Ventuz Designer and Runtime always guarantees Backwards Compatibility and thus are always able to load scenes and presentations created in previous Ventuz versions.
However, if upgrading from one major Ventuz version to the next, there can be some (breaking) changes in functionality and work-flow to be considered. These changes can be grouped in three categories:
Since Ventuz 6.0 the folder locations and structures for settings, configurations and caches changed.
All versions starting with Ventuz 7 come with a small utility located in the installation folder: VentuzMigrationHelper.exe
With following startup options it' possible to specify which settings/files should be migrated:
-noui : start without UI
-v5 : migrate from a Ventuz 5 installation
-onlyonce : test if migration has been performed before and do not migrate again
-all : migrate all settings/configs
-des : migrate Designer User Settings
-dir : migrate Director User Settings
-res : migrate Resolution Presets
-mc : migrate Machine Configurations
-id : migrate Custom SystemID
-vms : migrate VMS Settings
-rep : migrate Repositories
-lic : migrate SOFTWARE LICENSES
-fnt : migrate Fonts and Emojis Cache
-ow : overwrite existing files
This utility allows to copy all according files from the Ventuz 5 or 6 locations to the new Ventuz 7 folders. On the first run of the Ventuz 7 installer this utility is started automatically and allows to select the items that should be copied. When the migration has finished a report is presented. This report is located in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Ventuz7\Logs. On every next installer run the utility checks if a migration already has been performed (by checking the existence of the migration report file) and does not show up anymore. But it's possible to start this tool manually and perform a migration again.
The Tool is only started post installation if a Ventuz 5 or 6 installation is found on the system and no migration has already been performed
Files and settings that can be migrated are e.g.:
During the Migration process all configurations that are found are already converted and imported, but you might have backuped some of your Ventuz 6 configurations and want to manually convert them.
To do so:
Starting with Ventuz 7 Render Setups are not global anymore but moved into the Ventuz Project structure. Therefor you will not find a Render Setup folder in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Ventuz7\Configurations anymore. However, this also means that Render Setups are converted but cannot be imported to the correct location. Per default converted Render Setups are located in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Ventuz7\Configuration\V6_Imports\RenderSetups
and have to be applied to a Ventuz Project manually. This can be either done by creating a RenderSetups
folder inside your Ventuz Project and adding the desired *.vren
files or by using Import to Project
inside Project Properties.
Ventuz helps to find and resolve nodes in a scene that are removed, deprecated or changed for this version. The Scene Statistics' Issues Tab lists nodes that cause errors or issues. The same time, these nodes are marked in Hierarchy and Content Editor with a red or orange frame - depending on the error level. The node's tooltip gives a hint too.
The context menu of the node - Click to open it - will show an Auto-Resolve Issue entry if Ventuz can resolve it automatically. This will replace the node with it's new version when possible. Auto-Resolve is usually possible for nodes that have a counterpart in the new version and are not bound to other nodes.
The File Formats are not compatible but you can import and convert the old configuration files with the Migration Helper, the Configuration Editor and in Ventuz Designer.
In the past Machine ID 0 was implicitly creating a preview of the active Render Setup, called Cluster Preview. This has changed with Ventuz 7.0 release. Machine ID 0 is now the first machine inside a [Cluster Ventuz Cluster] and only showing the part of a Render Setup that is configure in the Output Mapping
As a result, it is necessary to configure the number of Render Pipes independently. These Pipes can then be assigned to output streams later in the Video Output stream configuration.
One of the major changes since Ventuz 7 is based on how you create and playout multiple contents on multiple parallel outputs.
Check the following pages to get used to the new workflow:
These are Nodes which do not work anymore as their functionality has been removed: