Multi screen recommendations

Hello, this is my first post in the vvvv forums. I have mostly used visualJockey for video performances, but I am looking for something to help add some more depth. I am interested in vvvv mostly for purposes of multiscreen (3 screens) output from a single shuttle computer. I am more of a video generalist than a installation specialist, so I am always looking for a high degree of performance flexibility. I have been experimenting with different combinations of output techniques with vvvv.

I have found that the Flash renderer performs quite well when the output window is simply stretched across three 640x480 screens. I exported my flash movies at 1920x480 so they would fill all 3 screens nicely. Is it possible to render Flash into a DX9 renderer?

The GDI renderer performs well and retains the proper aspect ratio (very nice!)when stretched across all 3 screens. Is it possible to place video into the GDI renderer? That would really add some flexiblity.

The DX9 renderer seems to not perform as well as the GDI or Flash flash renderers when stretched across all 3 screens. I was able to improve performance a bit by turning off BackBuffer auto sizing and setting the backbuffer to 1024x512.

If anyone has first hand experiences with multi-output (from a single machine) that could shed some light on the situation, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

halo murk.

wau. always interesting to hear how people are treating vvvv. and sad to tell you that you are obviously standing in front of a big wall with your ideas. for now…

as of now vvvv wasn’t really designed to take advantage of multiple outputs from one pc. but the good news is that we are actually scratching our heads about exactly this issue right now. so bare with us some more…weeks.

in the meanwhile:

  • Is it possible to render Flash into a DX9 renderer?
    jes. use the GDITexture node no the Flashrenderers rightmost output.

  • The GDI renderer performs well and retains the proper aspect ratio (very nice!)when stretched
    if you find this to be a problem with the dx9Renderer try the AspectRatio node on the renderers view matrix pin.

  • Is it possible to place video into the GDI renderer?
    no. and it will very likely never be possible. the gdiRenderer is only thought to be a basic graphics output option for really old computers. or as a means to generate textures to use with in the dx9 world.

  • The DX9 renderer seems to not perform as well as the GDI or Flash flash renderers when stretched across all 3 screens
    usually DX9 rendering is the way to go because it is accelerated by your graphics card. but for now vvvv is designed so as to only use advantage of that acceleration on one screen. as soon as you stretch a dx9 window across multiple monitors you will lose that acceleration.

on nvidia cards though you can chose in the drivermenu between: “dualview” and “horizontal spanning”. using the latter hw-accerlation should stay active. i am not sure if similar options are available on matrox and ati cards.

hope this helps for now.

Thanks joreg, you are correct about horizontal spanning, it works very good for 2 screens. I guess I could get one of those higher end cards that support more than 2 simultaneous outputs, I just need to make sure that it supports DirectX 9.0 and that hardware accelleration remains active when spanning 3 or more screens.

peace,
murk

as I know, Nvidia Quadro Cards can accelerate more than one screen. But I would reccomend trying before buying!

i would consider all current ati and nvidia cards support acceleration on more than one screen. as far as i understand applications just need to support it. and vvvv does not. yet. but be prepared…