MACPRO, 7 projectors and issues !

wllm

Hi all,

I use frequently Isadora, really love it, sometimes with 2 , 3 , 4 projectors but never with as much as with the current show I'm working on. And I find myself with a problem I can't solve.

So first things first, the hardware:

The computer is a brand new rack mount Mac Pro with the following specs:

macOS Monterey
Version 12.4
Mac Pro (Rack, 2019)
Processor 3.5 GHz 8-Core Intel Xeon W
Memory
48 GB 2666 MHz DDR4
Graphics AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo 32 GB

From there, the 8 outputs of the 2 graphic cards go to a theatrixx rack and then goes via HDbaseT to 7 christie projectors and 1 UHDTV. There is also one Led screen that is hooked to one output of the main motherboard as well as my own monitor is also plugged to the main output.

On the Isadora part I run the 3.2.2

And now, my problem: When I try to run a even a simple 1920 x 1080 video through the 7 projectors ( which are blended together) everything slows down. The load indicator goes to about 150% to 180% and the FPS drops to 18.2 at best sometimes even 15 FPS. When I send video only to the TV and the Led screen the load still goes to about 70% and some drop frame occurs. I tried to send video only to the projectors on one card, but the results are about the same as when I send it to all. When I look in the activity monitor there is the vtdecoderxpcservice that take a lot from the CPU, I know it's supposed to be there but maybe not in those proportions.

Also, I've run the exact same video through a quick mapping I've done in Qlab, no drop frame and everything looks fine in the activity monitor.

So I'm really not sure what is causing this. Qlab can play it quite well but I really don't want to do this via Qlab as I need everything Isadora can do !

Juriaan

@wllm

Hi there!

First of all, sending video to 7 projectors is a lot. And requires hardware that is up to the task and the correct codec.

Since you are in an show condition I would personally recommended that you open an technical support ticket. Mainly since we have an dedicated team that can assist further on those channels.

- Juriaan

wllm

@juriaan

True ! I've just opened a Ticket.

As for the codec, I don't think the problem is on that side. I didn't mention but I've also tested with a shape and a background color actor and the same results occurs.