edge blending discreet outputs
  • fred_dev
    junior Member
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    Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:17 pm

    edge blending discreet outputs

    by fred_dev » Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:29 pm

    I have searched the forum a few times with different terms looking for an answer so sorry if this is a duplicate. I am preping for a project that requires multiple outputs and projectors edge blended. I will use 6 outputs from a amd firepro w9100, or equivalent card. I am not sure if I will use madmapper but am investigating possibilities (also looking at a rental D3 but it is expensive). I have seen the tutorial on edge blending but it seems to be orientated around using a matrox or datapath, or some such device that provides a high resolution aggregated output (this is how I see a single output frame with multiple quads. Is it possible to use totally separate outputs to achieve the same thing? IE when I attached 3 projectors to separate outputs can I see the joined blended output a single canvas?

    Also I understand the quad method, but find it problematic, is there a way to perform the blend and pre quad warp to compensate for projector rotation and overlap at the output stage? I will have a lot of scenes and media and using the quad method as per the tutorial (http://www.madmapper.com/soft-edge-cali ... -tutorial/) means that new different media will have to be manually mapped and blended for every piece of media and scene, when in reality I need to be very agile and react to many changes in the content. The other problem this leads to is that I cannot do so much prep offline, and there is no way to show clients what the joined image will look like without projectors, this is quite problematic for me.

    If someone can point to features or tutorials for this kind of scenario (5+ discrete outputs to projectors with edgle blend and rotation offset that will allow for fast and flexible changes of media without re-mapping everything for every scene (media will come in at different sizes, ideally I want to set the blend and quad warp once (ALA watchout or D3 or Isadora) and play my media as I need to. Ideally, ALA watchout or D3 It would be smart enough to take note of the quad and blend dimensions and provide me with a single large canvas that lets me place media anywhere without needing to split it for overlaps and blend again.

    Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers

    Fred
  • RicarditoPiña
    junior Member
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    Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 8:35 pm

    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by RicarditoPiña » Mon May 08, 2017 8:41 pm

    I have exactly the same problem. When will madmapper update to blending by discrete output ?? As it does resolume arena???? Thanks a lot!!! =)
    Tengo la misma dificultad... Cuándo Madmapper se actualizará teniendo la posibilidad de poder hacer blending o soft edge por salida??? al igual como lo hace resolume!!!! Muchas Gracias......
  • mad-matt
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    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by mad-matt » Mon May 08, 2017 10:07 pm

    Hi !

    With with you call "the quad method", you can handle rotation or any situation, that the most versatile solution. Blending discrete output would be strange for a mapping software where you're not supposed to have projectors aligned precisely in front of a flat surface. Instead of that, MadMapper lets you do soft-edge between quad surfaces that handle perspective and mesh warping, so you can even do a soft-edge in a curve surface.

    The tutorial uses a laptop with a Matrox TripleHead2Go, but anyway in MadMapper that's like if there were 3 projectors. You can use 6 projectors on a MacPro if you want without problem.

    If you change media, you can change on all quads easiely: press Cmd + click on the media "assign" button (it assigns the media to ALL surfaces). OR: put all the quads that are soft-edged in a group, select the group, then pressing the "assign" media button will assign the media to all surfaces in this group.
    However, if you use medias with different aspect ratio, you will have to activate the option "Force Media Ratio to 1:1" in Master tab.

    Let me know if you have any issue.
    Cheers
    Matthieu
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    Just_Deweak
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    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by Just_Deweak » Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:14 am

    Hi all,

    I think there is a kind of misunderstanding here,so I'll try to clarify this probem we have :)

    First, let me introduce myself briefly : I've been working since 2001 on various multiscreen switchers and media servers systems : Dataton Watchout, Modulo Pi, Millumin, Vista Spyder, Barco Encore / E2, Analog Way LiveCore...

    I'm testing MadMapper for my own use to be able to handle some projects with my media server instead of using the company's ones.

    So here is the problem : for corporate and mapping events, we have to play medias on multiple outputs. For instance, say we have two or three projectors used to cover a building's surface. As the projectors won't move after the setup, we use a flat image of the building as a reference test pattern to match all the image's zones to the building's surface. Once this alignment is done, every media we put in the system will be deformed according to the settings we first did, because these settings are made directly on the outputs.

    Madmapper features all the processing we need, as mesh warping on multiples zones (you call quads), but these settings should be available not only on the media, but also on the outputs, so you can add as many images or movies to basic quads and having them deformed and map at the output stage. Then there would be no need to copy / paste multiple quads when using a new media using the same warping settings, as it is always the case in corporate and mapping applications.

    Furthermore, imagine you have two overlapping projectors to make a widescreen image in a conference room. If I understand well how Madmapper works, if you want to display a background image on the full surface and a live camera feed on the center you'll have to use two quads with softedge blending to make the full background image, and two other quads for the live feed, since every media used on both outputs will have to be softedged... Problem solved if you could apply the softedge on every output since every media you'll place in the canvas would be processed through warped and soft-edged outputs...

    I hope I was clear enough :)

    Ludovic (France)
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    Just_Deweak
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    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by Just_Deweak » Tue Apr 30, 2019 2:44 pm

    *** solved ***

    I found a solution for this problem. For instance if you want to make a widscreen out of two overlapping projectors with some warping to compensate a non recangular projection screen, start by creating two outputs for the projectors, then two ovelapping SPOUT outputs for the project. Everything will be created on the spout pixelspace, while two master quads will be used to deform and apply the soft-edges on the SPOUT outputs (one for each physical output). After setting the softedges and warping on these two quads, you can lock and forget them, as all that you will place in the SPOUT pixelspace will be deformed at the output stage...

    Madmapper rocks !
  • BrianM
    junior Member
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    Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:19 pm

    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by BrianM » Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:26 pm

    Hi, i'm new to this & trying to do the same for a charity event this weekend. I don't understand why there is not a simple software out there to do this. Does spout only work for nvidea cards mine is amd
    Two projectors blended from a hdsdi feed from a black magic mixer.
    Any chance of a tutorial anyone?
  • franz
    madMapper master
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    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by franz » Tue May 07, 2019 4:36 pm

    your best option would be to "pre-composite" on a virtual output ( a large projector unassigned to any display ), publish this projector to spout(syphon on mac), then use the published texture back to your quads.

    the technique is called "texture buffer", or video feedback
  • User avatar
    Just_Deweak
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    Re: edge blending discreet outputs

    by Just_Deweak » Sat May 11, 2019 3:46 pm

    Hi !

    With with you call "the quad method", you can handle rotation or any situation, that the most versatile solution. Blending discrete output would be strange for a mapping software where you're not supposed to have projectors aligned precisely in front of a flat surface. Instead of that, MadMapper lets you do soft-edge between quad surfaces that handle perspective and mesh warping, so you can even do a soft-edge in a curve surface.

    The tutorial uses a laptop with a Matrox TripleHead2Go, but anyway in MadMapper that's like if there were 3 projectors. You can use 6 projectors on a MacPro if you want without problem.

    If you change media, you can change on all quads easiely: press Cmd + click on the media "assign" button (it assigns the media to ALL surfaces). OR: put all the quads that are soft-edged in a group, select the group, then pressing the "assign" media button will assign the media to all surfaces in this group.
    However, if you use medias with different aspect ratio, you will have to activate the option "Force Media Ratio to 1:1" in Master tab.

    Let me know if you have any issue.
    Cheers
    Matthieu
    Hi Matthieu, thanks for your answer !

    The advantage of edge-blending the whole output is if you’re using MM as a video player / switcher for a conference, when you put a PIP over an overlapping zone between two projectors, you need to have each half of the PIP blended. No problem if you blend at the outputs stage.

    This is not exactly a projection mapping use of MM, but if I look back at the great evolution of Modulo Pi from a mapping software to a worldwide-used-all-in-one-video mapping and switching system, I think MM with some minor adjustments could reach new markets in the corporate events area, as there are not so many systems available (and almost none for PC users without a big company’s budget).

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