How to syncronise the playback of 3 films

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dan_aka_jack

Well-known member
Hi there,

For a video installation project that I'm working on, we need to deliver 3 separate video streams to 3 screens and the 3 films have to be synchronised to within about 0.2 seconds of each other. Each film will be 5 minutes long and the films should automatically loop throughout the day. We're shooting HD but we don't know if the screens will be HD or not so it's safest to assume that the final films will be downconverted to SD.

Has anyone got any experience with synchronising playback? We've had several ideas that we're looking into:

1) Buying 3 identical DVD players. At the start of each day we use a single remote to start the players. The DVDs will be programmed to repeat automatically.

2) Hire 3 DVcam decks. I believe it's possible to connect the DVcam decks together and make one a timecode master and the other two a timecode slave. Hence all three decks should be controlled by a single deck. Is that correct?

3) Use computers to playback the video and write a script to trigger VLC or something like that.

Any other ideas would be most welcome!

Thanks loads,
Jack
 
1) Buying 3 identical DVD players. At the start of each day we use a single remote to start the players. The DVDs will be programmed to repeat automatically.
The first play would be fine. However you might experience some drift if there's any latency in the loop cycle. If you test this and it works for the entire day it's the cheapest solution.

2) Hire 3 DVcam decks. I believe it's possible to connect the DVcam decks together and make one a timecode master and the other two a timecode slave. Hence all three decks should be controlled by a single deck. Is that correct?
I know Betacam decks are capable of being setup as master and slave, I've done it on corporate shows. For DVcam decks I don't know and I'm unsure on how you would set up the master to loop. I think DVDs or QT clips playing back off a hard drive would be a better choice because the tapes are going to get beat up over the course of time.

3) Use computers to playback the video and write a script to trigger VLC or something like that.
IMO, this is the best option. See below for controller apps.

Here are a couple of options for syncro playback:

http://www.dataton.com/news

http://www.stumpfl.com/
 
Hi man,

Thanks loads for the reply. Unfortunately we're working on a very tight budget. I had a quick look at the two sites that you linked to but I couldn't find any prices. Do you know roughly how much those products cost? They looked, um, expensive!

If we had the budget then I'd build three little PCs running Linux and VLC and I'd be very confident that such a system would be capable of doing what we need.

Also, another idea that I had was this:

We use three identical DVD players but the DVDs are NOT programmed to repeat. Instead, I hack into one of the remote controls and rig up a timer to the "play" button. This way the remote control with instruct all three players when to play and they'll all keep in sync.

Thanks,
Jack
 
I don't have the prices, but yes when you start ringing up all the modules for the various devices it adds up quickly. Cool stuff though. It might be something to look into if the next job has a bigger budget. You can control playback, lights, midi audio boards, pretty much anything that has a data port. If you get enough stuff going at one time it's like being the Wizard of Oz.

Considering you're tight budget one of you're home brewed solutions will get it done. I read on another thread about someone use a Mac mini to playback HD quicktimes for a trade show. Good price ($500usd) to performance ratio. New macs come with a remote for the media center. Could you create 3 QT's that are set to loop and use one remote to start all 3 movies? I'm just thinking out loud here.

Whatever solution you come up with, I'd like to hear how it all works out for you.
good luck.
 
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