@hiroko_tanahashi I would advise having all outputs from a single device if possible. Moving texture data between devices is an expensive operation (less so with Apple silicon unified ram). With a Mac Studio you can do your 4x4k individually from the machine and then use a data path or something similar to get 4 xHD from another single output. 

If your videos are in pro res they are hardware decoded on a mac so there is not so much overhead here. The total frame requirements are only about 230mb for a frame of all videos at your resolution. Every step you use will likely add another buffer so  by the time you output the images you will likely use 8 or so times that. And then if you fade between scenes at least double that. Ergot 64 gig of ram should be fine - as you cannot upgrade it though get as much as you can afford when you buy a silicon based device. 

Going the PC route will work as well but I’m not into the upload and download of all the texture data to and from the GPU required to use multiple graphics cards  or to use a deck link card for output. These transfers are limited by the download bus bandwidth on the GPU which is much more limited than what you get for uploading data from the cpu to the GPU. Hardware decoding is a bit more tricky on a PC  it depends on your GPU and drivers. HAP, which is great for PC playback has no real hardware decoder. H264 and H265 do, but its trickier to end up with a lossless codec that is the equivalent of pro res 444 (the only real way to retain all colour information is to use a 444 codec).

The cost will be pretty much equal for both system by the time you get all the required bits. Mac Studio is tiny and much less fragile and quieter (easily in your suitcase on a plane). A PC to do this will be an excellent machine (bigger and noisier and harder to transport) and if you go the deck link route you will end up with high quality capture capabilities for another project if you ever need it. 

@atawan84

That says that it is an external graphics card (also called an "external GPU" or "eGPU"). eGPUs are not supported for use with Isadora. (I believe it is related to eGPUs not fully supporting OpenGL.)

From our Isadora 3 System Requirements article under "Unsupported Hardware Platforms": 

Isadora is not supported on:

Computers with multiple discrete GPUs that have not been properly configuredComputers with external graphics cards (eGPUs)Some tablet devices such as the older versions of the Microsoft Surface ProComputers that run macOS on non-Apple hardwareWindows computers with ARM processorsWindows computers running in S Mode or Tablet ModeVirtual machines (including cloud-based processing)Linux machines

Running Isadora on machines utilizing unsupported hardware configurations may have unexpected and undesirable results in terms of performance and usability.

If you want four outputs from a single device, you can investigate a Datapath fx4 (more expensive but easier to work with) or a Matrox QuadHead2Go (less expensive but harder to work with).

Since you're on Windows (at least the link to the Startech device said it was for Windows) you could also look as MST hubs I believe, but I'll leave giving specific recommendations for MST hubs to someone with more experience working on Windows.

@rwillats You can have great sound puttin an external mike into the mike input of the tail. The actor I am talking about will be inserted in the v 4 that is coming out very soon. Do you have more than one tail ? 

Thanks Everyone, I'm going to test a Teradek next week.

Thanks a lot Fred.

Best regards, 

Jean-François

@jjhp3 Same here ! Funny,. it had a SCSI port.... I remember well

@puppetisto

I have just confirmed that the corner-pinning and flipping in Stage Setup does transfer to Blackmagic Output, you just need to enable Blackmagic output for the Display itself instead of for the Stage, then do the flipping and corner-pinning on the Display, not the Stage.

@dusx

You are fabulous! That works perfectly. Thanks so much!!

@gaspar said:

https://x-io.co.uk/ngimu/#purchase

I've used these before. They've got quite a selection of neat sensors. If I remember correctly, the only trouble I had was with their little setup/configuration app, but once you know how to do it, you know how to do it. Once you've got it figured out, I'd suggest making a little screen recording and talking yourself through the process then uploading it to your Dropbox or Google Drive so you have it there forever, accessible from anywhere, in case it's a while between times when you use the sensor(s).

@jandraka Thank you again so much for your help! We ended up trying the actor with a different projector and it worked. The projector that it worked was slightly newer and had an option to enable web control. Really grateful for your help and support! 

I just purchased and installed a BlackMagic Decklink Quad HDMI on my PC tower with a 4070 GPU. I can get the Quad to show HDMI input from my Panasonic AG-CX 350 via Black Magic software and the most updated OBS. Isadora shows a black screen when live capture is enabled and started. It recognizes the device, but there is a black screen/no image or audio. I double checked that my resolution out via HDMI matched what Izzy was expecting (1080p 59.97fps). I toggled between "native" and explicitly setting the exact resolution/framerate.

I remember this happening before with a completely different system/camera and I can't remember what I did to make it work, but it worked without configuration after I did that "thing".  Can anyone offer some steps to troubleshoot this issue?  So excited to have this setup and would love to make it work. :)

I made sure the OS, GPU, and software version was as updated as possible.

@woland couple years back i tried using a microbit connected to the mimu glover software (trial) and it worked. Pretty cool. I didn't persue because wasn't a priority at the time. But if you have a microbit around....

@skulpture

Hi,

Great topic for discussion. I can only provide anecdotes from recent purchase history and wishlist thoughts. Earlier this year I created an interactive piece in Isadora for some artists based on OpenNi tracking with an Orbbec Astra Mini- this included purchase of the device. However, the current device available from the Orbbec range of Astra cameras is no longer compatible with OpenNi Tracker in Isadora. I had an original Astra Mini that I could deploy in this case and swapped it. This left me with a new camera that was not usable with Isadora - however compatible with the Orbbec Top now available in Touchdesigner for point cloud and RGB.

I also purchased a second Orbbec Astra Pro - preloved - to add to my legacy kit of OpenNi compatible cameras. This kit is now a couple of Kinect and a couple of Orbbec Astras. Even though these are legacy cameras they are important because they are an IR solution that will work in very low light levels with a functioning OpenNi solution in Isadora. 

The current development in the field of camera based body tracking is amazing and focused on standard RGB video streams. There are now OpenCV solutions for body and skeleton tracking that can be implemented in Isadora using the Pythoner environment. it works very well, but for one big problem, the RGB cameras need lots of light to capture the subject you want to track. If you work in a darkened theatre, black box or gallery where light is being kept to a minimum - then RGB cameras are not very good and OpenCV tracking is severely compromised or just doesn’t work well enough to be viable. 

The new camera systems available from Orbbec address this issue by pairing OpenCV with their IR camera technology. I am unable to review their performance as I have not seen them in action and do not know how they might interface with Isadora.

I would be happy to invest in a camera that has very low light (IR) capability and OpenCV compatibility that can be harnessed in Isadora. I am hoping this combination is not too far off in the future.

Best wishes

Russell

I use both a older Behringer UMC404 (which is 4 channels in and out) and the MOTU Ultralite MK5 which is has an easy analog 8 in and 10 out. Both work great with Isadora.

 

@dusx said:

msg:string={00-FF}

 Thnx, that works! Now i can cut the last part of it. And  compare it! So different tag's will do different things!

Also tried to use: 'value1 : string =  EOL' in serial in watcher - binary. It gives me some text output. But different with the msg len set on 4 or 8!

@callie

Have you tried my DMX input user actor (32 channels)?
You can get it here: TROIKATRONIX : ISADORA - DX – DMX 32 Channel Receiver – Enttec Compatible

It connects and works much like the DMX out actor. Instructions are on the download page.

@jonathan

Thanks Johnathan for the quick feedback when I sent you the possible fix. Glad to know this is working. ;-)

Best Wishes,
Mark

@mark_m

Hi,  I am using the depth camera for skeleton tracking. the silhouettes output have a very low res outline. 

I've applied a Blur effect to avoid the pixelation but then the body shapes start to get lost. 

what do you suggest to make their outline look sharper? thanks in advance

@eva said:

@mark_m

Could I use this?

https://www.obsbot.com/store/p...

 This adds a network port to your computer that can inject power for POE devices. It will not help connect your insta link camera in any way. 

How can I set the baud rate to 250000 in ISADORA?