Random/intermittent content artifacts

[QUOTE=DalenVigil;53800]Just curious if there's any reason behind the random artifacts I've been getting from time to time. I'm running 12 DL-3's collaged across an ice floor 3x4 and get random artifacts during the show.?

What exactly are you seeing? Are you using live input?
Could be anything from a loose video card to a bad cable to improperly formatted content.

[QUOTE=DalenVigil;53800]Running various software from 2025 through 2453 (don't ask) but it doesn't seem to occur more frequently with any one release.?

That is never a good idea....I can't imagine why you wouldn't have them all on the latest version?

[QUOTE=DalenVigil;53800] On another note, any way to get LTC to individual fixtures so that they will stay sync'd better during long unlooped content or if a fixture requires a server reset during the middle of playback it will sync to the rest of the fixtures instead of starting playback from the beginning of the clip?

Make sure all your fixtures are connected to a gigabit ethernet network.
Then use the Sync functions on the layer you require.
IE - set fixtures 2 thru12 to sync to Layer 1 using Sync ID 1 (fixture 1).
Not sure how the profile is labled on your desk, but on H3 you set Sync ID to 1 for units 2 thru 12, and then pick the relevant "Sync to" slot.
There is a pretty thorough explaination of this in the manual.

Hope this helps. :)

( Cant help with this, Just wanted to know, your the LD of the Disney on ice tour? Seems they have a similar setup.)

Hi,

I am running 10 installs with a 3 x 2 Iceprojection here in Sweden with DML-1200 with Axon inside.
I have NOT seen any artifacts in playback since i had (forced) content creators to use the encoder program we recommended.

Please specify what artifacts you are seeing, and if you could film or photo it, that would be great!

And Any earlier software of 3.2 than current release WILL cause trouble in one way or the other.
I do imagine you are in contact with our support in Austin? Then they might have given specific instructions that i not counter.

As for media sync the Network sync works great, but i find it not really necessary if media is properly formated and encoded.

Yup, DOI. More than anything it's institutional aversion to upgrading anything that's not "broken." In the end I updated to the new software, that whole forgiveness/permission thing.

I will have to try the network sync if I can manage it on a Maxxyz. I'll root through the fixture profile and see what I need to do.

As far as what it actually looks like, it looks like typical digital artifacting you would get watching satellite tv on a windy day. I'll try to get some video but it really just looks like a row of pixelization. It's happens very quickly and is over just as fast. It's just a big block of pixelization that usually travels from one side to the other. I'm just having trouble tracking it down since it isn't on any single fixture nor any single piece of content.

From your description it soundss like what happens when a piece of cusstom content has not been properly encoded....to me it sounds like the GOP or bitrate is wrong.

Hope this helps. :)

[QUOTE=Marty Postma;54072]From your description it soundss like what happens when a piece of cusstom content has not been properly encoded....to me it sounds like the GOP or bitrate is wrong.

Hope this helps. :)

I've come to the conclusion that this has to be the issue although supposedly the content creators followed the creation guide. It's just so random in its occurrence that I can't imagine it being anything else.

As far as the sync goes, does it pull content from the master real time to the other fixtures or does it just synchronize content playback with the fixtures with all of the content cloned? I seem to remember the programmer having issues with it during the build which would certainly indicate the possibility of incorrectly encoded content. The decision was made to just use the cloned content and the collage generator and leave playback to the individual fixtures triggered with LTC. It really only becomes an issue with longer pieces of content. I've already checked to make sure playback speed is e same across all of the fixtures so it's nothing from the console.

We are running gigabit hardware throughout.

All the files live on the servers independently regardless, you cannot "pull" a file from one to playback on another.
Cloning simply copies files and assigned DMX addesses for files and folders over to subsequent units so you don't have to do it manually.

What Network Sync does is define a "master" unit and make all the "slaves" playback at the same rate.

Make sure that your content is being properly "marked" before playback (ie - a cue before has the file loaded and playmode set to Pause & Rewind).

Also make sure that the inframe and outframe values are the same across all fixtures.

Finally be sure that the fixture ID number is unique for all your units....duplicate IDs will definitely give you problems.

Best/fastest way to screen your custom content is to load it onto a fixtuer via CMA with the latest software......CMA will scan the content for any potential problems and give you warnings if there are any.......probably best to do this with a spare unit on the network and clone from an existing fixture in the rig.

Hope this helps. :)

Yep, everything is set up correctly fixture to fixture, all content was loaded without errors, all programming in the console is fine. These were the first things I checked so I can only imagine it's content issues. At this point content can't be recreated to I guess it is what it is.

Hi Dalen,

Sorry to chime in a little late on this one. Two things:

1) Are you doing any rotation with the 3D objects, especially with two right on top of one another? There are issues with this where the graphics engine in the DL server will have trouble determining which objects should be in the "front" and you get what looks like tears in the objects.

2) I know you said it was too late to recreate all of the content, but if you have a piece or two of the content that you can send me, I can make sure it was made correctly. If there is something wrong, at least you'll be able to advise the content house next time.

You can send me the content here: highend.wetransfer.com/

Just put it to my email attention, matt(dot)schiefelbein(at)barco(dot)com

Thanks,

[QUOTE=schiefels;54129]Hi Dalen,

Sorry to chime in a little late on this one. Two things:

1) Are you doing any rotation with the 3D objects, especially with two right on top of one another? There are issues with this where the graphics engine in the DL server will have trouble determining which objects should be in the "front" and you get what looks like tears in the objects.

2) I know you said it was too late to recreate all of the content, but if you have a piece or two of the content that you can send me, I can make sure it was made correctly. If there is something wrong, at least you'll be able to advise the content house next time.

You can send me the content here: highend.wetransfer.com/

Just put it to my email attention, matt(dot)schiefelbein(at)barco(dot)com

Thanks,

Nothing 3D. It's about as basic as using these get. It's a 3x4 enhanced collage breaking up the media between projectors so it covers the whole ice floor. Content is also running on a Maxedia and a couple of pieces are actually the same content and they don't exhibit the same problems so it's quite possible it was created for the Maxedia and used on the DL-3's as an afterthought. I could easy see the video guys doing this and causing issues.

I've wiped a server and re-uploaded the content both through cloning as well as individual pieces of content and didn't receive any warnings or errors but this was pre-2453 and I haven't had a chance to do it since upgrading the software.

I'll try and upload a couple of files this week. Hopefully the hotel Internet will hold out long enough.