grandMA VPU, the Video Processing Unit is media server, for both still and moving images, that is fully integrated into the grandMA lighting control system.

• A solution for controlling, live-accessing and altering video, still images and 3D-objects in real-time
• All videos, still images and 3D-objects can be scaled, positioned, tiled, colored and manipulated directly from any grandMA console
• Several 3D Video Layers with full effects capabilities for high-resolution projections (e.g. 1920 x 1080 pixels)
• Several Output Layers for Shaper, Iris, Effects, Scaling, Camera Positions, Keystone and Softedge
• One Master Layer for Shaper and Iris effects, Scaling and PC remote control functions
• Straightforward set-up and configuration that utilizes bi-directional communication with the grandMA console; grandMA VPU is an integrated part of the grandMA network session
• Instant live-access to any kind of image, 3D-object or video - including content-preview in your presets
• Video In feature to fade in live videos
• Synchronization of videos via MA network
• Blind Programming support
• Pixel Mapper to control several LED walls via Artnet

.	.

See subchapter:

• Main Features
• Functions and Features
• Transition from grandMA video to grandMA VPU

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Installation and Maintenance

grandMA VPU is the Video Processing Unit for the grandMA range of lighting control consoles. It uses a Windows PC to facilitate the control of video and still images directly from any grandMA console and runs on readily available PC hardware. As fully integrated part of the grandMA network system, grandMA VPU is not just triggered via DMX. This has many advantages. On the one hand a minimum of setup and configuration is required due to bi-directional communication between the console and the grandMA VPU. On the other hand the grandMA console allows for direct access to the server and previews the content as thumbnails in the preset.

The grandMA VPU enables a console operator to control and alter videos, still images and three-dimensional objects in real-time from a grandMA lighting console. Three-dimensional objects can be textured with video clips or animated images. Videos, still images and three-dimensional objects can be manipulated in multiple ways and in the same intuitive manner as a lighting fixture is manipulated from the grandMA console.

.	.

See chapter:

• Functions and Features
• Transition from grandMA video to grandMA VPU

Go back to chapter:

• What is the grandMA VPU ?

At its most basic level, grandMA VPU allows for the control of several moving images and high-resolution images simultaneously. Videos and still images can be combined, mixed and controlled using any grandMA console like a regular multi-parameter fixture. For this, several 3D video layers are available plus one master layer for PC remote controlling, shaper, iris and scaling settings, Output layers for Shaper, Iris, Effects, Scaling, Camera Positions, Keystone and Softedge

In addition, grandMA VPU offers the possibility of choosing any three dimensional object as a surface for video or still images. Cubes, cylinders, spheres, extruded logos or any other three-dimensional shape can be “textured” with complimentary images or videos. The position and orientation of these three dimensional objects are fully controllable from the grandMA console. You could start with a cube rotating and progress to a three-dimensional logo flying around, but from then on, you are only limited by your imagination.

Each image or video that is used at the same time requires a layer. Since the brightness of each layer is controllable, it is possible to cross fade from one video image to another by cross fading from one layer to another. By controlling and mixing the output of the grandMA VPU, your grandMA console has become a video mixer.

.	.

See chapter:

• Transition fram grandMA video to grandMA VPU

Go back to chapter:

• What is grand MA VPU ?
• Main Features

This information conforms to grandMA video users changing to grandMA VPU.

As a user of a grandMA video dongle version (either on MA mediaPC or self designed media server) you will encounter most likely the following situation: grandMA video software is installed on a computer (self designed or mediaPC) with some content likely the MA original content plus additional custom-made content. Mainly this will be any QuickTime coded content. The grandMA video software might be also installed on additional computers like laptops to use it as pre-visualization or control suite stations without any dongles in use.

Now, you can choose from one of the following options:

1. Leave everything as it is. You can stay with the grandMA video software and your known content. Please be aware that the grandMA video software as known today will not be further developed nor be implemented in future grandMA software releases. The grandMA video software will only work with grandMA 'series 1’ software 6.121 or lower.
2. Update your MA mediaPC or media server to MA VPU software and benefit from the features of MA VPU plus
   • Performance increased tremendously - at least 4+ layer of 1080p are possible with 60fps.
   • The VPU is more integrated into the network than grandMA video ever was
   • Effects are added per layer and per output - each of them can handle 4 effects at the same time.
   • Colorkeying is built in now - even with a tolerance value for smooth transitions.
   • 3D keystone is possible by adding a 3D model on the output layer (real warping to come in one of the next releases)
   • Much easier Fixture handling by only 3 fixture types - the output fixture includes keystone, master, softedge and so on…
   • Prepared for Pixelmapping “in the console” - but still all other ways are available.

   The VPU is able to run either with grandMA 'series 1’ or grandMA2 - safe investment. The VPU software comes with a new decoder to ensure best content results. That means - however - that new content is needed and the new one is based on MPEG-2! Attention: All custom-made content needs to be rendered into MPEG-2. All old show-files are obsolete due to the fact that the new fixture types are not equal to the grandMA video fixture types!

3. Trade in your grandMA video dongle for a MA VPU If you wish to benefit from the MA VPU’s hardware improvement and all future possibilities of the MA VPU as well as preinstalled content, you can trade in one grandMA video dongle per MA VPU basic, plus or pro. Please contact your local dealer for details.

Launching the MA Video Processing Units (VPU) there is no more split between software and hardware. The dongles are discontinued - only the full package including dedicated hardware is available, the dongle is “built-in”. For sure, everybody who invested into dongles will benefit of the new VPU functionality by installing the latest VPU release software.

With the MA VPUs there is no “open” operating system with any kind of default driver - they are all improved to serve the best result for the VPU. Also the decoder has changed for best performance results. That means - however - that new content is needed and the new one is based on MPEG-2. With any MA VPU there is some Gigabyte of content pre-installed.

However, we also offer an exclusive MA-Content-Package from showfootage.com - which offers you over 500 free selectable clips. To be precise: from a huge content library of renowned designers you can download 320 SD clips, 120 HD720 clips and 100 HD1080 clips. This makes the MA-Content-Package the ideal way to individually extend the pre-installed content of the MA VPU.

Please check http://www.malighting.com/showfootage.html for further details.

From grandMA video to VPU. How to update your system:

After downloading the software from our webpage you just need to install it. The look & feel will be like the grandMA2 software. Then you need to download a new MPEG-2 decoder from Main Concept (link: www.mainconcept.com/site/prosumer-products-4/mpeg-2-22078/information-22089.html?L=0 ) and actually pay for it.

Should not be more than 49€. Attention: Keep the key number!! From now on the software is fully functional. Please be aware of the fact that old shows from grandMA video cannot be loaded anymore. Therefore the new showfile is absolutely compatible to grandMA2. All custom-made content might need to be re-rendered into MPEG-2.

As a former user of grandMA video you will easily discover the new functionality of the MA VPU software. Some functionality has changed as well as some naming. Please refer to the documentation like the online manual to learn about it. If you use the VPU software with an external dongle (old grandMA video) you will have the same performance like a MA VPU plus - in other words: there are no restrictions!

Major changes in a rough overview:

• Decoder and codec has changed! From QuickTime to MPEG-2! You need to buy it (with the VPU it is included)
• Old shows are obsolete
• Old content needs to be re-rendered
• New fixture types for VPU

What else to expect for the future?

• We are working on an integrated Pixelmapping - means the Pixelmapper of the VPU and the Bitmap-effects-engine will be “married” at a certain point. We divide Pixelmapping into two parts: PM by Art-Net (like it was before) and PM by MA-Net (the new style of PM).
• At a certain time 3D will be able to display the result of a VPU output for better preprogramming.
• 3D Keystone will get a real warping functionality

We hope that this document provides what you need to know about the transition from grandMA video to the VPU software. The grandMA video software ends with the first release of the MA VPU Software. For any further information please get in contact with us - we are glad to assist you!

About MPEG-2:

MPEG is the name of the “Moving Pictures Expert Group” who created a couple of international standards. One important one is the MPEG-1/2 (ISO/IEC 13818-part x) standard which will be used for the MA VPU. As MA uses Microsoft’s DirectShow to render the textures (pictures) it will need a Codec1 to be able to read in these pictures. This codec is the MPEG2 one from MainConcept. There are several formats that can contain MPEG2 videos, below are some well known ones:

• .mpg (MPEG-1 or MPEG-4 possible)
• .mpeg (MPEG-1 or MPEG-4 possible)
• .m2v (MPEG-2 Elementary Video Stream)
• .m2a (MPEG-2 Elementary Audio Stream)
• .m2s (MPEG-2 Elementary Data Stream)
• .vob (DVD Video Object)

The MPEG2 standard allows a couple of variation which are not so important to know but which will influence the quality of the picture. They are defined to be able to run several resolutions like full HD for example. That influences also the bitrate which can vary from approx. 3 to over 80 Mbit/s. As higher the bitrate as more workload for the CPU, RAM & so on.

Codec is short for 'compressor-decompressor', a piece of software that is able to decode and encode a certain format. By this definition, a DirectShow filter is not a codec.

.	.

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Installation and Maintenance

Back to chapter:

• What is grandMA VPU ?
• Main Features
• Functions and Features

The actual version of the video application can be downloaded from the MA Lighting support site:

www.malighting.de

Dongle users: Please extract the downloaded file into a temporary folder and run the 'Setup’ (gMA-VPU_[n.nn][n.n]_v-n.nn.exe) program.

.	.

See subchapter:

• Startup of VPU
• Software Update
• Backup
• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA desk or grandMA on PC (offline)
• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series

Back to the last mainchapter:

• What is grandMA VPU ?

This chapter describes the startup of the VPU application. grandMA VPU machines are already configurated with this mechanism so the users don’t have to take care about this.

To realize an auto start of the VPU application a startup software 'VPUShell.exe’ is installed on the target machine at:

C:\Program Files\MA Lighting Technologies\grandMA VPU Loader

This program is called by the operating system (e.g. Windows Vista) in startup of the VPU target machines. It takes care of the right program location and paths.

.	.

See chapter:

• Software Update
• Backup
• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line)
• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Intallation and Maintenance

To install the software update on the VPU choose File / Update Software to open a dialog to select the wanted update file.

When using the internal software update, then your file should have a “@” in the name and is called a “silent” installer version. An example could be gMA-VPU_[1.3.0.0][6.1]_v2.40@.exe.

Navigate to the wanted folder and select the file. Click OK to proceed.

After the installation is finished, the VPU software will restart and the new version is automatically starting afterwards.

Check the version number in the VPU itself to make sure that the installation was successful.

.	.
.	.

See chapter:

• Backup
• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line)
• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Intallation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU

grandMA VPU is equipped with Acronis ® backup software (Not for dongle users of former grandMA video).

.	.
.	.

See Subchapter:

• Handling backups with the VPU
• How to start Acronis
• Restoring an image with acronis
• Storing an image with Acronis
• Backup the VPU content after shipment

See chapter:

• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line)
• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Installation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU
• Software Update

MA Lighting keeps the factory settings of the Windows operating system with all factory default settings on a hidden part of the hard disk of the VPU. This is useful for you to recall this data whenever you encounter problems in the VPU software that cannot be solved by a software update. You can use Acronis as well to store and recover your own backups.

!Important: Do not store or delete any files in the Acronis Secure Zone! This is your lifesaver whenever it gets serious! The Secure Zone shall only be used to store 1 factory default file!

Your images can be stored on Drive D of the internal hard disk or on any external USB storage device that holds enough space to store your data. You should start Acronis from the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. This means that you should restart the machine and press F11 during boot.

.	.
.	.

See chapter:

• How to start Acronis
• Restoring an image with Acronis
• Storing an image with Acronis
• Backup the VPU content after shipment

Back to the chapter:

• Backup

Restart the machine and press F11 during Boot. This will lead you to the Acronis Start Menu. Press F11 again to open up a “Boot Menu” window to enter parameters:

Stood in January 2010, you have to force the graphic card to do 800x600 to work correct with the internal screen on a VPU Plus. Otherwise you will see graphical artefacts and not readable fonts!

On a VPU Basic it is not intended to put any Boot menu parameters into this line. If you pressed F11 and the Boot menu window comes up:

Enter this complete line (also written identical!):

vga=0x315 quiet

and press OK.

You will then be at the normal start screen of Acronis. Choose “Acronis True Image home” to proceed:

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.	.

See Chapter:

• Restoring an image with acronis
• Storing an image with Acronis
• Backup the VPU content after shipment

Back to the chapter

• Backup
• Handling backups with the VPU

In Acronis click on “Manage and Restore”. This will list you all available backups:

.

If you are restoring an Image from an external memory, click browse for backup to select the image from your memory. In some cases the Secure Zone image is not listed here automatically. You can rather click the „Refresh Backups“ button or recall the image out of the Secure Zone again if necessary.

Select your drive and image and click OK:

If you are restoring from Acronis Secure Zone do the same as described above, your Secure Zone is listed in the location tree as well. Select the file and click OK.

Now you see the wanted image listed.

A right click with the mouse on the image will give you several options.

Choose recover to proceed:

If you are recovering from a secure zone file, then you will be prompted with a new window:

Enter: “12345” as the password and proceed by clicking on Ok.

The next option is to choose whether to restore the whole partition / drive that may be stored in the file or only some files of it. In our case you may only want to restore the whole disk / partitions:

If your image does only contain one partition, you may see a picture like this in the next step. You should only choose to restore the partition, not the master boot record:

If you restore a complete hard disk, make sure that you select the whole disk including the Acronis Secure Zone:

Make sure to choose the right location (e.g. a secure zone file has always be recovered to System drive C:). If it is not the wanted one click on new location and choose the right place.

If you want to restore a complete disk, make sure to choose the right hard disk if your VPU does have more than one hard disk drives. Also check the right connection and naming of any external connected hard drive. If you are unsure, please contact MA Lighting to avoid any damage of your system.

In the next step you will see an overview of what you will restore. Click on proceed and start the recovery of the image:

.	.
.	.

See Chapter:

• Storing an image with Acronis
• Backup the VPU content after shipment

Back to the chapter:

• Backup
• Handling backups with the VPU
• How to start Acronis

Since MA Lighting wants to give you the factory settings for trouble shooting never delete, change or store files in the Acronis Secure Zone.

Keep in mind that a FAT32 formatted USB stick or hard disk can only handle files up to 4Gbyte. Otherwise you will have to reformat that device with the NTFS file system.

In Acronis choose the Backup option:

Normally you want to backup a complete partition so the next selection shall be “Disk and Partition” Backup:

The next step is to define which partition or part of the disk you want to backup.

If you want to write a backup of a single partition, then select the corresponding partition without the Secure Zone.

If you want to do a complete System Backup, also include the Acronis Secure Zone. When everything has been set right, choose next to proceed:

To write your image onto any memory you can choose the place to store.

Click on Browse to do so.

The file name should be conform with these definitions:

Name: “VPU XXX SN activated DD MM YYYY”

where XXX is the Type (BASIC / PLUS / PRO ) | SN is the Serial Number e.g. 0004 for number 4.

Click on next to proceed.

In Acronis 2010 you could now directly proceed to write the image.

However, it is necessary to choose “Options” to do further settings before writing the image:

You have to choose “Full” as backup method:

No files shall be excluded in the image so do not click any of these options in the next step:

Choose the maximum compression level.

When storing images for your own purpose or in a normal backup situation you can lower the compression level to normal to speed up the process:

In the last step before actually writing the image make sure to add some comments:

VPU XXX SN activated DD MM YYYY

where XXX is the Type (BASIC / PLUS / PRO) | SN is the Serial Number e.g. 0004 for number 4.

This is identical with the file name for the created backup.

After inserting all these information click on proceed to start the backup.

You should always get a positive message at the end of the process.

If not you should definitely check what went wrong.

.	.
.	.

See Chapter:

• Backup the VPU content after shipment

Back to the chapter:

• Backup
• Handling backups with the VPU
• How to start Acronis
• Restoring an image with acronis

After unpacking the VPU Unit, the first thing you should do is to make a copy of the delivered content onto any type of USB storage device. This can be a USB stick or a USB hard disk with minimum 18 GByte free space.

This should be done by opening the file browser in the VPU software and by copying the complete content folder of drive D to your USB device. Just make sure that you connect your storage device before you switch to the internal file browser of the VPU because otherwise it may not be listed as a possible option. In the application click on the file browser tab.

If you are connected to a session (this may happen automatically if you are in grandMA2 mode and have a valid MA-Net2 connection to a console) a popup window and warn you that you will loose your session connection when entering the file browser. Click yes to proceed.

In the file browser window you can choose between two storage locations and drives. You can choose your storage device / hard disk partition by clicking on the dropdown menu to get a list of all available drives.

In our case we want to copy the folder “Content” from drive D to your USB storage device. So on the left side you choose drive D and on the right side you choose your USB device, in this case drive E with the name “RemoveableDisk”.

To do so, click on the folder on the left side and Drag&Drop it with a mouse to your drive on the right.

A new dialog will prompt you before you start. If the folder already exists, you can enable the option “Overwrite”. The actual copy process begins when you click the “Start Copy” soft button.

After the copy process is finished the copy process window will close and you will be returned to the file browser window.

You can now disconnect the external storage device by unplugging the USB cable.

To make sure that you really copied all of the data, connect your storage device to an external computer and check the size of the “Content” folder on it.

It should look like this:

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.	.

Back to the chapter:

• Backup
• Handling backups with the VPU
• How to start Acronis
• Restoring an image with acronis
• Storing an image with Acronis

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Access VPU via Network

To access the VPU over the Network, make sure your computer is in the same range as the IP address that is assigned to the Ether 1 device in the VPU.

You can use the 192.168.0.xxx range since this is also necessary for a valid MA-Net connection.

In your computer open a windows explorer window and type the IP address of your VPU as shown below:

A popup will show up and ask you to enter the user and password necessary to access the VPU.

User / Benutzername: “MA”

Password / Kennwort: “12345”

Then you can transfer data to the content or the software folder.

You have access to the complete partition d:\.

The default folder for content is d:\content.

The software folder is used to transfer software updates to the unit via Ethernet connections

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.	.

See chapter:

• Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line)
• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Intallation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU
• Software Update
• Backup

You can determine by means of the version number of grandMA VPU if the software version fits to the software version of the desk or off-line.

grandMA VPU version number can be determined via:

• Filename of the setup:

  gMA-VPU_[{GMA2-Streaming}][{GMA1-Streaming}]_v{VPU-Version}

• Splash screen (apperars while startup)
• Info box (Menu - Help - Info)

Example:

	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
0.900	.	.	GMA2-Streaming Version	.	.	This number should correspond to the grandMA 2 onPC streaming version
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
6.1	.	.	GMA1-Streaming Version	.	.	This number should correspond to the grandMA 1 onPC streaming version
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
V1.34	.	.	Version of grandMA VPU	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.

See chapter:

• IP Addresses
• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Installation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU
• Software Update
• Backup
• Access VPU via Network

IP addresses are what allow the internet and most modern networks to work. It’s a way of identifying a computer by a unique set of numbers (an IP address). An IP address is made up of a set of four numbers. Each number can have a value between 0 and 255.IP adresses can be set via the network settings of the Windows system settings.grandMA VPU has to be restarted if the settings are changed. New adresses are read with the restart of grandMA VPU.

Your PC and the console must have their respective IP addresses set up correctly.

The first three sets of numbers must be the same and the last set must be different.

Example:

To setup the IP address of the desk, please refer to the desk user’s manual.

.	.

See subchapter:

• IP Address of the Pc
• Artnet IP Address

See chapter:

• EDID Manager

Go back to chapter:

• Intallation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU
• Software Update
• Backup
• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA video to grandMA VPU

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series

Please note if you are already part of a network please check with your networkadministrator before changing your IP settings.

IP settings can be found at:

START - CONTROL PANEL - NETWORK CONNECTIONS (Windows XP)

START - CONTROL PANEL - NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER (Windows Vista)

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See chapter:

• Artnet IP Address

Back to the chapter:

• IP Addresses

The Artnet Standard needs a class A IP address beginning with 2. for example 2.2.2.2 and a subnet mask 255.0.0.0.

This address can be added via the Windows dialog Advanced TCP/IP Settings.

Further information about the Artnet protocol under:

© Artistic Licence (UK) Ltd. www.artisticlicence.com

.	.

Back to chapter:

• IP Addresses
• IP Address of the PC

Go to the next mainchapter:

• EDID Manager

Extended Display Identification Data exchange is a standardized means for a display to communicate its capabilities to a source device. It enables the VPU to know what kind of monitor is connected. The EDID includes manufacturer name and serial number, product type, phosphor or filter type, timings supported by the display, display size, luminance data and (for digital displays only) pixel mapping data.

Unfortunately some LED walls offer no EDID data, so the VPU software cannot offer the correct resolution and refresh rates. Or if a monitor is reconnected the right resolution and refresh rate has to be set again.

To avoid these troubles the DVI outputs of the VPU have been equipped with additional hardware. An EDID Chip offers the common resolutions and refresh rates to the VPU hardware.

	The switch near the DVI OUT connector lights blue if EDID is simulated.	.
.		.

The EDID chip offers the following DVI resolutions and refresh rates. Other values are invalid:

H		V		Refreshrate / Hz			H		V		Refreshrate / Hz
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
640	.	480	.	50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1280	.	800	.	60
640	.	480	.	59	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1280	.	1024	.	50
640	.	480	.	60	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1280	.	1024	.	60
720	.	480	.	59	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1400	.	1050	.	50
720	.	576	.	50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1400	.	1050	.	60
800	.	600	.	50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1440	.	900	.	60
800	.	600	.	59	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1600	.	1200	.	59
800	.	600	.	60	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1600	.	1200	.	60
1024	.	768	.	50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1680	.	1050	.	59
1024	.	768	.	60	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1680	.	1050	.	60
1280	.	720	.	24	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	23
1280	.	720	.	25	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	24
1280	.	720	.	29	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	25
1280	.	720	.	30	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	29
1280	.	720	.	50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	30
1280	.	720	.	59	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	50
1280	.	720	.	60	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	59
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1920	.	1080	.	60
.
.

.

Go back to chapter:

• Intallation and Maintenance
• Startup of VPU
• Software Update
• Backup
• Access VPU via Network
• Version of grandMA video to grandMA VPU
• IP Addresses

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series

Notice that the DMX channels have to be ‚patched’ to communicate with grandMA VPU.

.	.
	The simplest way of ‚patching’ is to set the switch ‚Auto Patch’ in the dialog ‚Create New Fixtures or Channels’ to ‚On’ at the desk or the 'on PC’.
	.
.	.
.	.

See subchapter:

• Connection with the grandMA desk
• grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode
• Connection with the grandMA on PC (off-line) software
• Connection States
• Preferred Operation Mode (Screen Layout)

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Data Management

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Installation and Maintenance

Please make sure, that the program version of the grandMA desk meets the specifications described in: Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line).

For communication you have to connect the VPU with the grandMA console or another PC running the grandMA onPC.

You can do this directly with a patch cable with two RJ-45 connectors or via a network switch.

grandMA II Console	.	RJ 45 Cable or Switch	.	grandMA VPU/PC
.	.	.	.	.
	.		.
	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.

If you use a network with a switch, connect the PC with a regular patch network cable to the switch.

The application connects to the desk and receives the data of the current show. If you do not get a connection to the desk, make sure that grandMA VPU has the right IP address as described in ’IP Addresses’ and that the corresponding mode: grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 accurate.

• Connect the cable to the desk.
• Start the desk and load a video show
• Start the grandMA application and join the session or invite the video application from the desk

See chapter:

• grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode
• Connection with the grandMA on Pc (off-line) software
• Connection States
• Preferred Operation Mode (Screen Layout)

Go back to chapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series

grandMA VPU supports series 1 and series 2 consoles. To set right the mode, start the application via double-click at the icon:

	.	grandMA VPU starts in the last usde mode (grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode)
.	.	.
		The actual mode is displayed in the statusbar
.	.	.
	.	To switch between the mode select the menu entry 'File - Switch Desk Interface'. The application restart in the next mode.
.	.	.
.	.	.

See chapter:

• Connection with the grandMA on PC (off-line) software
• Conection States
• Preferred Operation Mode (Screen Layout)

Go back to chapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series
• Connection with the grandMA desk

Please make sure, that the program version of the grandMA onPC software meets the specifications described in: Version of grandMA desk or grandMA onPC (off-line)

• Start the grandMA onPC and load a show (Backup Load Show)
• Start a new session at the grandMA onPC (MA Network Connections 'Start New Session’)
• Start the grandMA VPU application• Start the grandMA VPU application

grandMA VPU searches for a running grandMA onPC session with a unique ID. If the session is found grandMA VPU connects automatically with this session and loads the current show.

See chapter:

• Conection States
• Preferred Operation Mode (Screen Layout)

Go back to chapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series
• Connection with the grandMA desk
• grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode

When you launch grandMA VPU it tries to connect to a session with the same ID. The four possible states of the connection are indicated by the heart in the status bar. The blinking of the heart indicates the communication between the desk and grandMA VPU.

	.	Heart is broken and red: No connection to a session established
.	.	.
	.	Heart is blinking green: grandMA VPU has joined a session as slave
.	.	.
	.	Heart is blinking blue: grandMA VPU is the master of a session. The creation of a session with grandMA VPU can be used to transfer all data of a .gvs or .gz file (grandMA VPU 1 or 2 formats) to a desk or onPC. If the loading is completed, the desk automatic becomes the master and grandMA VPU gets the slave.
.	.	.
	.	Heart is blinking yellow: grandMA VPU has joined the session in the 'Sniffer mode’ , this is a simple receiver mode. In opposite to the slave mode no session data will be exchanged with the desk.
.	.	.
.	.	.

ATTENTION: With the start of a new session (Create) the session founder overwrites all data of the other members. I.e. if a new session is founded by the grandMA VPU all data in the desk will be overwritten!

If more than one console, visualizer or onPC editor is connected to the network the connections to the equipment will have to be properly assigned.

• The communication between consoles, visualizer, VPU applications and onPC editors takes place in sessions.
• A session has only one founder. This is e.g. the master. On connection the founder transfers its data (fixture types) to the slaves.
• Devices not assigned to any session are not in the list. If you press the 'Invite Station’ Button you get a list of these MA devices.

Series 1 specifications:

A Session always has one master and up to 31 Slaves, i.e. max. 32 devices. For example a slave can be another MA desk, an NSP, a grandMA onPC application, the grandMA 3D visualizer or a grandMA VPU station. In the 'Sniffer mode’ more VPU sessions are possible because similar to the Artnet protocol a VPU station is only receiving data.A Session always has one master and up to 31 Slaves, i.e. max. 32 devices. For example a slave can be another MA desk, an NSP, a grandMA onPC application, the grandMA 3D visualizer or a grandMA VPU station. In the 'Sniffer mode’ more VPU sessions are possible because similar to the Artnet protocol a VPU station is only receiving data.

	.	The network configuration can be managed by the ‚Settings Network’ dialog. Remark: If the session entry appears in red, the streaming version is wrong. You have to update the software. The upper part of the dialog shows the active sessions and their members in a tree view.grandMA VPU is marked green.
.	.	.

Settings:

See chapter:

• Preferred Operation Mode (Screen Layout)

Go back to chapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series
• Connection with the grandMA desk
• grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode
• Connection with the grandMA on PC (off-line) software

To get a direct access to the channel sets of the fixture layers we recommend the smart view. The “Smart View” offers a clearly arranged summary about the layer content and objects. All important functions can be accessed via short keys.

To configure a 'Smart View’ follow the following instructions:

• Click on the empty touch screen to call the “Create a Window” dialog
• Select the “Smart” button

In the upcoming “Smart” window press the yellow button left above:

	.	In the 'Smart Window Options’ dialog select the 'Enable Direct Select’ buttons 'Preset’ + 'Feature’ + 'Attribute’
.	.	.
.	.	.

To create the “Group” buttons carry out the following instructions:

• Press the “Setup” key at the desk
• Push “Auto create” at the touch screen
• Set the “Select” entry in “Video Layer” and “Video Master” to “Yes” and press “Create single Groups only”
• Change into the “Smart” view and resize the smart window to get space for the group buttons
• Click into the blank area and select “Groups” in the upcoming dialog

The result should look like this:
.
.
.

Go back to chapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series
• Connection with the grandMA desk
• grandMA 1 or grandMA 2 mode
• Connection with the grandMA on PC (off-line) software
• Connection States

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Data Management

This section describes how data is managed by the desk and grandMA VPU. Desk and VPU can work independently. Each package can be operated standalone. If they are connected in a MA network session the desk gets the master and the video application becomes the slave of a session. Data changed within the video application is transferred to the desk and vice versa.

.
.

See subchapter:

• Master slave
• Principle function diagram
• Layer properties
• Predefined Constellation
• Suppoerted Codecs

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Several grandMA VPU applications in one grandMA show

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Communication with the grandMA Desk Series

The MA console or onPC is always the master of a session. Only if the grandMA VPU is started as standalone it can be the master. If a desk is connected and a session is started within the VPU application the show file will be transferred to the desk and then this becomes the master and the VPU the slave. So the synchronization of desk and video data is guaranteed.

.
.

See Chapter:

• Principle function diagram
• Layer properties
• Predefined Constellation
• Suppoerted Codecs

Go back to chapter:

• Data Management

The following pattern demonstrates how data is processed.

If you connect the grandMA VPU to a grandMA desk you can compare the result with some slide projectors remote controlled by an MA desk. In contrast to a slide projector the slides are not projected on the screen. The screens or 3D objects are active light emitters like monitors and can take the shape of any geometric form. This takes place on so called “Layers”. Each Layer output feeds a virtual camera.

The virtual camera outputs can be mixed up to a resulting video output. Each layer has its own magazine containing emitting 3D objects. Each layer has its own magazine containing videos, images and masks. The number of 3D video layers can vary in dependence of the complexity of your show. You can patch up to 32 layers.

If the grandMA VPU is invited in a session by the desk, layers behave similar to a fixture. All layers have access to the same content pool. The application receives the amount of layers and each layer magazine is assembled with several images and videos. These are indicated by their relative paths and names. If a layer 3D object or the content of a magazine is changed within grandMA VPU, the changed properties are immediately taken up by the desk. Several grandMA VPU applications are shown in several 'Layers’ on the MA-desk.

The following diagram shows a principle structure with 4 layers.

.
.

See Chapter:

• Layer properties
• Predefined Constellation
• Suppoerted Codecs

Go back to chapter:

• Data Management
• Master slave

For a better overview shows can be arranged in Fixture Layers on the grandMA desks. E.g. the conventional lights can be separated from the multi functional fixtures and video engines.

In the example below you see a show in the Fixture Layer named 'New Device Layer’ with two VL 2000 W and two VL 1000 A:

According to this example for each grandMA VPU station an own Fixture Layer is created. This Layer accepts several Video Layers. These Video Layers can be combined to meet your requirements.

In the following example the Fixture Layer with the name ‚Video’ contains 1 Master Layer, 6 Video Layers and 2 Output Layers as 2 outputs are used:

Layers for a video show can be arranged for your requirements on the desk. You can find them in the fixture library at the entry: ‚MA LIGHTING’.

The different Layer Types have the following meanings:

Video Layer
	.	This Layer can use several 3D Objects from the library to represent images and videos. The content can be shown on several outputs of the graphics card. A grandMA VPU application can contain several 3D Video Layers for images and videos. You can patch up to 32 layers to be more flexible in programming. Please note that you cannot run Video Clips on all these layers at the same time!
.	.	.

Master:
	.	One grandMA VPU application can contain only one Master Layer. This layer represents a total view on all other layers. It serves the shapers, iris and scaling for all outputs. A control channel offers - remote controlled PC shut down - Switch into Fullscreen View
.	.	.
.	.

Output Layer:
	.	Each output has its own output fixture. Additional to the effects in the video layers this fixture layer serves separate effects for each output and: - Shapers - Softedging - Keystoning
.	.	.

See Chapter:

• Predefined Constellation
• Suppoerted Codecs

Go back to chapter:

• Data Management
• Master slave
• Principle function diagram

With the installation of grandMA VPU the most common constellation is installed. This is available via the menu entry ‚File - Default Show’.

If a grandMA VPU application is started, and a new show is created via 'File - Default Show’ the application starts a show with the following configuration:

.	.	Video Layer	.	Output	.	Master	.	Description
	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
New Show	.	6	.	2	.	1	.	Will be loades via ‚File - New’.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Projection of 6 video layers
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

See subchapter:

• Suppoerted Codecs

Go back to chapter:

• Data Management
• Master slave
• Principle function diagram
• Layer properties

grandMA VPU uses the hardware acceleration of the graphics card, Microsoft ® Direct Show and the Main Concept ® MPEG2 decoder to get a high performance for video output.

So MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compliant streams are supported

.	.
.	.

Go back to chapter:

• Master slave
• Principle function diagram
• Layer properties
• Predefined Constellation

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Several grandMA VPU applications in one grandMA show

Several grandMA VPU applications can be operated via one desk simultaneously.

For each grandMA VPU application one fixture layer can be created in the desk.

A grandMA VPU application is working in the "MA-Net" and is identified via the fixture layer name.

All PCs running grandMA VPU with the same fixture layer name will "grab" what they need out of the data stream and show the same show with the same content. Several 'Video-fixtures’ configured in the desk can be selected in the grandMA VPU application via a drop down menu in the status bar:

Example with one connected grandMA VPU application in one Fixture Layer:

A layer in grandMA VPU is analog to a Fixture in the grandMA desk.

So if you use for example 6 video layers 6 fixtures are patched and shown in the Fixture Layer of the desk.

In this example a second Fixture Layer named 'video2’ has been added for a second grandMA VPU application with one Master fixture named 'Master 1’ and one Video Layer named 'Layer 1’:

.

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Quick Guide

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Data Management

This capture gives a brief description how to operate with the grandMA VPU application.

To give you a sense of achievement grandMA VPU is delivered with a short demo file that can be opened via the menu entry 'File - Default Show’. This gives a survey of the possibilities of manipulation.

If you carry out this example the video application starts a master session and transfers its show to the connected desk or onPC.

Attention!

Consider that the actual desk show will be overwritten if you carry out this example.

For the following steps a grandMA desk or the grandMA onPC should be connected.

Without the connected desk, or onPC editor, you are able to do the setup where the used pictures and videos are stored, but you cannot control the resulting output via the desk.

.	.

See subchapter:

• Step 1 - Start master session and connect to the desk (grandMA series 1)
• Step 2 - Controlling Images and Videos via the MA desk

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Program surface

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Several grandMA VPU applicationsin one grandMA show

• Start the connected desk or onPC with an empty show.

  (Backup; Load Show; New Show)

• At: ‚Tools’ ‚MA Network’ make sure, that no session is running.

  If not, stop the session with 'Leave Session’.

• Then start grandMA VPU.
• Start the 'New Show’ via the menu entry 'File - New Show’.

	.	If no MA session is found, this is indicated by a red broken heart in the status bar. Please Note: If you are not in a session or the master there will be no output!
.	.	.
	.	Create a new session by opening the network dialog (click 'Network’), and then click the 'Create Session’ button. The Master state will be indicated by the blue heart.
.	.	.
	.	Now you can invite the desk or onPC to the MA session: Click the 'Invite Station’ button (Settings - Network) and select the Station (Desk or onPC). Invite the station by clicking the OK button.
.	.	.
	.	Show data of grandMA VPU will be transferred to the desk. This is signaled via a progress bar.
.	.	.

.

From now on the desk becomes the master of the grandMA session and grandMA VPU joins as slave:

	.	You also can join the session via the desk or onPC. Therefore select the 'Tools’ button on the desk and open the 'MA Network’ dialog. Select the 'Active Network Session’ and click on 'Join Session’. The show will be transferred to the desk and the desk will become the master of the session (if it was created from grandMA VPU).
.	.	.
.	.	.

See chapter:

• Step 2 - Controlling Images and Videos via the MA desk

Go back to chapter:

• Quick Guide

Now you have access to the images and videos arranged in the demo show of grandMA VPU.

The surface of the touch screen should look like this:

The column 'Name’ shows all configured layers of the show file.

In the columns beside all available effects for this layer are listed.

Now we’ll see how to control grandMA VPU via the desk:

	.	Click on the 'Preview’ tab of grandMA VPU to watch the resulting output preview. If you prefer a Fullscreen view, apply the 'Fullscreen’ button in the toolbar (back with the 'Alt + Enter’ button).
.	.	.
	.	Select a layer and open the dimmer. Now you can fade in the actual selected image for the layer.
.	.	.
	.	If you want to change the image or video for the layer, scroll through the image selection with the encoder wheel or select the image or video from dialog after clicking on the image entry.
.	.	.
	.	For example if you select the image 'Color Test stepless.bmp’ the preview window shows this image.
.	.	.

Now you can test the effects and see how the change of a value on the desk affects the resulting output in the grandMA VPU preview window.

We will see how this Texture looks on a 3D Object:

	.	Select the '3D-Objects’ at the desk: In the next dialog you can select a 3D Object to project onto: Select the 'Cross’.
.	.	.
	.	The resulting output in the Preview looks flat, because you are looking perpendicular on the 3D cross. So let’s rotate the cross:
.	.	.
	.	Therefore enter values e.g. 45° into the VRot field.
.	.	.
	.	The result in the preview shows a rotated cross with the new texture.
.	.	.

Instead of a simple texture you also can map a running video on the 3D Object.

Feel free and change other parameters.

This is the best way to see how grandMA VPU works.

.

Go back to chapter:

• Quick Guide
• Step 1 - Start master session and connect to the desk (grandMA series 1)

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Program surface

After starting the program an empty show will be opened or if connected with a desk or onPC the show will be loaded. The surface should look like this:

As already known from other applications, the program surface is divided into several parts:

Menu Bar	.	.
Toolbar	.	.
.	.	.
Preview| Multi Preview| Content Editor| Pixel Mapper (if this mode is selected)| Status Bar	.	Overview window for images and videos of the channel functions or the LED panels in the Pixel Mapper
.	.	.
.	.	.

See subchapter:

• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Layer Functions and Effects

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Quick Guide

The touch screen offers a direct access to important VPU functions and shows which content is send actually to the outputs:

	.	The headline informs about the network type and VPU software version. Also the ID and name of the show is shown.
.		.
	.	The lower part shows the IP addresses of the MA-Net and Artnet.
.	.	.

	- Lock / Unlock the touchscreen buttons
	- Switch between the output preview and system monitor information
	- Shutdown the VPU

	Most important VPU functions can be operated directly:
	- Indicates the status of the MA-Net (1)
	- Opens network settings dialog (2)
	- Opens the display like: File(3) Settings Display
	- Select the fixture layer
.
.
.

(1): See in: Connection States

(2): Described in: Connection States

(3): File...

.
.	.

See chapter:

• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program Surface

Like in several other Windows application you can store and recall files, and adjust the settings of the program:

• File
• View
• Mode
• Help

.

See chapter:

• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen

New Show	.	.	.	Creates a new show with 6 Fixture Layers, 1 Master fixture and 2 Output fixtures.
.	.	.	.	.
Load Show...	.	.	.	Opens a dialog to load a showfile (.gvs or .gz file).
.	.	.	.	.
Save show as…	.	.	.	Opens a dialog to save the current show at a given filename.
.	.	.	.	.
Settings…	.	.	.	Opens the Settings dialog: Within this dialog you can set: - Display settings -Network settings - Main settings e.g. FOH feature
.	.	.	.	.
Settings...Display	.		.	Set the display properties: • Select the main display • Resolution for output • Refresh rate in Hz • Fullscreen • VSync, avoid the actualization of the display while the output image is created. (This should always be selected) • DualHead Enable the output for two different monitors. Each output can display different layer content. • Swap the monitors • Select the display for the GUI (Graphical User Interface)
.	.	.	.	.
Settings...Network	.		.	Within this dialog you can set the properties for the network. *
.	.	.	.	.
Settings...Main	.		.	Within this dialog you can select the • FOH features: If this button is checked an additional buttons appears at the toolbar. The button 'Blind’ preserves the blind programming preview. • Extended Menus switch additional menu entries on/off e.g. 'View - Timing’ etc for troubleshooting purposes. • Frame Blending allows smoother motion when you slow down or speed up a layer. • Clip Frame Cache Frames are cached before sending to the output. This may cause problems for the sound output (delay). To avoid this, you can lower the cache.
.	.	.	.	.

*This is described in detail in chapter Connection.

Video in...	.		.	Video In: This interface allows the input of a live video stream. It is realized via the Microsoft Direct Show mechanism. Video In 1…4: In this dialog up to 4 different 'Video In’ devices can be assigned. Every Video Capture Device supported by Windows can be used as input source for grandMA VPU. Available Devices: All recognized Video Capture Devices are listed in this selection bar. By selecting one device this will be assigned to the 'Video In’ source and is available for grandMA VPU. Start / Stop [D] Additional options to restart drivers in case of synchronization faults.
.	.	.	.	.
Video in… Device	.		.	Device…: If a Capture Device with a driver is installed, its property dialog will be opened after the selection of this button. In this dialog the device specific properties of the manufacturer can be managed. The following example shows the property dialog of a webcam: If no device property is available, nothing happens.
.	.	.	.	.
Video in… Device Settings	.		.	Stream…: If a Capture Device with a driver is installed, its streaming dialog will be opened after the selection of this button. In this dialog the device specific streaming properties of the manufacturer can be managed. The following example shows the property dialog of a webcam: If no device property is available, nothing happens.
.	.	.	.	.
Switch Desk Interface	.	.	.	Switch between the grandMA 1 and grandMA 2 mode. The application restarts in the next mode.
.	.	.	.	.
Update Software…	.	.	.	In the upcoming dialog you can browse to the software update. After selecting the VPU terminates, the setup is started and the application restarts in the last used mode.
.	.	.	.	.
Exit	.	.	.	Leave the application.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.

See subchapter:

• View
• Mode
• Help

See chapter:

• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar

Start in Fullscreen	.	The application always starts in the 'Fullscreen Mode’
.	.	.
Show FpS in Fullscreen	.	Show the frame rate in FpS (Frames per Second) in the fullscreen output.
.	.	.

The following entries are only visible if the option 'Menu - File - Settings - Main - Extended Menus’ is selected:

	.	.
Info Window	.	Opens an Info window for internal purposes.
.	.	.
Timing Window	.	Opens window with timing information to check the performance.
.	.	.
Layer Window	.	Opens a window with information about the layers as type, Show on Head, Scale etc..
.	.	.
Video Clips Window	.	Opens a window that offers information about the used video clips. This can be helpful for troubleshooting.
.	.	.
Memory Window	.	Opens an overview window about the usage rate of the memory.
.	.	.
Statistics Window	.	Opens an Info window for internal purposes.
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.

See subchapter:

• Mode
• Help

Go back to subchapter:

• File

See chapter:

• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar

DVI	.	Switch the output signal to DVI (Digital Visual Interface) output.
.	.	.
	.	.
Pixel Mapper	.	* Pixel Mapper Editor will be enabled and video output will be transformed into DMX values. Finally output via Ethernet adaptor (Artnet) to RGB devices/fixtures.
.	.	.
.	.	.

* Enable the Pixel Mapper see also chapter: Pixel Mapper.

.

See subchapter:

• Help

Go back to subchapter:

• File
• View

See chapter:

• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar

Release Notes…	.	Opens the release notes document.
.	.	.
Info…	.	Shows the about box with the current version number. In the lower part of the box you can find the license information and the Dongle Serial Number.
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.

Go back to subchapter:

• File
• View
• Mode

See chapter:

• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar

The toolbar contains several buttons that are related to the general operations of the program.

.	.

* also described in Connection

.

See chapter:

• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar

This view offers a preview of the resulting output video.

If you enter the tab, grandMA VPU receives the commands from the desk and shows the resulting output but in opposite to the Fullscreen view the menus, the toolbar and the status bar are also active.

.

See chapter:

• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar

This View allows an overview of all layers, their effects and the resulting output:

The example above shows 2 layers with the resulting output picture for a single head output. If 'Dual Head’ is enabled via the menu entry 'File - Settings - Display’ the output for the second display is presented too.

	.	The content of each layer is shown in a small window. The controls below allow watching the effect values for each channel in the layer. The horizontal bar in each control indicates the setting from 0…100 %. Changing values are highlighted. Please note that these are no programmer values but all changes from the default values are indicated this way. You can toggle the controls with the 'Channels’ button in the toolbar:
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.

See chapter:

• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview

By selecting the 'Content Editor’ tab this view is activated.

In this view you can edit the content, videos images and 3D objects of the layers. Content for all video layers is edited via the tab 'Layer Mode 2’. Content for the master and output fixture is edited via the tab 'Output Mode 2’. Both are handled equally

.

See subchapter:

• Image Pool (I-Pool)
• 3DObjects
• Eff1 Type...Eff4 Type

See chapter:

• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview

grandMA VPU comes with a sample library containing images, gobos and video clips. This content is preinstalled on the VPUs and can be ordered from MA Lighting.

Similar to the magazine of a slide projector such a folder behaves like a slide magazine. Up to 255 folders can be accessed directly from the desk. The different images and videos of a folder correspond to the 'Channel Sets’ of the desk and can be accessed from there.

	.	.
	.	Items can be edited, changed or deleted via the context menu of the right mouse button. Data of the items like size, framerate and length are shown in a grid. If an item is selected its preview is shown in the preview window at the lower left side of the screen. To assign a new folder to a ‚Channel Function’ click with the left mouse button into an empty column.
.	.	.
	.	A context dialog appears. After selecting the entry a browser window appears where you can navigate to the folder containing the videos.
.	.	.
	.	After the selection of the folder its name is taken as a name for the ‚Channel Function’ as shown in this example ‚MALighting-Clips2’. You can change the name via the context menu with the right mouse button
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.

See subchapter:

• 3DObjects
• Eff1 Type...Eff4 Type

Go to extra subchapter: Inserting customized Videos and Images

See chapter:

• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor

To insert images and videos click with the right mouse button somewhere in the ‚I-Pool Folder’ or ‚Channel Functions’ field and navigate in the upcoming dialog to the folder where the images and videos are located. This can be an external drive.

After the selection of the folder and confirming with 'OK’ it will take a while until the images are shown because grandMA VPU has to build a so-called thumbnail (little image) for all items. Therefore each file has to be opened and searched for a usable picture.

.

See subchapter:

• 3DObjects
• Eff1 Type...Eff4 Type

Go back to subchapter:

• Image Pool (I-Pool)

See chapter:

• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor

The tab '3D-Objects’ shows the projection objects of the layers. In the simplest case a layer contains a 2D plane object. This is a canvas were images or videos are shown like on a TV screen. But this screen mustn’t be flat. You can use 3D boxes, cones or other 3 dimensional objects to render your images or videos

	.	Items can be edited, changed or deleted via the context menu of the right mouse button. Data of the items like name and size are shown in a grid. To assign a new item insert a ‚Channel Set’ via click with the right mouse button.
.	.	.

.

See subchapter:

• Eff1 Type...Eff4 Type

Go back to subchapter:

• Image Pool (I-Pool)

Go back to extra subchapter: Inserting customized Videos and Images

See chapter:

• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor

The tabs 'Effect Type 1…4’ show the possible effect types for the layers (Video and Master):

The effect engine is based on the Direct3D standard. Effects are defined within .fx files. An effect file is a text file with an .fx extension. It defines how something is to be rendered. It includes state information along with vertex and shader declarations. The shader code is written in HLSL (High Level Shading Language).

The following example shows the assignment of a sepia effect the test image:

	.
.	.	.

grandMA VPU comes with a default setup of effect files. New effect files can be added to the ‚Channel Set’ via the context menu in the 'Effect Type’ view with the right mouse button.

.

Go back to subchapter:

• Image Pool (I-Pool)
• 3DObjects

See chapter:

• Fullscreen View
• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor

This view uses the full screen to show the video output.

There are several ways to switch into the full-screen view:

	.	• Select the 'Fullscreen’ button from the toolbar.
.	.	• Press 'Alt + Enter’ on the keyboard.
.	.	• Use the Master Layer control channel on the grandMA desk to switch remote controlled into the Fullscreen View.
.	.	.
.	.	.

If the application should always start in the Fullscreen View choose the menu entry 'View -> 'Start in Fullscreen’

.

See chapter:

• Status Bar

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor

The status bar offers an overview about the system status:

	.	.
.	.	.
	.	Type of network: grandMA 1 or grandMA 2
.	.	.
	.	Connection state in network: Not connected, Master, Slave or Sniffer.*
.	.	.
	.	Name of the showfile
.	.	.
	.	Shows the status of the dongle
.	.	.
	.	Inicate the 'Allow Invite’ status of the nework settings. (Yellow means enabled, red is disabled)
.	.	.
	.	Used IP address for MA Net
.	.	.
	.	User of grandMA show rights: ‚Restricted’ or ‚Administrator’
.	.	.
	.	Shows the used fixture layer. You can switch the fixture layer via this drop down menu.
.	.	.

* As described in: Connection

.

Go back to chapter:

• Program surface
• Touch Screen
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Preview
• Multi Preview
• Content Editor
• Fullscreen View

Go to the bext mainchapter:

• Layer Functions and Effects

To explain the layer effect engine it is illustrative to imagine grandMA VPU as a model of a several movable cameras where every camera looks at a layer object like a 2D plane or a 3D cube.

In these examples an image may be a texture (picture), or a video.

Layer Functions and Effects		Example
.	.	with values in %	.	.
	.	.	.	.
Dimmer	.	Dimmer 50 %	.	Dimmer 100 %
.	.	.	.	.
Dimmer function. To facilitate fading between different layers the dimmer controls the transparency of an object. If the dimmer is 0 the object is transparent and the projection is invisible. If the dimmer is “full” the object is opaque and you can only see the front layer (front Z-position)	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Colorkey	.	.	.	Layer 2 Key R,G,B (100,0,0) Tol R,G,B (10,0,0)
.	.	.	.
Set the transparency for the foreground object. For each RGB channel the value and tolerance can be set separately.	.		.
The switch 'Alpha’ decides if the pixel gets complete transparent or opaque in dependency to the color key.	.	.	.
The switch 'Type’ decides if the calculation is done in the RGB (Red Green Blue) or HSB (Hue Saturation Brightness) model.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
SB+C (Saturation Brightness + Contrast)	.	SBC (50,50,50)	.	SBC(0,50,50)
.	.	.	.	.
Set Hue, Saturation and Brightness of a layer	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Colorboost (ColBoost-R; -G; -B)	.	ColBoost (50,50,50)	.	ColBoost (0,0,100)
.	.	.	.	.
Boost the red, green or blue color of the image.	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
ColorMix (CM1; CM2; CM3)	.	Color (0,0,0)	.	Color(0,0,100)
.	.	.	.	.
Tint the output with the CMY(Cyan; Magenta; Yellow ) color mixer	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VObj. 3D-Objects	.	cross	.	sphere
.	.	.	.	.
Select an 2D or 3D object on which surface the image or video is shown	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VObj. I-Pool	.	Pool ‚Standard’ selected	.	Pool ‚Video Test2’ selected
.	.	.	.	.
Selection of the 'I-Pool’. One ‚Pool’ can contain up to 255 images or videos	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VObj. Images	.	Image 1	.	Image 2
.	.	.	.	.
Choose the image or video from the selected 'Pool’	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VPosition (X; Y; Z)	.	X= 50%; Y=50%; Z=50%	.	X=25%; Y=25%; Z=25%
.	.	.	.	.
Positioning of the projection object in X; Y; Z - direction	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VRotation (X; Y; Z)	.	X=40%; Y=60%; Z=50%	.	X=40%; Y=40%; Z=40%
.	.	.	.	.
Rotate the projection object around the X; Y; and Z-axis	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VPosition <> (X; Y;Z)	.	X=50%; Y=50%; Z=50%	.	X= 60%; Y=60%; Z=50%
	.		.
Animate continuous moving of the projection object in X; Y and Z - direction	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VRotation <> (X; Y;Z)	.	X= 50%; Y=50%; Z=50%	.	X= 50%; Y=50%; Z=60%
.	.	.	.	.
Animate continuous rotation of the object around the X; Y and Z - axis	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VScale (X; Y; Z)	.	X= 50%; Y=50%; Z=50%	.	X= 50%; Y=30%; Z=50%
.	.	.	.	.
Scale the dimensions of the object in X; Y ;Z direction	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VImage Split (Split X; Split Y)	.	Split X 0; Split Y 0	.	Split X 2; Split Y 2
.	.	.	.	.
Split the image or video in X and Y	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VImage Offset (Offset X; Offset Y)	.	Offset X=0; Offset Y=0	.	Offset X=50%; Offset Y=0%
.	.	.	.	.
Split offset of the image or video	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VImage<> (x; Y)	.	X= 50%; Y=50%;Z=50%	.	X= 60%; y=50%;Z=50%
.	.	.	.	.
Animate continuous scrolling of the image or video on the object	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
VPlayer Playmode (Only for videos)	.	Frame 100	.	Frame 200
.	.	.	.	.
Frame Index: Select a single frame picture with the Index channel Play: Starts the Video once forward from the beginning to the end Loop: Starts the video endless looped forward from the beginning Stop: Stops immediately Pause: Pauses Resume: Continues after Pause (even with Bouncing or Looping) Loop Index: Plays the loops inside the index frames set at Frame Index Begin and End Play Index: Plays the video from the indexes frames at Frame Index Begin and End	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Sound SndVol 1	.	SndVol = 0%	.	SndVol = 100%
.	.	.	.	.
Control the sound output for video files with a soundtrack	.	Sound is off	.	Sound is on
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Effect 1…4	.	Eff Type = 0	.	Eff Type = Sepia
.	.	.	.	.
Several effects based on the Direct3D standard can be selected. Effects are defined within .fx files.*	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Master control	.	Multi Preview	.	Fullscreen View
.	.	.	.	.
The Control channel of the Master Layer is used to switch to the Fullscreen View or to shut down the VPU via the desk. These functions are available as buttons in the Smart View: - No Operation: --- - Shutdown: Shutdown PC - Restart: Restart PC - Fullscreen: Fullscreen Mode - Windowed: Windowed Mode - Sniffer Mode: Sniffer mode - Slave Mode: Slave Mode - Enter PM: Start Pixel Mapper - Leave PM: Leave Pixel Mapper	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Master Shaper; Beam; Scale	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
This Effects are similar to the layer effects	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
	.	.	.	.

*As described in Eff1 Type…Eff4 Type

Output Effects		Example with values in %
.	.	.	.	.
VCamera Position (Pos X; Pos Y; Pos Z)	.	X=50%;Y=50%;Z=50%	.	X=46%;Y=52%;Z=54%
.	.	.	.	.
All layer views are mixed up to one view for the main camera. This imaginary camera can be moved to show only parts of the whole image. So several applications can be connected together to project a huge image	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Shaper (1A; 1B; 2A; 2B; 3A; 3B; 4A; 4B)	.	1A=0; 1B=0; 2A=0; 2B=0; 3A=0; 3B=0; 4A=0; 4B=0 %	.	1A=30; 1B=0; 2A=30; 2B=0; 3A=30; 3B=0; 4A=30; 4B=0 %
.	.	.	.	.
With the beam shapers the resulting image can be masked variable with four shapers each with 2 channels A and B	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Beam Iris Image	.		.	IrisImg = IrisCircle
.	.	.	.	.
Select an iris image of the Master Mode IrisImg pool. These images contain areas with alpha channels to work as masks.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Beam Iris	.	Beam1 Iris = 50 %	.	Beam1 Iris = 30 %
.	.	.	.	.
With the Iris function the iris image can be scaled to cover the output. The value range 0…100% covers the range from closes to open.	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Sound SndVol	.	SndVol = 0%	.	SndVol = 100%
.	.	.	.	.
Control the volume channels for the resulting sound output	.	Sound is off	.	Sound is on
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Keystone (1A,; 1B; 2A; 2B; 3A; 3B; 4A; 4B)	.	1A=0; 1B=0; 2A=0; 2B=0; 3A=0; 3B=0; 4A=0; 4B=0 %	.	1A=0; 1B=0; 2A=0; 2B=30; 3A=0; 3B=0; 4A=0; 4B=30 %
.	.	.	.	.
All layer views are mixed up to one view for the main camera. Each edge of this view can be moved towards the opposite edge to generate a keystone effect.	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Keystone Corr. (X - Corr.; Y - Corr.)	.	X Corr. = 0 %; Y Corr. = 0 %	.	X Corr. = 75 %; Y Corr. = 0 %
.	.	.	.	.
If a picture is projected distorted on a surface, a perspective correction is necessary to distribute the content on the surface correctly. Therefore the distribution of the picture content can be manipulated in X- and Y-direction.	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
Softedge (1A,; 1B; 2A; 2B; 3A; 3B; 4A; 4B)	.	1A=0; 1B=0; 2A=0; 2B=0; 3A=0; 3B=0; 4A=0; 4B=0 %	.	1A=0; 1B=0; 2A=50; 2B=0; 3A=0; 3B=0; 4A=0; 4B=0 %
.	.	.	.	.
If several projectors should show one common image, the borders must be cross faded. For every border one channel for the position and one channel for the dispensation of the black wedge exist. This example shows a soft edging for the left border of the image.	.		.
.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Softedging

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Program surface

Softedging or Soft Edge Blending is a technique to split a complete picture into several smaller tiles. Therefore the margins of the flanking edges overlap. Inside the overlapping range both images show the same content, but with decreasing brightness to the boarders. grandMA VPU supports this technique for videos and images. This is realized via four controllable grayscales (gray wedges) at the borders of the image. Position and distribution of the grayscale are controlled by the grandMA desk with each two channels:

Left Tile	.	.	Right Tile
	.	.
.	.	.	.
Projector 1	.	.	Projector 2
Softedge controlling of the left image with Shaper 14A ;14B	.	.	Softedge controlling of the right image with Shaper 12A; 12B
.	.	.	.
Projection of the complete Image	.	.	.
.	.	.	.
	.	.	.

The following example shows the functionality of the Softedge control channels:

.	.	.	.	.
Out Layer Softedge	.	Out Layer Softedge	.	Out Layer Softedge
Shaper 12A = 0 %	.	Shaper 12A = 100 %	.	Shaper 12A = 100 %
Shaper 12B = 0%	.	Shaper 12B = 0%	.	Shaper 12B = 50%
	.		.
.	.	.	.	.

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Keystoning

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Layer Functions and Effects

If a projector is parallel to the screen, the image is a right-angled plane.

If the projector is shifted horizontally or vertically the right-angled projection gets trapezoid.

This effect is called Keystoning.

Original image	.	.	Distorted Projection (tilt upward)
	.	.

This effect can be minimized by using the Keystone Correction.

Keystone Correction recalculates the image that it is shown right-angled independent of the position of the projector. Therefore the pixels must be compressed and the image is made smaller.

Pay attention, the Keystone Correction always causes a compression of the projected image. This causes a loss of quality of your projection.

This correction is done in Output Fixture:

	.	.	For every edge of the image 1…4 there exists two control channels (Keystone 1A-1B…Keystone 4A-4B). With these channels the edges can be moved in horizontal and vertical direction: Channels Keystone. X and Y are for the distribution of the picture content in X and Y direction.
.	.	.	.
	.	.	The resulting output image for this distorted Keystone Layer looks like the image beside.
.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Pixel Mapper

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Softedging

The Pixel Mapper allows the presentation of the video output to a DMX matrix. DMX data is sent directly from the grandMA VPU PC via Ethernet using the Artnet protocol.

The LED wall can be configured individually using several LED panels from different manufacturers. The operating on the desk is analog to the operating of a video wall.

LED Panels are defined similar to dimmer or multi function spots via fixture type text files. These files are located on the video PC in the default path: C:\Program Files\MA Lighting Technologies\grandMA VPU\NEWPANELS Here the properties of the LED panels are defined as a Fixture Types in single files (grandMA Serieies1: PanelName.txt).

The following example shows a test image mapped on a 20 x 20 LED wall

	.
Test image original	.	Mapping on a 20 x 20 LED Wall

Switch to the Pixel Mapper mode via the menu: 'Mode - Pixel Mapper’.

After the activation of the Pixel Mapper an extra tabbed window 'Pixelmapper Editor’ appears. The general output of grandMA VPU is done now via the Ethernet protocol Artnet instead of the graphic card of the PC.

The,Fullscreen’ button changes his function into ,Artnet Out’ view. The functionality of the button is analog to the ,Fullscreen' button i.e. after activation (corresponds, Alt + Return' on the keyboard) the Preview shows the general view of all configured LED walls.

Also the toolbar is extended by new buttons.

.	.

See subchapter:

• Pixel Mapper Graphical View
• Pixel Mapper Grid View
• Setup of an LED Wall
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 1
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 2

Go to the next mainchapter:

• Creation of customized 3D Objects

Back to the last mainchapter:

• Keystoning

This view presents the graphical LED wall arrangement and allows a comfortable editing and controlling of the used panels:

.	.
.	.

See subchapter:

• Pixel Mapper Toolbar
• Pixel Mapper Editor

See chapter:

• Pixel Mapper Grid View
• Setup of an LED Wall
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 1
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 2

Go back to chapter:

• Pixel Mapper

Center	.	.	Shows the center of the Pixel Mapper Editor
.	.	.	.
Autofit	.	.	Zooms the Editor automatically so that all panels are visible.
.	.	.	.
Select	.	.	If this button is selected, single LED fixtures can be selected to arrange them inside the LED wall or show their attributes via a right mouse click.
.	.	.	.
Zoom	.	.	Zoom the render window to fit. | Zoom in with the right mouse button | Zoom out with shift + right mouse button
.	.	.	.
New	.	.	If a rectangle is drawn up while holding the right mouse button down in the right window, this rectangle will be automatically equipped with the necessary number of the selected panels.*
.	.	.	.
Delete	.	.	Delete the selected LED panel.
.	.	.	.
Undo	.	.	Undo the last action
.	.	.	.
Prev	.	.	Select the previous panel
.	.	.	.
Next	.	.	Select the next panel
.	.	.	.

* See Setup of an LED Wall

.	.

See subchapter:

• Pixel Mapper Editor

See chapter:

• Pixel Mapper Grid View
• Setup of an LED Wall
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 1
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 2

Go back to chapter:

• Pixel Mapper
• Pixel Mapper Graphical View

	.	Library: In the left edge of the window all configured LED panels in the default directory are shown. You can change the width of the window by selecting the border and move the mouse holding the left mouse button down. If a panel is selected in the lower part, a detailed view of the panel is shown in the upper part. A pop-up menu (right mouse click) offers possibilities for other operations and the navigation e.g. open the LED fixture as text file. The pop-up menu of the preview offers the LED simulation of a panel that has been selected in the graphical window and the indication of the Universe/DMX addresses.
.	.	.
	.	Area/Output: The general output of grandMA VPU is done now via the Ethernet protocol Artnet instead of the graphic card of the PC. Therefore the physical dimensions of the LED wall (Area) and the number of pixels (Output) can be set: Area: Here the physical width and height of the LED wall is determined. This must not conform to the whole size of the LED Panels. So e.g. only sub ranges of the general view of the LED Panels can be set. The units are set via the dialog of the menu entry, Options - Pixel Mapper’ Output: Mapping of the whole output to the Artnet output range. The output range is defined in n x m pixel.
.	.	.
	.	Example: The physical dimensions of the source picture must not confirm to the whole size of the Panels. The LED Panels can picture, for example only a sub range of the whole output. In this example the output area amounts 1,25m x 1,0 m with 25 x 20 pixel panels. There are used only 16 panels (5 x 5 LEDs). The middle stripe is not equipped with LED Panels and is not used.
.	.	.
	.	Options: Send Artnet : Enable sending data sending to the Artnet IP that is selected in the dropdown field. Grid: Displays a grid with n lines in X and Y direction. Panel Outlines: Marks the panel borders. LED Outlines: Marks the LED borders. DMX Addresses: Show the universe + DMX start addresses of each panel. Name: Display the fixture name of each panel. LEDs: Preview content for each LED. Background: If the part of the output area is not equipped with a panel, the background image is indicated transparent. Select the transparency.
.	.	.
	.	Statistic: This tab offers information about the used universes, DMX channels and the performance.
.	.	.
.	.	.
.	.	.

See chapter:

• Pixel Mapper Grid View
• Setup of an LED Wall
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 1
• File Format of LED Panels in grandMA Series 2

Go back to chapter:

• Pixel Mapper
• Pixel Mapper Graphical View
• Pixel Mapper Toolbar