Hi! I need some help,and I’m pretty sure is someone in the forum that has an easy solution for this.
The thing is, I’m currently designing an exhibition where there are 4 projectors, each one has a video loop and, ideally, the loops had to be synced. This would be pretty simple if we could use a computer with four graphic cards, but it’s not possible.
The solution I had in mind is using four Raspberry Pi but I never had use one and the instructions I found are pretty overwhelming for my absence of knowledge (for example: https://github.com/turingmachine/omxplayer-sync).
Hello The instructions seem fine to me, have you used linux before? The instructions are made to be run in a terminal. If you plug screens and keyboards/mouse to the R-Pies you will be able to type them on each of them.
I can try to make a video of how it’s done if that would help?
when I have to sync different screen with raspberry-pi, I use this python app:
It’s well documented and let you sync different raps-pi with OSC message. You can use a GUI to setup your video on each rasp-pi, maybe it’s a little easier to get things running.
I wrote a lib for this a few years back that’s been used by many successfully. Let me know if you have any questions. Generally the idea is to auto connect to a network and auto play on boot up, so there is 0 interface, just synced looping.
I have used the andor 1 for work and its nice and for me having analog outs since I often use crt’s is great. It is definitely a raspberry inside but thats not my world. 4 of them gets pricey quick.
the thing i always recommend in this situation - if its not critical, forget about the sync. you’ll save yourself money, time and headaches
another option in your case would be QuadHeadtoGo, by Matrox. I’ve only ever used Triple, so you’d have to research the minimum requirements. But I figure it would be just as expensive as 4 standalone units as above.
in the Matrox case you would render one massive video, say, 7680 x 1080, and the unit then splits it correctly to the four projectors. depending on your layout config you may need cable adapters / conversion boxes etc, as traditionally HDMI cables arent super long.
agreed that brightsign players are very straightforward and stable for this sort of thing. definitely more $$$ than going the RPi route though.
is the exhibition at a museum or gallery? they might have brightsigns in their av inventory, or maybe have connections to other institutions that would lend them for a show.
finally the people that take care of the legacy of the painter didn’t allow to make the video loops as they “modified significantly the original work of the artist”.
Anyway, I’ll try to sync the projectors as a first learning step with the Raspberry Pi. I’ve already went through the firsts steps of the omxplayer installation
The instructions seem fine to me, have you used linux before? The instructions are made to be run in a terminal. If you plug screens and keyboards/mouse to the R-Pies you will be able to type them on each of them.