WATCHOUT 7 - the New Media Server Software

The design of WATCHOUT 7 is much more modern, but is deliberately intended to remind you of the familiar interface of the earlier WATCHOUT versions in order to simplify the transition for users of the older versions. 

In fact, WATCHOUT 7 is not an update of the earlier versions, but a completely reprogrammed and modularized 64bit software with stable and even more efficient workflows.

WATCHOUT 7 has a modular structure and consists of different components (nodes) that work together in the background. The most important components are the Director (manages the whole show), the Producer (of the production interface), the Asset Manager (manages and optimizes media and other files), and the Runner(s) (the rendering engines for videos, images, and audio content). 

These components can all run on one computer, e.g. for small productions with only a few displays, or be distributed on different computers. 

For a larger show, one computer will be used as a "production computer" with the nodes Producer, Asset Manager and Director while one or more separate playback servers will render the content for the output displays.

In principle, yes. 

However, the user should have a good knowledge of the operating system and be able to optimize the system environment. Only after carefully tuning the hardware, device drivers and operating system will your server be really stable and reliable. 

This does not only apply to WATCHOUT. 

No one wants to see sudden system messages about available updates or a jerky playback of the content. If you want to save yourself this optimization work and use a really stable and powerful system, you should take a look at the Dataton WATCHPAX servers. These are optimized by the manufacturer for WATCHOUT and professional use.

To use WATCHOUT 7, you need Windows 10 or later, the Vulkan 1.3 or higher graphics card API, and the AVX instruction set of the CPU. 

We also recommend a fast, heat-stable and sufficiently large SSD for WATCHOUT and its media files, a fast multi-core CPU and a professional and fast Nvidea (Quadro) graphics card.

Since WATCHOUT 7, there are no longer any restrictions on the number of outputs. Rather, the limitation is the maximum number of pixels that can be rendered per server. That's currently 70,778,880 pixels, which corresponds to 8x 4K, i.e. about 30x FHD. 

During the calculation, all activated outputs of a server are added together. This includes the outputs of the graphics cards, the outputs of all existing Deltacast SDI or SMPTE 2110 cards, and all NDI outputs to the network. 

WATCHOUT 7 also allows the use of multiple graphics cards on one server.

In contrast to previous versions, WATCHOUT 7 now supports displays with up to 16bit color depth and different color spaces, such as sRGB, REC 709, REC 2020 and REC 2100. 

Internally, WATCHOUT 7 renders all media and effects with up to 16bit color depth in the REC 2020 color space.

WATCHOUT 7 has a new internal audio bus and supports audio output via WASAPI, ASIO and Dante. 

Provided that the appropriate drivers are used, WATCHOUT 7 can work with most sound cards. To use Dante, the required outputs must be licensed from the manufacturer Audinate. WATCHOUT 7 is "Dante enabled".

For a complete list of supported media formats, see Chapter 5.4 of the Online Manual for WATCHOUT 7 which you can find in the HELP CENTER at www.dataton.com. 

In addition to many image and audio formats, these include video codecs, such as H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG, ProRes, image chains, NotchLC and all HAP formats. 

Some codecs will get optimized internally by the asset manager to ensure optimal playback performance and stability.

The new Asset Manager provides media files and other information, such as EDID, MPCDI, 3D, text, and font files, within a WATCHOUT network. This is done globally and not on a project-based basis. 

It analyzes all media files during import, creates a minimized version for display in the Stage window, and optimizes and encrypts the file for smooth and predictable playback. 

If media files other than HAP videos, image files, or WAV audio files are used, a WATCHOUT license dongle is required.

WATCHOUT 7 supports capture cards (video only!) that support the MediaFoundation standard and Deltacast capture cards with SDI, HDMI 2.1 or ST2110 inputs. 

User-tested capture cards include those from Datapath or Magewell. In addition, signals can be fed via NDI (with audio). Since version 7.7, Spout capture with up to 32bit float RGBA is also supported. 

Blackmagic Design capture cards are not currently supported.

WATCHOUT 7 can output DMX (up to 32bit) via Art-Net and use it to control lighting. Video DMX is currently not supported, but can be generated via corresponding converters via a graphics card output. 

For easier assignment of DMX channels, description files can be read in GDTF format. WATCHOUT 7 has an Art-Net recorder for recording more complex light shows.

All WATCHOUT 7 timelines can be controlled via (also different) LTC timecodes. 

External devices can be controlled via LTC timecode if appropriate audio tracks are used. These can be created very easily on different web portals.

No. However, WATCHOUT 7 can control external devices via TCP/IP or UDP strings and HTTP requests. In addition, WATCHOUT 7 can also output DMX signals via Art-Net.

The new variables in WATCHOUT 7 can be controlled via different signals. This can be used to trigger timelines but also to dynamically change internal effects, cue sets, etc. 

The protocols that WATCHOUT 7 supports include: 

- TCP/IP or UDP strings with the old WATCHOUT 6 API 

- the new WEB API (REST) protocol for WATCHOUT 7 

- OSC 

- MIDI and MSC 

- DMX (via Art-Net) 

- PSN (PosiStageNet - Tracking)

WATCHOUT has been used for overlapping projections (soft-edge) and facade projections since its first release in 2000 and offers an optimized interface for manual geometry adjustment in the new software WATCHOUT 7. 

For optimal results or very complex projections, WATCHOUT 7 can also take measurement data from camera calibration systems, such as VIOSO or the domeprojection.com Suite, in MPCDI format. Such systems are mainly used for projections in domes, spherical surfaces or for 360° projections.

Very simple, in fact. For this purpose, a 3D file in 3DS, OBJ, GLTF or GLB format with UV mesh coordinates is dragged into the stage window and a "3D projector" is defined as the display. Then align 6 virtual points in the preview to 6 matching reality points on the object. This works very quickly and with high precision.