4 video output with a macbook pro?
I'm planing to buy the hardware for a video performance.
My goal is to get 4 independent video output out of a macbook pro and map all these 4 outputs to make a big image surrounding the audience.
The new model has a HDMI and a mini display output. I wonder if it's going to work well if I plug a triplehead2Go to the display port and use the hdmi output at the same time. I will then get 4 video output + the screen of the laptop to control the system…
Is it going to work well? Did anybody try this?
any input are welcome. thanks
I personally would never use a mac for professional video work. For audio, maybe yes.
Does it need to be a mac?
I've been using a macbook pro with my own custom Vj software built in Jitter controlling 3 beamers (+ ableton live and max for live + madmapper) for almost over a year now (with a buffer size of 128 samples for pretty fast real time alterations).
So lets not go mac bashing as this thing has never ever let me down in any live situation ;-)
I don't have the new macbook pro but with the new OS Mavericks I've had better results with my jitter patches than ever before, go figure.
The matrox triple head to go works brilliantly with the my macbook pro , program it with USB, disconnect the USB and it remembers your settings (one extra USB port again :)
Had a live situation where somebody kicked out the power to my macbook + matrox , didn't glitch just carried on as if nothing had happened, i only figured this out when it said my battery was almost empty :)
Plus the HDMI output should just be a walk in the park.
BUT !!! I do have a 1 gig graphical card in my macbook and this obviously decides how much oomph your system has.
But if im correct the new macbook pros have gone back to Nvidia cards so you should get more bang for your buck compared to the previous generation of macbooks.
Do you need 3 beamers ?? or can you do it with one or two and good mapping software ??
Depends on the max resolution of the macbook's output and the resolution that needs to be sent to the triplehead.
The actual graphics card hardware will be decisive for how much and how fast you can render to all those outputs. I hope you have a dedicated graphcis card in it.
PS: I'm writing this on a hackintosh desktop with 1 display and 4 projectors attached.
thanks for the input
I figure the macbook pro with the NVIDIA GT 750M 2gig should be good to render 4 video outputs. The reason why I choose a laptop is the portability, otherwise I would probably go with a hackintosh equipped with a very powerful graphic card...
didn't want to go mac bashing, writing this on one of my two macs.. it's just that if I were to buy a new computer dedicated for video, I'd never buy a mac.
Why:
can't choose graphics card, which is the only thing that I'm interested in.
Expensive.
Maybe I want to go vvvv or TD in the future. Both only running on windows at the moment.(I personally use TD a lot)
:) With the matrox mac I can only send out 3 screends of 800 x 600. Higher resolutions are supported with a PC (best to check the site).
Since the new macbooks have Nvidia cards its hard for me to say whats faster and better now, macbook or uber pc laptop ?
To me stability is paramount and I don't mind having a lower faster resolution as long as the system is dependable.
curious what folks think of the new mac pros. portable: fit in your carry on. scuttlebutt has it a similarly spec'd hackintosh would be around the same price, which is steep. relatively future proof? as 4K would seem to be coming fast...
@andro: I'm absolutely positive triplehead2go on mac is not limited to 3x800x600. Your graphics card might not be able to output over 2400x600.
Though it is true that some versions of the TH2GO are incompatible with displayport macs.
@antialias: i'll wait till component prices drop and build my own ;)
though if you need that kinda power right now and have the cash, seems like a solid piece of kit. i haven't looked at any real world use reports though.
@dtr: yep, waiting for hands-on reports. I'd like a new piece of gear to be useful for ~3 years so trying to think ahead. Late lamented pismo served for 5 years— life was simpler at 320 x 240 :)