Creating a multidisplay show using one computer

In this tutorial we are going to show you how easy it is to create and present a multidisplay show via one PC. You can control up to four displays provided the PC has two graphics cards. This tutorial is based on the assumption that you know how to handle Wings Vioso RX in general. If not, we recommend working through the tutorials of workshop Digital AV Show first.

In this tutorial you will be provided with detail knowledge about the special features of a multidisplay show illustrated at the example of a panorama show for two projectors:

For our example we are going to use panorama format at 3600 x 1200 pixels, projected with two projectors and a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels each. On the other hand, we are using a computer with a Multidisplay License for two displays or a Wings Engine. Your computer must have three graphics card outputs in order to allow proper adjustment and show programming on a separate monitor.

 

 

Creating a project

As usual, you should use the Wizard for Mixed Media Projects to create your show. On the first page you can make entries that refer to media and project type.

Media

  1. Specify the types of media you want to use for your project. For this exercise you should only choose Audio, Pictures and Video.

  2. At the bottom you should specify that you want to create a multidisplay project.

  3. Click Next.

Multidisplay Screen

Here you can make various settings for screen and display configuration.

  1. Under Output settings and Display size enter the resolution of an individual video projector, i.e. 1920 x 1200 pixels for our tutorial.

  2. At Displays enter the number and arrangement of displays, i.e. in our case, 2 x 1 for two projectors arranged next to each other.

  3. The next step is to enter a Total size of 3600 pixels in width. The resulting overlap is 240 pixels which are displayed immediately above. As an alternative, you could also have specified the overlap and the width of the whole picture would have been the result of this entry.

  4. Next to Multidisplay configuration click and select All displays on the master starting with monitor 2 so that output 1 is kept for the control monitor.

  5. Click Next.

Pool template

This dialog allows you to select a project template, Media Pool components of which can be transferred to the new project. Thus you can use previously created ramps and effects in a new show.

  1. Place a checkmark next to Add Media Pool components from following project template.

  2. The preselected template Default Pools contains a few ramps and control tracks for effects.

  3. Click Next.

Media Pool

  1. Select the components you want to import. Without previous selection of a separate template, you should leave the settings for effects, control tracks and ramps.

  2. Click Next.

Timeline tracks

  1. Here you specify the number of the corresponding track types to be created in the timeline. Do not worry about the entries; tracks can be added or removed any time.

  2. Checking Group tracks automatically installs additional group tracks which allow hiding and displaying of tracks.

  3. Click Finish and the timeline with the corresponding tracks appears. If there is a message saying that Synchronization Mode Multihead (manual sync adjustment) is recommended, click OK to select it.

Saving the show

Before you actually start editing you should create a project folder and save the show. Click Save in the toolbar below the main menu and a dialog box will appear. Select the appropriate drive, create a new folder for your project and enter a name for your show. Finish by clicking on Save.

If you want to save all projects to the same location, you can specify a Default folder under Options.

Aligning the video projectors and adjusting the softedge masks

Align the video projectors by means of test charts. Do so by modifying test chart Pattern black, white background.tif  which was copied to folder Media Samples\ Test Charts when installing the program from DVD-ROM or USB stick. The corresponding folder can be found by clicking Extras - Open Folder Sample Media. If it is not available you may have chosen to install the program without test charts. In any case, the picture can always be copied from the Wings installation medium at ...\Wings 6\Media Samples\Test Charts.

  1. Open picture Pattern black, white background.tif with an image editing program and crop the picture to the total size of 3600 x 1200 pixels.

The cropped grid should look as illustrated above (in the Help files this is reduced in size) . Important: It must not be scaled as it will be reduced in sharpness due to interpolation.

  1. Save the picture as Pattern 3600x1200.tif  (if you want also with LZW compression) for the size to be immediately recognizable.

  2. Drag the test picture Pattern 3600x1200 or any additional ones from folder Test charts into the Media Pool and arrange the pictures in the timeline.

  3. To ensure that Wings Vioso RX uses an unscaled version of Pattern 3600x1200 go to the main menu and click Media Pool -  Optimize display data followed by Start.

  4. Check by right-clicking the object Pattern 3600x1200 and selecting Properties. At Resulting Picture size, Picture size must be exactly 3600 pixels. After checking, close the dialog by clicking OK.

  1. In order to start fullscreen presentation at high quality on the client computers, press the F5 key. You can now align the video projector by using the picture Pattern 3600x1200. The lines should be exactly one pixel wide and very well visible to allow proper control of the overlap. The circles clearly show whether the picture is distorted or not. For better alignment in the overlap area two triggers have been set up in the Control Panel (tab below the level display) for hiding/displaying the softedge masks. Alignment can be judged more easily without softedge mask. In the Control Panel click on trigger  Hide softedge.

  2. Once the overlap area is in perfect alignment, click Show softedge, followed by clicking category Screens in the Media Pool.

  3. In the right Media Pool section click Screen 1, following which the corresponding grayscale and ramp band are displayed in the area of the Properties Table.

  4. Set a "Spline" node by double-clicking the ramp band while holding the O key. By moving the node, adjust the ramp until a homogenous overlap is displayed on the screen. During the adjustment full screen playback is to be started at full quality (F5). The best thing would be to pause playback.

  5. Position the test patterns with control tracks and keyframes in the overlaps. See also Motion: Position - Zoom - Rotation. For softedge mask adjustment test pictures Grey_steps_1 and Grey_steps_2 are very suitable. All the other test pictures can be used to check homogeneity with different tonal values and colors.

Show production

In principle, shows containing pictures, videos and sound are created in the same way as you were shown in the previous tutorials.  Since multidisplay shows may comprise high-resolution media, the various playback modes for Preview and Presentation are gaining importance.

Make the following test to see the difference:

More detailed information about the two playback modes can be found in topic Playback modes for screen display.

Now create a short sequence as you were shown in the previous tutorials; use some videos, too. As long as your computer is able to display all videos in real time in Presentation Mode at original quality it is possible to run the presentation directly from the timeline. To ensure high performance create optimized display data for pictures at the end of the production. See Optimizing display data for pictures.

You should now be familiar with the most important steps for creating and presenting a multidisplay show via one PC.
The following topics are also interesting:

Multidisplay show using Master and Client PCs

Warping screen or display contents

Show Control Functions