Live video trace

M

Mdunford

New Member
Hi all,

I am currently a Quickshow user but am currently looking into upgrading to a Beyond system. A feature that I am looking for in some current projects is the ability to trace live video and output the resulting trace as a laser graphic.

The workflow I am considering would be roughly as follows:
>Video plays in Resolume
>Send to a layer that simplifies the image (edge detection)
>Output this layer to beyond
>Beyond traces the image in real time (with as little latency as possible)
>Beyond outputs the image to the projector via FB4

My questions are:
1 - Is this possible/could it be implemented in future versions if not?
2 - If this is possible, could a protocol like Spout be used to route video directly into Beyond in software?

I've had a dig through the documentation but can only find reference to tracing input from webcam and Kinect. Ordinarily I would try and work this out through experimentation, but I would rather get some opinions on how this might work before I go and buy the software.

Cheers,

Matt Dunford
 
I'm not aware of any way to actually do this in "real-time" in Beyond. The video tracer does not work in real-time. It traces the video and renders it to a cue. I tried for a while to figure out a good way to do this, and I'm still not really satisfied. It's harder than it seems. There are other softwares out there that can render live trace input in real-time, but the results are still a little "meh" for the most part. Rotoscoping is typically something people do in post production. But you are right, you will typically have to use some sort of edge detection on the image before it's processed by the tracing software. Otherwise, the output is just nonsense. PM and I will give you a few suggestions. I spent a lot of time on this. lol
 
Hi Matt,

Our tech expert Francesco used something similar at PUG. As far as I know, Spout appear as webcam, and nothing special required from BEYOND side.

The part of realtime tracer right now under reconstruction. Older version used classic approach like LCVideo. New direction based on idea - realtime tracer as one more Image that can be used at timeline, cue, inside synth and so on. As input for tracer might be used WebCam, Kinect or timeline video. The workflow could be similar to any other Image types.

Best Regards,
Alexey
 
Hi Matt,

Yes, this is currently possible with Beyond, Resolume and Spout.

To get started you need to install the program Spout. http://spout.zeal.co/
After the installation (how to install is explained on the website) you need to open Resolume. Here you now will find an additional effect that is called SpoutSender. You need to add this effect to your Layer or Composition inside Resolume. In this effect you need to define a name for "Sender Name" and press update. At this point the output of your Layer or Composition is send to the SpoutSender and this can be opened in other programs. Please note that this is also possible to do this over a Network connection, so your programs Resolume and Beyond do not need to be on the same computer.

The next step is to send this output of the SpoutSender to the SpoutWebCam, what is a “virtual” webcam. (please make sure to select this option during the installation Spout) This additional step is needed because Beyond does currently not support a direct Spout input source. To send the output from the SpoutSender to the SpoutWebCam we need to open the SpoutPanel that can be found inside the directory of Spout. (C:\Program Files (x86)\Spout2\SPOUTPANEL\SpoutPanel.exe) Here you can select the defined name of the SpoutSender. After selecting it the output of Resolume is send to the SpoutSender what is send to the SpoutWebCam and this we can receive in Beyond.

In Beyond open the Tracer and select as input the webcam and press Trance. This will open the Webcam Tracer. Here you can select a webcam device. Now you should be able to select the Spout Cam and the resolution should match the resolution that is send out from Resolume.

And you are ready to play around….
Please note that you can adjust a lot of trace settings and also record the output.

I did make a screenshot while I had this all running but the timing was not great. This is the reason why you see a slightly different preview in the Tracer compared to the real laser output. There will always be a slight delay but this is not bad at all.

Spout_small.jpg

High Resolution

A final note, Pangolin is currently still working on this part of Beyond, please use a recent build of Beyond.

Have fun,
Francesco
 
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Thank you very much for your replies, great to see that this is possible. I think it's time for me to get myself a Beyond licence and have a play!

I shall share some details and images of the project when it is delivered.

Thanks again,

Matt
 
Is the Tracer/Trance capability part of Advanced or Ultimate? I see WebCam listed as an option only available in Ultimate...is that required to do this?
 
Think I may have answered my own question. Unless I missed something in the Spout server/receiver it appears you do have to have Ultimate in order to receive from a web cam. Anyone knows different please let me know.
 
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