Zach Poff

MultiScreener

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Free Synchronized Multi-Channel Video Player

MultiScreener is a set of free applications that synchronize the playback of Quicktime movies on multiple computers, using a local network to tie them all together. (It can also sync multiple movies on the same computer using multiple monitors.)

It is intended for multi-channel video art, video walls, trade shows, and digital signage. I wanted an artist-friendly alternative to the expensive combo of industrial DVD players (Pioneer DVD-V7400, DVD-V5000) and Dave Jones Design sync boxes. Those systems are fantastic, but MultiScreener provides synchronized multi-channel video playback using commodity computer hardware.

How It Works

There is a Server and a Client. The server plays a movie and also sends position information over the network. Each client “listens” to the server and subtly adapts its movie playback speed to stay in sync. There is no limit to the number of clients.

Originally, I assumed that each client would run on its own machine, but you can also run multiple clients on the same computer, with each client feeding a different monitor.

Looping and de-interlacing are available, and all settings are automatically saved for unattended startup. MultiScreener can output to the computer screen or external video devices (like DV cameras or decks). There is no native resolution or frame-rate, so all Quicktime video formats are supported.

Who Uses It

Since 2008 I’ve received feedback from hundreds of MultiScreener users. Check out some of the people whose work was Made with MultiScreener.

If MultiScreener Doesn’t Do What You Want

• Read the MultiScreener Guide. It’s included in the download, and updated more frequently online.
• Modify it. The source code is included under a GPL license. You will need MAX/MSP/Jitter 5, which costs money, but there is a free 30-day demo.
• Spend $$$$ on well-supported professional software like Dataton’s Watchout, Renewed Vision’s ProVideoPlayer,  Scalableplayer from Scalable Display Technologies, or VirtualVTR.
• ygboX is a free and open source solution, based on Quartz Composer, which has deep hooks into the guts of Mac OS X so it plays back HD content with fewer dropped-frames than MultiScreener. There is one major caveat (as of Feb 2009): The server plays video and sound, but clients cannot play sound. (It’s a limitation of Quartz Composer so the author can’t do anything about it.)
• Most Pixels Ever (MPE) is a free, open source library for the Processing programming language that allows Processing sketches to run across multiple computers on a network. Processing is too slow to play broadcast-quality video but perfect for computer-generated graphics.
• VPT (Video Projection Tool) is a free app by HC Gilje that handles all kinds of complicated video projection tasks (cueing, mixing, effects, keystoning, etc…). It doesn’t explicitly handle syncing of multiple videos on different machines, but it can play multiple videos on one machine, and it supports a rich set of OSC messages for remote control.
• LPMT (Little Projection Mapping Tool) is a free, open source app for projecting multiple channels of video stills, colors, or live feeds onto real-world objects. It doesn’t handle syncing of multiple videos on different machines, though. (It was made with OpenFrameworks and distributed primarily as source code. Linux and (experimental) Windows binaries exists, and there is a forum post about compiling on the Mac via Xcode.
• The BrightSign HD220 is an inexpensive ($350) hardware HD player that can be synced over ethernet. I have never used one but they appear to be well-supported.
• HDsync is being developed by NIMk in the Netherlands to synchronize HD playback on modified Western Digital TV Live players. Very promising!
• If you want to have 3 synced displays from a single computer (with a single monitor port) you can also try the Matrox TripleHead2Go. (You make a super-wide movie, played from your single monitor port via Quicktime Player. The Matrox box splits the signal across 3 separate monitors.)
• MSA Quicktime Player is a free app that spans a super-wide movie across multiple monitor ports, similar to the Matrox, except it’s software, and it requires a monitor port for each display.
• Looking for a Windows version? I don’t have one. There is an unsupported version below, for Windows XP, contributed by somebody else. (I don’t have a Windows machine so I cannot help you in any way.) Also see the visual patching language VVVV and its tonfilm-videosync module (free for non-commercial use).