This Knowledgebase article will explain how you can use and implement the MultiShot Module of the CamDirector© into your environment, with or without the TeacherTracker. This guide will assume TeacherTracker is in use. But the guide also works if you are only using Multishot without the TeacherTracker license.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Why MultiShot
• Using VISCA over IP
• Using REST API
• The logic of MultiShot

Why MultiShot

Why would you use the MultiShot? There are use cases where having an additional shot beside the TeacherTracker would be helpful to have. Like when a teacher is in front of the classroom and there is a question from the audience. The teacher can use a control panel at the front that is programmed to do certain things. For instance switch to a camera that captures the student that is asking a question. Or perhaps a stream from a (digital) whiteboard. With MultiShot the Teacher is in control of choosing what the audience of the stream gets to see.

Using VISCA over IP

You can control the multishot with VISCA over IP. With the various commands, you can turn the multishot on or off, request the status and choose which shot you'd like to switch to.

Various programs, Hercules, PacketSender HEX

Settings IP + Port 1260

Using REST API

Which program or in the Webbrowser

Get Requests (not push requests in browser, only postman)

Settings are IP and Port 3002 (3001 is teacher tracker)

List the commands

The logic of MultiShot

Some understanding of the switching logic can be helpful. 

• As soon as you turn on MultiShot, the CamDirector pushes some settings to the connected cameras. Name of stream, video codec, etc. This way all shots in MultiShot are ready for use, whichever shot you pick. 
• When the MultiShot is on, the TeacherTracker stays active in the background. This way when switching the MultiShot off, the TeacherTracker is ready to go

When the multishot is on, you won't be able to edit the scenes from the WebGUI.

Using the Preset Switcher

This Knowledge base article will help you understand the functionalities of the MultiShot Module for your CamDirector® AI Processing Unit, the CD500. 

MultiShot will help complete your CamDirector setup, by adding in multiple shots from different cameras and in future other RTSP streams.

The release notes of the latest improvements can be found on our website. Currenty version is 1.3.2 (15 May 2023)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Installation of the CD500
• Purchase and activate the license
• Set-up Multishot
• Use the Multishot

Installation of the CD500

We have Knowledge Base articles explaining how to install the CD500. Make sure your CD500 is fully installed. If you have the license for the Teacher Tracker, make sure you have successfully completed the calibration.

Use the articles below to meet these requirements.

1. CamDirector® Quick Start Guide
   
2. How to mount and configure CamDirector Teacher Tracker
3. Basic CamDirector® tips
4. Make sure you have saved all changes and if you want update & reboot.
5. Wait for the CD500 to have been rebooted and log in at the System IP address that you have just set.
6. If the CD500 isn't responding on that IP address, check the HDMI output for the IP address during the boot sequence.

You need to define a gateway for the CD500 to be able to connect to the internet and connect with other devices.

Purchase and activate the license

To use MultiShot, the digital camera switcher, you must purchase a license. If you purchased the license at the same time that you purchased the CD500, the module should be active out of the box. 

You can reach out to our sales team if the module is not purchased. If you have purchased it, and it still doesn't show up after a reboot, you can reach out to our support team.

The license for MultiShot will be added automatically and remotely to your CamDirector unit.

If the Module is active you should be able to see the icon in the list on the left.

Set-up Multishot

We will give a brief explanation of how to set up the multishot module. You do this through the WebGUI.  

1. Log in to the Multishot web GUI. Use the IP and user from earlier when following the above instructions
2. Go to MultiShot in the left column. Nothing will be listed if you are here for the first time.
3. Click the Add New Tile. Here you must type in a Camera IP. 
4. Click the Play button to connect to the camera stream
5. Use the controls to pick out the shot you would like, give the preset label your name and hit save.

Right now only Avonic Cameras are supported. We are looking into future support for any RTSP stream.

With the WebGUI you can set up 80 different presets. You can rename the presets for easy understanding. Each shot will get an endpoint that is fixed to that shot. With these endpoints you can use the commands from the next Paragraph to switch between shots.

There is a demo switch page available if you visit: http://192.168.5.50/#/multishot/switcher

Use the Multishot

There are two ways to communicate with Multishot. You can use these methods to implement a hardware of software switcher of your choosing.

1. Visca over IP commands.

   Commando	Visca responses (varies per scenario)	About
   81 20 01 04 00 02 FF	Completion: 90 51 FF Command not Executable: 90 6y 41 FF	Turns on the multishot
   81 20 01 04 00 03 FF	Completion: 90 51 FF Command not Executable: 90 6y 41 FF	Turns off the multishot
   81 20 0A 01 06 01 FF	Completion: 90 51 FF Command not Executable: 90 6y 41 FF	Reboots the multishot
   81 20 09 04 00 FF	on: 90 50 02 FF off: 90 50 03 FF Command not Executable: 90 6y 41 FF	Returns the status off the multishot
   81 20 01 04 3F 02 <pp> FF	Completion: 90 51 FF Syntax Error: 90 60 02 FF Command not Executable: 90 6y 41 FF	Switch to the preset defined by pp pp  is in the range of 01-80 (hex) or 1-128 (dec)
   Unknown command	Syntax Error: 90 60 02 FF	command not known to multishot

2. REST API commands

   Method	Endpoint	Body	Response data	About
   GET/POST	http://192.168.5.50:3002/switch/<int:preset>	-	-	Switches to a preset stored in the database. Can be accessed with the preset given in the url (e.g. switch/0, switch/1 etc.)
   GET/POST	http://192.168.5.50:3002 /switch/on	-	-	Turns on the multishot
   GET/POST	http://192.168.5.50:3002 /switch/off	-	-	Turns off the multishot
   GET/POST	http://192.168.5.50:3002 /switch/reboot	-	-	Reboots the multishot
   GET	http://192.168.5.50:3002 /switch/status	-	{“playing” : bool}	Gets the status of the multishot