GDC SR1000 Inquiries

[Alan Gouger]

Will the SR-1000 play 2160p HDMI,

Yes, 2160p 60 @ 8 bit, 2160 30 @ 12 bit. For it to maintain the HDMI input you must select the newly added "Loop" check box.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

2900 TMS (2016_02_27 21_17_56 UTC).jpg

Barry didn't mention a TMS in his original post, and so I'm guessing that he operates his servers directly through the SMS UI, and is asking for our advice from that perspective. A TMS is arguably overkill for a two-screen, especially if the two servers are set up to transfer content directly to and from each other over a media LAN. One of the many things I liked about the Dolby DSS line is that one of the servers could be set up to act as a "mini TMS" for a small group of them (up to 3 or 4, if I remember correctly).

Barry also asked about the Enterprise Storage Plus. As Steve mentioned, there are various sizes and configurations of external RAID box that GDC sells to go with their unique server/media block hybrid (the media block and server software/processing are on the board that goes in the projector, but not the RAID, which is in an external box and connected via eSATA): which one you choose will depend on how much storage you need. The smallest, which can hold four 2.5" drives but ships with just three installed by default, could theoretically give you up to about 5.7 TB of available storage (4 x 2 TB drives); I can only see an argument for buying the larger, 2RU unit that contains up to five 3.5" drives if you're going to need more capacity than that, e.g. if you regularly host festivals that require a large amount of content to be ingested and immediately available.

I have 9 two screen theaters equipped with TMS. It allows much more flexibility when a location is manager/operator because one can manage the theater without having to go upstairs. Also, the GDC TMS is relatively inexpensive and will run on an inexpensive desktop PC. Connections can be wired or wireless, although wireless really slows content transfer down A LOT!.

As far as the external storage goes, the IMB already has 2 TB of internal "cinecache" storage included. That is sufficient for most screens and was the space included originally on all GDC servers. Unless one is playing a plethora of films why would you need the Enterprise or portable PDP-3000 RAID storage? BTW, the PDP-3000 has been very reliable once the initial set of crap hard drives are disposed of and replaced with IT grade drives. Not sure why GDC ships the box with such crappy drives.

[Barry Floyd]

Been using the SR-1000 for almost a month now. Installation was pretty straight forward. Since I have two booths I copied all of my policy trailers, intermissions clocks, etc. from Screen 2 over to Screen 1, then did the installation of the new SR-1000 in Screen 2. Once that was up and running, I copied everything back from Screen1 over to Screen 2, and repeated the process in the Screen 1 booth. It's REALLY important to have access to all of your various IP addresses and cues written down before you start the installation process.

My Enterprise Storage PLUS unit has 5 drive bays (3 are currently used), and one CRU bay. The hard drive array connects via eSATA to the IMB. The CRU bay connects to the SR-1000 with an eSATA - USB cable and connects via USB to the SR-1000. I opted for the 4TB storage on the Enterprise Storage Plus.

The new web-based GUI... its a love / hate thing. I hate the way it looks, too much clicking around. Trying to operate it from a rack mounted keyboard w/ integrated mouse pad just sucks. I have discovered that with my laptop plugged in to the network switch on the projection rack I can log into both servers and build playlists from my desk, which I absolutely love. That so far has really been the only benefit so far. I do miss the ability to have my touch screen controlling everything like my old SX2000AR's.

I will say GDC tech support has been fantastic, super easy to deal with, and actually call you back when they say they will.

[Frank Cox]

I have two beefs with the SR-1000, though I can (obviously) live with both of them.

Getting an ingestion cued up and started is ghawd-awful slow, especialy from a hard drive that has lots of content on it (like a Trail Mix drive). The wait from "open drive" to actually seeing any action can be anywhere up to a minute where nothing appears to be happening at all, and the wait for it to start ingesting a new clip (and between clips) is slow as well. And going back to the main screen to "close drive" makes you wait for that minute again before it actually lets you close it. The entire interface is far slower than doing the same job with the GDC SA-2100A server that I had before I got this one. I expected a new server to be faster than the old one, but it's just the opposite.

Secondly, the screens are all too tall for a standard-height laptop, so you're forever scrolling down to see the latest status message, then back up to do something, then back down...

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

If you have two or more screens consider putting in a TMS. Then you can ingest into the TMS and move the appropriate content around from there, or between servers. It also allows you to do it from anywhere in the world you have internet. One customer actually did his play lists and schedules from the middle of the Atlantic while on board a cruise ship..

[Leo Enticknap]

Remote access is also possible with individual SMS interfaces, too, either by port forwarding a designated web UI port on a router (though this is not a very secure option, especially if you haven't changed the factory default usernames and passwords), or using something like Teamviewer.

I guess Mark and I are going to disagree on this, but for as little as two screens, a TMS comes under the category of nice to have, but not a necessity. Though the CineDigital TMS is actually free for two screens (with limited features). Apart from playing around with a demo/mockup at Cinemacon, I haven't used it, but it looks impressive.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Actually Leo, A TMS can prove invaluable and will pay for itself in saved labor costs in both owner/operator and manager/operator type situations. And if a location has satellite download, no one ever need to touch the booth gear as you can do all the work from any place in the world that has internet. I have not tried CIne Digital, but I know Gord McLeod uses it and likes it, and I will likely try it at some point. But for now I'll stick with the GDC though because their support when needed is always there and that support is included in the cost of the TMS license, although rarely needed. BTW, I have three two screen locations with TMS and even a single screen. And once the gear is powered up they never have to go upstairs as the TMS is located in the managers office. .

[Steve Guttag]

Tell me Mark...have you integrated the GDC TMS with Dolby DSS servers or the Doremi/Dolby servers (including the IMS)? I'm looking for a TMS and CineDigital is a strong candidate but I don't want to exclude the GDC TMS either so long as it is brand agnostic on the SMS servers. This will be a case where the customer really wants a "hands-on" approach to their shows (many volume cues...and I mean MANY) but there will be a mixed bag of SMS servers in the complex.

[Ian Freer]

It was many years ago now, but I experimented with the GDC TMS connected to both Dolby and Doremi (pre-IMS) servers. This was only ever a demo setup and was never really used 'in anger' but my memory is that the GDC could play nice with the others. Not sure if that's still the case, but I think it was possible...

[Leo Enticknap]

Tell me Mark...have you integrated the GDC TMS with Dolby DSS servers or the Doremi/Dolby servers (including the IMS)?

Not Mark here, but I have set up a GDC TMS in a Frankenplex containing 2 x DSS200/cat862, 3 x DCP-2K4/Dolphin, 1 x Alchemy, and 1 x GDC SX-3000 (and projectors ranging from an NEC iS8-2K to a Barco DP4K-17BLP!). The gotcha is that you can't simply cut and paste SPLs from one flavor of SMS to another, because of the automation cues, but in terms of show scheduling and monitoring, once everything was set up and configured, it was totally reliable.

[Steve Guttag]

Presuming all of the cues lined up between servers (which I do anyway...all the names are exact), would the GDC then allow SPLs between various brands? The only potential rough one is the Dolby exclusive "Volume" cue where, when talking with a Dolby brand sound processor, they can specify the specific volume right with the cue. The IMS3000 can do that if it has the audio processor option only.

[Leo Enticknap]

During the very limited time I had on site, I couldn't get SPL transfer between SMSes of different models to work, even with conforming cue names. I guess it might be possible, but they never wanted to follow up.