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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: 'Standalone' IMS Rack
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 09-10-2017 11:10 AM
The only issue I (and many of my customers) have with the IMS1000/2000/3000 is the horrible web GUI, based on the fundamentally clunky and unintuitive Doremi software architecture (e.g. Cinelister and Ingest Manager split into two separate applications), and made even worse by superimposing a pull-down tab structure on top of it. I guess this is less of an issue for people who only use these things through a TMS, and therefore, don't have to grapple with the front end directly (ironically, Dolby's TMS software package is one of the nicest I've seen), though. Maybe that is such a high proportion of the customer base for these things that Dolby don't feel it worth their while to develop a decent from end for the few customers who'd be using it directly.
If the Show Manager GUI from the DSS line could be ported over to the IMS line, though, I would have no significant problem with it.
As for the standalone IMS rack/box concept, I'd be surprised if there is any significant market for it. Is it likely that the Series 1 projectors currently in use will outlast the servers they are being used with in significant numbers? Only if that happens and it is no longer possible to buy standalone servers in any shape or form - even good used ones on Ebay - would anyone be likely to contemplate buying an IMS to Series 1 conversion device, IMHO.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-11-2017 04:25 AM
Personally, I'd like if the projector manufacturers focused primarily on building projectors and would leave the server business to others.
Yes, people tend to stick around with the stuff that has proven to work for them, I can't blame them either. But in case of Barco for example, it's hard to tell customers to throw the perfectly fine Alchemy IMS away and put in a Doremi/Dolby one, which in my opinion has a far inferior UX compared to the Alchemy. You could go for a GDC IMS, which has, in my opinion, about an equal UX, but it's hard to convince anybody to shell out the extra money if it isn't necessary. Even features that were uber-important before, often leave the table at a whim, once the price becomes clear.
I think Doremi sold themselves to Dolby at exactly the right time. Although they did have some non-DCI related business, their business would most likely have died within a few years.
quote: Leo Enticknap
If the Show Manager GUI from the DSS line could be ported over to the IMS line, though, I would have no significant problem with it.
I'd expected Dolby to start integrating both. The Dolby UX was significantly more polished and streamlined, it's hard to believe they just threw that away.
Maybe it was engineered elsewhere or the people that implemented it left Dolby, but else I don't see a reason why not try to merge both the Dolby and Doremi train into one, superior product.
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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 09-11-2017 07:13 AM
Leo, I was speaking to reliability of the server, not the UI. Yes, the Doremi UI is an abomination. it is made worse by the Web version, if for no other reason than the ill-chosen color scheme. Like anything else, the more you use something, the more you become accustomed to it. So, either way, you'll eventually become proficient at knowing where the things you need are located. The Cinelister UI needs not only the "Show Manager" facelift, it needs under-the-hood work to make it reliably do things in the Ethernet world. It is great you can make macros and all but I can't count how many times it doesn't fire a reliable Ethernet command. I have to have most of them fire a command twice to ensure the other device receives it. I'm dumbfounded that the Cinelister UI still won't let you know what show will start when you press play. That is a bug from version 1 that still isn't fixed and they likely don't get it is a major flaw. How unintuitive for one to have to check/select on the "EDIT" page before pressing play to know what will be running when that happens.
How much better would the GDC UI experience be if they had on the SMS page a button that took your straight to "Content?" Likewise, to take you back to SMS? What is with forcing the way-station that is the "Control Panel?" From a technician/service standpoint, release the "Configuration" section while the show is running. Those things that absolutely can't change mid show, can still be greyed out but things like the Automation should be able to be tweaked mid-show. I suspect that most things within Configuration could be worked on mid-show. And enough of the encrypted logs.
As for the SX2001A...I just recently put one in. The projector hangs from a pipe grid in the auditorium but its sound system (and server) are in the room behind. The projector is used for A/V as well as DCP. By using the SX2001A, I have the sound where I want/need it (including the UI). There are no boot up/shutdown procedures to accommodate either. We incorporated an A/V start and DCP start switches into the automation system so the server doesn't even boot up for days where it is just A/V work (it isn't a conventional theatre). It is an NEC projector so we had DVI and SDI ports available on the "Legacy Board" for A/V use. It just made a whole lot of sense on many levels including CRU ingest.
In the US, the projector company's IMB/IMS is not a freebie. Typically, one can use a 3rd party IMB/IMS for the same or lower cost than a projector company supplied unit. Remember too, the Alchemy only comes with a 2-year warranty while the 3rd party companies issue a 3-year warranty so it is actually cheaper to use the 3rd party, when all things are considered. I forget if GDC still charges for its 4K upgrade, it shouldn't because they would be the only one (Barco doesn't if you buy the ICMP with the projector and Dolby dropped it from the IMS2000/3000).
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