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Render Setup Editor

Table of Contents

  1. Render Setup Editor
    1. Introduction
    2. User Interface
      1. Import and Export Render Setup
        1. Export
        2. Import
      2. Layout Mode
        1. Render Setup Elements
          1. Compositions
          2. Screens
          3. TUIO Touch Areas
        2. Measurement Tool
          1. Measurement Info Box
        3. Changing the Render Order
        4. Blending
        5. Composition Instancing
        6. Default Composition
      3. Mapping Mode
      4. Import Device Configuration
    3. Coordinate Space
    4. Logical vs. Visual Resolution
    5. Manipulating a Render Setup
      1. Selecting and Moving Elements
      2. Bezel and Overlap
      3. Output Types
        1. Single
        2. Grid
        3. Manual
      4. Cuts
        1. Properties
        2. Separation
        3. Split and Combine
      5. Machine ID
    6. TUIO Touch Area
      1. Examples and Scenarios
    7. Keyboard Shortcuts
  2. Warping and Soft-Edging
    1. Introduction
    2. The Ventuz Shaping Engine
      1. Performance Considerations
      2. Shaping with the Ventuz Designer
    3. The User Interface
      1. Navigation
      2. Global Toolbar
        1. Test Patterns
    4. Editing the Grid
      1. Selection
        1. Mirror Modes
      2. Editing
        1. Smart Mode
        2. UV Editor
      3. Summary
        1. Keyboard
        2. The Side-Toolbar
        3. Cursor Shape
      4. Zooming and Panning
      5. Handle Modes
      6. Insert Rows and Columns
    5. Manipulating Layers and Groups
      1. Subdivision
      2. Multiple Warp Groups
    6. Soft-Edges
      1. The gamma values
      2. Automatic Mode
      3. Manual Mode
    7. Per Output Settings
      1. Color Correction
      2. Quality Settings
      3. Enable / Disable Projector User Interface
    8. Per Group Settings
      1. Enable Warp Group / Alpha Blending
      2. UV Boundaries
      3. 3D projection
    9. Limitations

Introduction

The Render Setup Editor is part of the Ventuz Configuration and is used to create a configuration for complex display walls.

Render Setup configurations are now stored with the Project inside the Render Setup folder as a .vren! And are not inside the Configuration folder inside the puplic documents anymore.

The content and Previsualization Scenes for such displays may come from a single or multiple Ventuz machines. Generally speaking, the Render Setup Editor is used to solve following problem: Display Ventuz content correctly on an arbitrarily complex display wall built up of N displays connected to M machines.

To learn more about using multiple machines and clustering take a look here.

In other words, the Render Setup is the link between the design canvas and the actual physical output of the graphics card(s). Be it a simple bezel compensation, a projection blend, a 4 x 1 stripe of LED panels that is fed from one output, to complex setups with rotated displays.

Configuring graphics cards to use AMD Eyefinity or Nvidia Mosaic is no longer needed to support multiple outputs from one graphics card. You can now assign all outputs individually or combine them using the Render Setup editor.

User Interface

The editor consists of two main modes the Layout Mode and Mapping mode. Inside the Layout Mode, Compositions and Screens are configured; while in the Mapping Mode screens are assigned to physical outputs.

To open the Render Setup editor, open the Configuration Editor and open the Project Management tab, now select the Project this setup should be for. Create a new Render Setup by  clicking the button on the right side of the window.

Import and Export Render Setup

It is possible to Import and Export existing Render Setups to and from Projects and to import from previous versions of Ventuz when using the Migration assist tool.

Export


To export a Render Setup, hover over the "Download" button and  click. Save the file in a desired folder on your hard drive.

Import


To Import an existing Render Setup file,  Click on "New...", in the pop-up select "Import Render Setup" and navigate to the location the desired Render Setup file is stored.

Layout Mode

Once the new Render Setup is created, the Render Setup window will automatically open in the Layout Mode. To edit an existing Render Setup  click on the Pencil Icon inside of the existing Render Setup.
Generally speaking this is the mode where you set the stage for you presentation, add screens and use compositions to set the frame for your rendering. To learn more about the handling of our new output system read this page.

1. Mode Change:

2. Previs:

Previsualization scenes wont have a layout mode since these screens are placed in a 3D world and these positions can't be converted to function in the Layout mode. Instead it uses the Mapping mode only to assign these screens to Outputs

3. Close and Save:

Using the Live mode will interrupt the rendering on every change!

4. Machine Selection:

5. Compositions:

6. Screens: Select via and add Screens with the . Adding Screens and Compositions is also possible by right clicking inside the view window depending on the mode you are in. 7. TUIO Touch areas:

8. Contextual Controls:

9. Mode Selection:

10. View Options:

11. Property Editor:

12. Workspace:

Displays the created elements and allows editing of these elements. See Shortcuts for full list of hotkeys.

13. Measurement Tool:

14. Import Compositions:

Render Setup Elements

Compositions

1. Color

2. Name

3.Fit to Screen

4. Dimension

5. Render Order

6. Rotation

7. Pixel Density

8. Physical Size

9. Diagonal

10. Blend Mode

11. Blend Amount

12. Allow Scaling

Screens

1. Color

2. Name

3. Resolution

4. Pixel Density

5. Physical Size

6. Diagonal

7. Bezel

8. Allow Scaling

9. Render Filter

10. Rotation

TUIO Touch Areas

1. Color

2. Name

5. Physical Size

Measurement Tool

By using the measurement button in the lower right corner the user is able to measure distances between different elements in centimeters or inches. Clicking on the measurement button will toggle all measurements on and off.

Set a measurement:

on an edge or corner of an element and drag it over to a second point to create a measurement.
To adjust existing points, hold CTRL and  click&drag on a point to adjust.

Holding SHIFT while dragging a point, they will snap lines at 45° increments while drawing them.

All of the markers are sticky; they will stay attached to the same point on an object if you change the size, rotation or pixel density.

Deleting Measurements:

By on a existing measurement and hitting DEL will delete the measurement line. Alternatively you can also hold CTRL and  drag a point into empty space to delete it.

Measurement Info Box

With the measurement info box it is possible to measure different objects with different DPI or Px/cm and the different pixel distances.

1: Info Box Button

2: Names

3: Current Dots per inch / pixel per cm

4: Show button

5: Delete all measurements

Changing the Render Order

When stacking Compositions on to each other it may be necessary to change their render order. To do that, simply  drag and drop the Composition to the desired place in the Tree view. As always in Ventuz, the Render order starts from the top down.

Blending

Blending can be adjusted for stacked compositions by using the properties for each Composition.

Solid: No blending is used

Alpha: Enables Alpha Blending

Add: Additive RGB blending

Multiplicative: Multiplies the RGB blending

Smooth Additive: Smoother additive blending

Keep in mind stacked screens inside the output do not blend!

Composition Instancing

Instancing Compositions can be used to show the same content multiple times, in different positions or different resolutions. When "Allow Scaling" is enabled, Ventuz will render the scene elements one time and scale them to fit the corresponding Compositions. Scaling saves system resources. Ensure the aspect ratio is correct for these instanced Compositions; otherwise, your content might end up stretched or squished.

Default Composition

The Default Composition inside the Render Setup Editor behaves differently than other ones.
This Composition will automatically scale with screens that are inside this Composition. The Name of the Default Composition can't be changed.

In order to free screens of the automatic scaling inside the Default Composition uncheck the "Fit to Screen" property on the Default Composition or use the scaling handles of the composition and remove the Screen from it. Deleting the Default Composition inside the Render Setup Editor will not break anything inside the Designer. Still the Default Composition Layer will be present when another Composition layer is inserted but can be safely ignored.

Mapping Mode

With the Mapping mode it is possible to assign Screens to Outputs, add new machines, or shape and warp Outputs.

1. Mode Change:

2. Previs:

3. Close and Save:

4. Mode Selection:

5. View Options:

6. Add machines:

7. Import Device Configuration:

8. Shaping & Warping:

9. Property Editor:

10. Machine Options:

11. Add Outputs:

12. Output Options: There are three output types available:

13. Output Workspace:

14. TUIO Touch inputs:

15. Workspace:

16. Selected Machine/Group:

17. Adding cuts:

18. Reset of the view:

19. Maximize output:

20. Moving of outputs:

Import Device Configuration

After clicking on the Device Configuration Import button you will be greeted with this small helper pop up.

1: Device Configuration:

2: Collapse all:

3: Configuration Overview:

4: Choosing a machine to import to:

5: Choose to overwrite or add:

For a Cluster Configuration Imports, only the currently active configurations from the machines inside that group can be used. Also note that you have to choose the correct group before opening a new Render Setup for that cluster!

Coordinate Space

The Screens and Compositions in the Render Setup Editor lie in a real world sized coordinate space. The origin of this coordinate space is the middle starting with (0.0.).

Logical vs. Visual Resolution

In the context of the Render Setup configuration we talk about Logical and Visual Resolutions. These terms will be explained here. The logical resolution of a machine can be defined by the Mosaic or Eyefinity configuration of the graphics board. A 2x2 display setup with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px per display has a logical resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels.

The visual resolution however is defined by final position of the displays in the Render Setup configuration. In the example below the displays are arranged horizontally and have bezel between each other. This leads to the visual resolution of 8247 x 1080 pixel.

Configuring graphics cards to use AMD Eyefinity or Nvidia Mosaic is no longer needed to support multiple outputs from one graphics card. You can now assign all outputs individually or combine them using the Render Setup editor.

The maximum visual resolution for a GPU currently is 16384 x 16384 pixels!

Manipulating a Render Setup

Selecting and Moving Elements

Elements can be selected by simply  click. Multi selection is possible by dragging a selection frame  drag around elements inside the All mode.

Elements that can be selected are the Screens, Compositions,and Touch areas. Each of these elements have there separate editing modes.

Moving is done by dragging and dropping, scaling can be done by the indicator on the Compositions. Selecting items in the tree view also changes the modes accordingly Rotations can be snapped to 10° or 5° using CTRL(10) or ALT(5)
Use the All mode to quickly move a bunch of elements Scaling only works for Compositions and TUIO Touch Areas, to resize screens use the Property Editor

Bezel and Overlap

To create an equal bezel or overlap between multiple elements, use the grid function when creating new screens. You can choose to add them using centimeter values or pixels.

Bezels can be corrected anytime by using the Bezel property adjustment. Overlaps have to be manually adjusted.

It is also possible to do it like it was in Version 6 where all selected screens are properly aligned when the bezel was added. This only works when it matches the following requirements:

Or you can pull them apart using the arrow's appearing when having selected more then one screen. This also comes with some limitations:

Output Types

Using the Mapping Mode it is possible to change to different output types, assign multiple screens to the same output or use only specific parts of a given screen by using Cuts.

To change to different output types use the pencil button.

Single

Uses a single screen on the output. Assign a screen by  drag + drop from the left pane onto the desired output on the right.

Grid

Assign multiple complete Screens to a single output in a grid which can be individually customized.

Manual

Gives the user full control of the output size, individual screen size and position. Rotating the output in 90° steps is possible here.
It is possible to use the same screen multiple times by applying them to multiple times to the same output. Notice how the original size of the Screen set in the Layout cant be overwritten by this. You can also choose which portion should be rendered, change this by changing the screen position in the left view.

While in manual mode, it is possible to link the size or aspect of the output to the individual cuts.

Link Size: Links the output size directly to the screen size.

Link Aspect: Links the aspect of the cut to the screen.

Unlinked: Screen and outputs are handled individually. The output will be scaled accordingly.

Overlaps wont blend! They will be stacked on the output, depending on which screen where assigned first.

It is also possible to hold down the SHIFT key when dragging screens onto a output to tile it to the desired size automatically.

Cuts

In general as soon as one uses either the Grid or Manual mode the output will be cut into multiple pieces. Indicated by the label in the middle. For the Grid mode this will show 1.1 1.2 and so on depending on there position in the output. For Manual tiling it will simply count upwards.

M0 = Machine + ID

O0 = Output + Number of output starting with 0

C1 = Cut + Number of the cut counting upwards from 1

Properties

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

6:

*Mirror H: Mirrors horizontally *Mirror V: Mirrors Vertically

7:

8:

9:

Separation

By using different separation groups for output cuts its possible to use the rendering more efficiently.

Without separation groups:

Ventuz will render everything in one single rectangle.

With separation groups:

Ventuz will render single screens separately.

Split and Combine

With the split button you can easily tile a screen or split them to the desired count. Or split of a specific portion of the screen. This menu is available in the properties or by onto a screen.

Machine ID

The machine ID makes sure that a Ventuz scene can determine which part of the overall clustered content will be rendered. This is done by comparing the current machine ID to the machine ID specified in the Render Setup. Currently the machine IDs are assigned automatically. If a new machine is added to an existing Render Setup configuration, the smallest free ID is taken. If you want to change the System ID of a machine, click on the small pencil while being in the Mapping mode. It is possible to setup multiple machines whether or not they're physically present or connected to the system.

TUIO Touch Area

The TUIO Touch Area allows remapping of incoming touch data to a custom area of the used #Screens. Ventuz Input Subsystem receives the touch data from attached touch devices. The touch is interpreted in normalized coordinates from 0,0 to 1,0 from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. By default, there is no TUIO Touch Area and will apply to all outputs. To specifically assign touch to either screens or outputs use the Mapping Mode.

Windows Touch is not affected by TUIO touch areas and will always span across all outputs, please use the multi gpu capabilities as well as touch groups to define specific areas which you want to limit!

Windows Touch is does work in a cluster configuration, but with severe limitations e.g: interactive Objects spanning across 2 machines wont update correct

Examples and Scenarios

Depending on the editing mode you are in it is possible to edit elements in different ways. By default, the Render Setup will always have a default #Screens and a #default Composition. Starting with the Compositions' editing mode, it will highlight the currently used Compositions. on a compositions will enable the possibility for direct scaling or rotating. Use the arrows to scale and the small dot in the upper right corner to rotate. All these options are also available inside the Propertys window on the right.

The Default Composition will always scale with the screens used on it. This is only possible in the default Composition.

In this example use the Render Setup Editor, there is a simple two screen setup where the content is spanned two Full HD screens. In Ventuz 6 this required a display span mode like Mosaic to work. Now this can be achieved using several different approaches without the need for Mosaic or Eyefinity.

In this case, add a second screen and place it right beside the default one to achieve a dual output setup.

All the settings seen in the Pop up window, except for the adding of new compositions directly, will also be available inside the property window.

Use the middle mouse button to pan the view. Or scroll the middle mouse wheel to zoom in and out. click and drag on any element this will shift it around inside the workspace. Snapping is also always on which should help you align elements easily.

As you can see the Default Compositions scaled with the new screen inserted, this wont be the case for any other composition then the default. This feature exists to make simpler setups faster and easier to achieve. It can be disabled by unchecking the "Fit to Screens" option in the properties pane.
Open the Mapping mode by  clicking on "Mapping" in the top left corner to assign those Screens to the outputs we want to use. The Composition in this case is defining the area which we want to render content, therefore we need to have screens to assign to the outputs.

As you can see on the left, Ventuz doesnt know about the second screen yet, which is indicated by the white dotted line (the machine boarder). To assign it, we need to add another output to the machine, we can also directly assign the screen to it by using the drop down menu inside the pop up window. Or  drag + drop screens from the left on to empty output slots on the right. If placing a screen on an output that has a screen already assigned to it, the existing screen will be replaced by the new one.

Outputs, unless configured differently, will always use the most left connector ( Or top one depending on if your pc is lying down or standing) first, and go on from there.

Now we are done and can start designing content for this new setup. Windows Touch inputs will now use both outputs. To make TUIO inputs work, assign them to the outputs by using the button below. No need to worry about any display group modes anymore! Just make sure that your Device Configuration has also two outputs configured!

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here is an overview of the available mouse and keyboard operations.

View
Middle mouse button+drag Pan
Middle mouse wheel Zoom
R Reset view
 double click Outputs Maximize / Restore view
Selection
 click Select
 click+drag Rectangle Selection
 click Context Menu
CTRL  click Multi SelectionAdd/Remove to/from selection
CTRL+A Select all elements depending on the selected mode
CTRL+ click+drag Disable snapping
SHIFT+ +drag Perpendicular measurements in 45° steps
Editing
 move Move selection
SHIFT  move Move selection without snapping
CTRL + C Copy selection
CTRL + V Paste
CTRL + Z Undo
CTRL + Y Redo
←, →, ↑, ↓ Move selection by 10 pixel
CTRL + ←, →, ↑, ↓ Move selection by 1 pixel
SHIFT + ←, →, ↑, ↓ Multi Selection Change distance by 10 pixel
CTRL + SHIFT + ←, →, ↑, ↓ Multi Selection Change distance by 1 pixel
+ drag + CTRL Rotation 10° snapping
+ drag + ALT Rotation 5° snapping
CTRL+S Save changes

See also:

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