[ANSWERED] Quad Projector Blend

[jrhooker]

Hi folks,

I've read a few posts about this, but not a lot after the Izzy 3 release.

Here's my story...I have a show that's about to go on tour. For the premiere I used 2 front projectors and I rear projector -- pretty easy. On this tour I need to turn my single RP into a quad projector situation and blend them. I've watched Mark's great Guru sessions and so I feel confident about that part of it. But I have yet to buy the additional gear that I need so I haven't tested it. 

Generally I use HDMI extenders and Cat 6 cable, and that's worked great for independent projectors projecting on different screens. I've never had a situation where I needed to blend. I'm trying to run this ALL of my MBP (Intel)...so I'm going from 3 projectors to 6 projectors. 

Here's the main question: Do I need to buy a Matrox quad2go ($$$!) or is it possible to send the quad signal out of two HDMI splitters  (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0...) and four HDMI extenders. Any advice would be super appreciated. 

I HOPE this makes sense.

Thanks!

Jake

[CitizenJoe]

This doesn't answer your question, but if it were me, I'd be looking for the right projector/lens for the job.

If you were on Windows, I would suggest an MST Hub. Cheap and cheerful! 
What is an MST hub, and how can I tell if it will work in my setup? | Canada (startech.com)  Can't speak to the splitters on a MAC.

The extenders will work fine for blending. I have a Matrox QH2G and it works great, but unless you already own all the other gear, there may be other options that are more efficient.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Woland]

@jrhooker said:

I have a show that's about to go on tour. 

You probably already know this, but I'll state this for the benefit of anyone else who may read this reply in future: My #1 advice is to bench test all of your hardware for your setup as soon as possible; do not wait until you are at your first tour venue to check if your setup works the way you think it will. If you can, rent or borrow the hardware you're thinking of buying for a couple of days, put everything together, and ensure it does what you need it to do before you go on tour. If you end up buying the hardware without being able to try it first, bench test your hardware and setup by putting it all together and making sure that it does what you need it to do before you go on tour. Tell whoever's in charge of the finances for the show that this is essential in order to make sure that load-in and tech goes smoothly in the new format. They need to make room in the budget and time in the schedule for you to sit down with all of this hardware and set it up in an environment where you can test it before you arrive at the first tour stop and, ideally, as soon as possible, so that if you discover a problem, you have as much time as possible to order new hardware and do more testing. If this means renting you six projectors, buying you the hardware you think you need, and renting a rehearsal space so that you can set everything up, then that is what needs to happen. Especially due to the chip shortage caused by the pandemic, you do not want to find yourself in the position of loading in three days before the performance, only to find out that you need hardware that can't arrive faster than two weeks because of stock shortage/shipping/etc. 

@jrhooker said:

I'm trying to run this ALL of my MBP (Intel)...so I'm going from 3 projectors to 6 projectors. 

While it does depend on the wrapper, codec, and resolution of the video files, the resolution of the displays you're using, and the number of video files that you'll be playing simultaneously, my first reaction is that this is a LOT to ask of an intel MBP.

@jrhooker said:

Do I need to buy a Matrox quad2go ($$$!) or is it possible to send the quad signal out of two HDMI splitters 

If you need individual control of the content, blending, and mapping for each of the six projectors, you will need something like a Matrox Quad so that your computer and Isadora will register each projector as its own display.

If you are putting the same content on some of them and don't need to adjust the blend and mapping for each display, you can get away with using splitters (e.g. if projectors 1&2 don't use a splitter so they can be addressed individually [and can therefore be blended together & have separate mappings], projectors 3&4 come out of splitter 1 and don't need blending nor mapping and only need to show the same content as each other the whole time, and projectors 5&6 come out of splitter 2 and don't need blending nor mapping and only need to show the same content as each other the whole time. A splitter cannot replace something like a Matrox because a splitter is seen by the computer as a single display; a splitter doesn't allow the computer to see and individually address the displays that are "downstream" from the splitter as separate displays, so two projectors coming out of one splitter will always be treated as the same display, (i.e. show the same content and have the same blending/mapping).

Best wishes, 

Woland

[DusX]

@jrhooker said:

Do I need to buy a Matrox quad2go

 I think given your requirements, you will need a Quad extender like the Matrox Quad head to go. This way your setup doesn't change much either since your system will see the Quad as one Display, and Isadora allows the Blend to be seen as one Stage, you only really need to create a new Stage (you could use the Blend maker as shown) and then re-order the stages in the stage setup, so that you everything is routing correctly.  You can assign your previous (non-blended stage) to a Display that doesn't exist, and set 'preview' to disabled. That allows you to have both configs in the project, and switch between them pretty easily.

In the image below, you can see that I have a Stage named 1up and one named 4up.
4up is the stage created with Blend Maker. 1up is your original Stage for this content.
In Isadora this content is going to Stage 2. So you just need to drag 4up down, and 1up up, to switch which config is assigned to Stage 2.
Note: 1up is assigned to Display 16, this is because here we are not using it, so you want to assign a non-existent display.
In this setup, I would also switch the Preview setting of 1up to Disabled, so you don't get a floating window for it.

[jrhooker]

Wow. Thanks @DusX and @Woland! These are the answers I needed (and had assumed...but always trying to save money!) But this really went way, way above and beyond, as you all so often do in this forum. As a committed *perpetual* Isadora Advanced Beginner, I'm just so appreciative. Hopefully, once all the gear arrives, it'll go seamlessly and I won't be back here asking silly questions! Thanks again for taking the time!! -Jake