device, making the overall image look more uniform. Select the Color & Stereo tab to make minor adjustments to the color balance of a display device. Use a test image showing gray bars to adjust the color balance.
Stereoscopic Assignment Controls the stereoscopic channel reproduced by this display device. You must use separate projectors for the images reproduced for each eye in a stereoscopic presentation. Select the appropriate eye affinity on this menu. Leave this set to None for normal (non-stereoscopic) presentations. For proper reproduction, each projector in a stereoscopic pair must be equipped with filters matching those used in the glasses worn by the viewers.
10 CUES 01 Cues are the active objects of WATCHOUT. They control when media appear on stage, as well as more dynamic behavior such as positioning and opacity. Cues exist on layers in timeline windows. The layers determine the stacking order of media on stage. Adding Cues To add a cue to a layer in a timeline window, drag a Media window item, or a media file, to the layer or the Stage window. Media files can be dragged directly from your hard disk.
You can also select a cue by clicking its preview image in the Stage window. This allows you to determine which cue corresponds to a particular image on stage. To position selected cues, drag them using the mouse. To drag cues to another layer without altering their time positions, press the Shift key while dragging. If you want to position a cue numerically, cut it, go to the desired time position using the Timeline Settings dialog box (page 152), then paste it.
• For precise adjustments press Control-arrow. Add the Shift key for greater increments. • Double-click a cue and change its “Initial Stage Position”. If the cue has a Position tween track, this will relocate the entire motion path. • Double-click one of the cue’s Position tween points. ▲ IMPORTANT: If a cue has a Position tween track, click the desired tween point to go to its time before moving the image using the mouse or the arrow keys.
To set the duration precisely, type the desired duration into the cue’s dialog box (see “Cue Specifications” on page 170). ◆ NOTE: If you extend the duration of a movie beyond its natural duration, it will by default stop at the last frame. Alternatively, you can make the movie run repeatedly in a loop by choosing the “Loop” behavior in the cue (see “Looping” on page 175). Replacing a Cue’s Media To change the media associated with a cue, drag new media onto the cue.
The time when the media will appear on stage. How long the media remains visible on stage. Starting offset into sound or video. Media will be pre-rolled automatically (uncheck to specify pre-roll time manually). Locates associated item in the Media window. Stage position of anchor point at the start of the cue. Position of anchor point within image, relative to image’s top left corner. Sets the top-left or center position for anchor point.
In-Time Specifies a starting offset for a sound or movie. For example, a certain movie may have ten seconds of black at the beginning. To skip those ten seconds, set the in-time to 10. Anchor Position Determines the position of the image anchor, relative to the upper left corner of the image. The anchor of a selected cue is displayed as a crossed circle in the Stage window. When scaling or rotating an image, the anchor specifies the point that remains stationary.
Advanced Cue Specifications Loop sound or movie when cue is extended past media’s natural duration. Continue to play even if timeline stops. Controls how overlapping images cover each other. Controls how overlapping images blend together. The stage window preview quality of this cue. Allows an image to be masked by the image on the layer above, and to suppress rendering of the image used as mask.
However, certain video files may require extensive computer resources when prepared. This may have an adverse effect on already visible, moving media. Although this is unavoidable, you may be able to reduce the impact by moving the moment when the preparation occurs backwards to a more appropriate time. When specifying the pre-roll time manually, a pre-roll indicator appears in the timeline window. Adjust the pre-roll time by dragging the start of this indicator. Pre-roll indicator.
Looping Causes sound or movie media to loop (re-start from the beginning) when played past its duration. This is particularly useful for short, cyclical animations, where the movie then contains only a single cycle. ◆ NOTE: To see the effect of this behavior, the duration of the cue must be extended past the media’s natural duration, or made free-running. Stacking When using WATCHOUT in its traditional 2D mode, images originating from higher timeline layers cover images from lower layers.
altogether. When set to anything besides “Best Quality”, the name of the cue is shown in italics to indicate this. ◆ NOTE: The preview quality is ultimately constrained by the setting on the Preview menu (see “Preview Quality” on page 135). The cue setting specifies the maximum quality by which the cue will be previewed. Blend Mode These options control how the image interacts with other images that it overlaps on stage.
Mask” mode. Otherwise chose “Luma Mask” to use the brightness of the image to create the mask. Choose the “Inverted” version of each mask mode to reverse the mask. Italics indicate “Suppress Rendering” selected. Image used as mask with “Suppress Rendering” selected. Image being masked, with “Alpha Mask” selected. Red dots indicate mask. Resulting image. Masking is indicated by red dots running along the top of the masked cue.
Auto-orient along Motion Path YZ+ X- Image X+ ZY+ External Control of Position, Rotation and Scale Causes an image to rotate according to its motion direction at any given time. This is useful when animating an object that should always point along the path of motion, such as an airplane (see illustration on page 76). The “Forward Motion Direction” options control the orientation of the image as it moves along the motion path.
TWEEN TRACKS Tween tracks control the appearance of media on stage over time. Depending on the type of media associated with the cue, you can add one or more tween tracks. Opacity, Position, Scale, Rotation, Crop, Color and Tint apply to images. Volume applies to movies and audio media. Most tween tracks also apply to composition cues. To add or remove a tween track, first select the cue then choose the desired type on the Tween menu. Tween tracks of the selected cue appear in the tween pane.
Opacity Controls the opacity (transparency) of an image. To change the opacity, either drag the tween point vertically in the tween track, or double-click it to change its value numerically. See “Opacity” on page 72 for more details. The “Time Position” field specifies the position of the tween point along the timeline. This must be a time within the time span occupied by the cue. The “Smooth” checkbox allows you to change a corner point into a smooth point, and vice versa.
Scale As an alternative to the Scale dialog box, simply drag the scaling handle. Press Shift to maintain the image’s proportions as you drag. Scales an image in relation to its anchor position (see “Anchor Position” on page 172). You can specify either the scale factor (relative to the image’s natural size), or the desired size of the image on stage. Negative values flip the image. To scale the width and height by different values, first uncheck the “Maintain Proportions” checkbox.
Position Positions an image on stage. To change the position, drag the image or one of the motion path handles shown in the Stage window when the cue is selected. To set the position numerically, double-click the Position tween point and type the desired position of the anchor point into the “Location” field. ◆ HINT: To move the entire motion path, first select all the Position tween points, then drag the image. Or use the Move command on the Edit menu.
edit the Z position by dragging the image or its position tween points in the Stage window. ◆ HINT: In some cases, it may be easier to edit the position of an image in the Stage window by first deselecting Perspective on the preview menu (see “Perspective” on page 136). The “Smooth” checkboxes allow you to create curved motion paths, as shown under “Moving Along a Curved Path” on page 76.
Rotates an image around its anchor point (see “Anchor Position” on page 172). You can rotate the image by a specified number of revolutions or degrees, or a combination of the two. (For example, to rotate 2.5 times, set Revolutions to 2 and Degrees to 180.) Rotation Z Alternatively, drag the rotation handle in the Stage window or the Rotation tween point in the tween pane. ◆ HINT: You can also make an image rotate automatically to orient itself along a motion path, as described on page 178. Anchor point.
Rotation X and Y Similar to the Rotation Z tween track described on the previous page, but rotates the image around its X (horizontal) or Y (vertical) axes instead, making it appear in perspective. The amount of perspective applied is specified in the Preferences dialog box (see “3D Perspective and Stereoscopy” on page 124). ◆ HINT: To edit the amount of X or Y Rotation interactively in the Stage window, first change the viewpoint using the View command on the Stage menu (see “View” on page 131).
Corners Offsets the four corners of an image individually, allowing it to be mapped onto another image or real-world object. As the corners are moved, the image changes accordingly to obtain a matching perspective (see below). While this alters the perceived perspective of the image, the image remains flat (2D). An image being mapped onto an object using a Corners tween track to position each of its four corners. Original image. Corners pinned to a target object.
Black & White Makes the image monochrome based on the color chosen in the Hue and Saturation parameters. Adjust the Mix parameter to restore some amount of the original color, if desired. ◆ HINT: The “Black &White” effect, with a carefully chosen source color, often gives a better result than using the “Hue & Saturation” effect to desaturate the image. Contrast & Brightness Adjusts the contrast and brightness of the image.
Crop Use a Crop tween track to move the edges of an image inwards. You can use this to remove unwanted parts of an image, or as a creative effect to make text or other elements appear gradually, as in the example shown below. Adjust the cropping by dragging the tween point corresponding to the desired edge, or double-click the point to set its value numerically. Here the right edge of the image is cropped in a decreasing manner, revealing the logo as a wipe effect, from left to right.
Color Use a Color tween track to specify the overall color of an image. The colors in the image will be multiplied by the color you choose. You can think of the Color tween track as the color of a light source illuminating the image. Normally, the color of this light source is white. By changing the brightness or color of this light source, you can influence the overall brightness or color of the image.
• RGB Sliders specifies the color using an additive method based on the amount of the three primary colors Red, Green and Blue. This color model is often familiar to users with a web or computer background. • CMY Sliders specifies the color using a subtractive method, where you specify the filter density of an imaginative set of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow filters. This model may be familiar to you if you come from a lighting background, where filters are often used to control the color of a light.
When using the HSB model, note that merely changing the Hue has no effect unless you also specify a saturation and brightness greater than zero. Watch the “Resulting Color” swatch as you drag the sliders to see the resulting color. The preview in the Status window shows the color as applied to the image. An alternative way of specifying the color is to open the Color tween track to reveal its sub-tracks. Click to reveal the sub-tracks. ◆ NOTE: The subtracks always use the HSB color model.
Use a Tint tween track to add color to an image. You can think of the Tint tween track as specifying the color of translucent spray paint added to the image. Normally, the Tint color is black, meaning that no color is added. Tint Another way of contrasting the Color and Tint tween tracks is to say that the Color tween track primarily affects the bright areas of the image, while the Tint tween track mainly affects the dark areas. ◆ HINT: You can combine both Color and Tint on the same image.
Channel Mixer Re-mixes any amount of the original Red, Green and Blue color components to the Red, Green and Blue color components of the resulting image. CONTROL CUE The Control cue governs the behavior of timelines. The cue is performed when the timeline runs past it. The Control cue can be used to make a timeline pause, or jump to another position (by time or by name). To create a Control cue, choose “Add Control Cue” on the Timeline menu (see page 151). Cue name. Used to jump to a named position.
Creating Loops You can use the “Jump to” option to create loops – causing a section of the timeline to be repeated. When jumping, you have the option of automatically restarting the timeline after the jump. In this case, it is often a good idea to introduce a delay of a second or so to allow the display computers to catch up before starting. This is done using the “Jump-to-Run Delay” field.
Using Find and QuickFind Named Control cues can be used with the Find command to locate a position along the timeline by name. A QuickFind feature allows you to instantly jump to positions using the computer’s function keys. To use this feature, simply name the Control cues “F1”, “F2”, etc, as in the example on the previous page. ▲ IMPORTANT: The Control cue’s name field is case sensitive. When using function key names, type an upper case F.
Chapter 10 Cues
11 INPUTS AND OUTPUTS 11 Inputs and outputs act as gateways between WATCHOUT and other external devices. Using industry-standard protocols, such as DMX-512, MIDI, TCP/IP and Serial data communication, you can interact with the presentation environment in many creative ways. INPUTS Click this button to add an input. Inputs receive signals from the outside world.
Connecting a MIDI device MIDI-to-USB adaptor. MIDI Controller Input Connect your MIDI device to a USB port (or other suitable MIDI interface) on your WATCHOUT computer. Many newer devices come with a direct USB connection. Older MIDI devices often use a standard 5-pin DIN connector, in which case you need a MIDI-to-USB adaptor, or other Windows-compatible MIDI interface. ▲ IMPORTANT: When using the production software, connect your MIDI interface to the production computer.
Enter the MIDI channel number and controller number to use, if you know them. If not, click “Learn” and move the controller. ◆ NOTE: The controller number used in the MIDI protocol is often not the same as any number next to the knob on the device. Furthermore, many devices have programmable controllers, so the actual controller number may vary depending on the device’s configuration. A MIDI device with controller knobs and note keys.
MIDI Note Input A MIDI Note Input brings in MIDI keyboard messages, often referred to as “Note On/Note Off” messages. The name used to refer to this input in expressions. Channel the message is sent on. Click “Learn” and press the key to pick up the channel and note numbers automatically. MIDI note number. When done, click OK in the MIDI Note dialog box, Verify proper operation of the input by pressing the key and observing the bar graph in the Input window.
DMX-512 Input DMX-to-Ethernet adapters from Enttec and Kissbox. A DMX-512 Input brings in the value of a DMX channel. DMX-512 is a protocol used by most lighting consoles, dimmers, moving lights and other similar devices. WATCHOUT uses the computer network to receive DMX data using the Artnet protocol (see http://www.artisticlicence.com/). Many modern lighting consoles can send Artnet over an Ethernet network. In other cases, a DMX-toEthernet adapter must be used.
Controlling Tween Tracks Inputs can be used to control parameters of cues, similar to the way tween tracks are used. This provides external control over most parameters. To use this capability, add the desired type of tween track to the cue, then click the formula button located in the header area of the tween track. You may need to click the triangle in the tween track header to reveal the formula button. Some tween tracks have multiple controllable parameters.
The TweenValue identifier represents the tween track itself. To control the parameter using an input, simply enter the name of the input instead. Enter the name of an input to control the parameter using that input. This example uses a MIDI controller, as shown on page 198. Or enter a formula combining inputs, numerical constants, operators and the original TweenValue. See “Expression” on page 212 for more details.
▲ IMPORTANT: Most media cues need some time to prepare before they will appear properly on stage. Therefore, it is generally a good idea not to put such cues at the very beginning of an auxiliary timeline. Leave about a second or so empty at the beginning of the timeline. ◆ HINT: You can only use a trigger to start a task – not to stop it. To stop a task, use another task with a timeline containing a control cue that targets the timeline to be stopped. Trigger this second task using the desired condition.
DMX-512 Output Use a DMX-512 Output to control lighting and other devices which accept the DMX-512 protocol. Specify the DMX channel number to use in the dialog box, as shown to the left, and give the output a descriptive name. You must also configure WATCHOUT to transmit DMX data on the Artnet Universe number used by the device(s) to be controlled. This is done under the Control tab in the Preferences dialog box (see “DMX-512 Universe” on page 123).
Use a String Output to control devices that accepts text strings or other discrete data packets through a serial or Ethernet port. For example, you can tell a projector to power down by sending it a command through a serial port on its display computer. String Output Select the kind of data port to use on this menu. The settings in this part of the String Output dialog box are specific for the kind of port selected on the menu above. For a network port, enter its IP address and port number here.
Using a Serial Port To use a serial port, connect the device to the COM1 port on any display computer, and select that display computer on the pop-up menu in the String Output dialog box. Select the data rate and parity mode according to the specifications of the device being controlled. Select a display computer that has a serial port available, and set its communications parameters according to the specifications of the device to be controlled.
Sending a Data String A String Output is controlled using a String Cue, created by dragging the output onto a timeline (see “Creating Output Cues” on page 204). Name the cue to state its purpose. Enter the data to send to the device here. This can be plain text, hexadecimal data bytes, or a combination of both. Prefix each two-digit hexadecimal byte with a $-sign. ◆ NOTE: The data is sent only when the timeline plays across the cue. It is not sent when jumping to or past the cue.
12 TASKS AND EXPRESSIONS 21 The Task window allows you to create multiple auxiliary timelines, and to specify their triggering conditions using expressions. Auxiliary timelines behave very much like the main timeline, but can be started and stopped independently. If an auxiliary timeline displays images on stage, those images will appear on top of any images originating from the main timeline.
AUXILIARY TIMELINE Double-clicking an item in the Task list opens its associated auxiliary timeline. Double-click the task name to open its timeline. Click here to start, stop or pause the auxiliary timeline… …or click here after opening its timeline window. ◆ HINT: Change the name shown in the Task list by first opening the auxiliary timeline and then choosing “Timeline Settings” on the Timeline menu.
Starting from an Input Alternatively, you can trigger an auxiliary timeline using an external signal, brought in as an input in the Input window. For details on how to configure inputs see page 197. “Triggering Tasks” on page 203 describes how you use an input to trigger a task. The task will be started when the value of the triggering expression becomes non-zero. This expression may combine multiple inputs and constants using operators (see “Expression” on page 212).
Stopping an Auxiliary Timeline An auxiliary timeline will stop automatically after playing to its end. ◆ HINT: Set the length of an auxiliary timeline using the Timeline Settings command on the Timeline menu while the auxiliary timeline’s window is active. Alternatively, use a Control cue (either on the timeline itself, or on another timeline) to stop it. When stopped, its images will disappear from the stage.
Using Numeric Operators In some cases, you may want to combine multiple values. For instance, in the previous example, you may change the expression so that the modulation wheel modulates the value of the cue’s Opacity tween track by entering the following expression into its formula dialog box: Enter an expression for a tween track by clicking its formula button (see page 202).
value is effectively clipped to the range 0 through 1 (as the image can’t be more than fully opaque or fully transparent). Most parameters work in this way, with the notable exception of the color hue, as it allows the color wheel to be rotated multiple revolutions. Using Relational Operators When using expressions to trigger tasks, it is often useful to specify a threshold for the triggering value. If the input is used on its own, the task will be triggered as soon as the input leaves zero.
List of Operators This is a list of the operators supported by WATCHOUT, shown in their order of precedence. Operator Description ( ) Parenthesis. Used to group sub-expressions. - Unary Minus. * / % Multiplication, Division and Modulo. + - Addition and Subtraction. < <= > >= = != Less Than, Less Than or Equal To, Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal To, Equal, Not Equal. && Logical And. || Logical Or. Most operators work as expected.
Chapter 12 Tasks and Expressions
13 DYNAMIC IMAGES 31 The WATCHOUT Image Server is a separate program that allows you to incorporate up-to-date text, images and graphics into your presentation. It renders the requested images, and sends the result to your display computers via the network. This is somewhat similar to the way a VNC Server provides images for a “Computer Screen” media item, but provides for greater flexibility and programmability. Being a server application, the program doesn’t offer much in terms of user interface.
Alternate File Location By default, image files are served from a folder relative to the location of the Image Server application. If you want to keep your dynamic images elsewhere, pass the -f command line parameter to the Image Server application to specify the location of the folder. Put this option into a shortcut used to start the image server, possibly located in the Startup folder of the computer, so that the shortcut’s Target field reads something like this: "C:\WATCHOUT 5\ImageServer.
SERVING SWF FILES For even greater flexibility, you may choose to serve Flash (SWF) files. Such a file can dynamically generate and update text, graphics and other image elements, and can interact with various data sources. SWF files are produced using Adobe Flash Professional. By combining high quality text and graphics rendering with a powerful, network-aware programming language, Flash allows you to create custom solutions with very little effort.
Example SWF: A News Reader To develop custom solutions, you need to be familiar with Flash Professional and its ActionScript programming language, which is used to create live data. The example below shows a complete news reader for displaying the latest news from CNN: var rssXML:XML; // RSS feed data is loaded here var rssLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader(); var rssURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition_world.
Displaying Server Files Put the image and SWF files to be served into a folder on the computer running the WATCHOUT Image Server application. Typically, this folder is located in the same folder as the Image Server application. Alternatively, add a command line parameter when starting the Image Server application to put the image folder elsewhere (see “Alternate File Location” on page 218). You can test a file manually using the Open command in the Image Server application.
Flash Parameters For SWF images, any parameters specified in the Dynamic Image Specifications dialog box are passed to the SWF similar to how parameters are passed from a web page. This allows you to customize a single SWF file in various ways, without having to modify the SWF file itself. For example, when creating a stock quote display SWF, you may not know what company to display.
A SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS A This appendix lists what you need in order to install WATCHOUT on a PC. COMPUTER A WATCHOUT computer has the following minimum system requirements: • Intel or AMD dual core processor (quad core to drive multiple displays). • USB port. ▲ IMPORTANT: These are minimum system requirements. Faster processor, faster memory, SSD or faster hard disk with cache memory, faster graphics card with more video memory, etc, will enhance performance.
LIVE VIDEO INPUT To integrate live video into WATCHOUT, each display computer used to show live video must be equipped with a suitable video input, and its driver software must be installed. Some capture cards support multiple Composite and S-Video inputs, while some support more advanced video signal standards. Suitable video input solutions include: • Black Magic Design DeckLink SDI, Duo, Studio or HD Extreme, accepting SDI/HDSDI signals. Studio also accepts analog. Intensity Pro accepts HDMI and analog.
B COMPUTER ISSUES B While the basic configuration of the display computer outlined in Chapter 2 “Installation” is sufficient in many cases, some computers require additional work to achieve best possible performance. This section provides some general hints and pointers on how to proceed. DEDICATED COMPUTER If you intend to use a computer primarily as a WATCHOUT display computer, it probably makes sense to re-format the hard disk and then install only Windows, required device drivers and WATCHOUT.
For best performance, you should create a smaller (50 GB or so) partition for Windows, and any other applications you may want to install. This partition will become the C: drive. Leave the remainder of the disk unformatted for now. Proceed with installing Windows on the newly created, small partition. Once that’s done, install required device drivers (graphics or sound card drivers, etc), and perform any additional adjustments mentioned in this appendix.
Specifying a larger than usual allocation size greatly reduces the tendency of disk fragmentation, at the cost of a small amount of wasted disk space. Given the fact that most WATCHOUT media files tend to be rather large, this should not have any practical disadvantages. Once the formatting is complete, the new partition will appear as the D: disk drive. Create a WATCHOUT folder on this disk, and install WATCHOUT to this disk using the Installer, as described on page 15.
• Remote updating of WATCHOUT software and components. Since an application under UAC doesn’t have permission to write to its own program folder, or manage its components, those functions will generally fail under UAC. Instead, you must manually install updates on each display computer, with UAC prompting you for you administrator password. For a regular PC, used to surf the web, the User Access Control is a good thing.
GENERAL PERFORMANCE The performance of a PC is often degraded by numerous small programs and services running in the background. Such programs consume considerable system resources, and may serve no purpose on a WATCHOUT display computer. You can enhance performance by identifying and removing, or disabling, such programs.
◆ HINT: The names listed in the Running Tasks and Startup Programs lists are often cryptic, and may be hard to associate with a particular program. In this case, looking at the path leading to the program’s file can provide a valuable hint. In particular, if the program is installed under “c:\Program Files\...”, you should be able to learn more by looking inside its installation folder.
Removing Background Programs Once you have identified any undesired background programs, you should either remove or disable them. If you know you won’t need a background program, remove it from the computer. To remove a program, open the “Programs and Features” control panel, choose the program, and click “Uninstall”. Follow the subsequent instructions on how to remove or uninstall the program.
Another way to locate and disable startup programs is by using the System Configuration utility. To open this utility, click the Start button and choose Run. Enter “msconfig” into the Run dialog box. Click the “Startup” tab. You can turn off any undesired startup item by unchecking its checkbox.
System Services Most background activities are not run as regular programs, but as System Services. You can view the installed system services by clicking the Services tab in the System Configuration utility (see previous page). This also indicates the manufacturer of each service. In general, do not disable services by unchecking them in the Services tab of the System Configuration utility. Instead, choose Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.
Defragmenting the Disk After using WATCHOUT for some time, adding and removing media or other files, the hard disk may become fragmented. A fragmented hard disk significantly increases the time and effort required to access and display images and video. Defragmenting the disk restores it to its optimal working condition. To defragment your disk, choose Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Wait for the program to analyze your disks, then click “Defragment Now”.
DISPLAY PERFORMANCE WATCHOUT is based on the latest technology in computers and graphics cards. For this to work optimally, both the computer and the graphics card must be properly installed and configured. One of the more useful utilities available to verify and control the operation of the graphics card is PowerStrip: PowerStrip is shareware, and is available from: http://www.entechtaiwan.
Display Drivers and DirectX If you run into display problems or system errors, it’s often a good idea to look for an updated display driver, either from the card’s manufacturer or the chipset manufacturer (i.e., ATI/AMD or nVidia). WATCHOUT also requires DirectX 9 or later – a standard part of Window Vista. You can download the latest version of DirectX from: http://www.microsoft.com/directx OTHER ISSUES This section lists some other issues known to cause problems from time to time.
Defect Drivers Performance and reliability problems may be caused by defect software drivers. Such problems can be hard to diagnose. More often than not, it’s easier to start from scratch by re-formatting the hard disk and re-installing Windows and required device drivers only (see “Formatting the Disk and Installing Windows” on page 225). CLONING A COMPUTER A WATCHOUT system typically uses multiple, identical playback computers.
Appendix B Computer Issues
C DISPLAY ISSUES C WATCHOUT can be used with most display technologies, including DLP and LCD projectors, LCD monitors, LED walls, video wall cubes and plasma screens. Generally, you can use any display device that’s compatible with the display card in the display computer. Avoid mixing brands and models of displays on adjacent or overlapping areas, since they most likely will differ in their image reproduction.
very bright projectors on a small screen. Avoid using stronger projectors than necessary for your screen size and ambient lighting conditions. The contrast ratio has greatly improved over time. Modern DLP projectors, utilizing second generation “black chip” Texas Instruments DLP technology, often provide a contrast ratio of 3000:1 or better. Keep in mind that when using WATCHOUT with projectors, you get the combined brightness from multiple projectors.
LCD Projectors LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) projectors are in many ways similar to DLP projectors, and share many of the same advantages and disadvantages. Instead of bouncing the image off a mirror, an LCD projector uses a pass-through “filter” to modulate the light. The more analog nature of this technology means some LCD projectors may require more adjustment than DLP projectors, and exhibit less long-term stability. Some LCD projectors suffer from a poor black level.
WIRING When connecting the display to the display computer, keep the following in mind: • Keep analog (VGA) cables short. If possible, place the display computer close to the display, powering both from the same outlet. • If you must extend the cable, make sure you use high-grade extension cables and distribution amplifiers. Usually, the display is connected by using an analog 15-pin, VGA-style connector or a digital DVI connector.
HDMI Connector The HDMI connector is similar to the DVI connector in many ways, but is generally limited to carrying video standard resolutions (for example, 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080 pixels). In some cases, you can connect a DVI output to a HDMI input using a simple adaptor cable. GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING Just like the display computer, the kind of display or projector used has a major influence on the end result.
you’ve plugged in another display and change its behavior (for example, its refresh rate), thereby causing the problem you’re troubleshooting to change or disappear. The most common reason for such artefacts is lack of synchronization between the video signal fed to the display and its internal operation. This is sometimes a problem with digital display technologies, such as LCD and DLP.
If using a CRT or known good LCD display makes the video playback look considerably smoother, you’re most likely experiencing synchronization problems introduced by the display or projector (see above). BANDING This section deals with banding in smooth areas, either within a static image or in the overlap area of projected images. Gradients When displaying images with smooth areas and gradients, limited resolution in the display may cause visible bands to appear.
from most professional screen manufacturers (for example, “Aeroview 100” from Stewart Filmscreen Corporation; http://www.stewartfilm.com/). Edge Blend Areas Banding and other artefacts may appear in the overlap areas of edge-blended images. There are essentially three kinds of problems: Too Dark, Bright or Uneven Overlap. It may be difficult to obtain a perfectly invisible edge blend for all image types.
room. Often, however, the best solution is to avoid large, dark areas in the presentation altogether. Thin, Dark or Bright Slivers A slightly darker or brighter sliver along the edge-blend area is often the result of under or over-shooting the chip in the projector. ◆ NOTE: This problem is unusual when using DVI or HDMI interfaces, as those interfaces allow direct pixel addressing, and often provide no control over the image width or position. Create a test image with a one or two pixel white edge.
HOT-SPOTS Hot-spots appear as bright areas near the center of front or rear-projected images. As you move your vantage point across the screen, these bright areas tend to move with you in relation to the projected image. The only way to solve such problems is to use another screen material. Suitable low-gain screens for both front and rear edge-blended projection are available from most professional screen manufacturers (see also “Rear Projection” on page 245).
OPTICAL LINEARITY Pin-cushion and barrel distortion. When using multiple overlapping projectors, optical linearity is important. Deficiencies in optics often show up as barrel or pin-cushion distortion. This may be particularly troublesome when using short-throw, wide angle lenses (often desirable for rear-projection). The best way to avoid this problem is to choose projectors with high-grade optics, and to ensure that your optics are properly matched for the desired projection distance.
Appendix C Display Issues
D PRODUCTION COMPUTER PROTOCOL Overview D You can control a WATCHOUT production computer from an external device, such as a touch panel or software capable of communicating using the TCP or UDP IP protocols. ◆ NOTE: While similar in its basic capabilities and commands, this protocol is different from the one described under “Display Cluster Protocol” on page 257.
A command consists of a command name, sometimes followed by parameters. Commands are encoded using the UTF-8 UNICODE character format, which is downward compatible with ASCII strings. ▲ IMPORTANT: Commands containing non-ASCII characters – such as å, ä, ü, ç – must be encoded using the UTF-8 format. String parameters are sent within double quotes. Backslash is used as an escape character (that is, to encode a double quote in a string, precede it with a backslash).
LIST OF COMMANDS The table below shows the available commands, with some commands explained in more detail on the following pages. Command Parameters Description run [] Run timeline from current position, optional aux timeline name. halt [] Stop at the current position, with optional auxiliary timeline name kill Stop and deactivate the named auxiliary timeline. gotoTime / [] Go to a time position, specified in milliseconds or as a time.
gotoTime Jumps to a time position along the timeline. The time can be specified in milliseconds: gotoTime 60000 goes to one minute (60000 / 1000 = 60 seconds). Alternatively, specify the time as a string in the format “HH:MM:SS.mmm”. A second parameter, if specified, selects an auxiliary timeline by name. gotoControlCue Jumps to the named Control cue. Returns an error if the cue can’t be found.
Loads a show by name. The name is specified as a quoted string containing the full path to the file. The use of backslash characters in Windows path names conflicts with the use of the backslash as an escape character in this protocol. Either double the backslash characters, or use forward slashes instead (as shown in this example): load Condition Number to Add 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 8 5 16 6 32 …and so on. load "C:/Samples/ExampleShow.
setInput Sets the value of a named input (see “Inputs” on page 197): setInput "uno" 0.5 The value is generally in the range 0 through 1, but may be extended to cover a wider range using the Limit setting of the Generic Input (see “Generic Input” on page 197). By prefixing the value with a plus or minus sign, you can adjust the value incrementally relative to its current setting. This example increases the value of the input by 0.1: setInput "uno" +0.
E DISPLAY CLUSTER PROTOCOL Overview E You can control a cluster of WATCHOUT display computers using a local command file or from a computer or other device capable of communicating using a serial port or the TCP/IP network protocol. ◆ NOTE: While similar to the production computer protocol described in the previous appendix, this protocol allows you to control WATCHOUT display clusters without a production computer being present in the system.
(possibly located in the Startup folder), add the name of the command file to the Target field of the shortcut. Enter the name of the command file here. This example assumes that the file is stored in the folder where WATCHOUT is installed. Make sure this is set to the folder where WATCHOUT is installed.
for any other computers in the WATCHOUT display cluster to become ready, and then runs the show. authenticate 1 setLogoString "The show will begin shortly" delay 5000 load "MyShow" wait run See each individual command later in this appendix for details. ▲ IMPORTANT: If using non-ASCII characters in the show name (for example; å, ö, ü, ß), your text editor must be able to save the text using the UTF-8 encoding.
Use a Telnet program to check the communication. Open the port specified above, then type “ping” and press Return. WATCHOUT will respond with a Ready message, stating its version number and some other details. Serial Control To control a WATCHOUT display cluster through a serial port, connect the controlling device to a serial port of one of the WATCHOUT display computers.
parameters. Commands are case sensitive. Commands are encoded using the UTF-8 UNICODE character format, which is downward compatible with ASCII. ▲ IMPORTANT: When sending commands containing non-ASCII characters – such as å, ä, ü, ç – these must be encoded using the UTF-8 format. Responses and Feedback Most commands perform silently when successful. You can explicitly request acknowledge from any command as described under “Command ID Tagging” on page 274.
LIST OF COMMANDS The table below shows the available commands. Some are explained in greater depth on the page indicated in brackets. Command Description ping Do-nothing command causing a Ready feedback message to be sent. authenticate Perform authentication. Required prior to other commands [260]. load Load a show and get ready to run [263]. run [] Start running, optionally specifying an auxiliary timeline name.
load Load a complete show specification from a local file associated with the show name specified by the first parameter. Busy feedback may be sent to the host while loading, informing the host about the progress (see “Busy” on page 270). If errors occur, Error feedback is sent (see “Error” on page 271). Finally, a Ready feedback message is sent, regardless of whether any error occurred (see “Ready” on page 269). load "Phantom" Parameter Description Name of the show to be loaded.
gotoTime Jump to the specified time position along the timeline. gotoTime 5000 Parameter Description or Time position to go to, in milliseconds, or as a string in this format: “HH:MM:SS.FFF”, where FFF is milliseconds. [] Name of auxiliary timeline to control (omit for main timeline). gotoControlCue Jump to the time of specified Control cue.
enableLayerCond Change the set of enabled layer conditions. While the layer conditions can be specified as part of the load command, this separate command allows the layer conditions to be changed without loading another show. The command takes a single, mandatory parameter with the same interpretation as the conditional layers parameter of the load command (see table on page 255). setLogoString Display the string parameter next to the WATCHOUT logo, when shown on screen. See example on page 259.
Responds with a Reply with the following parameters: Reply Parameter Description Name of the show. Empty string if no show loaded. Busy. True if the master display computer or any of its slaves is busy General health status of the cluster; 0: OK, 1: Suboptimal, 2: Problems, 3: Dead. Display is open (in its full screen mode). Show is active (ready to run). Programmer is on line.
setInput Sets the value of a named input (see “Inputs” on page 197). Parameter Description The name of the input to set. The desired´value, optionally prefixed by + or - for incremental change. [] Optional transition rate, in milliseconds. See “setInput” on page 256 for more details and an example. serialPort Open serial port for cluster control protocol use, setting its parameters.
timecodeMode Controls the LTC timecode receiver of the display computer. The timecode receiver is initially off. When turned on, incoming timecode will control the presentation as if using the run, halt and gotoTime commands. Furthermore, while playing, the presentation will be synchronized to the timecode. timecodeMode 2 "-1:00:00" Parameter Description 0 = receiver off, 1 = auto-detect format, 2 = EBU 25 fps, 3 = SMPTE 29.97 NDF, 4 = SMPTE 29.97 DF, 5 = SMPTE 30 (”B&W”).
FEEDBACK The WATCHOUT cluster master sends feedback messages to the controller. Note that the controller must be prepared to receive such messages at any time – not only as a direct response to particular commands. Most commands execute silently, unless an error occurs. Use the command ID tagging feature to force commands to be positively acknowledged, if desired (see “Command ID Tagging” on page 274).
Busy Sent repeatedly while busy doing lengthy tasks, such as downloading or caching files. Busy "Transferring" "Media/Wilfred.jpg" 76 Note that either or both string parameters may be empty, in which case the controller should retain the previous values for these parameters and just update the progress value. Feedback Parameter Description What is being done (for instance, “Transferring”). May be empty string. The subject of the above action (for instance, a file name).
Sent when any error occurs, either as a direct result of a command, or for any other reason. Error Feedback Parameter Description Error kind: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Operating system error (for instance, a Win32 HRESULT). QuickTime error (Mac OSErr style). Rendering API error (that is, DirectX). Network errors (that is, WinSock). File server error (for example, file not found during download). Syntax/parser error (for instance, when loading a specification file).
Rendering API Error Error occurred specifically related to rendering. This is similar to other operating system errors, except that you also know that it occurred while rendering. Sometimes, rendering errors occur due to display card driver issues, video memory or other hardware resource limitations. Network Error Error occurred specifically related to network communication.
Authentication Error The second parameter gives further details: Value Description 1 You have no authority. 2 Your authority is insufficient for this command. 3 In use by another Programmer. 4 Authentication challenge/response sequence failed. 5 Invalid authentication level. 6 Authentication level not allowed for port. 7 Command not allowed in read-only mode. The third parameter may provide additional context information.
Information Sent to convey some general information. Feedback Parameter Description The information message, as a quoted string. [] Address of originator (empty or omitted if originating from the master). Reply A Reply feedback message is sent as a direct response to a query command (for instance, getStatus described on page 265). Use a command ID to positively associate the reply with the command.
F MIDI SHOW CONTROL F MIDI Show Control (MSC) allows WATCHOUT to be controlled from a lighting console, or similar device capable of outputting MSC commands. ◆ NOTE: During production, connect your MIDI device to the production computer. When not using the production software, connect it to the primary display computer in the cluster. In addition to enabling MIDI Show Control, you also have to specify the MSC Device ID (see page 122).
The cue number, if specified, makes WATCHOUT locate a Control cue with that name (that is, the name of the cue must be a number). The GO and TIMED GO, LOAD and STOP commands interpret cue number 0 as specifying “no cue”, allowing you to specify the cue list part only. This allows you to use the STOP command to stop an Auxiliary Timeline without necessarily specifying a particular cue by setting the cue number to zero. The following is a description of each command, as it relates to WATCHOUT.
INDEX black & white 187 blend mode 176 C cache folder 80 CachedFiles 80 channel mixer 193 chromakey 185 Clear command 126 Click Selects Frontmost Image command 135 cluster control protocol 257 codec 40 color 189 color correction 165 color, keep 187 command file 257 composition 87, 143 settings 154 computer screen 143 conditional layers, preview of 137 Consolidate command 117 contrast & brightness 187 control cue 151 Copy command 126 corners 186 crop 188 Numerics 3D 86, 100, 124 A acceleration 76 Add Compo
cue 12, 64, 167 adding 102, 167 control 151 cutting 168 deleting 168 duration 67, 169 media position 168 pasting 168 pause 68 positioning 167 replacing media 66, 170 selecting 167 specifications 67, 170 string 208 tween track 69, 179 curved screen 160 Cut command 126 D DA (distribution amplifier) 18 deinterlace live video 146 delay 266 display 157 adding 59, 97, 131, 157 address 158 address prefix, in preferences 120 arranging 59 duplicating 158 DVI 242 geometry 160 installing 17 LCD 241 name 158 online 13
edit menu 125 enableLayerCond 265 Ethernet 16 Ethernet port 206 expression 203, 212 external control 83 gotoTime 254, 264 green screen 185 H HDMI 243 high definition video 37 hub 16 hue & saturation 192 F file menu 115 find and replace 128 Find command 195 Find/Replace Again command 129 Find/Replace command 128 folder, in media window 149 frame rate 120 free running 174 function keys 195 I image specifications 36 input 197 controlling a tween track 202 starting a task 203 in-time 172 IP address 27 J jump
L Large Thumbnails command 149 layer 66 changing height 102 collapse 101 condition 104 current 102 deleting 151 disabling preview of 103 inserting 151 locking 103 renaming 151 selecting 102 settings 103, 151 LCD display 241 LCD projector 241 license key 16 link handles 183 live video 145, 146 live video input 18 load 255, 263 logical operators 214 loop 81, 175, 193 loop, timeline 194 M mask 176 Masked by Displays command 136 280 media 12, 61 adding 61, 107 changing file association 62, 108 changing path t
MIDI show control, MSC 122, 275 MOV file format 37 movie 37 assembling individual frames 39 audio embedded in 46 computer generated 38 pre-splitting 42, 140 moving along a path 183 MPEG 37 MPEG-2 41 output 204 DMX-512 205 serial 207 string 206 output cue, creating 204 P Paste command 126 pause cue 68 perspective 100, 124, 136 perspective correction 161 PICKUP 82 play 102 Play Audio Media command 136 position animating 75 editing 75 moving along a path 76 tweening of 182 preferences 120 pre-roll 173 present
preview background color 138 conditional layers 137 outline dimmed images 136 stage tiers 137 standby layers 137 wireframe 135 preview menu 135 Preview Scale command 131 Preview Standby Layers command 137 production computer 8 control protocol 251 progressive video 37 projection screen 17 projector DLP 239 LCD 241 protocol 251, 257 proxy 63, 109, 139 Q QuickFind 195 QuickTime installing 15 obtaining 15 R reference frame 154 Refresh Media command 109, 149 282 relational operators 214 rotation tweening 184
stacking 175 stacking order 153 stage adding displays 97 adding media 97 background color 138 online 134 positioning displays 159 positioning media preview 65, 98 preview 131 preview quality 135, 175 scale 97 tier 98, 133 updating 81, 134 stage menu 131 stage window 12, 59, 97 standBy 254, 265 stereoscopy 86, 125 still image formats 34 producing 34 style, text 55 sun icon, in layer header 103 suppress rendering 177 TCP/IP network 206, 251, 257 text media 52 text style 55 Thumbnails command 135 tier 133 pre
tween point 70 copying 70 corner 70 editing numerically 71 removing 70 smooth 70 tween track 12, 69, 179 adding points to 70 opacity 72 position 75 red curve 202 rotation 73 scale 72 stretching 70 volume 72 U UDP 206 UDP, TCP/IP, control protocol 122 Undo command 125 Update command 134 USB port 16 V vanishing point 124 velocity 76 Video as Thumbnails command 135 284 video distribution amplifier 18 video see movie VNC 143 volume 72 tweening 180 W wait 266 warping 160 WATCHOUT installing 15 obtaining 15 scr
