7thSense Design Delta Media Server

Channel Alignment Guide:

Warping and Blending

Original by Andy B Adapted by Helen W (November 2015)

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Trademark Information Delta, Delta Media Server, Delta Nano, Delta Lite, DFM, and Delta Audio Server are trademarks of 7thSense Design LTD. Brand or product names may be registered trademarks of their respective owners. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright Information All Rights Reserved. These documents are copyrighted © by 7thSense Design LTD and shall not be reproduced or copied without express written authorisation from 7thSense Design LTD. The information in these documents are subject to change without notice. 7thSense Design LTD assumes no responsibility for errors, and/or omissions contained in this information.

Introduction

Channel alignment is used when multiple channels are used to project your media onto large flat or curved screen(s). Prior to channel alignment you must set up: • Network – setup Server, GUI, projectors and screen(s) • Graphics cards/drivers – EDID Emulation and Grouping

displays (see slide 8) • Media ingest – media must be in an appropriate format and

loaded onto the server For more information on these aspects, please see the relevant 7thSense user guidance.

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Before Warping and Blending

• The top image here shows shadowing and a crossed-over effect of the text in the centre of a 2 channel projection.

• The bottom screenshot of a movie shows how media appears duplicated across the centre of the same projection setup.

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Caminandes: Gran Dillama [Courtesy of Blender] http://www.caminandes.com/

After warp and blend

Each piece of media now appears as a single projection with no visible overlap or distortion.

This guide will show you how to effectively warp and blend media onto a wide screen using

two channels (projections). 5

Create A New File In Delta GUI:

Click File > New

Select Resources and Configuration > click Yes

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Set Output Channel Mode to Off

1. Click CONFIG

2. Click Display

3. Click OUTPUT SETUP

Note: The output setup defaults to a single channel but for this example we will set up multiple channels, all in a row (two or three projectors (channels), projecting side-by-side)…

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Set Output Channel Mode to Off (All in Line)

Output Channel Modes: • Off (All In Line) = single row,

single or multiple channels (rectangular)

• Composition Mode = multiple channels, non-standard shape to project (typically LED processors)

• Matrix Mode = multiple channels set in rows and columns (rectangular/square)

Notes: The screen may be flat or curved in this mode The ‘Off’ and ‘Matrix’ modes should match the graphics card arrangement (see slide 8 for AMD setup)

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AMD setup

The AMD FirePro Control Center enables you to configure your display group as an extended desktop (All in a Row) or grouped arrangement (Matrix). The Control Center also enables you to carry out EDID Emulation (spoofing) and other display related tasks. For more information on these tasks see AMD guidance documents.

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Set up the Canvas

1. Enable the Pixel Grid

2. Click the Defaults Wizard on the Channel Menu

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Ingest media

All media must be on the server: you can use the Delta GUI Ingest Wizard to send images, audio, obj and xml files (200 Mb limit) to the server C:\ drive, or copy movie files directly onto the server’s movie drive. Refresh GUI to view added media.

Remember that movie files must be in TGA or a 7th format – you can use DFM to convert if required (see Delta and DFM User Guides for more information).

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Drop media onto the timeline – when you view it on the output screen you may see distortion, shadowing and/or duplication in the overlapped area(s) of the screen, where the projected images are out of alignment and may require warping. You may also notice areas of high luminance or hard lines, which need blending.

Add Media

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Set Up Flat Plane Defaults (1)

1. Select Force n Channels > set to number of outputs required

2. Select Overlapped (for projection)

3. Select Force Size to match the resolution of the projector: check/amend width and height accordingly

4. The Overlap Size percentage should match your projection system, which should be a minimum 10% physical overlap of your projector(but more may be better): 20% is default You can estimate the percentage to start but you will clearly see if it is not correct…

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Overlap too much

If the overlap % is too great, you will see duplication of the image where the projections cross – adjust your overlap % until the image looks to be a single, ‘whole’ image

[Note that there may still be distortion/shadowing as in the 2nd image above: this may be better fixed with warping and blending options]

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Set Up Flat Plane Defaults (2)

Note: Channels should overlap to allow the picture to be blended at a later stage (to prevent ‘hard edges’ where projections join) Rule of thumb! Wider blends work better than narrow so overlap should be around 20% to allow for this

5. Select Create Warps and Create Blends

6. You MUST click Apply to accept changes,

then click Done

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Tip! Note Canvas Size… The over all Canvas Size (4992 by 1200) accounts for overlap and is useful for Media creators to know, to enable them to match resolution of the media to the screen output from the start

[This example shows 3 channels of 1920 pixel width each, with 20% overlap]

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Add Geometry to Background layer

Geometry is usually applied to the Background layer. This ensures that the entire show is warped to fit the output display.

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Click TIMELINE

Double-click Geometry

Click to select Background

Name your resource

Assign it to the correct channel

Add Geometry for each channel

Once you have created a background Geometry, it will show as a Background and Display Layer in the timeline. You must create a Geometry for each channel that you are using so repeat the process until you have one for each output channel

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Amending Geometry settings

You can amend any settings that you have for your geometry by double-clicking it in the timeline to open its Resource Editor.

Your Timeline should now look something like this!

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Surface Warp

In this example, I am projecting onto a curved screen: Surface Warp allows you to get general overall alignment for your media on flat or curved screens.

• Click on CONFIG then on Warp

• Click SURFACE – the GUI will show you a number of fixed points on the selected channel

• Click on the Geometry that you want to start working on

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Using the Pixel Grid

This image is quite ‘busy’ and so may not be so easy to use as a guide to alignment: You can align your projections using media output or by aligning a grid on a plain background: Click the Pixel Grid to display the alignment grid…

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Surface Warp on Output…

Viewing media AND a grid across the whole screen may be even more confusing, so you can disable your media to view a simple grid for each channel with no background…

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Disable Movie to Align by Pixel Grid

• Click on TIMELINE > right-click over the movie > click Disable

• Return to CONFIG > Warp > Surface

You will now see the grids with any overlap section in clear view. The pixel grid also gives vertical and horizontal numbering to help you align more easily.

The width of each channel should be much the same: they should have the same number of squares, which we aim to get all the same size

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Adjusting Channel Width

If the channel widths appear vastly different, you can easily change them in the Channel setup: CONFIG > Display Manually type the number of pixels in the Width field or click and drag the channel’s side(s) to meet width requirement

• Ensure that the middle channel (if you have one) is positioned centrally

• Mark the Centre points of the output screen with tape or laser-line if required (vertical and horizontal) to guide your grid alignments

Note: Horizontal Centre point is full screen width ÷ 2

(4992 / 2 = 2496)

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Screen output

A curved widescreen with 3 projections may be set up like this:

Channel 1 (Left) pixel grid is set to green

Channel 2 (Centre) pixel grid is set to red

Channel 3 (Right) pixel grid is set to blue

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Warp a single channel at a time

You may also find it easier to work on a single channel at a time:

• to ‘switch off’ the other channels, disable all 3 colour beams by removing all colour from each…

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View/Align a Single Channel

1. ALL OFF hides the channel grid completely

2. Channel 1 is set to Red only whilst Channel 2 is set to Red + Green (Yellow!)

It is best to work with fewer ‘points’ initially as each point warps only the section surrounding it – we recommend using just the 4 corner points (dots) to start

Using the Horizontal and Vertical buttons (H- and V-) reduce the number of points to 4 (for each Channel warp)

Delta will prompt you to accept the changes, to prevent you from losing any ‘custom’ lines that you may have included whilst setting up

Configure Surface Warps

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Using your display output screen to judge:

Move each of the dots in turn until it appears to be in the correct place

– they should each be just visible in the corners/top/bottom of the screen

To move a point (dot) into position: • Use the mouse (click and drag)

or • Ctrl+arrow keys or • Ctrl+Shift+arrow keys (for very fine tuning)

Align the corners

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Align the corners

Move each point until they are all just visible on the output screen

Try to keep the squares roughly of equal size across the whole section of the screen

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To make the grid fit the output screen you may need to add further points:

Click H+ and V+ to add an extra point where necessary to enable you to pull the middle-edges of the grid into view on your output screen

Stretch/Shrink to Fit

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Align multiple channels

Once one grid appears to fit well, switch on the next (in another colour if preferred) and repeat slides 21 to 24 until each fit the correct area of the screen.

Note: Numbering is available to help you align the grids to one another, and once aligned, all squares should be of equal size for best media output

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Notes: • Too many dots may become ineffective • Once adjustments are made, if you then remove dots, the warp from that

area is removed, so you may have to start again!

Fine tuning…

Once set, avoid moving the outside edges and work only with those points that don’t touch the sides/top and bottom of the screen to align the vertices in the overlapped sections of grids

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Adjust for linearity

Pull in/stretch out grid points until all the squares appear to be of equal width and vertical gridlines match up

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Full Alignment

Your grids should now match up, with full vertical and horizontal alignment.

Tip: If you have done this correctly, the sizes of squares should be pretty close to identical if you measure them across the output screen!

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Reset Colour Beams

Enable your movie to view the image alignment: TIMELINE > right-click the movie > Enable You may have left colour beam choices set differently for each channel, which can make the media look rather odd – click Beams and reset each channel to all colours (R,G,B) for the correct effect 37

Change for Llama!

Timeline Geometry

Timeline Geometry is a more mathematical approach to warping selected parts of the screen with a view to maintaining as much of the original aspect ratio as possible. There are many controls to experiment with and, as with Surface Warp, each to its selected channel…

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Using Timeline Warps

Timeline warps are applied in a more mathematical way and you should work from the centre of the display using ‘Whole Picture effects’ outwards to the corners for best effect. The warp effect is applied by using the scroll bar or arrow keys

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Whole picture Whole picture Whole picture Whole picture

Correcting Linearity

This example shows where Timeline Geometry can correct minor linearity issues, such as where the Llama’s leg appears blurred due to minor misalignment.

[Note, there is also a hard line where channels 2 and 3 meet: this can be addressed through increasing your overlap and/or using blends

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Caminandes: Llama Drama [Courtesy of Blender] http://www.caminandes.com

Adjust Horizontal Size

By adjusting the horizontal size of channel 1, the image is corrected for a smooth join and no blurring.

Experiment with other effects to get a feel for how they work, remembering to always try to maintain aspect ratio of your media

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Timeline Geometry Use

In this example, the warps applied may be fun but not necessarily very useful

You can reset your media to original by clicking Grid > Reset Selected Timeline Geometry

This type of warp may be most effective to make the media fit a display that is not perfectly symmetrical/straight.

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Playback Window/Output

Warping: Finer Detail

When your media has even finer detail such as smaller text, surface and timeline warps may not be enough to achieve the best outcome. In this example, where the overlapped projections cause shadowing of the text, finer Point Distortion functionality allows you to manipulate these areas to pull the images into perfect alignment…

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Point Distortion

The Point Distortion method overlays a grid on a channel for Small, Medium or Large area manipulation. This enables you to grab any ‘point’ (or group of points – click and drag to highlight a group) on the selected channel and manipulate it:

• Use the mouse or [Ctrl+arrow] or [Shift+Ctrl+arrow] to pull points into position

• The point that you are manipulating shows as a larger yellow dot on the output

(Playback Window/Screen)

GUI Point Distortion Grid

Playback Window/Output

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Point Distortion Options

It is worth experimenting with point distortion with some finer detailed media to get used to the movement it allows for – this example shows where you can create some great effects but it is unlikely to be what you want…use the ‘reset point’ options if you need to reset points to their origin. There are also options to change the Onscreen Dot Size and Grid Density, which may be helpful if working on a larger display.

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Note: use this technique sparingly for very small changes!!

Fully Aligned

This example shows where point distortion has allowed me to ‘tweak’ small sections of text for full alignment: the text is clear and there is no shadowing.

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Blending Options

Blending is used to blend luminance, minor shadowing where projections meet/overlap or hide ‘hard edges’ if required. In this example, we need to adjust blending between channels 1 and 2 and between channels 2 and 3 for smooth viewing across the entire screen

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Luminance Hard Edge

As with Geometry, you can add blending for each channel to your timeline by double-clicking the blends icon, naming it and selecting the channel that it applies to. Note that blends are automatically applied to the background layer

Add Blending to the Timeline

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With Warps and Blends

Your timeline should now show all your geometry and blends, but your playback window may look something like this, where there are ‘holes’ in the media where there is far too much blending on each channel…

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Change Blending [1]

Under CONFIG > Blends select the channel [Ch1] that you want to start with

There are blending options for each area of the screen: left, top, bottom, right

For each area of the screen, there are several blending options, controlled by the scroll bar 50

Select the options you want to blend, then click and drag the scroll bar to implement the effect. Keep checking the results on your output screen…

Using blends

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Remove Blending

If you don’t need a blend (for example at the top of the screen), you can remove it by simply moving it completely off the grid.

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Matching Softness

Experiment with blends, using positioning and softness options to improve the over all visual effects. It is important to match the widths of your blends on each channel to ensure that your luminance is corrected appropriately.

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Try different blending options

There are many blending options to allow for flat or curved effects across whatever shaped display you are using. Gamma and Smoothness options are used for improved contrast and smoothness on blended areas.

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Multiple channels

Repeat for each channel until the image looks smooth across the whole screen, with no sharp lines , joins or lighter/darker patches.

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Your media should now fit the screen and be of excellent quality graphics/text, with no shadowing or obvious hard edges where projections meet/overlap.

Happy Viewing!

Fully Aligned and Blended

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http://www.caminandes.com/