Sync 3 or more computers to play videos

[web_maven]

I have to setup 3 or more computers that will be running DVD movies. The catch is that the movies need to be in sync. They need to start and stop at the same time.

Does anyone know if this can be done and with what software/hardware.

Thank in advance
Raymond

[Richard_G]

Why not just run 3 monitors off a single pc?

Here's how to do it on the cheap http://www.anatekcorp.com/driving.htm

or if you prefer to just pay the money, try http://www.networktechinc.com/vsplt-pc.html

[web_maven]

The Videos are not of the same thing. (Not a video wall) I work for a museum and an artiest came up with this video that we need to use projectors and the DVD has to be in Sync.

So what I need is something that will play all 3 or more players at the same time. Each player having it’s own different video.

My first thought is to network the computers and have a file on one computer that all the computers are checking with a time-out of 1ms, when the file changes to "go" all video starts playing. I can use Flash and Zinc but I wanted to see if someone had something pre-build?

Thanks

[redwudz]

If you have a video card that can drive 3 monitors, you can run 3 software players independently at one time. I can easily do this with VLC media player as it lets you launch as many players as your PC can handle. I have a 2 monitor setup and each monitor can display a different video file with two instances of VLC running at the same time. VLC will play most any video format, including DVD.

Audio may be a little more tricky, but if they shared a common audio file, no problem. Or you may be able to split the audio to separate channels. That would depend on how many audio channels you have to deal with.

I believe VLC and some other players can be operated via command line, so starting them all at the same time would be easy enough with a small script file.

[edDV]

I agree with the single computer multiple display approach.

Alternative is commercial level DVD players that can be sync'd. Consult a commercial AV display or signage expert. They do this all the time for museums, kiosks and multi monitor trade exhibits.

[web_maven]

Great idea about the video cards, I though about that too but I was not sure if I could have multiple video cards into one system. I would assume that they would have to be PCI video cards? How many am I allow to put into a systems. E.g. if I have a mother board with 5 PCI slots can I put 5 video cards?

Also we do use industrial DVD players that support this but the DVD players are hard to get and they cost over $1500 for just one unit. I thought I can do this for just the cost of one PC unit.

Thanks for the great input any other ideas will be welcome.

Raymond

[SingSing]

This network DVD player may work for you : http://www.govideo.com/Index.asp?GV=D2730

[redwudz]

For PCI multi-head video cards, Matrox is probably the leader, but they can be pricey. They have quad head AGP cards available, but prices around $600+. But they are professional quality.

One brand that's a little cheaper is Jaton: http://db.jaton.com/VGAProductList.aspx?Cat_ID=2&Cat_ID1=0 The ones listed as 'twin' are dual head PCI cards.

Here's a dual head PCI (2 VGA output) Jaton card from Newegg:

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814139144

For your use, the Jaton cards may work fine. You could use your AGP card for one output and the Jaton PCI dual head for the next two. Or get two Jaton cards and you would still have your AGP card to oversee the computer operations.

Most of these cards output VGA video. If your projector needs something different, like DVI, there should be cards for that also.

But if you have enough funds, the Matrox cards would be my first choice.

I haven't used any Jaton cards, so look into the company and their products before committing to this brand. There may be other dual head or quad head cards out there that may perform better.

You can do a Google search for 'dual head video cards' and you should come up with some links.

[web_maven]

Consumer Players don't cut-it. They are not meant to play video 8 hours a day 7 days a week. The PC DVD drives are a bit more durable and cheap enough to replace and readily available. We don't need DVD writers so your looking a about what, $20 to replace a drive? If I have to I can go to the local Radio Shack and get a replacement. At $200 this DVD player is not worth the investment. Thanks for the info though.

Does anyone know how many Video cards you are allow to put into a PC? Is there a limit?

Raymond

[redwudz]

As long as the cards 'get along' with each other, you should be able to put in as many cards as your computer can hold. A dual or quad output video card may be cheaper and easier, though.

Just my opinion, but it would be easier to sync everything using one computer. If you are wanting bullet proof, a second computer with the same programs, cards and setup would be good insurance so if you have a problem, you would have a redundant backup system.

[edDV]

If you are going to load it up with display cards, make sure each can hardware decode DVD MPeg2 or the CPU will be swamped. They also need to sync. Test this thing before going prime time.

Industrial players are worth it if there is a penalty for down time. Nobody likes to see broken exhibits after paying to get in.

Successful exhibits encourage annual memberships even though the people never return. All means more money for the non-profit.

[web_maven]

Believe me there is never enough money. We are the largest museum in NJ and we are always cutting back on projects due to funding. We normally use the Panasonic 7500 DVD players but the cost about $1000 and the interface is about $200 - $300 and I believe that Panasonic cut back production so they are hard to find. So for the cost of one 7500 we can get just about 2 computers which we can use for not only this exhibition but other installations like kiosks and games which makes is a better value overall. We found another Industrial DVD player go finding out that it just uses a standard PC DVD ROM. The only problem is that it did not recognize standard DVD menu (Don't ask me why I must of burnt 50 copies of the movie before I was able to get it to work 90%)

Hacking a Logitech game-pad I was able to make a break-out box and control functions of the PC. This cost about $25 and worked great.

Thanks for the input everyone!!!!!!

[edDV]

Do you want my honest input?

You all should go find real jobs where the results of your efforts generate tax revenue for the general good. Arts consumers should fund these efforts out of their own pockets.

[web_maven]

Many of the wealthy do fund projects but many exhibitions cost a lot. A simple show like could easily costs $30,000.00 or more our last big project cost $500,000.00. We can only do what we do from Grants & donations. The money we get from Membership pays the electric...

Believe me I wish we could get more money I am grossly under paid for the type of work that I do.


EVERYONE !!! one other question. A few message ago "redwudz" had talked about audio, just incase I did need audio for each separate video (say 3 videos) How would I go about this, when you talk about channels I think of 6.1 channel audio is this the same thing or is it somethign else? what software would I use? I have Mpeg Video Wizard, and a bunch of Ulead programs and Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition. Is there some type of explanation somewhere?

Thanks

[SingSing]

Consumer Players don't cut-it. They are not meant to play video 8 hours a day 7 days a week. The PC DVD drives are a bit more durable and cheap enough to replace and readily available. Raymond

Step into any bed and bath, craft, cook ware, gizmo stores and you will see TV with DVD players play demo for hours and hours. Your comment is not valid.

[redwudz]

I don't know if it's not valid. Think of the SuperBowl. They have to run an ad that cost a fortune to buy time for. You don't think they have redundant backups for their data?

Yes, you could use consumer grade DVD players. But you might need 3 of them to ensure 100% that one of them would work flawlessly. There is little room for error when you are doing artistic presentations to the public, especially when it is a presentation that requires all elements to play in perfect sync and without a chance of a problem. Otherwise, some of your future funding may evaporate.

A small operation can't afford the systems that a major network like NBC or similar has available. 'Failure is not an option' turns out to be the way things work with some organizations. JMO.

[edDV]

EVERYONE !!! one other question. A few message ago "redwudz" had talked about audio, just incase I did need audio for each separate video (say 3 videos) How would I go about this, when you talk about channels I think of 6.1 channel audio is this the same thing or is it somethign else? what software would I use? I have Mpeg Video Wizard, and a bunch of Ulead programs and Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition. Is there some type of explanation somewhere?

Thanks

DVD supports AC-3 5.1 or DTS 5.1.
Normally the audio would come from one machine only. Unless carefully controlled, audio from multiple players will echo.

You can edit multiple surround audio tracks in programs like Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas. They both have AC-3 encoders. DTS takes more $$$ for encoding but offers higher general sound quality for large audience performance.

[Soopafresh]

Things will begin to desync after several loops if you're only using software for playback. It'll barely be noticed until around the 5th time through.... then...

Could have helped out a year ago, my good friend was selling half a dozen of these things at $800 a pop. Perfect syncronization. http://www.mediasonic.com/el_products/hdplayer.html

[SingSing]

Technically, have multiple sync video and/or audio is not diffcult at all. It is just a custom project. One have to get someone who will work it for fun, or pay the cost of custom desigend hardware or software.

[JohnnyMalaria]

If you have DVD player software that can be automated (i.e., have another program send messages to it), you could use a variant of the RemoteDV server/client developed for one of our applications. (It allows DV capture to start synchronously on multiple PCs on a network).

It's very simple and could be modified to suit.

[holistic]

Consumer Players don't cut-it. They are not meant to play video 8 hours a day 7 days a week. The PC DVD drives are a bit more durable and cheap enough to replace and readily available. We don't need DVD writers so your looking a about what, $20 to replace a drive? If I have to I can go to the local Radio Shack and get a replacement. At $200 this DVD player is not worth the investment. Thanks for the info though.

Does anyone know how many Video cards you are allow to put into a PC? Is there a limit?

Raymond

I'm not sure what your are trying to achieve, however i think i can help in the DVD area.

Have you considered taking the three (videos) DVD's in question making them ISO's and using daemon tools mount each one as a virtual DVD. There you have it, no optical media to deal with. No optical hardware to break.
RAID the drives and all you are left with is the inital 3 video sync problem.

An out of the box thought on the 3 sync. video problem.
Is it possible to author one video in 4 quadrants (one will of course be blank) then using 3 different instances of your video playback software on 3 seperate monitors (outputs) "zoom" to the appropriate quadrant. A cheap hack way of doing it but hey you're on a budget.