<div dir="ltr"><div class="markdown-here-wrapper" style=""><p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">On Sat, Oct 10, 2015 at 9:53 PM gbierly via Stagecraft <a href="http://mailto:stagecraft@theatrical.net">stagecraft@theatrical.net</a> wrote:</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important"></p><div class="markdown-here-exclude"><p></p><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">While we are on this I would like to hijack this thread, I have been trying to research the best way to get multiple video outputs.  I would prefer to run two individual outputs out of an 2009 iMac.  I have an older Matrox VGA dual-head-2-go and I am having a harder time getting drivers to work.  I would prefer to edge blend two surfaces anyway.  </blockquote><p></p></div><p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important"></p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">Edge blending and using a Matrox are not mutually exclusive. QLab 3 allows you to use partial surfaces, which are specifically designed to let you address each output of a Matrox or DataPath X4 individually, so you can do anything with them that you could with two directly connected displays. The added benefit is that they’re from one output, so they’ll always be perfectly frame-synced.</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important"></p><div class="markdown-here-exclude"><p></p><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Do you have any suggestions as some good economical devices (brands and models) that will work well.  I have borrowed and tried a variety of cheaper usb to video adaptors with varying success.  My current projectors don't have HDMI in but my next pair probably will.<br></blockquote><p></p></div><p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important"></p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">USB video adapters are not real graphics cards, and are not supported for use with QLab. They are not capable of supporting some of the graphics technologies built into OS X that QLab requires for much of it’s advanced video functionality, in addition to just generally being known to be buggy*, and using a lot of CPU and USB bandwidth.</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">If your iMac doesn’t have two built in video outputs, a Matrox or DataPath is going to be your only option, although how well it will work on your iMac will depend on the particular specs of that Mac.</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">How much video you can get away with pushing out of an iMac (or any Mac) depends a lot on its graphics card. If it’s only got an integrated graphics processor, which shares regular RAM instead of having dedicated (and faster) video memory, it’s going to be a lot less capable than one with a dedicated NVIDIA or AMD card with vRAM. </p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">What an integrated GPU can handle depends on the total resolution of all the displays, as well as exactly what you’re doing. Straightforward playback of one video at a time may not be a problem, but once you’re layering, fading, edge-blending, etc, that’s going to show the limits of the integrated GPU quickly, especially on a six-year old model.</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">(Even with current models, only certain 27” iMacs have dedicated graphics cards. All 21”, and the lower end 27” models, have integrated graphics, as do all Mac Mini models, all 13” and smaller MacBook Pro models, all non-Pro MacBook models, and the lower end 15” Retina MacBook Pros. For more than entry level video projection, you are limited to certain 27” iMacs, certain 15” rMBPs, or Mac Pros.)</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">Hope that helps, although I know it’s not the answer you were hoping for!</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">-Andy</p>
<p style="margin:1.2em 0px!important">—<br>Andy Lang<br><a href="http://twitter.com/SoundGuyAndy">@SoundGuyAndy</a><br><a href="mailto:support@figure53.com">support@figure53.com</a></p>
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