8 Video Outputs: Asking for advice for the best computer to do the job
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Hello, I would love to ask for help from somebody with expertise about the capabilities of the computer.I am working on a project in which I need to output multiple video outs from Isadora.
4x 4K monitor
3x HD projector
1x operating HD monitor
I will need to get a new machine to do this. I am considering Mac Studio M2 Ultra, which supposedly has 8 bide outputs.
Has anyone experience with this machine with as many video outputs?
Additionally, how much RAM should be sufficient? 64G or 128G? The price different is big.
If anyone could give me advice or share an experience with the MacStudio M2 Ultra, that would be great.
Thank you! -
@hiroko_tanahashi
Hello,
I am currently using a Mac Studio m2 Ultra it has been an excellent machine for my work.
The M2 Ultra has 6 x Thunderbolt and 1 x HDMI ports, so it appears physically impossible to attach 8 video devices directly.
I assume the additional video capacity is referenced as daisy-chaining Apple Thunderbolt monitors.
The other issue is ensuring you have compatible Thunderbolt to HDMI adaptors. I tried a few variations before finding a compatible option.
The images are from a Mac Studio (max, not ultra) I had access to. I successfully ran a season with 5 video outputs.
Below: To increase the capacity of HD outputs, I experimented with Matrox TH2Go devices.
best wishes
Russell
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Hi, Russel, thank you for your reply. May I ask the maximum numbers of the projectors you connected to the machine? I see that you have 128 G RAM. Do you happen to know, how I can find out if 64 G would be also sufficient? Thank you!
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@hiroko_tanahashi
I would suggest that 64 GB RAM is sufficient for playback. I have not had more than 6 video devices running on the machine.
Best Wishes,
Russell
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Thank you very much !
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Does it need to be a MAC? I'd use a PC with one of these: DeckLink – Tech Specs | Blackmagic Design
I did 13 outputs this way using an custom built i9, 64gigs, Nvidia 3080 and 2 fast SSD's. The 13th output was the control monitor from the MB Iris graphics.
Cheers,
Hugh
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@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.
