Isadora 2.0 - Responses and Reactions from the Community

mockej

I am definitely behind this process... I know that paying for the upgrade will be a true investment in the development of the platform and the very real efforts of Mark and the team. Also, having a properly constituted (and paid) team around Mark to roll out the work seems like an overdue necessity!

I also agree with @simon that a database / info section on works that have used Isadora will be incredibly useful, also from an educational point of view. Perhaps a standard image / synopsis / production info / links template? Upcoming shows can then also be flagged...

Very excited to see the mapping capabilities...

All the best,

Mocke

crystalhorizon

One feature would be interesting to develop: some kind of audio mixer for surround Sound. That would really had helped in our last project. The only suggestions I got from the community regarding this was Apps outside Isadora and a not really as intuitive and handy as it could be inside Isadora. See also this post: http://troikatronix.com/community/#/discussion/1069/routing-audio-to-different-outputs

djinoui

@mark

Thanks! I'll try this fix version soon.

Still supporting v1 also encourages potential new users looking for a sustainable product to trust Isadora. And in this regard, a roadmap and a glimpse on various Izzy projects would be very interesting.

All the best,

djinoui

Contexter

Scripting, cool ! How about the Izzy plugins SDK - will it be kept updated to most recent , well , Xcode by my side ?

rainbow

CoreImage performance, now far better (IsadoraCore 1.5…), didm’t expect this anymore after such long period of waiting (a few years) for it to happen, stopped using Isadora for my work because of poor CoreImage performance and too many bugs. I started to make my own QC tools over the past years, think I don’t need the new actors, but still curios to test Isadora 2.0 realeased on 31st of July 2014.

best wishes

rainbow

vjw

Mark, I am so confident in your ability to create and support an excellent product, that I'll follow you anywhere. I've had a license for 12 years, but decided to buy another license last year for my company because I wanted to support you and your company. I use Isadora for all my shows, from complex interactivity to simple sequence control. I really appreciate your support of me and the entire community. I look forward to 2.0.

Skulpture

@Contexter the SDK was discussed at the Berlin meeting. It does need updating and we aim to do this asap.

eight

Compatibility with 1.* versions? I am asking a theatre to wait and buy 2.0, while I still be using 1.5, so the compatibility (2.0 to handle 1.5 patches) would be important.

Thanks.

DusX

2.0 will be fully compatible with the current release/pre-release versions.

fifou

Maybe I missed it : Will 2.0 work natively in 64 bits ?
Will it be compatible with osx 10.6 ?

Thanks
Philippe

primaldivine

**Isadora v2.0** is 32-bit application that uses 64-bit AVFoundation based plugins for media playback, ensuring smooth and efficient playback of H264.

There is some useful info here: It is a common misconception that 64-bit applications always run faster than 32-bit applications. But [Apple's own documentation](https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/64bitPorting/PerformanceOptimization/PerformanceOptimization.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001064-CH228-SW1) as well as [other expert opinions](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2378399/are-64-bit-programs-bigger-and-faster-than-32-bit-versions) show that 64-bit applications may run more slowly than their 32-bit counterparts.

After 2.0 is released at the end of July, there will be a Road Map released as well, outlining the next steps forward for Isadora and the planned schedule for those implementations including the 64bit Isadora Roadmap :)

fifou

Thanks Jamie for the explanations.

Best
Philippe

dbengali

I'm very excited about Isadora 2.0, native mapping options, and Javascript coding.

Agreed with Simon that native out-of-box support for multi-machine setups (for example, for live backup) would increase the likelihood of managers who are nervous about Isadora on a show being more open.

A question: If Isadora v2.0 is based on AVFoundation, does that mean we will lose support for some codecs, like Animation, DXV, or other "third party" codecs that AVFoundation does not allow?

D

Michel

@dbengali

A question: If Isadora v2.0 is based on AVFoundation, does that mean we will lose support for some codecs, like Animation, DXV, or other "third party" codecs that AVFoundation does not allow?
Isadora 2.0 will support the HAP codec, this is not part of the supported codecs from AVFoundation. As you can see Isadora will play other codecs than supported by AVFoundation.

Best
Michel

mark

To be clear about the AVFoundation question: Isadora 2.0 adds AVFoundation support on Mac OS, and will play codecs that AVFoundation likes (e.g., H264 or Apple Pro Res) using that system. Other codecs, like Animation or HAP will be played using QuickTime.

Best Wishes,

Mark

mark

To @Simon to @dbengali,

Thank you for being direct about Isadora's perceived lack of stability. I know that Isadora's once very powerful reputation has become tarnished in the last couple of years, because there were problems with crashes as Mac OS evolved. It most certainly is my intention to regain that reputation of rock solid stability with 2.0.

Regarding Simon's comments about Isadora's perceived stability. Is that perception due to:

1) Isadora failing them directly on a show

2) Because they've heard bad stories to that effect from others

3) Because they perceive Isadora to not be equal to it's more expensive competitors for other reasons?

Any suggestions as to how might we address these concerns?

One thing I can tell you: video playback -- which is at the core of whatever instabilities have crept up, mostly in Mavericks -- will be handled in a totally different way in Isadora 2.0\. This new method means that, in a total worst case scenario, if the process that is playing the movie crashes, the result will be that the crashed movie will disappear from the output. It most definitely will not take down the the entire application.

Also, I can tell you, when using AVFoundation for playback, the probability of a crash due to video playback will go down to very nearly zero.

Also, there have been at two very high profile projects done with the Isadora 2.0 beta – one was a product launch that featured 14 projectors and a single 100m x 25m (300 ft x 75 ft) projection surface with edge blends; the other was a really projection mapping project at a one of the most important music festivals in the world. (I would be a bit more specific, but I'm waiting on the creators of those projects for permission to mention them more directly in relation to Isadora's use.)

Do you think that giving profiles of these projects on the web site would have any effect on that perception?

Best Wishes,

Mark

crystalhorizon

I can say that Mark helped a lot on my crashing system (Mavericks) during the preparing time of our last project. There are hidden tools, that can be changed to make Isadora more stable. The tweaks really helped to make the system perfectly stable.

Bill Cottman

I appreciate the stability of this user community!!

simon

@Mark I think giving more exposure to projects like the ones you mention would be a brilliant way of countering the perception + its always really inspiring to see how other people are using Isadora.

In my experience the perception of instability is probably based more on 'bad stories they have heard'. In terms of solutions a live backup system would be my number one.

In relation to making more stable patches, I think publishing the road map of developments that you mention could also be really helpful: knowing when features plan to be released might mean that users are more inclined to wait for a stable tested release rather than jumping in and using pre-release versions in show situations. I also think the new way of giving cpu and loaded media information is great in getting more sense of when you might be overloading the hardware.

I hope my initial comment didn't come across as too direct or negative, it just felt that if the development of Isadora was at an important juncture where there might be capacity to develop certain aspects I should flag up something that had been on my mind.

mark

@simon,

Thank you for these thoughts. Directness at this juncture in Isadora's history is critical. So no offense taken at all. I need to know the score, and your comments help greatly in that regard.

Best Wishes,

Mark