Pixelmad @ Live Earth Hamburg

Here again the facts of the Catalyst / Pixelmad setup for Live Earth Hamburg in more details:

Server 2 running the "HiRes" LED strip in the backwall.

Strip consisted of Unitek V9 LED panels - total pixel size 1535 x 96 px
Output was two mixes on one screen one left half und below the right half of the strip. Converted to SDI by an ImagePro.

Server 1 running Pixelmad:

Pixelmix 1 : 3 Universes with 400 Pulsar Chromapanels
Videolayers 1-4 Routed to this mix

Pixelmix 2 : 26 Universes with some 220 ELP60 / ELP30 LED striplites (Each 60/30 channels of DMX)
Videolayers 5-6 Routed to this mix

Hardware Setup of both servers was MacPro Quadcore 3GHz with 3 GB RAM and a fast SCSI content disk.
Artnet was run via fibre optic link to dimmercity and was output to dmx by 4 ELC DMXlan node8.

One problem that we saw was that after quick image changes followed by a static images some old data kept stuck in the buffers of the output nodes...

It is easy to see that Pixelmad only transmits new packets to a universe if changes occured.
So when flashing all fixtures to full white that can be one update and the releasing of the fashbutton would be another.

If for some reason the output node fails to receive the lastest value it keeps outputting the value it had before. (Artnet protocol requires an update only every 4 seconds if values don´t change - so that is fine on the pixelmad side)

It seems that the ELC DMXlan nodes8 are not fast enough to read all updated information of the broadcast.


On the other hand these nodes do not reply correctly to the Artpoll. You can see them as Nodes in the Network device window but with no (incorrect information). Problem is that I can only set a static IP adress for a universe when the nodes reports back the universes it is actually outputting (nodes´ IPs are shown in dropdown menu but are greyed out) - so there was no chance to manually got to "Direct Talk".
By the way does artpoll support node with more than 4 output universes - I don´t think so - so how should a node with 8 outputs respond?

I had the chance to test pixelmad with a 60 Universe setup with broadcasted Artnet yesterday and it worked fine. Fast strobing in white without any visible breakups. Smooth running videos.
I can´t say that about the other media server that was intended to control this system: something like 10 fps steppy videos, even fading off and on with huge intensity steps... (It was a demo setup - and I could live with the red flash every 30 seconds...I didn´t have a dongle with me but my MAcBookPro and a Harddrive full of content...)
In this setup it was 20 SchnickSchnackSystems LED panels (400 LEDs each / 1200 Channels / 3 universes)

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Originally Posted by OlliR

It is easy to see that Pixelmad only transmits new packets to a universe if changes occured.
So when flashing all fixtures to full white that can be one update and the releasing of the fashbutton would be another.

If for some reason the output node fails to receive the lastest value it keeps outputting the value it had before. (Artnet protocol requires an update only every 4 seconds if values don´t change - so that is fine on the pixelmad side)

It seems that the ELC DMXlan nodes8 are not fast enough to read all updated information of the broadcast.

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its 10BT thats the problem. which is why you have to route the data to individual ip addresses. it doesnt support the bandwidth required.

cant say i ever recommend the elc devices prefer luminex-
www.luminex.be

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60 Universe setup with broadcasted Artnet

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it does work at 25/30fps. it has to really. my users wouldnt be very happy otherwise

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more than 4 output universes - I don´t think so - so how should a node with 8 outputs respond

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artnet only supports 4 output universes per device.
if you have more than this the boxes give themselves 2 ip addresses. this is what luminex does - i think... not rocket science...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OlliR

Here again the facts of the Catalyst / Pixelmad setup for Live Earth Hamburg in more details:

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got any pictures?

I thought Live Earth Hamburg LED backdrop looked the best of all... Someone else got some good stuff running on theirs too (NY I think)... I think London's was very disapointing....

Unfortunately, I wasn't running the Saco LED Backdrop - lighting just did basic colours and crappy HES stock content graphics. We wanted to run video thru it - but lx didn't understand how we could control it - and it was too late in the day to be changing too much... Could have looked so much better - frustrating....

I was running 3 catalysts for the rest of the hi-res LED screens. All programmed with my iPC (H2) from a room behind the stage. We ran 2 x catalysts for the LED strip via a Barco encore and 1 x catalyst for live DVE Camera effects. Fed camera in and out on HDSDI.
(All running m132 with no problems - love the quick scan ;) )

In comparison - Diana Concert was much better - Live Earth was disappointing.

Communication.... Planning..... Knowledge.... The bigger the gig, the more dis-organised it seems to be....

S