Building Projection - Hardware Help please

hello to all,
the facts:
building with 2 sides,
left one 16.8m wide, 19m high,
done by 2 christie hd18, stacked, so raster is 2 high, 1 wide;
right one 36.6m wide, 19m high,
done by 4 christie hd18, 2 stacked on 2 positions, so raster is 2x2

total pixelspace: 5340x1900
content will be 3035x1080, currently .mov with prores 422hq

i did a ( maybe to late) research on the forum, so here are some more details and then the question:

in total 6 outputs,
cat setup is:
A/1xmacpro, 6core, ssd, quadro4000
B/1xmacpro, 6core, ssd, ati 5770
C/1xmacpro, 4core, ssd, ati 5770
all runing latest cat version, m4, on os 10.6.8

i have 2 triplehead2go, which will perform at 2x 1920x1080/60 ( in total 6 outputs at 1920x1080/60 )

the problem is, i read in the forum that the ati 5770 has very bad performance, so i'm not sure how to arrange the outputs.

maybe like this:
A/ 1x out DVI, 1xDisplayport with DVI Adapter
B/ TH2G on DVI Out for 2xHD
C/ TH2G on DVI Out for 2xHD

Warping will be done with the Christie Warping Boards,
Softedge i'm not sure, maybe Christie, maybe CAT.

Can the 2 macpro's ( B+C) handle the file ( 3035x1080 ) on 2 mixes with softedge? ( in total 6 mixes for 6x HD )
i'm also trying to get the content in .mov AIC

it's an all over covering file, so the CAT's need to be synced. ( via Sync ID)

i've tried it in a test setup, where i recognized some little framedifferences in the softedge area ( testsetup 2x2, one was A, other B but without ssd, both using the TH2G on the DVI Out, Difference was between the 2 macpro's )
so i hope the performance leak was only the ssd?!

content is a loop, about 15min. ( currently about 30GB) should run for 5 hours with no stop and synced.

any help if the system ( because of the ati 5770's) can handle this would be great.

thx a lot, Roman

Heres a few tips:

If using 10.6.8 ATI 577- will not work (maybe only 1 layer playback) - drivers are broken
you have to use an NVIDIA card:
Quadro 4000 / GTX 680

Don't use ProResHQ - use LT or Proxy - much better data rate.
You should also ensure that the content width is exactly divisibly by 16 and the height is an equal number.

The ideal setup would be 3x same hardware revision (4,1 or 5,1) MacPros running 10.8.4 with GTX680 MacEdition. (PC edition also works)
Get rid of the matrox DH2G and simply use the 2x DVI outputs to run the projetors (and if really necessary - one of the other for your desktop) - but you should be able to do this with just 2 outputs and no programming screen.

If you need a control computer - use a laptop or mac-mini to run a cuelist to trigger presets on the others. - Or login to the webserver of tone of the MacPros for control.


S

hello simon,
thanks for your reply and tipps!

i´m already on production,
it´s not possible to change the macs...
so i have to deal with this, in the end each cat has to play 1 file,
around 3k by 1080...

would also a GTX670 for PC work, or only the 680?

also,
how do you normally deal with output resolutions?
we didn´t get it to work to connect a mac directly to a christie roadster 18K HD, only change is to use an imagepro ( in this case 6 ).
no matter if i use 2 outputs of the matrox or directly to outputs from the grahpiccard.

when i test, i used a screenproHD to programm an edid of 1920x1080/p60 on geven dvi detective, in the testsetup everything went fine ( going from the mac to TH2G, then DVI Detective, then DVI Splitter, 1 out to Panasonic Beamer, 1 out to TFT),
but with the christies it was impossible...
it doesn´t matter if it was the mac with quadro 4000 or the one´s with ati 5770, everywhere the same problem.
so we get 6 imagepros tomorrow, then it works ( imagepro says signal from mac 59.94 or so instead of 60, but the christie won´t accept this)
OR does it make a difference when i start catalyst,
i recognice the screen changes when starting the programm
does catalyst do a better resolution managment then mac os,
or does it depend from mac os?

thx, all the best, roman

just to tell whats going on,
skiped the TH2G Cards, DVI Detective with 1080/p50
( which is generally better because of 50HZ/Austria)
then to ImagePro, with 1080/p50 to Christie.
The ATI 5770 running save with one Layer,
all 3 CATS are in sync.
Keystone and Warping was done with Christies,
Softedge with CAT.

thx for help,
if anyone knows if also the gtx670 PC version works in CAT with osx 10.8.4,
would be great,
and how to ( driver, etc)

thx again,
Roman