The Montreal, Canada-based VYV has been producing leading-edge media servers for over 18 years. With additional offices in Chicago and London, they have made their mark on everything from complex, large-scale installations to world concert tours, broadcasts, and theater productions. Some of their projects include the ground-breaking ABBA Voyage in London, as well as high profile concert tours including the An Evening with Silk Sonic Las Vegas residency, Roger Waters US+Them tour, Jennifer Lopez’s It’s My Party tour to numerous Cirque du Soleil’s inventive productions, including the magical Drawn to Life. They have a scalable media server range that goes from simple playback to truly feature rich—and everything in between. One recent high-profile project has gone through over 7 petabytes of content that runs at 20 GB/second on the PHOTON media server. [A petabyte is 1,024 terabytes.] The production team selected PHOTON, having felt strongly that there was simply not another media server available that could have handled that throughput of content. VYV’s [pronounced Vive] flagship media server, PHOTON is well-worth a focused look.
Feature Rich
Real-time media treatment and delivery; complete volumetric mapping and tracking; uncompressed video media playback—these are just a few of the outstanding key features you will find with PHOTON, now running software version, V10. Its latest hardware architecture provides the equivalent of two 8K DCI HDR 48-bit uncompressed @50Hz or 32 4K DCI 24-bit uncompressed @25Hz. Features for PHOTON include OpenEXR sequence playback; EDL support, CDLs + LUTs color correction; HDR 16-bit floating point bit per component video; automated file conversion and splitting; built-in media management with 10gbps import speeds; and frame accurate playback across multiple servers.
“We also have automatic projector calibrations, and LiDAR [Light Detection and Ranging] integration,” says Drew Atienza, director with VYV US. “We use that to track people and performers in 3D space; make walls and props interactive, all natively in PHOTON. We can basically do complex setups including massive projection mapping, multi-zones, etc. right out of PHOTON with no need for third-party tracking programs or programs to do interactive effects. These types of complicated projects are normal for VYV. We’ve done projects with Cirque du Soleil that require things that have never been done before; requests that others would have to bolt together multiple systems to make the project work. With our system, it’s all in one product and with one company. There is no ‘blame game’ or finger pointing like when an element doesn’t work with multiple systems from different manufacturers. Because we’re all one unified system, it streamlines troubleshooting, which means better support for clients, especially when there is a lot of complexity involved.”
While PHOTON is the top end of the VYV media server range, it shares the same user interface with the other VYV media server products, which includes XENON, TACHYON, and ALBION media servers and Copernics, their line of optical markers for tracking and calibration. “There is a progression through the VYV range, there’s a product for every scale of show,” comments Atienza. “It’s all the same interface, so it’s really easy to start out on the basic level and then scale up as the projects grow in size and complexity. We also have the flexibility to tie together different parts within the system to make the right solution; things that would require custom development from other companies to make it happen. It’s being flexible enough to answer the creative demands and do it in a quick manner that doesn’t require a custom module.”
Plus, when VYV does innovate to respond to a particular client’s complex project they then build that solution in as a standard feature. That is why their products, at all levels, are powerful tools out of the box. Atienza explains, “That is another thing that sets us apart. We’re willing to do custom development for a show if it needs it, but that work then gets standardized and put into the overall toolset of our products. So, by having our service and support subscription, our customers are getting new features all the time, every year.”
Working on the Timeline
PHOTON, like all the VYV media servers, uses an intuitive timeline, which makes composing and editing a breeze for anyone who has experience with professional media workstations. PHOTON also easily plays back uncompressed, multiple layers of content via DMX control. PHOTON was designed for live production work as well and provides real-time tools to respond to almost any kind of creative request on-site. PHOTON has familiar editing tools and features include multiple timelines linked to individual screens; retiming and frame blending; animation and keyframing; and multilayer compositing.
PHOTON is designed to accommodate stadium-sized venues featuring multiple large-scale screens. Such set-ups require very high-resolution content. VYV’s uncompressed playback architecture allows the server to display high-resolution media content without any color space or temporal compression. Rich colors and rapid motion content are smoothly played without any loss. Playback features include: image sequence playback; real-time media splitting; screen-based conversion and splitting; frame blending; and high-quality interpolation for slow motion.
Tracking and Mapping
PHOTON makes tracking—either 2D or 3D—something you never have to worry about. No matter how simple or complex, PHOTON can home in on any moving or static object that your video needs information about. This includes projectors, screens, cameras, and performers. It can track on non-rigid surfaces such as cloth, flags, inflatables, and more. PHOTON works with the PosiStageNet (PSN) protocol, which allows it to receive 3D-positioning data about any kind of moving target connected to automation software solutions or ones that are fitted with Copernics optical markers. This information can in turn be used to drive external devices and systems. This all adds up to exceptionally fast camera alignment and can also control moving lights and PTZ camera control from PHOTON.
Working with cue-based stage automation and show control is another key element that the PHOTON media server handles with ease. It has the ability to readily communicate with stage automation software, treat the acquired data through its nodal logic system, and trigger cues internally or externally. This allows PHOTON to be at the core of a show control set-up.
Just like tracking, projection mapping is another aspect that PHOTON takes in stride. Regardless of how many projectors your show requires, or how complex the geometry, PHOTON automatically aligns and blends with precision at 60 frames-per-second, an array of video projectors over any surface, using light sensors, cameras, reflective optical markers, and active emitters. Thanks to its flexible, integrated LED mapper, PHOTON accommodates several processors and screen formats. Features include manual- or auto-calibration; volumetric auto-calibration; real-time blending; mesh warping; as well as mapping tools for LED screens. “I would say we’re the best at basically capturing the real world and being able to accurately re-project onto that world,” says Atienza.
Fluent in Many Languages
In terms of protocols and languages, PHOTON is fluent in MIDI, Art-Net, sACN, OSC, PSN, TCP, and UDP, so there’s never a barrier to connecting seamlessly with other products—lighting controllers, sequencers, lighting equipment, even audio systems. Because PHOTON media servers work together as one unit, live backups and seamless media server replacements are automatically enabled via transparent networking.
PHOTON has a built-in ability to control, and be controlled by, a whole ecosystem of devices typically found in shows. This includes projector control; matrix control; live video input; NDI; OSC; VR (Oculus & Open VR); Notch; Stype; Unreal, Unity and more.
In terms of real time effects and advanced compositing, PHOTON includes an integrated, flexible, node-based effects system, which allows users to design generative real-time video content however they like. They can grab and analyze any of PHOTON’s input data (positioning, live video input, AV media) to control a vast array of structures such as particle systems. Nodes can be encapsulated in clips which allows users to take full advantage of the timeline’s layer system.
Future Forward
PHOTON is also well-suited, and pushing the boundaries, working in Augmented Reality and eXtended Reality LED volumes and stages. “We are working on a lot of projects in this area,” Atienza notes, “although we refer to it as SAR [Spatial Augmented Reality] because that’s a better scientific name for it. We’ve done work with LED volumes and stages, like the ARRI Stage over in the UK. Our features are ideal for this work, and we are continuing to think outside the box. We work closely with our creative partners, and they give us the right feedback of what tools they need, so we are always innovating.”
Service and support are a big part of what has built VYV’s reputation. The company is an OEM partner with Dell; all of their products are built on Dell architecture. “You have the ability to have next-business day onsite service from Dell,” says Atienza. “It’s facilitated by Dell EMC.”
When asked what sets VYV apart from other companies and products, Atienza replies, “It’s ‘All tools in one.’ It’s scalable choices. We offer products with a full range of features, features that really only we have as standard, because we deal with a wide range of solutions every day.”
If you are looking at media servers, get a demonstration of VYV’s solutions for yourself and see if they might have the right tool for your creative work. Learn more at www.vyv.ca.
