Howto for this job?

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
...the way the graphics have been prepared - 16:9 PAL DV...

I take it you're in Europe right, running content at 25fps?
You mention 16:9 and even though that is true of the file spec, realize that 16:9 is not really practical unless your curtains and LED elements are wide aspect.
In most cases, the LED mediums I use are SD 4:3 and since most monitors are as well, think about what in your content is viewable and what is not. If you send the 16:9 content into your devices, then you'll be truncating pixels anyway depending on your aspect ratio of your LED elements so don't worry specifically about content ratio.
A note to expand on and a reason to bring attention is that if you are using LEDs, then most likely you will not be using devices with 3.4 megapixels so you can create content at a much lower resolution.
For instance, if you have an LED panel that is 300 x 300 LEDs then you only have 90,000 pixels. I only bring attention to this because the higher the content rez, the harder the Catalyst has to process which means less files and greater sync issues.
A rule of thumb is to keep the pixel count of your source content proportionate to the device your outputing on.

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
...all screens need to play back media in sync from either a external TC source or manually triggered...

...will two separate cat units (both using dual outputs) be able to have cues triggered by the one go button?...


In Catalyst, you can assign a sync ID number to each layer on each Cat. There are 20 available sync IDs. The Catalyst you have might only be 10 layers although the newest version is 12. What I do is pick my master catalyst and assign the sync IDs to its layers.
Then, if you use an Ethernet connection between Catalysts (try to keep the Cat network separate from other devices and turn off file sharing etc after setup) you can sync any connected Cat's layer to any of your sync ID layers. This will allow for sync although there is a small frame delay you can adjust for across physical machines.
You might not even need to sync to external TC then because it becomes your 1 button press to start.

If you are working between layers on a single Cat then the sync is frame accurate and works wonderfully but remember that there is an extra process running that can impede performance.

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
I'm a broadcast guy and am only just starting to get into cat and my knowledge of DMX programming isn't the best right now.


If you are using Cat for very very simple looks then you can actually program the whole show from the Cat itself and then use the new Catalyst Web interface to control features and functions.

If you have several cues or things begin to get complex then I strongly suggest a lighting console specifically designed for media servers. For a low budget solutions, I would say get a single universe of Hog PC and a computer to run it on. This will prove to be faster than the Cat interface.

I prefer Hog 3 as my console of choice but others that are also what I would call "media server ready" and I would use them before any cheap solution. Trust me!

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
Also, how would you pro's handle this job? I have gone the path of Cat/Media server because we have just bought it and it's about time to embrace it as Encore is overkill for this job and media managment is a pain. Anyone that has any tips for catalyst use SoftLED please chime in - i'm interested on your thoughts!


First of all, since you're using LEDs, you have a lower Rez than a standard projector. Therefore, devices can be run off the same outputs. A wonderful new feature in Cat v4 allows you to make what are called Sub Mixes.
In a very simple example, pretend you have 4 LED panels that are 300 x 200 pixels each. And a single screen that is 640 x 480 pixels. Then on one Cat output you can create 4 submixes in 4 quadrants of the output and each one could receive the layers assigned to it for separate file playback. Then on output 2, you can have a single group of layers assigned. In this scenario, pretend that since it's 12 layers of catalyst and 5 devices that the LED panels could each have 2 layers and you are still left with 4 layers for your big screen.
Then as long as your content creator made the resolution and rendering of the files very small, you could theoretically run two simultaneous layers of content on each device from a single Catalyst and maintain frame sync.
Or lighten the load by splitting it amongst 2 Cats.

I consult systems like this all the time and I would be interested in collaborating with you on this further. If you have more questions, the pros are here to ask but if you like, my contact information is available on my profile and you can reach me further.

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
...the way the graphics have been prepared - 16:9 PAL DV...

I take it you're in Europe right, running content at 25fps?
You mention 16:9 and even though that is true of the file spec, realize that 16:9 is not really practical unless your curtains and LED elements are wide aspect.
In most cases, the LED mediums I use are SD 4:3 and since most monitors are as well, think about what in your content is viewable and what is not. If you send the 16:9 content into your devices, then you'll be truncating pixels anyway depending on your aspect ratio of your LED elements so don't worry specifically about content ratio.
A note to expand on and a reason to bring attention is that if you are using LEDs, then most likely you will not be using devices with 3.4 megapixels so you can create content at a much lower resolution.
For instance, if you have an LED panel that is 300 x 300 LEDs then you only have 90,000 pixels. I only bring attention to this because the higher the content rez, the harder the Catalyst has to process which means less files and greater sync issues.
A rule of thumb is to keep the pixel count of your source content proportionate to the device your outputing on.

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
...all screens need to play back media in sync from either a external TC source or manually triggered...

...will two separate cat units (both using dual outputs) be able to have cues triggered by the one go button?...


In Catalyst, you can assign a sync ID number to each layer on each Cat. There are 20 available sync IDs. The Catalyst you have might only be 10 layers although the newest version is 12. What I do is pick my master catalyst and assign the sync IDs to its layers.
Then, if you use an Ethernet connection between Catalysts (try to keep the Cat network separate from other devices and turn off file sharing etc after setup) you can sync any connected Cat's layer to any of your sync ID layers. This will allow for sync although there is a small frame delay you can adjust for across physical machines.
You might not even need to sync to external TC then because it becomes your 1 button press to start.

If you are working between layers on a single Cat then the sync is frame accurate and works wonderfully but remember that there is an extra process running that can impede performance.

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
I'm a broadcast guy and am only just starting to get into cat and my knowledge of DMX programming isn't the best right now.


If you are using Cat for very very simple looks then you can actually program the whole show from the Cat itself and then use the new Catalyst Web interface to control features and functions.

If you have several cues or things begin to get complex then I strongly suggest a lighting console specifically designed for media servers. For a low budget solutions, I would say get a single universe of Hog PC and a computer to run it on. This will prove to be faster than the Cat interface.

I prefer Hog 3 as my console of choice but others that are also what I would call "media server ready" and I would use them before any cheap solution. Trust me!

[quote=kaptivate_ag]
Also, how would you pro's handle this job? I have gone the path of Cat/Media server because we have just bought it and it's about time to embrace it as Encore is overkill for this job and media managment is a pain. Anyone that has any tips for catalyst use SoftLED please chime in - i'm interested on your thoughts!


First of all, since you're using LEDs, you have a lower Rez than a standard projector. Therefore, devices can be run off the same outputs. A wonderful new feature in Cat v4 allows you to make what are called Sub Mixes.
In a very simple example, pretend you have 4 LED panels that are 300 x 200 pixels each. And a single screen that is 640 x 480 pixels. Then on one Cat output you can create 4 submixes in 4 quadrants of the output and each one could receive the layers assigned to it for separate file playback. Then on output 2, you can have a single group of layers assigned. In this scenario, pretend that since it's 12 layers of catalyst and 5 devices that the LED panels could each have 2 layers and you are still left with 4 layers for your big screen.
Then as long as your content creator made the resolution and rendering of the files very small, you could theoretically run two simultaneous layers of content on each device from a single Catalyst and maintain frame sync.
Or lighten the load by splitting it amongst 2 Cats.

I consult systems like this all the time and I would be interested in collaborating with you on this further. If you have more questions, the pros are here to ask but if you like, my contact information is available on my profile and you can reach me further.