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MBOX EXTREME

MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL

Revision History

This manual has been revised as follows:

Version

Release Date

Notes

02.9800.0001

September 27, 2006

Initial release.

02.9800.0001.22

October 23, 2007

Updated to include v2.2 changes.
Incorporated QuickStart Guide.

02.9800.0001.30

October 15, 2010

Updated for to include v3.0 changes.
Updated to include Dual I/O Module.

02.9800.0001.30 A

March 28, 2009

Revised “Important Safety Instructions” on page i.

02.9800.0001.32

February 15, 2010

Updated to include v3.1.1 and v3.2 changes.
Re-organized and updated the DMX512 Mapping Charts at the
end of the manual.

02.9800.0001.32 A

October 15, 2010

Updated book format. (No changes to technical information.)

Summary of Contents for MBOX EXTREME

Page 1: ...SOFTWARE VERSION 3 2 WWW PRG COM MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...ive companies This manual is for informational use only and is subject to change without notice Please check www prg com for the latest version PRG assumes no responsibility or liability for any claims resulting from errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual Mbox Extreme Media Server User Manual Version as of October 15 2010 PRG part number 02 9800 0001 32 Production Resource Group Dal...

Page 3: ... exit from the apparatus 10 Only use attachments accessories specified by the manufacturer 11 Use only with the cart stand tripod bracket or table specified by the manufacturer or sold with the apparatus When a cart is used use caution when moving the cart apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip over 12 Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time 13...

Page 4: ...ated QuickStart Guide 02 9800 0001 30 October 15 2010 Updated for to include v3 0 changes Updated to include Dual I O Module 02 9800 0001 30 A March 28 2009 Revised Important Safety Instructions on page i 02 9800 0001 32 February 15 2010 Updated to include v3 1 1 and v3 2 changes Re organized and updated the DMX512 Mapping Charts at the end of the manual 02 9800 0001 32 A October 15 2010 Updated b...

Page 5: ...gle Media Server with Plasma Display and LCD Projector 11 Fixture Descriptions Mbox Extreme Environment Concept 12 Ambient Light and Spot Lights 1 4 13 Camera 13 Shutter Control 13 Keystone Control 13 Texture Object Layer 14 Texture 14 Object 14 Chapter 2 Installation Setup Case Components 16 System Connections 17 Getting Started Patching Fixtures 18 Layers 20 DMX Mapping 21 Powering Up 24 Instant...

Page 6: ...tal Gobo with Adobe Illustrator CS3 50 Animated Gobos 51 Animated Textures About Animated Textures 55 Layer Copy Using Layer Copy 56 Drawmodes Using Drawmodes 57 Drawmode 16 Orthographic View 58 The Stencil 59 Layer Blending Modes 61 Decay Decay Effect 62 Fog Fog Effect 63 Text Files Support for Text Files 64 Audio Output Audio Output Features 65 Synchronization Timecode Synchronization Timecode S...

Page 7: ...on 90 Media Utility Applications Mbox Extreme Media Lock 91 Mbox Extreme File Converter 92 Mbox Extreme plist Editor 93 Appendix B Mbox Remote Application Mbox Remote Operation Using Mbox Remote 96 Setup Tab 96 Status Tab 97 Control Tab 98 Thumbs Tab 98 Example Setup of Alignment Rectangles 99 Appendix C Video Input Video Input Setup Overview 102 QuickTime Streaming Capture Card 102 USB FireWire I...

Page 8: ...VI MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL Notes ...

Page 9: ...ver with PRG consoles refer to the following manuals V676 Control Console User Manual 02 9814 0001 10 Virtuoso Series Control Console User Manual 02 9651 0001 For more information regarding DMX512 systems refer to the DMX512 1990 AMX 192 Standards publication available from United States Institute for Theatre Technology Inc USITT USITT 6443 Ridings Road Syracuse NY 13206 1111 USA 1 800 93USITT pho...

Page 10: ... Vegas 6050 South Valley View Blvd Las Vegas Nevada 89118 Ph 702 942 4774 Fx 702 942 4775 PRG Los Angeles 9111 Sunland Blvd Sun Valley California 91352 Ph 818 252 2600 Fx 818 252 2620 PRG Nashville 8351 Eastgate Blvd Mount Juliet Tennessee 37122 Ph 615 834 3190 Fx 615 834 3192 PRG New Jersey 7777 West Side Avenue North Bergen New Jersey 07047 Ph 201 758 4000 Fx 201 758 4312 PRG Orlando 1902 Cypres...

Page 11: ...1 OVERVIEW This chapter provides an overview of product features components and operations DESCRIPTION COMPONENTS THEORY OF OPERATION FIXTURE DESCRIPTIONS ...

Page 12: ... provides VGA DVI SDI SD HD stage outputs for video along with DVI preview capability Note The provided Mac Pro computer requires the Leopard 10 5 operating system Feature List Single server rack with integrated UPS I O module and Auxiliary Input panel Dual video output per server with multiple operating modes Single Output Dual Independent Panoramic Wide and Panoramic Dual Digital Dual I O Module...

Page 13: ...nd Rotation Keystone X and Y Keystone Scale and Rotation Edge Blending Tiling with overlap control Master Effect 2 Master Color Fog and Decay Pixel mapping output level Audio output level Layer Texture Object Opacity Texture Object Texture Effect 2 per layer Object Effect 2 per layer Color Playmode and Playspeed Frame Blending Transitions Type and Timing X Y Z Position Rotation and Scale Sync Time...

Page 14: ... E A B Rx V G A 2 D VI 2 P REV IEW 2 SD I 2 STA GEBL ACK OU T VG A 1 STA GEBL ACK OU T PR EVIEWD IM O UT PUT2 D VI 1 RD M Tx IN PU T 1 G EN L OC K 2 IN PU T 2 POR T1 POR T2 B A ETHERNET Dual I O Module U SB OUT IN D MX R x RD M Rx G EN L OC K 1 DMX TM IN OUT U SB C OM PUT ER Tx LINK M O D EL 20 980 4 010 0 POWER ACTIVE ACTIVE Mac Computer under faceplate cover UPS Power Unit Dual I O Module Headph...

Page 15: ...UT ACTIVE SDI 1 B PREVIEW DIM DVI 2 OUTPUT 2 DVI 1 OUTPUT 1 GENLOCK 1 USB IN OUT RDM Rx RDM Tx DMX Rx INPUT 1 DMX Dual I O Module PORT 2 PORT 1 INPUT 2 ETHERNET COMPUTER A B LINK Rx Tx POWER ACTIVE USB MODEL 20 9804 0100 EDID CAPTURE EDID CAPTURE VGA 2 STAGE BLACKOUT VGA 1 USB 1 DVI IN 1 VIDEO SYNC 1 100 240 VAC 1A MAX 50 60 Hz AC IN ETHERNET A USB 2 DVI IN 2 VIDEO SYNC 2 ETHERNET B FRONT VIEW REA...

Page 16: ...than video and DMX Art Net Figure 1 3 Mbox Extreme Auxiliary Input Panel BALANCED AUDIO OUT RIGHT MIDI IN COMPOSITE Y IN SDI IN R Y IN B Y IN ETHERNET LEFT MIDI OUT SMPTE IN Balanced Audio Out Left and Right MIDI In MIDI Out Y Input composite Ethernet Port 2 SMPTE SDI SD HD Input R Y Input B Y Input Unbalanced Audio Out 3 5mm Mini Jack In ...

Page 17: ...e to multiple DMX512 devices and one Mbox Extreme Media Server Data is then distributed from the Mbox Extreme Media Server to the other components as shown below Figure 1 4 Single Media Server with DMX512 Devices SDI PROJECTOR DMX IN VIDEO OUT PREVIEW PROJECTOR FRONT VIEW REAR VIEW DMX CO NSOLE 2 in ou t VIDEO OUT SDI VIDEO OUT MONITOR PREVIEW MONITOR VIDEO OUT VIDEO CAMERA VIDEO IN opt i c a l 1 ...

Page 18: ...ng configuration Art Net control signal is distributed from one control console to one network switch The network switch then distributes the control signal to all Mbox Extreme Media Servers Figure 1 5 Network Switch and Multiple Media Servers MBOX EXTREME MBOX EXTREME DMX CONSOLE NETWORK SWITCH Art Net IN MBOX EXTREME IN IN ...

Page 19: ...with Plasma Display and LCD Projector In the following configuration a Plasma Display and LCD Projector are connected to a single Mbox Extreme Media Server Figure 1 6 Single Media Server with Plasma Display and LCD Projector VGA IN PLASMA DISPLAY DVI 1 OUT LCD PROJECTOR MBOX EXTREME ...

Page 20: ...luminaire parameters coincide with physical hardware e g a motor that controls an iris while the Mbox Extreme parameters coincide with software elements For example just as you would control a luminaire s beam color from a console encoder or keypad you can control the color of an Mbox Extreme 3D object Once configured the entire Mbox Extreme environment i e the virtual scenery can be sent to any c...

Page 21: ...on the composite image created by layers 1 through 6 The first channel of the Shutter fixture mode controls the mode shape of the shutters it must be set to a value other than default to activate the shutters Each shutter has two channels of control for its position angle these channels operate differently depending on the chosen shutter mode two depth controls in moving light mode or depth and an...

Page 22: ...rder There are approximately 90 different texture effects to select from and each effect has up to two modifying controls IMPORTANT Mbox Extreme can transition from one texture to another on the same layer This feature makes Mbox Extreme both powerful and convenient The ability to transition on the same layer speeds up programming and can help in live situations No need to worry about two or more ...

Page 23: ...2 INSTALLATION This chapter provides instructions for unpacking the Mbox Extreme case connecting to the system and powering up for the first time SETUP GETTING STARTED ...

Page 24: ...r Step 5 Connect local monitor power cable to UPS or to local AC power service Step 6 Connect UPS power cable to local AC power service SITE WIR ING FAULT OUTPUT 120V 50 60 Hz SENSIBILITY INPUT RESET PUSH TO PROTECTOR OVERLOAD USB PORT COMPOSITE Y IN BALANCED AUDIO OUT ETHERNET LEFT RIGHT SMPTE IN MIDI IN MIDI OUT SDI IN R Y IN B Y IN Remove covers 1 2 Remove components Monitor USB and Ethernet Co...

Page 25: ... settings may lead to a loss of functionality Some exceptions do apply see Pixel Mapping chapter on page 75 for details CAUTION Using File Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop will affect the performance of the Mbox Extreme server It is not recommended that these features be used during show situations They can both be disabled in the System Preferences on the Mac or from a connected console by using t...

Page 26: ...e operating mode of the software refer to Setup on page 33 The primary purpose of the operating mode is to configure the screen arrangement and required DMX profile for the server The four primary operating modes are as follows Single Output Mode one video output from the server The output has one set of lighting camera shutter and keystone fixtures The output can display up to twelve content laye...

Page 27: ...de two video outputs from the server The two outputs create two independent display surfaces Each output has its own set of lighting camera shutter and keystone fixtures Each output can display up to six content layers IMPORTANT Mbox Extreme v3 works with the following consoles PRG Virtuoso consoles MA Lighting grandMA consoles High End Systems Hog 3 or iPC consoles running Hog 3 software only the...

Page 28: ...all of the v3 x modes Single Output Panoramic Wide Panoramic Dual and Dual Independent but not in any other modes The use of more than six layers requires an additional universe of control data This additional universe can only be the next sequential universe to the one that the server is patched to So if the server is patched to universe 0 the additional layers will be controlled by universe 1 If...

Page 29: ...igured to operate in several legacy modes See Appendix D on page 109 for more information Start Size Type Universe 1 4 Ambient Light 1st 466 Total DMX Channels 5 4 Spot Light 1 9 4 Spot Light 2 13 4 Spot Light 3 17 4 Spot Light 4 21 32 Camera Control 53 20 Shutter Control 73 22 Keystone Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4 343 62 Layer 5 405 62 Layer 6 1 62 Layer 7 2n...

Page 30: ...tal DMX Channels 63 62 Layer 8 125 62 Layer 9 187 62 Layer 10 249 62 Layer 11 311 62 Layer 12 Summary Dual Output Panoramic Dual Start Size Type Universe 1 4 Ambient Light 1st 508 Total DMX Channels 5 4 Spot Light 1 9 4 Spot Light 2 13 4 Spot Light 3 17 4 Spot Light 4 21 32 Camera Control 53 20 Shutter Control 1 73 22 Keystone Control 1 95 20 Shutter Control 2 115 22 Keystone Control 2 137 62 Laye...

Page 31: ...e Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4 343 62 Layer 5 405 62 Layer 6 466 Total DMX Channels Summary Dual Output Independent Universe Offset 1 Start Size Type 1 4 Ambient Light 5 4 Spot Light 1 9 4 Spot Light 2 13 4 Spot Light 3 17 4 Spot Light 4 21 32 Camera Control 53 20 Shutter Control 73 22 Keystone Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4...

Page 32: ... toggle between Fullscreen or Window mode press a F To quit Mbox Extreme press a Q Instant Gratification The console is connected you have patched the Mbox Extreme fixtures your display device is turned on and you just want to see some video play Step 1 At your console select the Camera fixture and set its intensity to full Very Important the Camera fixture s intensity controls the built in hardwa...

Page 33: ...3 MEDIA CONTENT This chapter provides instructions for managing media files which reside on the Mbox Extreme Media Server and for adding your own custom content CONTENT SPECIFICATION CONTENT MANAGEMENT ...

Page 34: ...mov for movie files Photo JPEG Medium 50 60 is the recommended codec for movie clips DV DVCPro Medium 50 60 also works well Note File extensions are not case sensitive For example files with extension JPG and jpg are the same 3D Model Files Objects Custom 3D models can be added to the Mbox Extreme Media Server The Mbox Extreme server supports the Alias Wavefront 3D obj format There are several thi...

Page 35: ...rter on page 92 If you change the file extension of a DV movie file from mov to vid you can cause Mbox Extreme to deinterlace that movie on the fly The results of de interlacing on the fly are not as good as when using deinterlaced content but this feature means that you can play interlaced content without it looking as noticeable Refer to Deinterlacing on page 106 As is the case with all media se...

Page 36: ...n addition the content in the Media folder is allowed to be nested folders within folders to a limit of 64 folders deep Folder and File Numbering Content files are located within the Mbox Media or Mbox Models folders on the Mbox Extreme computer s hard drive array and are arranged in individual Library folders Each folder name must begin with a 3 digit index value In turn each file within the Libr...

Page 37: ...uld not duplicate existing folder and file number combinations It is best to make new folders for custom content Leading zeros are not required when numbering folders or files but they can help by making the file listing easier to read Folder 255 texture 000 will display Mbox Extreme s Art Net universe and start address The Mbox Extreme Media Server also supports 16 bit file numbers When a file na...

Page 38: ...ix Also folders need not have numerical prefixes Caution Numbered content files will be assigned a folder number that is equal to the numerical prefix of their immediate parent folder Therefore using folders without numbers requires care A file at this location Media 022 Water BlueWater 001 SomeWater mov will be assumed to be in folder 000 because the immediate parent of the numbered file has no n...

Page 39: ...4 OPERATION This chapter provides instructions for setup and operation of the Mbox Extreme server APPLICATION WINDOW HEADS UP DISPLAYS HUDS DUAL I O MODULE ...

Page 40: ...umber of 3D models have been selected to preload there may be a brief delay While 3D models are preloading the computer will not respond to any user input Overview The Mbox Extreme application window allows you to view the Mbox Extreme Media Server output in either Window or Fullscreen mode on the local monitor While in Window mode you can access tabs to change the information that Mbox Extreme di...

Page 41: ...o the following pages for in depth explanations of each of the window settings Select Set Set Window Mode preferences Set FullScreen Mode size and preferences Set License Key Set Options Diagnostics it is recommended that this option be checked during show conditions Deinterlace Video Inputs Pixel Map Enable Disable Audio Playback Enable Disable requires restart to take effect Set screen arrangeme...

Page 42: ...x 540 However if you want the aspect ratio of fullscreen mode to be taken into account in window mode you must check the Keep Aspect checkbox This will cause the window mode dimensions to take the fullscreen aspect into account and size the window appropriately Keeping the aspect correct can be critical for correct aspect viewing in window mode For example NTSC SDI has a resolution of 720 x 480 bu...

Page 43: ...ed a custom active screen area the screen area that Mbox Extreme can use within a larger output raster To enable this feature you must select the Custom fullscreen mode then check the Active Area Controls checkbox and edit the values to the right In the example screen capture above the fullscreen mode has been set to 1920 x 1080 but the active area has been limited to 1280 x 720 and moved to the t...

Page 44: ...or Screens checkbox to cause the single output to appear on both screens at the same time When using either of the Panoramic Wide or Panoramic Dual operating modes you are able to set and adjust the overlap between the two screens and whether they are horizontally or vertically arrayed You may also swap the outputs by selecting the Swap Screens checkbox Video Input Setup The video setup controls a...

Page 45: ... module circuit board in question These buttons also serve to identify which output section is which If you press the left hand button the top I O module output section should flash its LEDs rapidly Likewise pressing the right hand button should cause the bottom output section s LEDs to flash rapidly If you find that the left button flashes the bottom LEDs and the right button flashes the top LEDs...

Page 46: ...d from the keyboard can also be cleared from the control console through the use of the Camera control channel F5 and F7 allow you to cycle through the two modes for Pixel mapping and Alignment Rectangles respectively Mode 1 Mode 2 Off Please see the relevant manual sections for more information F10 allows you to cycle through the five display positions for the Timecode Activity HUD center top rig...

Page 47: ...outputs can have their output intensity mastered by the Camera fixture Figure 4 1 Mbox Extreme Dual I O Module Front View Also found on the front panel are two DMX connectors and two Ethernet connectors The DMX connectors can be used to input DMX signal to the server The left hand connector will be converted to Art Net universe 0 the right hand connector to Art Net universe 1 The two Ethernet port...

Page 48: ...s DVI connectors for the signals from the computer The rear panel also includes two USB ports and two Ethernet ports The USB allows for control of the unit from the computer and must be connected for proper function The Ethernet allows DMX Art Net control signals to pass from the Dual I O module to the computer Finally there are two connectors for Genlock Only one of these two connectors will be c...

Page 49: ...ter Note You can determine the currently selected EDID set for each output by opening the Displays Preference Pane on the Mac When you open this preference pane each output of the server will show a window similar to that in the picture below The header of each window will display the name circled in red below of the EDID set e g PRG MbE 60Hz or the name of the captured EDID e g LCD 2408WFP The th...

Page 50: ...e momentary EDID capture switch to the right and hold it in that position The indicator LED will flash rapidly for four seconds During this time you can release the switch and no capturing action will take place Step 5 After four seconds the LED will stop flashing and will remain on for a period of time During this time the EDID data is being captured Step 6 Once the capture is complete the LED wi...

Page 51: ...to the Dual I O module may not be able to display a picture DVI monitors provide the most compatibility but compatibility is not guaranteed However the two SDI connectors A B on the face of the module do act as Preview and Stage SDI outputs SDI connector A will be the Stage output and connector B will be the Preview output In this way you can have a local monitor when using the SDI output Please n...

Page 52: ...ratio box Note The Frequency combo box has preset values that cover most of the desired frequencies although this is not obvious at first glance When using the 59 94Hz EDID set the combo box entries for 30Hz and 24Hz are used in lieu of 29 97Hz and 23 98Hz respectively The result of the settings will depend on the current EDID set an X indicates an invalid combination that should not be used The r...

Page 53: ...d the LED will stop flashing and stay illuminated It may take up to two minutes for the synchronization process to complete so it is advisable to establish sync a few minutes before you need it To ensure that genlock input and output work successfully you must make sure that the devices you are attempting to synchronize are set to refresh at identical rates If Mbox Extreme is set to output video w...

Page 54: ...46 MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL Notes ...

Page 55: ...structions for using the advanced features available on the Mbox Extreme Media Server OBJECTS AND DIGITAL GOBOS ANIMATED TEXTURES DRAWMODES DECAY FOG TEXT FILES AUDIO OUTPUT SYNCHRONIZATION ALIGNMENT RECTANGLES THUMBNAILS EFFECTS AND TRANSITIONS ...

Page 56: ... occurs in the background all other functions are available during this process If you try to display models or digital gobos that are still waiting to be compiled Mbox Extreme will display a substitute image until the requested file has been compiled If you request a file that hasn t been compiled yet you will see the Waiting for Gobot gobo If you place a large number of new files in the Models f...

Page 57: ...this example the second file would appear at half the size of the original a file named 023 DigiGobo svg would be renamed as 023 DigiGobo scale_0 50 svg If you create an object that is scaled to match a particular piece of 2D content which is measured in pixels and you want Mbox Extreme to treat generic units as pixels you can add the suffix pixels to the file s name before it is compiled a file n...

Page 58: ...cation of this crop area will determine whether your digital gobo will fall under Option 1 or Option 2 The texture applied to the gobo will fill the crop area when the gobo is used in Mbox Extreme Note It is not recommended that the crop area be sized or positioned so that any portion of an object fall outside the crop area Option 1 If you just want to apply a texture to your gobo so that the text...

Page 59: ...els on the Object fixture Animation Speed Animation Modifier A and Animation Modifier B Animation Speed will affect the rate and in some cases the direction of the gobos motion and modifiers A and B will manipulate other traits EuroFlag 002 000 The EuroFlag is quite basic The layer s texture is applied to each star and the Animation Speed channel controls the speed at which the stars rotate The A ...

Page 60: ... the model_cache folder into the snowflakes folder if you like In the left hand image you see the default 000 snowflake shape a round flake In the right hand image you see several different flake shapes the shape is set to random 255 If you set the shape to a particular value between 1 and 254 you will get the corresponding numbered shape from the snowflake folder If no corresponding shape exists ...

Page 61: ...ve The A modifier controls the number of rings and the B modifier controls the thickness of the rings Flag v1 0 002 004 To make the Flag easier to see in this example X rotation has been adjusted Animation Speed controls the rate and direction of the ripples Modifier A is the amplitude of the ripples and modifier B is the number of ripples Ring Stripe 002 005 Animation Speed controls the scale Mod...

Page 62: ...the TV Screen gobo that you can also bend around its Y axis Animation speed default 127 controls the amount of the curved surface that is covered by the texture applied to the layer Adjusting this control makes it look like the texture is being scaled up and down but you will notice that the apparent curvature of the texture changes as it fills more of the curved surface Modifier A default 127 con...

Page 63: ...ness of objects lines rays etc A value of 0 gives a default thickness Out Point number of objects A value of 65535 gives a default number of objects PlaySpeed speed and direction control A value of 127 equals no movement PlayMode see chart below Frame Blending decay A value of 0 equals no decay 255 is full decay PlayMode Radar_Texture 248 001 Stripe_Texture 248 002 FWD Loop Sweep Left Right scroll...

Page 64: ...n controls allowing up to four effects to be visible on a destination layer Raw is defined as being a layer copy where the source layer does not send its effects or transitions to the destination layer The destination layer can add more effects via its own controls Layer Copy functionality is selected as if it were a piece of content in the media folder Folder 255 is selected and the file number a...

Page 65: ...t the Camera intensity to 100 and then on Layer 1 only with all other attributes set to default values set the opacity to 100 You should see a white square With Layer 1 still selected choose object folder 3 file 0 You cannot see anything Go to the Drawmode control and change it from 0 to 1 Now you can see the gobo Feel free to experiment with the gobo at this point Because it is essentially a 3D o...

Page 66: ...mount of movement of the object and the object s depth To eliminate the perspective shift you can tell Mbox Extreme to draw an object using an orthographic projection mode This will cause the object to me drawn so that its vanishing point is always directly behind the object no matter the position of the object or the camera In order to properly scale the object this drawmode causes a section to b...

Page 67: ...it makes in the Stencil will only affect higher numbered layers if Layer 3 is used to cut the stencil that cut will not affect Layer 1 or 2 no matter what Drawmode they are set to For useful results the layer you use to cut the Stencil must have some transparency use a 3D object or gobo or apply a texture effect to the texture on that layer to give it transparency in some areas If you set an unalt...

Page 68: ...cil really means Draw this layer s texture only where the Stencil hasn t got holes By setting Layer 1 to Drawmode 5 Cut and Draw plus Light and applying a texture to Layer 1 Layer 1 s texture can be shown instead of the black areas seen in the right hand image above In the illustration above Drawmode 5 causes the shape of Layer 1 s gobo to be cut into the Stencil Also Layer 1 s texture is applied ...

Page 69: ...ng colors are inverted where layer color is lighter layer s colors are then added to underlying colors blacks appear transparent 192 Invert Subtractive underlying colors are subtracted from layer s colors blacks appear opaque 224 Invert Additive layer s colors are inverted and are added to inverse of underlying colors blacks appear transparent The blending modes are accessed using the Drawmode con...

Page 70: ... absence of content no texture or object If no layer is above 0 opacity all you have is black nothingness the absence of content If you put a gobo on Layer 1 texture it and then rotate or move it with decay turned on you will see the effect If you put a gobo on Layer 2 in front of a full screen texture on Layer 1 and then turn on decay you will not see any decay You cannot tell that the gobo is ro...

Page 71: ...effect causes objects that are further from the camera to be dimmer harder to see than objects that are closer to the camera In this picture there are three objects that are all at different distances from the camera their Z Position has been modified The teapot is closest followed by the cube and then the sphere They are all using the same lighting created by the four spot fixtures They have been...

Page 72: ...as a file extension of rtf and put it in the Media folder There are a few basic rules to follow for RTF files Do not use multiple fonts on the same line of text Keep font sizes large Justification in the document is ignored use spaces in the text instead You can also display text by creating a txt file If there is more than one line of text in the file Mbox Extreme will play that file line by line...

Page 73: ...ociated AIFF audio files you must check the Audio Playback checkbox on Mbox Extreme s Setup tab Remember that for this preference to take effect you must quit and restart the application after changing the setting If you trigger an audio file with a movie with that movie s playmode set to Forward Loop the audio file loops at the exact same time as the movie This means that audio files that are lon...

Page 74: ...e less desirable codecs and embedded audio When playing audio in this manner you do have the advantage that movie and audio playback are always synced the playspeed can be adjusted and you can scrub the movie But Main Thread Mode also has drawbacks See Appendix A for more information on Main Thread Mode Embedded audio tracks can use any audio format and rate They can also use as many channels as c...

Page 75: ...l function If you modify the in point of the movie playback will start from that point when the correct time is reached The Timecode Offset channel on each layer allows you to modify a file s start time by approximately 4 seconds without having to rename the file and rescan the content 0 126 Positive offset movie plays later 1 point 1 frame 127 Default no offset 128 255 Negative offset movie plays...

Page 76: ...s used by a server when using Layer to Layer sync you need to adjust the Sync Stream channel appropriately on both Master and Slave 0 Layer to Layer by layer number If Layer 1 on a server is set to one of the Master playmodes and Stream 0 then if Layer 1 on any other server but not the same server is set to the Slave playmode and Stream 0 the slave will sync to the master layer 1 Stream 1 Any laye...

Page 77: ...ommon lineweight setting and can only be white in color You can create basic white rectangles by using the Mbox Remote application Refer to Control Tab on page 98 for more information on the Control tab of the Mbox Remote application Like many other settings for Mbox Extreme the alignment rectangle settings are stored in a plist file This file s default location is Mbox alignment alignment plist Y...

Page 78: ... to one of five groups 0 through 4 The Group number only comes into play when the Camera control channel is set to a value that makes alignment rectangles visible There are new values for the Camera control channel to achieve this functionality Control Channel Value Result 90 Show all alignment rectangles w o circle X 91 Show Group 1 alignment rectangles w o circle X 92 Show Group 2 alignment rect...

Page 79: ...ted you will not be able to view them from either a browser or the Mbox Remote application Thumbnail images are stored in a standard location on every server and are grouped with HTML files that allow any networked computer Mac or PC to use an HTML browser to view the thumbnails on the server Individual thumbnails can also be used by consoles connected to the server e g ChamSys MagicQ consoles The...

Page 80: ...e effect uses the alpha channel information in the input file to generate the mask The Custom Wipe input image file can be a JPG PNG or TIFF and can be grayscale or color No alpha channel is required since that information is ignored The grayscale file will provide you with the best indication of how the transition will work as this effect uses luminance values to create the wipe The darker areas ...

Page 81: ...n This is how the White Diagonal transition normally looks about halfway through the transition It moves from top left corner to bottom right corner The stripe at the transition point is white and has a particular thickness This is what the plist information for this transition looks like ...

Page 82: ...me inputAngle Value number 0 7854 This is the angle of the swipe of the transition inputColor Color array four values Red Green Blue Alpha 1 1 1 1 These four values relate to the color of the swipe of the transition Although this includes a value for alpha in the case of this transition there is a separate control inputOpacity that controls the opacity of the edge inputExtent Extent array two valu...

Page 83: ...6 PIXEL MAPPING This chapter provides a description of setup and operation for the pixel mapping functionality of the Mbox Extreme Media Server CONCEPT BASIC SETUP ADVANCED PIXEL MAPPING ...

Page 84: ...d Ethernet port on the Mac to output the Art Net data If both Art Net input and output share a single Ethernet port the volume of network traffic generated by complex pixel mapping configurations will affect the reception of Art Net control data Because of this each Mbox Extreme server has two supplemental Network Locations that enable you to quickly configure the second Ethernet port on the Mac f...

Page 85: ...d fixture For the purposes of pixel mapping the screen image size is the same size as the FullScreen mode selected on the Setup tab or twice that size if one of the Panoramic output modes is being used see Setup on page 33 The pixel mapping context s origin is at the bottom left of the grid and that origin is position 0 0 In the illustration above a 50 x 50 context has been applied over a fullScre...

Page 86: ...niverse and address of both overlapping fixtures will turn red Once you have placed several fixtures on the context grid you are ready to see what they can do Press Return or the Place New Fixtures button to exit fixture placement mode You should save your file by clicking the Save button at this time The text field above the file action buttons displays the location of the current pixel mapping f...

Page 87: ...tion then your first octet here should be 10 The Protocol field should be left at Art Net The Universe From and Universe To fields need to be updated to reflect which Art Net universes you are using in your patch If you are using universes 1 through 3 in your patch you need to make sure that the same range is shown in the fields here Once you are done modifying the connection settings click Okay t...

Page 88: ...res without affecting the overall video composition while still retaining output from fixtures that do not have the mask attribute turned on When masked fixtures are suppressed the lighting console can be used to modify the attributes that the Mbox Extreme server would otherwise have control over The Slew Rate setting provides the ability to limit the speed at which fixtures can change color This ...

Page 89: ... you always have the same fixed relationship between screen pixels and pixels on fixtures no matter what type of fixture you are using Typically this works well but only if you are using one type of fixture To create a new Sample Area click the New Sample Area button in the context area to open the Sample Area creation window There are two areas that you need to define in order to use sampling the...

Page 90: ...n it in the Pixel Map window to edit its attributes or to delete it In the picture to the right the red sample area denotes the type A low res fixtures and the green sample area denotes the type B hi res fixtures The 800px x 300px screen area has been sampled to map to the type A fixtures This will give an impressionistic effect with large blocks of color but there will not be much visible detail ...

Page 91: ...7 MAINTENANCE This chapter contains procedures for extended care of the Mbox Extreme Media Server ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ...

Page 92: ...ter should be cleaned or replaced as needed To clean remove air filter Step 1 Disconnect power from case Step 2 At front of rack remove six screws to release grill Step 3 Remove grill and air filter Step 4 Clean filter with compressed air or water if allowed to fully dry Step 5 Re install Figure 7 1 Air Filter Removal Grill Air Filter Screw 6 ...

Page 93: ...o be cleaned or replaced To remove computer Step 1 At rear of rack disconnect all cables from computer Step 2 At front of rack remove grill and air filter Refer back to Figure 7 1 on page 84 Step 3 Carefully slide computer out of case Figure 7 2 Step 4 Remove side brackets from computer Figure 7 2 Computer Removal ...

Page 94: ...86 MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL Notes ...

Page 95: ...IES This Appendix contains information on the proper formatting of content for playback on the Mbox Extreme Media Server along with content management and conversion utilities CONTENT CREATION GUIDELINES MEDIA UTILITY APPLICATIONS ...

Page 96: ...d and may not play as well as a movie that uses a preferred codec Photo JPEG is a high quality scalable format that does not use any temporal compression As such it is perfect for use with Mbox Extreme You can create a quality movie of any resolution within performance limits and take full advantage of Mbox Extreme s many playmodes Photo JPEG is a processor intensive codec so care must be taken to...

Page 97: ...ut While content with lesser frame rates will work there may be some noticeable effects In the above example if the movie has fewer than 30fps then the graphics card will need to repeat some frames more than twice and the movie may appear to play less smoothly Depending on the frame rate of the movie this effect may be more or less noticeable If the movie s frame rate divides evenly into 60 then t...

Page 98: ...EG movie into the Animation codec will drastically increase the bit rate of the movie even if there is no variation in the alpha channel information If you create a movie that uses the Animation codec and play it on Mbox Extreme the non preferred playback engine will handle it One positive is that when played in this manner Mbox Extreme is able to use the alpha channel information in the movie and...

Page 99: ...have entered a username and password click the Add button to add this information to the system If you want to remove yourself as a user click the or button until your username appears in the field password will not appear and click the Remove button Once again do not remove any usernames other than your own Once you have entered yourself as a user you can begin to lock your content To lock your c...

Page 100: ...rom minimum to maximum and preserve If you choose one of the five quality settings any movie processed by the application will be converted to the Photo JPEG codec if possible If you choose the preserve setting processed movies will only be converted to Photo JPEG if they use the Animation codec But no matter which quality setting is selected the application will always attempt to correct any erro...

Page 101: ...the application called MbE plist Editor located in the MboxExtreme Utilities folder The Mbox Extreme application only writes information to the MboxExtreme plist when the application quits Therefore while Mbox Extreme is running any changes made to the plist file will be over written when Mbox Extreme quits In order to properly use the MbE plist Editor Mbox Extreme should not be running When the M...

Page 102: ... add the three or four character file extension to the appropriate category movie_extns or still_extns If you are unsure what to add or where to add it please contact PRG The Video Input Settings section allows you to define cropping for the first two local video inputs When using some cameras you may notice that the input image has black lines around the outside or that the edges appear to be jag...

Page 103: ...B MBOX REMOTE APPLICATION This appendix provides operation instructions for the Mbox Remote Application MBOX REMOTE OPERATION ...

Page 104: ...to select the source for timecode Generator internal clock Audio Input SMPTE from XLR connector on the Auxiliary Input Panel MIDI Time Code MTC from MIDI connector on Aux Input Panel If this menu is set to Generator values for Start time and End time will appear below the Start Stop button Output popup menu use this menu to select whether or not the timecode signal is rebroadcast from this machine...

Page 105: ...oes not need to be running Status Tab Multiple tab displays the final output of all connected servers on the network Selected tab displays the final output and the twelve layers of the active server selected in the Selected Server popup menu Layer 1 thru Layer 12 tabs display the state of one layer on the active server plus textual information about the content on that layer Note Remote video moni...

Page 106: ...t You can relaunch the Mbox Extreme application on remote machines from this tab by using the Commands popup menu Thumbs Tab The Thumbs tab opens an HTML browser window that allows you to view thumbnails of the content Textures Objects Transitions and Effects on any connected Mbox Extreme servers The links at the top of the window select what type of thumbnail you are viewing The links along the l...

Page 107: ...e application window select the name of the Mbox Extreme server that you would like to create alignment rectangles on Step 2 Press the Get List button to read the preferences from the server Step 3 On the Settings popup menu select Alignment Rectangles Step 4 Press the button to add a rectangle or to delete a rectangle Step 5 When a rectangle is added it will receive an index number beginning with...

Page 108: ...f the new rectangle If rectangles are being displayed the new rectangle will appear and remain until the alignment rectangle display is turned off Step 8 If you would like to change the lineweight of the rectangles select Alignment Line Width on the settings popup menu and edit the value in the edit field below The default lineweight is 1 Don t forget to press the Set button to apply your changes ...

Page 109: ...C VIDEO INPUT This appendix provides setup instructions for the four video inputs VIDEO INPUT SETUP ...

Page 110: ...o input signals Mbox Extreme only supports 8 bit input You should therefore use only the available 8 bit streams and not select one of the 10 bit input streams USB FireWire Input Mbox Extreme can use a video input from a Mac compatible USB or FireWire camera Any camera that works with QuickTime based applications on the Mac should work fine But because there are a wide variety of cameras of this t...

Page 111: ...nces application Step 3 Click on the Blackmagic preference button at the lower left of the System Preferences window Step 4 On the Blackmagic pref pane you will need to click on the set input popup menu to select the appropriate input type Step 5 In the input list the three possible selections are SDI Video Y R Y B Y Video and NTSC PAL Y in These correspond to SDI Component and Composite video inp...

Page 112: ...o input Send all fixtures to their default state on the console to be sure Step 3 While in window mode go to the Setup tab Video input settings are modified in the lower left area of the window Typically input 1 is used for the Decklink card and input 2 for a USB FireWire camera The number in parentheses refers to the Media file number within Media folder 255 that will be used to recall the camera...

Page 113: ...irst in the list Your selection can be verified by looking at the summary information at the bottom of the window circled in red in the picture below IMPORTANT For the Decklink card video input make sure the compression is set to Uncompressed 8 bit 4 2 2 and nothing else If necessary click on the Compression tab at the top of the window and select this from the popup menu on that tab Step 7 If you...

Page 114: ...ve video signals If you imagine a frame of video whether it s one frame of a movie or a video input as bunch of horizontal lines of pixels it is easy to explain the difference between interlaced and progressive signals An interlaced frame is drawn as two fields of information The first frame draws the odd numbered lines of pixels 1 3 5 and the second frame draws the even numbered lines of pixels 2...

Page 115: ...rmats that can be connected to the Decklink card will be interlaced However if you have the option of using a progressive signal you will be rewarded with better looking results If you must use an interlaced video input you can force Mbox Extreme to deinterlace that signal by checking the Deinterlace Video Inputs checkbox on the Setup tab The results are quite good but you may want to test with bo...

Page 116: ...108 MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL Notes ...

Page 117: ...dix contains tables for the combined DMX512 channel map as well as additional controls such as play modes tiling shutter shapes aspect control blending control texture effect transitions and built in shapes DMX512 MAPPING CHARTS ...

Page 118: ...rences in the arrangement of DMX channels In all cases a show programmed to run in one particular operating mode will not be compatible with a server running another mode This configuration includes lighting camera shutter keystone and object controls Note Several legacy operational modes do exist for the Mbox Extreme media server Please contact your PRG representative for more information on this...

Page 119: ...t 2 13 4 Spot Light 3 17 4 Spot Light 4 21 32 Camera Control 53 20 Shutter Control 73 22 Keystone Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4 343 62 Layer 5 405 62 Layer 6 1 62 Layer 7 2nd 372 Total DMX Channels 63 62 Layer 8 125 62 Layer 9 187 62 Layer 10 249 62 Layer 11 311 62 Layer 12 Summary Dual Output Panoramic Dual Start Size Type Universe 1 4 Ambient Light 1st 508 To...

Page 120: ...e Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4 343 62 Layer 5 405 62 Layer 6 466 Total DMX Channels Summary Dual Output Independent Universe Offset 1 Start Size Type 1 4 Ambient Light 5 4 Spot Light 1 9 4 Spot Light 2 13 4 Spot Light 3 17 4 Spot Light 4 21 32 Camera Control 53 20 Shutter Control 73 22 Keystone Control 95 62 Layer 1 157 62 Layer 2 219 62 Layer 3 281 62 Layer 4...

Page 121: ... modifier Modifier 1B Second modifier Texture Effect 2 2D effect applied to the final image Modifier 2A First modifier Modifier 2B Second modifier Intensity Intensity of the video output from the I O module hardware dimming Red Red subtractive Green Green subtractive Blue Blue subtractive Orbit X Moves the camera horizontally around 3D objects Orbit Y Moves the camera vertically around 3D objects ...

Page 122: ...ystone Curve Selects the amount of blending for the edge blend Keystone X Moves the entire keystoned image left and right Keystone Y Moves the entire keystoned image up and down Tile Mode Selects the tile position within a variable array Tile Overlap Adjusts the amount of overlap between tiles Keystone Scale Adjusts the size of the entire keystoned image Edge 1 Adjusts the position of the top blen...

Page 123: ... 3D objects only Mbox Parameter Descriptions Continued Fixture Parameter Description Object 3D Z Rotation Adjusts rotation of the layer through the Z axis Z Spin Adjusts spin of the layer through the Z axis X Rotation Adjusts rotation of the layer through the X axis 3D objects only X Spin Adjusts spin of the layer through the X axis 3D objects only Y Rotation Adjusts rotation of the layer through ...

Page 124: ...e 255 N 11 2 Orbit X 32767 N 13 2 Orbit Y 32767 N 15 2 Dolly 32767 N 17 2 Roll 32767 N 19 1 Spin 127 N 20 2 Field of View 32767 N 22 2 Pitch 32767 N 24 2 Yaw 32767 N 26 1 Control Channel 0 Y 27 1 Decay 0 N 28 1 Fog 0 N 29 1 Blur 0 N 30 1 Pix Map Level 255 N 31 1 Pixelmapping Control Channel 0 Y 32 1 Audio Volume 255 N 32 Total DMX Channels Pixelmapping Control Channel Values Command 0 Enable All 2...

Page 125: ...angle controls If distance is zero shutter disappears 30 39 Iris Mode A round iris scale is magnified to enclose the screen No other controls 40 49 Blob Mode A Bezier curve is drawn touching the midpoints of the rectangle formed by Leko Mode Keystone Control Chan Size Function Default Snap 1 1 Edge Blending Mode 255 Y 2 2 Keystone X 32767 N 4 2 Keystone Y 32767 N 6 1 Tile Mode 0 Y 7 1 Tile Overlap...

Page 126: ...3 arrangement is laid out as follows Tile Mode Value Mode 0 Tiling Disabled 1 2x2 1 of 4 2 2x2 2 of 4 3 2x2 3 of 4 4 2x2 4 of 4 5 3x3 1 of 9 6 3x3 2 of 9 7 3x3 3 of 9 8 3x3 4 of 9 9 3x3 5 of 9 10 3x3 6 of 9 11 3x3 7 of 9 12 3x3 8 of 9 13 3x3 9 of 9 14 4x4 1 of 16 15 4x4 2 of 16 16 4x4 3 of 16 29 4x4 16 of 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ...

Page 127: ...2 X Position 32767 N 27 2 Y Position 32767 N 29 2 Scale 32767 N 31 2 Z Position 32767 N 32 Total DMX Channels Aspect Control Values Mode 0 Square Points default 1 126 Ratios scaling from 1 4 to 1 1 127 1 1 128 255 Ratios scaling from 1 1 to 4 1 LAYER 3D Object Chan Size Function Default Snap 1 2 Z Rotation 32767 N 3 1 Z Spin 127 N 4 2 X Rotation 32767 N 6 1 X Spin 127 N 7 2 Y Rotation 32767 N 9 1 ...

Page 128: ...c ambient lighting of object trims edge of backgrounds 2 Cut cuts holes in stencil mask 3 Cut Light as above w lighting 4 Cut Draw as mode 2 but texture is drawn on object too 5 Cut Draw Light as above w lighting 6 Draw thru Stencil this layer s texture is drawn where holes have been cut in stencil 7 Draw thru Stencil Light as above w lighting 8 Draw onto Stencil this layer s texture is drawn wher...

Page 129: ... patterned halftone screen width angle 26 Hatched Screen hatch patterned halftone screen width angle 27 CMYK Halftone color halftoned rendition width angle 28 Tiles image tiling divisions 29 Circular Crop circular image crop with edge blur size edge 30 Rectangular Crop rectangular image crop with edge blur size edge 31 Mirrors various mirror modes mode 32 Horizontal Bars break image into bars numb...

Page 130: ...Black Threshold renders black areas as true black intensity threshold 79 Pos Lattice divides image into rectangles divisions size 80 Neg Lattice reverse of pos lattice divisions size 81 Simple Duotone two color duotone effect mode threshold 82 Channel Shift separates RGB channels horizonta l vertical 83 LumaKey renders bright areas transparent intensity threshold 84 LumaKey Inverse renders dark ar...

Page 131: ...2A controls Keystone amount 4 This effect requires that the second effect channel on the corresponding layer be set to 255 At that point Mod 2A sets the half universe for the start addr This effect is quite complex and you should contact a PRG representative if you want to use it as further settings are required These elements require additional input files in order to obtain the desired result Us...

Page 132: ...Right simple 3d rotate effect 30 Rotate Down simple 3d rotate effect 31 Rotate Up simple 3d rotate effect 32 Rotate Center Vertical simple 3d rotate effect 33 Rotate Center Horizontal simple 3d rotate effect 34 Zoom Out zoom out and back in 35 Zoom In zoom in and back out 36 Horizontal Bars 10 horizontal bars hard edge 37 Horizontal Bars Blend 10 horizontal bars blended edge 38 Vertical Bars 20 ve...

Page 133: ...Newsflash 2 Y as above but objects spin in opposite directions Object Effects ID Effect MbE Description Control 1 Control 2 0 NONE Y no effect 1 L R Shutter Y mask LHS RHS of layer left right 2 B T Shutter Y mask Bot Top of layer bottom top 3 Move Center Y shift rotational center of image X 127 def Y 127 def 4 Shake Y X Y shake effect X Y 5 Strobe Y strobe effect off time on time 6 Object Tile Y t...

Page 134: ...126 MBOX EXTREME MEDIA SERVER USER MANUAL Notes ...

Page 135: ...Mbox Extreme Media Server User Manual Version as of October 15 2010 PRG part number 02 9800 0001 32 ...

Page 136: ...Production Resource Group Dallas Office 8617 Ambassador Row Suite 120 Dallas Texas 75247 www prg com ...

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