MediaShout Triple-wide Announcement (& LOOPS!)

[Kevin L.]

Ya, we've been using the three screen setup for our special Christmas multi-media show. We'll also use it at Easter, but based on our sanctuary's shape and size, we're seriously considering it for full time use. We started taking one of the projectors down last night and now it feels empty in there. Content production hasn't been too hard (see more below), especially since PPT is easy to create content for any width. It's really cool watching PPT animation go across all three screens!

Here's how I set up our system:
3 identical BenQ 4,000 lumen projectors
3 identical screens mounted side by side (separate, not seamless)
1 VGA cable running to each projector (3 in all)
1 main control computer with MediaShout
Output from main computer going into Matrox triplehead2go box input
Output from center screen on matrox box going directly to center projector
Output from left and right channels on matrox box going into simple A/B switchers as input A
1 secondary computer with MediaShout
Output from second computer split with amplifier, then each going into the two A/B switchers as input B
Output from A/B switchers going to side screens (one for left, one for right).

All that just to say that we can use the main computer for full, 3 screen control with a resolution of 3072x768. Then, if we want separate content on the side screens, we can throw the A/B switches and use the second computer to display something else (the important part here was matching the refresh rate on both computers so the projectors don't have to re-sync. Sometimes we'd put the lyrics with a still background on the sides with a video clip in the middle or vice versa.
I know all that sounds complicated, but it was actually fairly simple and cheep. The projectors were $1,000 each (we needed new ones anyway), the matrox box was around $300, the A/B switchers about $20 each, then just the cabling. We already had the computers and MediaShout. The end result was stunning even though we didn't use a seamless screen and edge-bending projectors. In fact the new digital version of the triplehead2go lets you remove the space for the seams so that your mind fills in what's missing for you.
As for the videos, we just used standard resolution 4:3 loops and stretched them. Some looked bad so we cut them out, but others worked great. If they were supposed to look abstract, then they did fine. We also found lots of triple-wide images online for desktop pictures. (I'm still trying to find a CD-rom that Youth Specialties sold after their "Wide Open" youth worker convention; it had tons of double, triple and even quadruple screen still images)
I did two HD projection installations at the school where I work and I've found that just using stretched 4:3 video loops looks fine. However, I am interested in the sermonvideos site. Thanks!

[Sysmom]

Does all this mean that you can send three separate images to the 3 computers projectors which are all lined up there together?

And Kevin ... from time to time I upload images for my double-wide screen to the MCX here. I guess if there's other people who use this width of media, I'll upload more of them.

deb

[atnalta563]

Hey everyone - I just stumbled across this forum and wanted to chime in if that's okay. The triple wide media shout deal is really cool and I agree with most of you that some of the HD motion clips I own work alright in there.

However, I really appreciate it when I can use actual aspect ratio videos and images. So I have been researching triple wide videos lately and found two resources we have fallen in love with. Thought I would share them here:

Playback Drive - they claim they are the largest collection of triple wide video content at 50 videos (and even more stills). It's actually a pretty good collection. It all comes with a 500GB hard drive and about 700 images and videos total. I encourage you to check it out. They also just released two new products called Playback Packs, they're smaller collections of media that include triple wide AND HD.

TripleWide Media - This is a website (triplewidemedia.com) that specializes in content for triple wide video screens and such. What we love about this place is that you get the triple wide, double wide and an SD video with each purchase. They're pretty reasonably priced at $12 (figuring you get all three resolutions). They're also credit based, which means that we can load up our account and download stuff when we need it. (they say the credits never expire.)

so, these are 2 very cool ideas, glad I found them. Hope this helps.

[jeremyb503]

The backgrounds on triple wide media look really cool. Makes me want to buy some more screens and projectors!