How-To In Unreal Multi Server

Studio setup

Here is a schema of a studio setup (from Top to Bottom):

1. The server with nDisplay that feed the screen (they can also run Smode instances for the calibration part )
2. Then the Unreal VFX source that render the Back and Front/key plate
3. and finally the Smode VFX server that composite the video from the camera with the Extended and AR.

All server in blue are in the nDisplay cluster and ALL server are connected in daisy chain with their NVIDIA Sync Card.
The Unreal VFX source render via composure to a viewport of 3 4k screens
as we can see here the 3 screens contain the 3 views and each view as it metadata written in it
The server is configured with a mosaic of 1x3 and a resolution of 11520x2160 pixels

In Camera VFX

Having a working In Camera VFX Unreal project for your Led setup is mandatory , If you don't have a project you will not be able to continue
to learn how to make a In Camera VFX Unreal project you can visit: https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/WorkingWithMedia/InCameraVFX/InCameraVFXOverview/

Smode will plug on top of this setup
In green the InCameraVFX setup and in red it's the part added for Smode

Unreal Plugins

First copy the Smode plugins in your project "plugins" folder or in the engine "plugins" folder
You need to enable the plugins Smode and nDisplay

Unreal Projects Settings

1) Set the Game Instance Class to SmodeGameInstace
2) Set enable alpha channel support in postprossess to Linear Color Space only or Allow through Tonemapper depending on what you will do in Composure

Plugins settings

1) Select the Ip and port of the Server where Smode is running. ( probably not a local IP like)
2) Activate nDisplay in Ndisplay: Main --> Enable: True

Stage and Screen Orientation

The screen configuration inside Unreal and inside SMODE need to be the same ( import the same FBX for easier setup ) Here we can see who to orientate the screen in Unreal nDisplay and SMODE for it to correspond

Integrate your Map

1) Open the levels panel
2) Drag and drop the “SmodeSetup_Map_MultiServer” from the plugin “Smode Content/MultiServer to the levels
3) Select all actor from this level
4) Move them into the persistent level ( say yes to the prompt )
5) Delete the “SmodeSetup_Map” from your levels ( say yes to the prompt )
6) In the Smode rig select your CineCamera

This should be your tree after the setup, in green the InCameraVFX setup and in red it's the part added for Smode

Select Front Object

For an object to be rendered into the Front Plate you need to add it into a layer
Then select the layer in the front Composure
and Exclude it from the back Composure
Finally select it into the nDisplay actor blueprint to exclude it from the Screen

nDisplay config

You need to add a new node to your cluster configuration with this parameters:

• the name of the Node need to be front
• the windows resolution need to be 11520px by 2160px
• the viewport resolution need to be 11520px by 2160px
• the projection policy need to be set to manual

Switchboard

https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/WorkingWithMedia/switchboard_overview/
The Switchboard launcher is located in: /Engine/Plugins/VirtualProduction/Switchboard/Source/Switchboard/switchboard.bat
and the listener is in /Engine/Binaries/Win64/SwitchboardListener.exe
Your configuration file is exported via the nDisplay actor: