[QLab] MultiVid for iPhone and iPod Touch

[Steven Sokulski]

Just heard about a great new combination of desktop and iPhone OS
software called MultiVid. Simply put, MultiVid facilitates the
playback of video (and audio) simultaneously across multiple iPhones
or iPod Touches. The usefulness of this doesn't become apparent until
you add in an Apple AV cable that allows Multivid to play the content
out to an attached video device. So, for the cost of an iPod Touch
and AV cable you have the means to playback video without having (at
minimum) a Mac Mini attached to each display device. Each screen can
playback the same signal, or each screen can have its own synchronized
video. Latency is about half a second at maximum.

The server software (free) is required to load software onto the
devices over a Wifi network. The iPhone OS software (also free)
facilities playback OR control. You can load the content from
MultiVid Controller (the server software) and use it for playback.
Or, just use it to load content and the control from an iPhone or iPod
Touch over the wifi network.

Though this isn't directly useful to Qlab users, available OSC
commands could make this an appealing option for those looking to do
multi-screen playback. You wouldn't have the animation flexibility of
Qlab, but you also wouldn't have the added cost of having enough
graphics cards and computers to provide playback.

I'll add that I haven't tried this yet (downloading the OS X app now,
Windows app also available) but I'm eager to check it out.

http://www.creativeapplications.net/iphone/multivid-iphone/

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[Steven Devino]

seems like a cool idea in concept, I just can't get past the fact that iPhones want to conserve battery and therefor try to shut down or sleep every few seconds. They just don't seem like much more than a gimmick or a handy occasional tool for live work.  Have others figured out ways to keep them alive and full of juice?

Steve Devino

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[Paul Gotch]

On Fri, Sep 04, 2009 at 01:59:17PM -0400, Steven Devino wrote:
> seems like a cool idea in concept, I just can't get past the fact that
> iPhones want to conserve battery and therefor try to shut down or sleep
> every few seconds.

That's becase it is a phone. Battery technology really hasn't come on
very much in the last 10 years almost all the the fact that a phone can
last several days or even weeks on standby is agressive power
management.

If Apple didn't make it turn the screen off (and do a host of other
things you can't see) after a max of 5 mins of inactivity then they'd
have lots of angry customers who had mis configured their phones to be
always on and then wondered why the battery only lasted a couple of
hours.

It's certainly possible to stop it powering down, for example Apple's
own YouTube app does not allow the screen to turn off while it is
playing. However I do not know if Apple expose the required APIs to
thirdparty developers.

-p
--
Paul Gotch
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[Steven Devino]

On Sep 4, at  Sep 4, 2009 2:26 PM, Paul Gotch wrote:

On Fri, Sep 04, 2009 at 01:59:17PM -0400, Steven Devino wrote:

seems like a cool idea in concept, I just can't get past the fact that  

iPhones want to conserve battery and therefor try to shut down or sleep

every few seconds.

That's becase it is a phone. Battery technology really hasn't come on
very much in the last 10 years almost all the the fact that a phone can
last several days or even weeks on standby is agressive power
management.

I understand all that. I just don't understand how it can be all that useful as long as its a phone. I know its fun to "see if it can be done" but I am not sure it goes much beyond fun.

Just sayin...

[Steven Sokulski]

The ability to keep the device from powering down is a common feature
in a lot of apps, particularly those that show video of any sort. I
can't say with any certainty if this is the case on this app, but I
have seen this in use in shows where the devices provided playback and
control of multiple displays without a hitch. One of the videos seen
on the page I linked to shows off the devices connected to five
displays during a live performance. The particular performance piece
seen there lasts more than five minutes.

Generally, when the iPhone is receiving some kind of input (either
from the user or from an external network source) it stays up and
running.

Of course, this will be on the top of my list of things to check on
once the app has hit the iTunes Store.

On Sep 4, 2009, at 12:45 PM, Steve Devino wrote:

> I understand all that. I just don't understand how it can be all that
> useful as long as its a phone. I know its fun to "see if it can be
> done" but I am not sure it goes much beyond fun.
>
> Just sayin...
>
> Steve Devino

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[David Wilson]

There's rumors of new iPod touch coming out in the next week, might
spur me to finally purchase one.
I could see this hooked up to an external battery getting built into
trucked on set pieces for
wireless playback of sound and video.

David Wilson
Brandeis Theater Company
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

http://people.brandeis.edu/~wilson/DW-Design/Home.html