"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst)
12/07/2015 at 19:38 • Filed to: None
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"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst)
12/07/2015 at 19:38 • Filed to: None | 1
| 13 |
I love it when a plan comes together.
I have been playing around with some software called PiWall, and I just made it suit my needs 100%.
For a little background, a good friend of mine is working on a show car which is unfortunately so far behind schedule, they’ve worked out a penalty deal with the guy doing the bodywork, and we’ll just say that by the time the car is actually finished, the bill will be significantly less than when it started.
The car in question is a 1939 Cadillac Limo, with an undisclosed but certainly not stock motor hiding behind a black chrome grill, and a few other rather impressive secrets. It’s an indoor show car only, practicality be damned.
Anyway, so after some talking about what they wanted to do with the interior, we decided that I’m going to set him up with a pair of Raspberry Pi computers, and I’m going to put together a couple of videos, one which will play in the car, the other will play in a display that gets set up next to the car.
For those of you that know the Pi well, you’ll know that it’s got more than enough capability to play back full 1080P resolution videos without breaking a sweat. Not bad for $35. Well, I’m taking this one step further.
Their final vision is to be able to choose whichever video (or potentially future videos) to send to either display when they want, so naturally, I need to come up with a solution that’s not only really simple, but one that’s easy to manage and set up quickly at a show.
Enter Multicasting. It’s a UDP protocol for sending streams of data from one server traditionally to several receiving computers that display the stream. Since I work in the tech industry and play with quite advanced hardware, sometimes it’s pleasant to find a really simple alternative that’s not only affordable, but something that’s actually doable with my own budget and not someone else’s “I’m going to do it because I can” budget.
What does this mean? PiWall comes in handy. PiWall is software created for the Raspberry Pi to multicast a video stream to several Pis that display it as a video wall, splitting the image across several displays. This is done with a modified version of the OMX Player that tells the player to receive a multicast stream from the specified address, but then to display only a certain portion of it based on the configuration file.
Well, what I’m doing is basically creating two video walls, except instead of being multiple displays, they’re just single displays. So in the configuration file, I tell the Pi that it’s a 1x1 video wall, and I tell it the output resolution to use over HDMI (what I’m currently using), and to receive the stream from a certain multicast address and port.
To run the streams, I take VLC and use it’s really quite bulletproof Streaming/Exporting Wizard. I launch one window, create a stream on a certain IP/Port, play it and then start up a second instance of VLC and create a second stream with a totally different IP/Port. To the uninitiated, it sounds very complicated, lots of people who have trouble with PiWall, they’d probably wonder why it works so well, and my answer is I’m not sure. I get audio separately to each Pi, and it’s just a bulletproof application.
When I finally get around to installing this into the Caddy, you bet there will be a massive amount of installation photos, along with photos of the completed car. I’ve seen it one the road once before it was sent to the body shop, and the thing sounds mean. Oppo would really like it. The current estimate is 2-3 months before I get to jump in and do any work, but it’s certainly going to be cool.
Here’s what a 1939 Cadillac Limo looks like, for reference:
It feels good to be able mix what you’re really good at doing with what you really enjoy doing. Don’t give up Oppo, things may get hard, you may not feel perfectly happy where you are, but never forget, you can always work towards where you want to be.
Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 19:44 |
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Sweet. But... why not just have the receivers running VLC as well? VLC can pull a multicast UDP video stream easily
Boxer_4
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 20:08 |
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I spy a Cruzer Titanium! That Raspberry Pi setup should be really cool! I’m always impressed with what the Pi can do. Certainly much more than a lot of the vintage stuff I have around, that’s for sure! (but that’s not the point)
Also, some isopropyl alcohol and q-tips would go a long way on that keyboard, just saying :p
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JGrabowMSt
> Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
12/07/2015 at 20:52 |
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Size and power. Raspberry Pis cant run VLC because theyre ARM and single core 700MHz CPUs. The modified OMX Player allows for it to receive the stream and then use the hardware decoding to have very high quality playback without running a GUI application, I just run a terminal command and once it receives the stream it switches to fullscreen. Additionally, this has to be completely hidden in the car. There will be AC power and one ethernet cable to each Pi from a small router to handle the traffic. Theoretically you could use a crossover cable and connect directly, but Im not anywhere near a bandwidth limit to need to go that far.
More than anything though, size was a major issue, this has to hide in the car and be remotely accessible, so there will be a windows netbook with SSH access to send commands to each Pi and broadcast the streams, and the two Pis will be headless and independent.
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JGrabowMSt
> Boxer_4
12/07/2015 at 20:55 |
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Yes, Ive been meaning to clean it since I go it, but unfortunately I hardly ever touch it anymore. I got the keyboard because it was left at the repair shop I used to work at and never claimed by any client. It was already bad, and I break it out because it works well with the Pi without additional power. That said, it will be getting cleaned soon, dont you worry.
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Boxer_4
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 21:06 |
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I only bring it up because I recently got some keyboards that I’m in the process of cleaning. They are much worse that yours, but that’s what you get with keyboards that have been sitting in a barn for ~10 years. They had to be completely disassembled to clean them; that’s how bad they are. Your keyboard should clean up fairly easily in comparison.
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JGrabowMSt
> Boxer_4
12/07/2015 at 21:10 |
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For sure, especially when compared to that. This has maybe a year of use from me, I’ve had it for several, but I’m usually on my laptop which I clean religiously because I have to use it for work, which means every single day.
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Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 21:24 |
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Ah, I didn’t realize the Raspberry Pi couldn’t do VLC. How about FFMPEG? I’ve run that from a command line to pull video streams as well. Not sure if that does audio though
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JGrabowMSt
> Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
12/07/2015 at 21:43 |
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FFMpeg actually doesnt do audio, but for PiWall its the supported method for pushing video. I have to have audio and video to each independently which is why this setup is basically perfect.
Theres maybe an occasional glitch with higher resolution videos, but I would give the quality and setup an easy 8/10. Im going to pick up a couple Pi Zeros and acessory kits, if the Zero works for this then I will be using those for sure, smaller is better for this project.
AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 21:57 |
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AKGs! How do you like them?
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JGrabowMSt
> AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
12/07/2015 at 23:20 |
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I have the Q701 headphones, and they sound incredible. The headband is not the most comfortable thing out there, especially considering the cost, but if that’s what I’m complaining about, there really isn’t much to complain about.
They have absolutely zero ability to block out outside noise, so you have to use them in quiet environments, but that’s a given for any open back, over ear headphones. Their ability to reproduce extremely accurate and very crisp audio is a massive plus. When compared to “standard” Sony, Sennheiser or JBL for any reason, I just have to finish my argument with the fact that AKGs are not in that price bracket. You do get what you pay for. The removable cable is a huge plus. I don’t really care for the green, but that’s what it came with.
If the headband was more comfortable, I would use them every single day. That’s how much I like them. I’m contemplating wrapping the headband so that they’re more comfortable, but overall, I have gone through maybe 20 different over or on-ear headphones looking for what really sounded accurate to me (I do a lot of audio editing, and did sound design for some time), and these Q701s are the set that I enjoy the most for editing and listening. They’re bulky, and I certainly wouldn’t take them on the go, but for a pair of cans I can stick on, lean back and just enjoy some music, they’re amazing. Even for when it’s crunch time and a session needs to get finished, I have personally found that I have at least feel less fatigued after longer mixing sessions with these than just about any other set of headphones I’ve ever had. The downside to that is I’ve worn headphones for such prolonged amounts of time for years that now I’ve been trying to take a break from it because sometimes it’s just uncomfortable no matter what I do, and it just becomes frustrating. Mixing with speakers sucks, but sometimes I’m just too frustrated for anything else, which is sad, but that’s what happens.
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AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
> JGrabowMSt
12/07/2015 at 23:25 |
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That’s awesome. I have a set of Sony MDR-v6 and Sony MDR-7520 and they sound spectacular. My only issue is the 7520 causes my ears to fatigue after a few hours. I’ve always liked the way the k701 styled AKGs looked but have always chickened out when it came time to finally purchase them because people always mention their lack of bass and temperament with amplifiers. Sounds like you like them a lot though. Do you mind if I ask what you primarily listen to with them? I might just give them a whirl now.
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JGrabowMSt
> AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
12/08/2015 at 08:16 |
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I would say I have pretty eclectic taste in music, so Ive listene to pop, metal, techni, dubstep and dare I say even some country. The biggest mix I did for them was a rock show that was turned into a demo. If youre creating/mixing, bass is always an issue but thats a whole different conversation. Theyre open, so bass will not be as punchy at lower volumes, but theyre certainly capable. I would suggest seeing if a music store has any to test drive, theyre pricey, but Im very satisfied with them.
The songs that I go to with a new pair of headphones are:
LIGHTS - Muscle Memory
Randy Houser - We Went
Skrillex - End of the Year
Static X - Behemoth
Those songs tend to have a pretty wide dynamic and if I like how the songs sound, I can be confident that the headphones should do pretty well for listening at least.
Im spoiled by Boston Acoustic speakers in the car and on my desk, so short of dropping hundreds+ on new stuff, I like to think im pretty happy with what I have.
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AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
> JGrabowMSt
12/08/2015 at 12:55 |
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Awesome! I’ll have to give them a test drive when I can now. I’ve had the fortune of listening to a set of HD800s in an empty store once and it was earth shattering. The detail was just mind blowing. If only the price weren’t as crazy as the level of detail. These sound like a distant relative of those HD800s.
What amp are you using for them?