I work for Arkansas State Parks designing exhibit panels. We use Macs so we had to install Brightsign Author on the XP partition. Brightsign Author works, but because we only have Macintosh video software I had to produce our video there. From what I've read Brightsign Author only reads mpeg 1 and 2, and.ts files; none of which I can export to from a Mac video program. I've tried converters, but they aren't converting everything correctly. I could re-do the whole thing in Movie Maker, but it only saves in.wmv, which Brightsign Author doesn't like either. If you're going to limit us to two formats I would think you would provide a downloadable converter designed to give Brightsign Author the best file possible.
I take it you have no future plans in offering a Mac alternative. Any suggestions?
BrightAuthor is a PC software application for BrightSign that makes creating, publishing and managing BrightSign presentations simple and dependable.
We have customers that use final cut to export mpeg 1 and 2, and well as mpeg 2 transport streams (.ts). I'm you can use with with final cut/compressor to export mpeg2 program streams. To, to repeat, you can create mpeg1 and mpeg2 videos natively on the mac that play on the brightsign. We have customers that development content primarily on the macintosh. BrightAUthor currently only recognizes.mpg,.vob, and.ts extensions. You can also export h.264 content, but it has to be in transport stream container.That you can't do with final cut.
But, there are utilities, like tsmuxer, that will take an mov or mp4 file that's encoded using h.264 and change the container type from quicktime to transport stream without re-encoding. I'm posting directions below, posted by another user on this forum, for exporting mov files from final cut so they work with tsmuxer. I have been struggling for a day now to get up to speed on file formats for 210w I know it is vob mpg or ts.
I do not have FC Pro for my MAC. Sorry only FC Express I am investing my money into the hardware of BrightSign. I have my QT mov file works great. I have been trying to convert it to h.264, then using tmuxer to ts file. No luck finding the magic combination of settings. I have used the test images in the content file and they work. But every movie I export will not play.
Any pointer in the correct direction would be great. I am trying 1280 x 720 hs 30 fps.
I generally done video for only web. So video display formats for the BS are a new animal to me.
Free Synchronized Multi-Channel Video Player MultiScreener is a set of free applications that synchronize the playback of Quicktime movies on multiple computers, using a local network to tie them all together. (It can also sync multiple movies on the same computer using multiple monitors.) It is intended for multi-channel video art, video walls, trade shows, and digital signage. When I developed it in 2008 I wanted an artist-friendly alternative to expensive. MultiScreener provides synchronized multi-channel video playback using regular computers. Note: If you are planning on buying new equipment for multi-channel playback I suggest buying BrightSign players instead. They are cheaper and more reliable than computers.
(See my.) MultiScreener is a great solution if you already have Mac computers, though. How It Works There is a Server and a Client. The server plays a movie and also sends position information over the network. Each client “listens” to the server and subtly adapts its movie playback speed to stay in sync. There is no limit to the number of clients. Originally, I assumed that each client would run on its own machine, but you can also run multiple clients on the same computer, with each client feeding a different monitor. Looping and de-interlacing are available, and all settings are automatically saved for unattended startup.
MultiScreener can output to the computer screen or external video devices (like DV cameras or decks). There is no native resolution or frame-rate, so all Quicktime video formats are supported. If MultiScreener Doesn’t Do What You Want.
Read the. It’s included in the download, and updated more frequently online. Looking for a Windows version? I don’t have one. There is an unsupported version below, for Windows XP, contributed by somebody else.
(I don’t have a Windows machine so I cannot help you in any way.) Also see the visual patching language VVVV and its (free for non-commercial use). Looking for an iPad version? I don’t have one.
Works OK, but sync is not accurate and there’s a long pause at each loop. Is similar but I couldn’t get it to sync at all. Others might have better luck. Looking for an Android version? I don’t have one. You can modify MultiScreener.
The source code is included under a GPL license. You will need, which costs money, but there is a free 30-day demo.
The BrightSign HD220 is an inexpensive ($350) hardware HD player that can be synced over ethernet. Usually you need to use their (Windows only) authoring software to setup the boxes for each show, but there is an easier. Spend $$$$ on well-supported professional software like Dataton’s, Renewed Vision’s, from Scalable Display Technologies,.
from NaSoLab is a semi-affordable set of apps that do exactly what MultiScreener does. I haven’t tried it but maybe it’s better?. is a free and open source solution, based on, which has deep hooks into the guts of Mac OS X so it plays back HD content with fewer dropped-frames than MultiScreener. There is one major caveat (as of Feb 2009): The server plays video and sound, but clients cannot play sound. (It’s a limitation of Quartz Composer so the author can’t do anything about it.). is a free, open source library for the programming language that allows Processing sketches to run across multiple computers on a network.
Processing is too slow to play broadcast-quality video but perfect for computer-generated graphics. is a free app by HC Gilje that handles all kinds of complicated video projection tasks (cueing, mixing, effects, keystoning, etc). It doesn’t explicitly handle syncing of multiple videos on different machines, but it can play multiple videos on one machine, and it supports a rich set of OSC messages for remote control. is an open source app for projecting multiple channels of video stills, colors, or live feeds onto real-world objects. It doesn’t handle syncing of multiple videos on different machines, though.
(It was made with OpenFrameworks and distributed primarily as source code. Compiled Windows and Mac versions are available as a trial download). is being developed by in the Netherlands to synchronize HD playback on modified players. If you want to have 3 synced displays from a single computer (with a single monitor port) you can also try the. (You make a super-wide movie, played from your single monitor port via Quicktime Player.
The Matrox box splits the signal across 3 separate monitors.). is a free Mac player that spans a super-wide movie across multiple monitor ports, similar to the Matrox, except it’s software, and it requires a monitor port for each display. is a free Mac/Windows/Linux video player designed for 3D projection. We can use it to play two videos on two connected displays. It’s scriptable and seems to work great. (How To: Launch Bino, Set Bino’s Fullscreen settings to “Dual Screen”, Select both movies simultaneously in the “File / Open” menu, set Input mode to “Separate Streams, Left First”, set Output mode to “Left/Right”).
Download Current Version (It’s old but it works!) Feb 03, 2009, 24MB with source “patches” for MAX/MSP/Jitter 5. NOTE: The auto-startup Applescripts included in the download won’t run on modern Macs. Updated ones are. Please read the for instructions and a detailed Changelog. You may need to adjust your security settings and/or install Java.
Changes in this version:. Changed to GPL 3.0 license. Recompiled with MAX5.
Tested HD playback. Fixed: Fixed error in client timing comparison. (improved sync accuracy). Other Versions. (17MB, no source patches included) but you can Many people have asked for a Windows build and I’ve told them to compile it themselves, using the free MAX5 demo for windows. Finally somebody did, so thank Jake Rugino for this.
I haven’t tested it because I don’t have Windows machines, so you’re on your own. (Some people have reported that it doesn’t work with Windows 7.) Made With MultiScreener I’m amazed at the scope of MultiScreener users who have contacted me. From a small flamenco festival in Spain, to the Museum of Modern Art, and plenty in-between. Here are some of them: Artists & Designers. has used MultiScreener in numerous installations: (2 channel rear projection onto warehouse windows) (4 vid channels + surround sound, on 2 old G4s and one MacBook Pro).
modified the MultiScreener code to support proximity-based video switching for his piece SCOOP 6PM at U of Oregon’s White Box Gallery in Portland, OR. Jeb Johenning (Ocean Video) used MultiScreener with 11 laptops and projectors to make this amazing ad for PUMA shoes:. ran MultiScreener on 4x Mac minis (2010 version) to drive 8 synchronized screens for “Impermanence”. It was part of the traveling exhibit The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama which visited the in Stockholm to correspond with the announcement of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Michele Theunissen.
MoMa. Australian Centre for the Moving Image – www.acmi.net.au “screen worlds”. ATOPIA, an artist collective in Oslo, uses MultiScreener to sync 4 screens for the “Vitrine” public projection series. Schools. Jason Watkins synced 26 iMacs for the Digital Media Production class showcase at (UK). The 1 week run was trouble-free. SUNY Purchase New Media Program.
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Edinburgh University’s new new-media art gallery InSpace. Art Academy Minerva – The Netherlands Other. In 2008, MultiScreener was included in a CD-ROM packaged with every copy of the German MACup magazine. Have you used MultiScreener for something interesting?