video mapping

[simonegiusti]

is there a way to use SCS in conjuntion with a 3d video mapping software ??
can we redirect scs video output to any mapping software ??

thanks

[simonegiusti]

... or simply insert a fixed chroma key frame for all cues to cover with black unwanted areas ??

[BritGeek]

3D mapping would be way beyond my requirements, but I do like the idea of being able to mask portions of a video or still photo (preferably configurable for individual cues as well as the whole production), so that we can prevent certain parts of the set from being projected onto. I believe QLab has some kind of masking feature, though I don't know how it works.

In a recent show I implemented masking by editing a masking track into the video, which was difficult because I was doing all the video editing at home so I couldn't immediately see whether my mask was the correct size. Lots of adjustment and re-rendering was needed.

I would imagine this would be relatively simple to implement for still photos; doing it for videos would probably only be possible if the playback library supports masking.

Tim.

[simonegiusti]

maybe Mike will help us ...

[Mike Daniell]

Masking is planned, but it will be some time before it is implemented due to some other significant enhancements currently being worked on. Masking requires the implementation of video layers, and the mask will be created or loaded as an image overlay. This image overlay is expected to contain back and white areas, and the white areas will allow the respective areas of the lower-level video or image to be displayed, and the black areas would hide the respective areas of the lower-levels. The TVG Video Playback Library supports this functionality, but there's quite a bit of work involved in integrating this into SCS.

[simonegiusti]

This will be perfect for my purposes

[BritGeek]

Sounds good, I look forward to it.

Tim.

[Tewkesound]

If video layers and masking are on the cards, are there any plans to implement video "Surfaces" as an independent concept from displays?

It would be useful to be able to enter a set of cordinates that set define a video/image output area that is part of a bigger screen. This would be similar way to the way SCS handles Dualhead and Triplehead units, but the current design doesn't allow the coordinates of the display area to be manually edited.

Rectangular areas would be good, but trapezoid shapes with video streching for keystone correction would be awesome! Surfaces spanning multiple displays (with edge blending?) would be extra awesome but "slightly" tricky!

Typical use cases may be projecting images into part of a wider projection area, e.g. one or more windows on a stage set. I realise that this can be done by moving the image in the individual image cue but a master version would be great, especially for a touring show.

Thanks for a superb piece of software.

[simonegiusti]

Hello Mike,
Any news on this?

Thanks.

[Mike Daniell]

No, sorry. There's quite a bit of work required to implement this feature.

[simonegiusti]

No, sorry. There's quite a bit of work required to implement this feature.

So it is not scheduled yet, isn't it ?
I am asking because I need this feature for a forthcoming new show and I have to evaluate alternative solutions.

Thanks.

[Mike Daniell]

No, not scheduled.

[tocsin]

Simone, check out MadMapper. You are able to generate scenes wich can be triggered by Midi commands (has a Midi learn feature). Quiet easy to use and impressive in its abilities.

[allcomp]

I have just done a show with Touchdesigner which can do mapping and trigger videos from SCS through LoopBe1 midi.

Brian

[willmodelisme]

That would be a huge upgrade indeed.

Here is how I proceed when I need to match the video to the diffusion screen on a stage:

There are 2 cases:

-first when you have a square or rectangle diffusion screen and you know the dimension.

- I edit all my video with premiere pro to fit the diffusion screen size that will be used during the show.
-For exemple, if the show use a 12x4 meter screen, I do a simple ratio from the 1920x1080 (or any other native resolution of your video-projector).
It gives me a 1920 x 640 pixel resolution in this case.
-When exporting the video, I use back the native video-projector resolution for more convenience. The image will fit the 12x4 meters screen and the black area of the image won't be visible at all.
-That work with any surface screen, square or rectangular.

-second case, other shape, round, stars heart etc....

-I edit all my video with première pro and export to the native resolution of the video-projector.
-before the show, on stage, I place the video-projector so that the image cover all the diffusion screen.
- then I do a last edition of the videos under premiere pro to add either a mask or a 3d transform (or both of them, whatever you need) to perfectly fit the diffusion screen.
That is a little more workload before the show but it is a quick job under premiere pro because you do it for only one video. You then save that preset and apply it to all the other video.

Note that the video output form premiere (monitor output) and from Show cue system shows exactly the same image, no position shift or other changes.

Do not hesitate to ask me more here.