Hello Ladies & Gents,

TL;DR

Looking for help in setting up a Multicast "position" input into
Catalyst, in order to move a layer in unison with an automation controlled
move of (for instance) a screen. Wireshark can see data packets.
V5 n546 & n561, no luck in either.


I'm wondering if anyone has successfully received data into the Motion (Input)
tab & used it to move a layer. Although the final use (& automation system)
is not yet clear, I've been asked to investigate the potential of this to
control Catalyst.

As an example, the test method I'm currently using is Kinesys, who can
provide a demo control application, along with extensive notes on how to
program & interpret the resulting data. This has allowed me to send
multicast data, with the position information of a truss correctly being
seen in Wireshark on the Catalyst machine.

The problem occurs when attempting to receive that multicast data within
Catalyst - in the Motion tab, with 12 inputs on, the correct construct
entered [1 & 2] and the correct axes [2 - Z motion] entered as an integers.
Decoding the multicast data packet for one Z axis (sent as 0x66) gives me
the correct ((Construct ID * 100) + Parameter ID) of 102 decimal.

Two groups of constructs (a truss, with a couple of motors is a construct)
are created, so I'm looking for two instances of Z position data, but no luck.

The default address is 239.195.0.1 which is enabled in both the Kinesys
software & within the Motion tab of Catalyst. I can control Catalyst
from the other machine over ArtNet.

From what I can tell, once I have position data I can translate those
numbers into a scaled representation with General Controllers & use
those to move the layer. Does that sound correct?

I'm aware that there have been a few posts about this over the years, but
from my research I can't seem to find anything relevant, except the
Shanghai Expo, which was motion controlled by Catalyst, not the other
way around.


Questions:

Has anyone succeeded in doing this before?

I'm expecting to see sent values in the Position column of the Motion tab,
is that an assumption?

Is the multicast address within Catalyst (All Motion Channels) the receive that
I think it is? Thus it should be ON and have the same address as the send machine?

If I send the Motion/Multicast "Test" from Catalyst should I then see some
sort of test packet on the other machine?

Do I need a separate NIC - it would appear not, due to Wireshark seeing data?

Any other help would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.