106 • October 2011 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH

Brad Schiller, the author of The Automated LightingProgrammer’s Handbook, is fond of preaching RTFM (“readthe freakin’ manual”). I’m more of the Alfred E. Newmanschool of philosophy, which is based on WMRTFM (“What?Me read the freakin’ manual?”). I appreciate software thatsupports that philosophy, as long as it delivers enoughpower for the job. ArKaos MediaMaster seems to have thatrare combination of low manual dependence and a rich fea-ture set that hits a sweet spot.

MediaMaster Pro media serversoftware from ArKaos runs on a PC ora Mac. It allows you to store and playback a variety of media content,including video, still photographs, andanimation, and apply and manipulatea wide variety of effects and text toproduce a live video feed with inter-esting visuals. Using a third-partyinterface, you can trigger it from alighting console using DMX or Art-Net,or you can use any MIDI device, suchas a keyboard.

The newest developments includeframe blending, software genlock,and updated MSEX implementation.Frame blending interpolates betweenframes of the video source to helpsmooth the output, and helps preventjittering and steppiness. MSEX ismedia server exchange protocol,which allows supporting lighting con-soles to display thumbnails and pre-views of media library files.MediaMaster version 2 supportsMSEX version 1.1 specifications.

OverviewI have some experience running mediaservers on live shows, although it’slimited to one brand of media server(not this one). I installed MediaMasterversion 2.2.1 on my MacBook Pro,using OS X version 10.6.7. It has anIntel Core 2 Duo processor running at2.66GHz and 4GB of RAM. Thegraphics card is an NVIDIA GeForce320M with 256MB of video RAM.According to MediaMaster documen-

tation (yes, I reluctantly read the manual under extremeduress), the quality of playback has a lot to do with thecodecs, file size, file type, and hardware, including thegraphics card.

Originally, I had it connected to my projector to test theoutput, but the lamp blew within a matter of minutes. SinceI didn’t have access to another lamp before deadline, I sim-ply trusted that the monitor was an accurate representation

ArKaos MediaMaster ProBy: Richard Cadena

FIg. 1: Simple mode.

Fig. 2: Fixture mode.

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www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • October 2011 • 107

of the output. Within just a few minutes, I was able to cre-ate a unique visual with several layers, change the color,speed, arrangement, and more.

Simple but effectiveThere are two modes in MediaMaster Pro: Simple mode(Figure 1), which has eight layers, and Fixture mode (Fig.2), which has 12 layers. Simple mode really is very simpleand allows you to put a show together very quickly. TheGUI has a series of small windows across the top, repre-senting the graphics layers. Just below those is the patchselection, where you can instantly select one of 60 patches,each of which has up to 64 presets within it. Those presetsare configured using the five visual editors (Fig. 3), whichoccupy most of the real estate on the GUI. Each editorallows you to select a file from the library, add or edit text,apply and manipulate effects, change the size and positionof the layer relative to the final output, and change theaction of the soft fader. You can go deeper into the modifi-cation of presets by using the edit feature. It allows you tochange the way video plays back (how it loops, playbackspeed, loop in and out points), modify various aspects ofthe effects (things like glow, angle, color, etc.), apply trig-gers (keyboard, DMX, MIDI), and change the position onthe video display.

After you make your selections, you can send the visualto the output using the soft fader. On the far right of theGUI is the master output monitor and controls. The controlsinclude a mask, keystone correction, edge blending, andvolume control.

The software comes with a library of graphic files, albeitsomewhat limited in size but enough to get you started.The first thing I did was to import my own custom files,both still graphics and video. You can open the file libraryfrom the menu on top of the interface, and adding files is aseasy as dragging from your directory to the media library(Fig. 4). It was very easy to import media, and I had noproblems with resolution, file formats, or codecs.

Files, patches, and moreThe file organization is easy to follow since each folder hasa label describing the file type. For example, Folder 255 islabeled Masks. I added a black-and-white still photographto this folder, and, when I called it up, it produced a perfectmask, allowing the photo behind it to show through theblack or white portions, depending on the mixing setting.There are also file folders for text effects, cameras, andmore. The live camera feed is an essential feature for a liveevent, and it was very easy to use. I simply used the built-incamera in the MacBook, but you can use any camera thatis compatible with QuickTime if you’re using OS X, or DirectX if you’re using Windows. I saw no latency in the live feed,but I didn’t have the benefit of an external display.

800-292-7490www.texasscenic.comSan Antonio, TXRockville, MD

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PRODUCT IN DEPTH

As you create a visual or a composite of two of morelayers, it keeps it in the patch as a preset. You can recallpresets manually or remotely through DMX or MIDI. Thepresets are stored in the show file ready for instant recallwhen you load the show.

In Fixture mode, you have a lot more playback controlover the parameters. Instead of simply recalling presets,you can manipulate files and effects directly through DMXor MIDI. The layout of the GUI is a bit different, but effec-tively behaves in the same way.

Another feature I explored was the LEDMapper (Fig. 5). Itruns as a separate program, and it’s very easy to configureand use. I was originally frustrated by the tedious work ofhaving to manually map each LED luminaire to the displayuntil I instinctively found a shortcut by using control click(probably right click in Windows). That allows you to config-ure an array to the correct width and height of your display,and saves a tremendous amount of time. As far as I couldtell, this feature was not documented in the manual. (Somuch for RTFM!)

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Fig. 3: Editor.

Fig. 4: Media library.

I would have liked to investigate the edge-blending fea-ture but I had no way of doing so. I did, however, read theprocedure for doing so and it appears to be straightforward.But it always seems that way until you get on show site.

Highlights and lowlightsI had a tremendous amount of fun playing withMediaMaster, and I was able to produce some very com-plex graphics in a short amount of time. The GUI seems tobe very intuitive and easy to use, and the only time I felt theneed to consult the manual was when I needed particularinformation, such as explanations of features or specs. Notonce did I experience a crash or a lockup. Having spentonly a few days becoming acquainted with the software, Ifeel that I would be ready to tackle a show or project. (U2,Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga... any of these shows would do.)

If there are any drawbacks to this system, they weren’treadily apparent. The main output on the GUI did exhibitsome stuttering when I played back HD video laden witheffects and burdened with several layers. It’s tricky busi-ness to combine different compression schemes andcodecs with displays and get them to behave properly, andI’m sure it’s no exception with this software. However, I wasnot using what I would call powerful or specialized hard-ware; if I were actually doing a show, I would take morecare to choose the proper components, or I would considerusing the ArKaos A30 media server (hardware packagedwith MediaMaster software).

ConclusionAt €799 (about $1,130) for the Express version (Simplemode only) or €1,900 (about $2,688) for the Pro version(Simple mode and Fixture mode), MediaMaster is an excel-lent value. It offers enough power and features to producevery creative visuals for live shows and events.

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Fig. 5: LEDMapper.