: From the tradition of Montevideo / Time Based Arts : and for the very last time as Netherlands Media Art Institute : we are proudly presenting you: : : ,, ,, : `7MM `7MM : MM MM : MMpMMMb. ,M""bMM ,pP"Ybd `7M' `MF'`7MMpMMMb. ,p6"bo : MM MM ,AP MM 8I `" VA ,V MM MM 6M' OO : MM MM 8MI MM `YMMMa. VA ,V MM MM 8M : MM MM `Mb MM L. I8 VVV MM MM YM. , : .JMML JMML.`Wbmd"MML. M9mmmP' ,V .JMML JMML.YMbmd' : ,V : OOb'ver. 1.2 "Time Based Arts" : : A network based sync-starter for multi-channel HD Video : Written by Denis Roio aka Jaromil, R&D Montevideo/NIMk : Website: http://syncstarter.org The digital video syncstarter software was developed through the past years by the Montevideo/NIMk Artlab to provide synced playback of multiple high definition videos on multiple screens. In the video art field there are many artworks requiring the real-time synced playback of audio/video: HDSync provides such a functionality for HD decoders, to sync HD video playback on multiple devices. As a consequence of cultural funding cuts in the Netherlands, this development program is being shut down and the whole institute will be closing by the end of the year, after more than 30 years of activity. Nevertheless we hope this development will survive as free and open source software, hoping it can benefit the video art community at large, keeping the Montevideo / Time Based Arts tradition alive. More about HDSync: http://syncstarter.org/hdsync Browse HDSync source code: http://code.dyne.org/hdsync More syncstarter software: http://syncstarter.org/software More info about the Dyne.org software foundry: http://dyne.org Donations welcome (and much needed) on http://dyne.org/donate ** Usage and compatibility HDSync only works on a specific hardware configuration: WD HD Live players running B-Rad's WDLXTV firmware, something artists themselves can afford for approx 100EUR on the consumer market. Interesting portability horizons at the moment: AppleTV and Boxee devices, as well new WDTV models. But we lack the hardware so if you have extra please consider a donation! Of course HDSync can be compiled for x86 and used to activate computers running a UPNP-AV daemon that controls video playback. Development could as well go into the direction of implementing a PC based syncstarter, but this also depends from the support this project will receive in future. At the current stage of development hdsync is consisting only of portable C/C++ code that can be easily cross-compiled to ARM, MIPS and more embedded platforms. It is rather simple to port it to more set-top boxes, but we miss the hardware and the time in order to do it. If you are interested to port this software on an hardware platform you possess, please contact us! We can arrange a deal, borrow your hardware and settle a development plan. This way you, your company or your institution might be able to save significant amounts of money by adapting the syncstarter software to an existing infrastructure rather than buying new hardware. ** News for this release Watch the video documentation of the Ambarella video wall, giving the name to this new release: http://vimeo.com/ambarella/video-wall-redux HDSync can synchronise the playback of multiple channels, virtually unlimited, now Ambarella sets a new record: 37! :^) This release consists of a full rewrite of the 0.6 version of HDSync in C language, eliminating most of the shell scripted interaction and condensing operations into a single process. The latest 1.1 release just fixes some bugs, especially when running on a statically configured network. The result of the 1.x rewrite is more stability, no more freezes, visibly lower latency of operations, more control over network handshake and precise frame synchronization (1 to 3 frame error rate) plus we've made the HDSync software easy to port on more platforms. In short: this software is finally STABLE ;^) Empirical tests show way better synchronization (close to frame precision) and very low margin of error in re-syncing after loops (still some de-sync occurs from time to time if using short clips). Please note that now it is necessary to add 5 seconds of black in front of the synced videos, in order to avoid an irregular blink at the start of every loop. ** Documentation A user manual is online at http://ftp.dyne.org/hdsync/hdsync_manual.pdf More documentation is included inside the doc/ directory ** Building from source In order to compile HDSync for WDTV you need to use a MIPSEL toolchain (like the one provided by Emdebian) and use it to compile this software: ./configure --host=mipsel-linux-gnu is the correct target However, ready to use binaries (hdsync.app.bin) are provided on http://files.dyne.org/hdsync ** Support and warranty The purpose of this release is to make the project open source to allow collaboration with developers interested: we release HDSync as free and open source (GNU GPL v3) in the hope it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY. Voluntary support is provided by the community of users, please join our free mailinglist and let us know your progress and projects http://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/syncstarter archived on http://lists.dyne.org/lurker/list/syncstarter.en.html In case you need assistance to setup your own HD sync-starter, you can contact us and ask a quote, details on http://syncstarter.org/service ** So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish!