PlaybackMode and In Frame Question

[samsc]

catalyst doesnt have to do any more processing if you change lots of parameters.
changing playmodes or movie speeds has no impact.

what affects performance is the number of layers of movies and loading movie.
what affects things is when movie frames have to be fetched from disc.

[joshgubler]

So you're saying it makes no difference if you send all the changes once in a single dmx packet vs. sending lots (1000's) of changes over a few seconds fading between values? Did you code it to parse the dmx packets and only pass the state changes to the data model, or did you code it to be constantly updating the data model with every dmx packet parsed?

[stucotts]

Did you code it to parse the dmx packets and only pass the state changes to the data model, or did you code it to be constantly updating the data model with every dmx packet parsed?

By way of introduction I wrote the interface that longred is using and I am helping to figure out what is going on in this cue sequence. My guess is the above question from josh is key, my guess is that Cataylst only acts on state changes. It makes sense, it is the way I would do it, especially with dealing with a streaming protocol like DMX.

Our cue 142 as above is really doing 3 things (am I correct Michael?) it is selecting a file (movie), setting Play mode to Display InFrame and setting the Inframe to 150.

We will test this in production tomorrow but my guess is that this is a timing issue (if Catalyst is just looking for state changes). All 3 things listed above are arriving in the same artnet packet (have sniffed using wireshark and my own packet sniffing software), my guess is that it is taking too long to load the movie and that by the time it is loaded Catalyst doesn't think it has to do anything or it thinks that it has set it to frame 150.

What we will do tomorrow is delay the setting of the inframe for a couple seconds so that the movie is loaded before setting the Inframe to 150.

Fun stuff

Stuart Cotts

[jasonrudolph]

Personally I have a strong feeling it is something in the console end, as i do things like this all the time, and have never had an issue with it doing what it should, when it should. Even when changing lots of parameters at the same time, it always keeps up. The only time I ever see some sort of a puase, etc is when loading a large file for the first time.
I have had issues in the past where doing just what you are trying to do, and when I had problems it had to do with what information was stored in the previos/next cue etc. Or soemthing else running had something stored in it that cause the jump etc.
I would definitely be lookin got the board more than anything else.

[samsc]

By way of introduction I wrote the interface that longred is using and I am helping to figure out what is going on in this cue sequence. My guess is the above question from josh is key, my guess is that Cataylst only acts on state changes. It makes sense, it is the way I would do it, especially with dealing with a streaming protocol like DMX.

yes. test your state changes.
dmx is a data stream not a command stream.
this is inherent in dmx.

they have to be thought through differently.

I have done my best in the past to try and work through these issues - and create a usable protocol without too many issues for the simplest of lighting consoles.

you need to change your states, and check what you see catalyst do, by looking in my HUD - it will show you everything you need.

---
another inherent problem is the defintion of 1 or 0 to be the floor state. - and how this is displayed to the user.
dmx values range from 0 to 255 per channel.
so 0 value has real meaning in dmx.

[stucotts]

yes. test your state changes.
dmx is a data stream not a command stream.

this is inherent in dmx.

they have to be thought through differently.

I have done my best in the past to try and work through these issues - and create a usable protocol without too many issues for the simplest of lighting consoles.

you need to change your states, and check what you see catalyst do, by looking in my HUD - it will show you everything you need.

---
another inherent problem is the defintion of 1 or 0 to be the floor state. - and how this is displayed to the user.
dmx values range from 0 to 255 per channel.
so 0 value has real meaning in dmx.

I know and understand DMX and state machines very well.

We found the problem today, it is a Catalyst problem.

As I mentioned the other night we are changing 3 things on this layer at the same time - selecting a somewhat large movie, setting playmode to Display InFrame and setting InFrame to 150. As we have seen over several performances and through packet analysis through wireshark. The movie is selected, Playmode is "display Inframe" and Inframe via HUD/Wireshark and all artnet monitoring devices is shown to be at 150 yet Catalyst is displaying frame 0 (1st frame of the movie)

We changed the cueing today so that the first cue selects the movie and sets PlayMode to Display InFrame and then a few seconds later set InFrame to 150 and all worked fine.

So it appears to me that the movie takes some time to load and by the time it is loaded Catalyst has tossed the state change from frame 0 to frame 150.

>>I have done my best in the past to try and work through these issues

I totally understand. You have done very well, Catalyst is a good product.

This is a minor issue but nonetheless an issue, it means that we need to be aware of not being able to pass all layer changes at once, probably when loading larger movies or maybe it is when several layers are doing 'some' amount of processing.

I find it a breath of fresh air that the developer of such a product is available to its users to ask questions and work through issues.

Thank-you,
Stuart

[samsc]

As I mentioned the other night we are changing 3 things on this layer at the same time - selecting a somewhat large movie, setting playmode to Display InFrame and setting InFrame to 150. As we have seen over several performances and through packet analysis through wireshark. The movie is selected, Playmode is "display Inframe" and Inframe via HUD/Wireshark and all artnet monitoring devices is shown to be at 150 yet Catalyst is displaying frame 0 (1st frame of the movie)

We changed the cueing today so that the first cue selects the movie and sets PlayMode to Display InFrame and then a few seconds later set InFrame to 150 and all worked fine.

So it appears to me that the movie takes some time to load and by the time it is loaded Catalyst has tossed the state change from frame 0 to frame 150.

it takes some time to "load a movie", and some time to get a particular frame in a movie. depends on many thing.
On my laptop here with internal drive it takes 40ms to load dv movie, and 10ms to get each frame.

there might be state interactions if you change state too quickly.
it might depend on the dmx update rate of your console.
Im checking some more.

[stucotts]

>>and create a usable protocol without too many issues for the simplest of lighting consoles.

I am curious, are you thinking of supporting ACN in the future?

Stuart

[samsc]

>>and create a usable protocol without too many issues for the simplest of lighting consoles.

I am curious, are you thinking of supporting ACN in the future?

Stuart

i like simple things.

i heard it was complex.

[stucotts]

i like simple things.

i heard it was complex.

At its core there are parts that are complex but very nicely ACN is being developed in opensource. For me SDT would be a bear to code.

DMX is a great protocol to replace what it replaced, streaming analog for dimmers. But at the end of the day the get/set properties of DMP will be wonderful for state machines such as moving lights, media servers, etc.

Check out
http://www.openacn.org/

I have been an observer to the ACN task group (I am missing the Phoenix meetings as I write) and it is a great group of people.

Stuart