I have a situation that I am unable to find a solution for, in either the sonar documentation or by "googling"...
 
I am using Sonar to run "Tracks" for a live band... our set up has front-of-house- audio, a click track, and a midi track. The "click" goes to our drummer to keep the live band in sync with the audio tracks we send to the front-of-house PA... The midi track sends data through a DMXIS box to run our light show in sync with everything.
 
Now, the issue we are having...
 
We are trying to add video to this set up. We DO NOT want to use Sonar to run the videos. We have tried this, and the results are unsatisfactory. Running HD video from Sonar causes the computer to freeze, the software to lock up, and in some cases the computer to crash. This is unacceptable fora live show situation.
 
We know what we want to do, but we cant quite figure out what we need. The solution we are looking for, is to create a midi track, and send that midi data out to another PC, and trigger the launching of video files. For each "song" we launch in Sonar, we want to send a midi command out that will launch a video running in a program on another PC.
 
Can someone please recommend a solution for this? I need specifics... as in, the hardware needed to connect the two PCs, and a software solution for the other program to hold and launch the video files...
 
We have been running our current setup for over 4 years, as a live band, so we have a lot of experience using Sonar to run audio tracks, and trigger midi lights.... now we need a solid robust solution to add HD video to the mix.
 
Regards,
HC

I don't have any specifics, but I will try to point you in a direction.
 
You probably need to run in SMPTE timecode (this is typical for video) using an external clock source.  The external clock will drive SONAR on one PC and would drive a video player on another PC.  I don't think your run of the mill video players (e.g. quicktime, windows media player) will accept an external SMPTE clock signal.
 
I know its not specific, but maybe it will give you some additional clues.

Thanks for the reply Dave...
 
I should have also added... we are trying to run the video up on large 65 inch monitors.... not videos on the PC monitors.... so we need ot send the video output feed into a dedicated HD output that can then be routed to the TVs we are using to display the content...
 
I am not aware of what it means to use an external clock source... but will look in to that.... I should add, that for my day job, I am an electrical engineer doing ASIC/FPGA design.... I say this to point out that I do have a decent understanding of the level of complexity going on here... its just not very clear to me on the point of.... how do I route a midi "note" into another PC to trigger/select a video to play.... with that video being sent out of an HDMI port to a screen...
 
HC

Seems to me you need some VJay software.
http://articles.triplewid...for-multiscreen-video/

I did a little more investigation.  I think what you actually need is some VJ software.   The trick will be to get a midi message from your Sonar DAW to the other PC running the VJ software.  It might be worth trying to use the VJ software on the same computer, but I don't know if you will have enough horsepower.
 
Check the ableton forums, they might have some hardware suggestions to connect the two PCs.

Thanks for the replies so far...  I had already identified the VJ software myself, as well... but that solution is still a bit fuzzy with respect to the hardware connection between the computer running Sonar, and the computer running VJ... (we are very reluctant to run both software programs on the same computer, due to lag/lockup/crash issues)
 
Of the many "internet forum" mentions of using VJ to midi trigger video output, I have yet to see any mention of Sonar as the source of the midi trigger... and following that, no mention of the hardware path for this solution (ie midi over USB, midi over Ethernet, etc...)
 
Not having the ability to talk with a Sonar tech makes this that much more frustrating...
 
HC

I don't think a Sonar tech would be able to help you.  This is very much an edge case use of Sonar.
 
But thinking about this more - I would think that a midi interface for the video computer would be able to receive a midi signal from your sonar computer (assuming you have a midi interface on that one.)
 
Any VJ software that is capable of being triggered by a midi controller should work in that set up.

Midi to midi seems simplest to me. On Mac you have QLab which is rather less complex and more to the point than most VJay stuff, I don't know if that would be an option for you? I don't know of a direct alternative for Windows, but I haven't really used this kind of stuff, just seen it around me. 

I don't think that Sonar was ever designed to be the heart of a live multi media show. There are  theater and (as said) VJ type software that this is their main purpose. Sonar is a DAW, not live performance oriented. Like you noticed, it crashes when asked to do to much. That's not a risk I would want to take live.
I would think that the software you seeking would possibly be run on a Mac as well. Not that Macs are more stable, but this sort of thing seems to show up in that camp more often.
 
As far as syncing, you can do this with multiple computers using midi syncing which has been around since the 80's.
I'm not up on Video software but I would imagine you will need professional playback ( Sony Vegas?)  to have access to Midi or SMPTE within the video domain. Then you'll have to decide which software is going to be the master clock. Sonar (or?)  or the Video playback. It would also look like each computer will need a good quality audio/Midi interface.

This is a fascinating topic.  I ran across this YouTube tutorial for using VDMX for the videos and setting it as MIDI slave for tempo.  Then it uses the MIDI timing from the Ableton live MIDI output.  Don't see any reason you couldn't send MIDI clock from Sonar instead.  I guess the multi-computer setup might make it a bit more challenging.
 
How to Sync Audio + Video Using Ableton Live and VDMX - Visual Performance Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT_eVREKpSs