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Howto for this job?

I'm fairly new to Catalyst so I want to know what your opinions are for this job and how you would approach running it?

The stage backdrop will be a Med/High res SoftLED drape, this is one output. There will also be varoius Barco led elements at different positions built into the set. Graphics have been prepared as one group of media files for the SoftLED and another three groups for the three outputs for the LED modules.

Essentially, the three LED modules will for this job act as a seamless blend (the way the graphics have been prepared - 16:9 PAL DV).

For some shows, all screens need to play back media in sync from either a external TC source or manually triggered (can I trigger different outputs/interfaces cues at the same time?) And in other shows, media will just be shown in a random fashion determined by the operator.

What I want to know is will two seperate cat units (both using dual outputs) be able to have cues triggered by the one go button? 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.

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!

Any help you can provide would be great. I'm looking forward to working with catalyst. Future is bright indeed (even if we are late to embrace it!)

Thanks! :)
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  • [QUOTE=SourceChild]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.

    By default, all our production gear is 16:9 as we have made the full transition to HD. Now that you mention it however, it would probably be easier to make the whole composition a 4:3 comp as the softled wall will be 4:3. Several elements need to be greenscreened so i'm thinking it's probably easier to pull out a digibeta and just switch to 4:3 as there is no need for anything near HD quality.

    Is it alright to mix aspect ratios in cat? All led content will be 4:3 but the plasma content will be 16:9. Also, all of the content will be coming out of After Effects. I plan on re-compressing the files through compressor as a batch. Does anyone have any base droplets they could share. (It's things like that that I think we should all get together and make. Would be so much easier for the community as a whole!)

    [QUOTE=SourceChild]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!

    I was originally thinking of HogPC but also have access to a Hog2 and a Echelon. I'm guessing that these two really are not [i]Media Server Ready[/i] so I guess thats either a Hog3 or a GrandMA that most people use on more complex shows.

    Would a GrandMA mini or lite suffice for less complex shows? And is there any advantage over using a HES console over a MA console?

    Content Creation will start in the new year after the slew of NYE/NYD jobs get out of the way. We have about 1 month for creation which will involve shooting lots of greenscreen comps and then keying them in Aftereffects and a whole load of compositing. I just want to make sure we get everything right before we start getting deep into the project.

    Thanks again!
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  • [QUOTE=SourceChild]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.

    By default, all our production gear is 16:9 as we have made the full transition to HD. Now that you mention it however, it would probably be easier to make the whole composition a 4:3 comp as the softled wall will be 4:3. Several elements need to be greenscreened so i'm thinking it's probably easier to pull out a digibeta and just switch to 4:3 as there is no need for anything near HD quality.

    Is it alright to mix aspect ratios in cat? All led content will be 4:3 but the plasma content will be 16:9. Also, all of the content will be coming out of After Effects. I plan on re-compressing the files through compressor as a batch. Does anyone have any base droplets they could share. (It's things like that that I think we should all get together and make. Would be so much easier for the community as a whole!)

    [QUOTE=SourceChild]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!

    I was originally thinking of HogPC but also have access to a Hog2 and a Echelon. I'm guessing that these two really are not [i]Media Server Ready[/i] so I guess thats either a Hog3 or a GrandMA that most people use on more complex shows.

    Would a GrandMA mini or lite suffice for less complex shows? And is there any advantage over using a HES console over a MA console?

    Content Creation will start in the new year after the slew of NYE/NYD jobs get out of the way. We have about 1 month for creation which will involve shooting lots of greenscreen comps and then keying them in Aftereffects and a whole load of compositing. I just want to make sure we get everything right before we start getting deep into the project.

    Thanks again!
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