Dual screen projection

[feedbackdj]

Greetings! I need to project separate images on to two individual screens from one PC. They will need to change at different times; one may keep the same image while the other may change three times in the same scene. Questions and help are appreciated!

 

[cpf]

Is this a PC, a laptop, or a Mac flavor of either of those?

 

[metti]

What do you have (computers, software, etc) and how much budget do you have to supplement that?

 

[feedbackdj]

Is this a PC, a laptop, or a Mac flavor of either of those?

Laptops are what we have on hand.

 

[feedbackdj]

What do you have (computers, software, etc) and how much budget do you have to supplement that?

We have some core 3 laptops and no specific software. We could just use two laptops but would prefer to prepare for the future. The budget is whatever the self funded drama club can come up with, so under $1,000.

 

[cpf]

In your case it might be cheaper to run two separate laptops, assuming said laptops are already owned and paid for. Doing it from one laptop would be easier - no cue synchronization worries between two machines - it would also require something like a DualHead2Go to split the laptop's single video output, which are $100+.

 

[metti]

Your best bet from a simplicity perspective is to pickup a DualHead2Go with the appropriate adapters and then to rent a educational license of QLab for a few bucks for each show.

 

[museav]

In your case it might be cheaper to run two separate laptops, assuming said laptops are already owned and paid for. Doing it from one laptop would be easier - no cue synchronization worries between two machines - it would also require something like a DualHead2Go to split the laptop's single video output, which are $100+.

A crticial point is the "split a single video output" as the DH2G creates a single wide format image across the two screens so displaying different content on each has to be addressed in software.

Do be aware that with the DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go that the projectors have to accept the same signal from among those supported by the Matrox device. That's not usually a problem but does prohibit things like a mix of 4:3 and 16:9 format images.

 

[feedbackdj]

Your best bet from a simplicity perspective is to pickup a DualHead2Go with the appropriate adapters and then to rent a educational license of QLab for a few bucks for each show.

I probably should have said that the laptops are windows based. Qlab looks awesome but is only for Mac, correct?

 

[metti]

QLab is in fact OSX only. Another possibility would be to rent an Isadora license dongle or buy a license outright.

 

[cpf]

Or, if your time is cheaper than your money, PowerPoint.

 

[metti]

Or, if your time is cheaper than your money, PowerPoint.

Does PowerPoint support irregular output geometries (e.g. DualHead2Go)?

 

[cpf]

Yes, to the degree that you can set an arbitrary slide geometry and make a master slide with all the "inactive" areas blacked out. Not efficient by any means, but it gets the job done.

 

[dbaxter]

Cue Player Premium Plus will control 2 video outputs, but running remote video from a laptop is a real strain on it. Still images fading in and out may be OK, but you may run into trouble trying to play 2 running videos.

 

[headoned]

screen monkey is a free option and does multiple screens