[AG-TECH] About single machine nodes

[Christoph Willing]

Many people seem interested in single machine nodes at the moment. 
There are lots of good reasons to have such a setup (besides just being 
able to say that you've done it). In particular, they're great for 
desktop systems with a single USB camera, and also for laptops.

However, from a useability point of view, they're not ideal for 
multiple camera nodes. There's an instance of vic (VideoProducer or 
VideoService) for each of the video capture streams, say 3 in a typical 
node. Thats probably OK for an experienced operater, but even then its 
a bit inconvenient (and, at the very least, messy) having the 
additional vic instances on the display machine. For a casual node 
operater, its really confusing.

With a separate capture machine, the multiple vic capture instances are 
tucked away on another machine with only a single VideoConsumer on the 
display machine. Its a much neater solution. The more useable a system 
is, the more its likely to be used.

chris


Christoph Willing                        Ph: +61 7 3365 8350
QPSF Access Grid Manager
University of Queensland