@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.

Here's the scenario:

In the space we don't have many lights, so there are no lights lighting the back cyc. We do, however, have 3 projectors focused on the cyc. I would like to figure out a way in which the LD can control the color values of a shape actor which creates a color wash via the projectors. I have an Entec DMX to USB box. I tried connecting the lighting board (as well as my small 1 channel DMX controllers) via the Entec to Izzy. Using the matrix value receive I didn't get it to do anything/no values were changing when connected and enabled.

Am I going about this incorrectly? What are paths to success?

I only had 15 minutes this week to test it out, but will have more time next week (which is the show week). So any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

@mark

Hi Mark,

I can confirm the following:

RME Fireface UC:
18x total inputs
18x total outputs

RME Digiface USB:
32x total inputs
34x total outputs

For both devices above, Isadora can only access the first 8 output channels.

Many thanks for looking into this.

Jonathan.

@eva The most likely cause of this is limitations on your computers USB ports. Your laptop is pretty old (from your signature) and has a limited amount of USB bandwidth - I dont know if that is the computer you were using. Some USB ports on your laptop will share bandwidth, and for each USB controller there is a limited amount of bandwidth. When you use dongles to convert from thunderbolt or USB C these also have limitations and vary greatly depending on quality - you get what you pay for. You can use system profiler to see what is attached to where. Often with macbooks,USB (or thunderbolt) ports on different sides have different controllers. While you were experimenting, the change that likely got you going was moving ports - not so much restarting (stopping and starting the capture on Isadora should be enough). Once you find a good combination of ports, this should continue to work, as long as you dont add any more devices to the USB bus or any other devices.

Also do all your testing with short cables (no extensions) to eliminate cable issues  long usb cables can give a lot of issues  if you need to extend usb use some kind of active extension to make sure you get the full bandwidth over the distance. Some active usb cables are ok but can be hit and miss. I use a set of geffen above extensions that give full bandwidth over cat5 for 100 m.

Another issue you might have is power draw, some cameras require a lot of electricity (as do some extensions). The only real way to fix this is to use a high quality powered USB hub that can support high current and has its own power source. When you do this still don’t use the hub to add more devices, just use it to inject power so the power isn’t coming from the computer.

The exact cameras you have can also have an effect - the resolution and compression and how they interact with the system. Blackmagic have clear drivers for all their products that work in a predictable way. Cameras that use high resolution over low bandwidth connections like USB often send highly compressed streams that need a lot of overhead to decompress.

The insta360 link uses exactly that kind of high compression (it is only USB 2.0 and 4k)

"Connectivity
Via USB-C to USB-C cable (USB 2.0) or Type-C to Type-A adapter"

This might be a lot depending on your computer. If you are using a dongle to adapt the connection from thunderbolt to USB make sure it is a good quality one, try not to load up too many device (or any at all) on that bus to see how it goes.

The insta360 link would not be my go to for high resolution connection because of its USB 2.0 connectivity and the compression overhead this requires. Not sure what other cameras you were trying.

USB cameras have many possible points of failure. The issues you are encountering are most likely hardware based and not from isadora. Yo find the issue get to basics and troubleshoot things one at a time. 

If you have some more details about your setup, cameras, computers, cables etc you can get some more specific advice. 

@mark Tomorrow, I'll do some testing with my Midas MR 18 that has 18 in and 8 out (6 aux + 2 main)  and report.

All the best

@eva I also never had problems in connecting multiple cameras USB or with different digitizers like the Blackmagic Decklink in a sonnet usbc cabinet, or, again via NDI 

@jfg said:

<p>@skulpture</p><p>I already use EDID and this is not a problem of unreliability of the order. I just wish that when the System Preferences for a device give the number 1, I would also find in Isadora #1 and not #4. It also seems that monitors are numbered before projectors even if the projectors were connected first. </p> <p>It would also be helpful if the device (monitors, projector or internal display) with the system (primary) was numbered last in the chain, so we would have the chance to have stage 1 on device 1 and not basically on 2.</p> <p>I would also like the list of displays in Stage setup to show the names of the devices , like the ‘Display Overview’. If all devices have the same resolution it is not easy to know which one is which, even more so that they do not show the same number as in the system prefs.</p><img src="/assets/uploads/files/1727267685655-bildschirmfoto-2024-09-25-um-14.22.31.jpg" /><p>Best regards, </p><p>Jean-François </p>

 Ah I see - slightly misunderstood. I will leave my original post for others as it might be useful for future readers.

@armando said:

<p>@skulpture Thanks a lot, I didn't now that ! (I'm on a mac) DO you know an Isadora compatible mac version of that ?</p>

 I don't sorry - but I am sure there is one somewhere.

@eva

What cameras are you using and how are they connected to your Mac?

(in my current show I have six cameras operating simultaneously in Isadora, four using Isadora's live video input - two are connected via USB, two by Blackmagic devices connected to thunderbolt ports,  and two via NDI over the network, so it IS possible, and your dreams can come true!)

Hi there,I have continuously challenges with live feed. I use a Mac studio and I use live cameras for performance. This sunday etc. I spent about 1 hour or more getting Isadora to connect 2 cameras. I could at different times get it to read that there was both cameras, but executing it at the same time, meaning making both available in one patch was almost impossible. Is there a way to solve this? Or someone else who have these issues? I want to simply connect two or more cameras but since even 2 is a problem, using 3 is out of my imagination right now. 
This time I solved the problem by restarting the computer about 10-15 times, moving the usb's around, until eventually it happened - but this also was too stressful, and it meant that preparation time was too much. Can someone help me how to solve this? I am on Isadora 4 btw. I have a temporary license. Also, I would like to know if this can be solved with insta360 link or this is the same issue?