20/12/2015

BoygroupingBasics|vvvv

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vvvv Documentation Using vvvv Boygrouping Boygrouping Basics

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BoygroupingBasics
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HardwareSetup
DirectoryStructure
PreparationsontheClients
PreparationsontheServer
BoygroupPatching

Shoutbox

Thebluenodes
Bridges
Warnings

~2dago

ClientID

tekcor:Monome
Compilationwithhighend
VVVVmusicvideo
http://www.symbioticcube.com/monome
compilation/

FullscreenonClients
SynchronizedVideoPlayback
RemotingClients
FAQ
WhydoesCTRLBnotwork?

~2dago

Itseemsthatbangsarenotarrivingonclientsrandomly?!

bjoern:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=KTrgRYa2wbI

WhichnetworkportsdoesBoygroupinguse?
Boygroupingdenotesvvvvsbuiltinclientserverarchitecture.Itallowsyoutocontrolanynumberofrender

~2dago

computers(i.e.clients)fromasingleserver.Whileyoudoallthepatchingonlyontheservervvvvtakescare

sunep:Can'twait,itfeels
likeChristmasiscoming
soon.

ofalltheconnectedclientstorun

n'sync.Applicationsofboygroupingareusuallymultiscreensystemsor

seamlessmultiprojectionsetups.

~2dago

joreg:relatestalpha:
blogpostwithexplanations
imminent..
~2dago

sunep:whyisthelatest
alpha230MB?
~2dago

skyliner:
https://vvvv1.bandcamp.com/
~2dago

microdee:@joreg:itis
beautiful...
~3dago

joreg:don'tyoutouch
'em
~3dago

Inadvancedsetupsitmaybenecessarythataclientlistenstomultipleserverswhichcanbeachievedusing
MultiBoygrouping.Butfirstmakesureyouunderstandtheclassicsetup:

HardwareSetup
Aboygrouptypicallyconsistsofadedicatedserverpcandanynumberofclientpcsconnectedviaethernet.
Gigabitconnectionsareofcourserecommendedthesedaysbutwe'vebeenusingboygroupingwithvvvvalso
backwhen100baseTwasstilltopofthepops.Wirelessworksbutisnotrecommendedasitwillsee

u7angel:thepacksfolder
ispackedwithgoodies:)
~3dago

guest:Somethinggoing
oninthenewAlpha...
readmore
followontwitter

considerable
Thesimplestboygroupwouldconsistofonlyaserverandoneclientpc.Insuchasetupyoucouldevenusethe
serversfullscreenoutputasoneofthemainoutputs.However,dependingonyourpatchespower
consumptions(sotospeak),thismaynotbeanoption.Oftentheserverrunsatalowerframeratethanthe
clients,asithassomemoreworktodo.

DirectoryStructure
Itisgenerallygoodpracticetocreatedirectorystructurelikethefollowingwhenworkingonaspecificproject
withvvvv:
C:\MYPROJECT\patches
C:\MYPROJECT\resources
C:\MYPROJECT\vvvv

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Inaboygroupsetupspecificallyitisnecessarytocreateanidenticaldirectorystructureontheserverand
allclients.Notethough,thattheclientswon'tneedthe.v4pfilesinthe\patchesdirectory,astheywillreceive
alltheirnodesmagicallyfromtheserver!Stillyoumaywanttoplace.fxor.dllfilesinthisdirectoryonthe
clients,iftheyarealsothereontheserver.Alsoitisnoproblemiftheclientsalsogetallthe.v4pfiles
mirroredaslongasyouunderstandthattheywillnotbeused.
Boygroupingdoesn'ttransmitanyresources(textures,videos,effectfiles,..)overthenetwork.Onlyprimitive
data(values,strings,colors,enums)isbeingtakencareofautomatically.Thereforeallresourcestheserver
patchaccesseshavetobeavailableontheclientsfilesystemaswell.Synchronizingthedirectorystructureof
aserverwithmultipleclientscaneasilybeachievedwithadditionaltools.HavealookatRemoterSAor kalles
filemodules.

PreparationsontheClients
Theclientsideofpatchingisrathertransparent.Actuallynopatchingneedstobedoneatallonthe
clients.Allyouhavetodoistostartvvvv.exewiththe/client[ServerIP]commandlineparameterlikethis:
vvvv.exe/client192.168.0.100
Assumingthat192.168.0.100istheipaddressofyourserver.You'llseethatvvvvisindeedinclientmodeas
itpopsupadefaultpatchwiththetitle//CLIENTof192.168.0.100

PreparationsontheServer
Ontheserverstartvvvvwiththe/servercommandlineparameterandnotethatvvvvsbuttoninthetaskbar
nowdisplaysSERVER!toindicateitsmode.
IfyourserverPChasmorethanonenetworkadapterthatareassignedtodifferentnetworksyouneedto
specifywhichonetousefortheudpbroadcasts.Youdothisviathe(hidden)BroadcastIP
Boygroup(VVVVServer)

onthe

byspecifyingabroadcastaddressonthesubnetyouwanttheboygrouptooperate

on,like:192.168.178.255(ie.withthelastbytesetto255).
Totelltheserverwhichclientsithastodealwith,createaBoygroup(VVVVServer)

node.TotheClients

of

thisnodeconnectaspreadofIPaddressesofallyourclients.Usuallyyou'llenduphavingapatchsimilarto
this:

NotethattheBoygroupnodes'outputcarriesaspreadofbooleansindicatingtheconnectedstateofthe
individualclients.Ifeverythingissetupcorrectlyafewseconds(<10)afterstartingtheclientstheyshould
showupasbeingconnected.
Ifyoudon'tgetaconnectionthefirstthingyoushouldtryistodisablethefirewallonthe
server/clientsordefinearuletoallowvvvvand/ortheportsitusesforboygroupingthroughthe
firewall.

BoygroupPatching
Thebluenodes
OnavvvvinstancerunninginservermodethekeyboardshortcutCTRL+Ballowsyoutoboygroupindividual
nodes.Boygroupednodesaredippedinbluewhichindicatesthattheyhavebeenmirroredtotheclients(even
ifyoucan'tseethemthere)andarenowbeingcalculatedoverthere.
UsuallyyouwouldstartwithboygroupingaRenderer.Notehowvvvvautomaticallyboygroupssome
neighbouringnodes.Thisisbecausenodesconnectedvianodeconnections(liketransforms,textures,audio,
video,layers,...)needtobeconnectedonthesamesideofthenetwork.TakeThatasitis,itsautomatic
anywayandhardlyneedsanyfurtherthought.
Howeverwhatneedssomemoreunderstandingiswhichnodesapartfromthoseautomaticallyboygroupedyou
shouldboygroupmanuallyforbestresults.Thereisnogeneralrulelike"boygroupasmuchyoucan"or"less
boygroupisgoodboygroup".
Insteadbeawarethatalldatarunningonconnectionsbetweenboygrouped(blue)andnormal(gray)nodesis
beingtransferredoverthenetworkeveryframe(onlyiftheyarechanged,ofcourse).Thereforeyoushould
takecareofthoseconnectionsnottocarrytoohighspreadcountsandratherboygroupnodesthatcreate
spreadcounts.

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Letshavealookat3differentboygroupingscenariosyou'llbeconfrontedwithwhilepatching:

Thesendingnode(gray)existsonlyontheserverwhilethereceivingnode(blue)isontheclient.Nowas
theychangeallvaluesaretransmittedviaUDPeveryframe.AsUDPcannotguaranteeafixeddatarateor
latency,youwillnoticeasmalldelayorroughnessintheanimationofyourobjects.Withanimation
parametersbeingtransmittedfromservertoclientsitisthereforegoodpracticetohaveaboygrouped
Damper(Animation)

asthefirstnodeonaclient.

Bothnodesexistontheclient.Herenodataistransmitted.Thenodesontheclienthaveconnectedlocally
(ontheclients)anddataistransferredinternally.Soyouwillgetsmoothanimationsasusual.

Thesendingnode(blue)isboygroupedwhilethereceivingnode(gray)isnot.Herenodataistransmitted.
Ontheserveryouwillalwaysseethevalueswhichwerelocallycalculated.Itisnotpossibletoretrieve
valuesfromtheclients.
Findingthebestnodestoboygrouptakesabitofpracticebutingeneralyoucan'tdomuchwrong.Ifyour
resultsaresloworjerkytryboygroupingdifferentnodesorspendyouranimationsablue
Damper(Animation)

node.

Bridges
Bridgesareconnectionsbetweengrayandbluenodes,ie.linksthattransmitdataviathenetwork.
TheBoyGroup(VVVVServer)

nodehastwooutputsthatgiveyouinformationsaboutBridges

BridgeCount
ActiveBridges
Activebridgesarethosetransmittingdatainexactlythisframe.

thedisplayofthebridgesismainlyfordebugpurposes.Ithelpsyouroughlyunderstandhowmanyconnections
therearetransmittingdata.Typicallyyouwanttokeepthematalowcount.

Warnings
IftheBoyGroup(VVVVServer)

'sWarningpinoutputssomethinglike

msgtoobigforUDP;wassentviaTCP:/4/14/139/ScaleXYZ
means:
/4/14/139
isthepathtothepin
ScaleXYZ
giveninnodeidsasseenfromtheROOT.
LikethisyoucanidentifythelocationinyourpatchwherethistoobigmessagehadtobesentviaTCPand
checkifitisreallynecessarylikethisorifyoucanimproveyourpatch.
Thereasonforthiswarningisthatvvvvbydefaultwon'trisktofragmentUDPpackagesandthuskeepsthem
underthe

MTUsizewhichseemstodefaultto1472bytesbutmayvaryondifferentnetwork/hardware

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setups.Tocheckforthemtusizeonyoursetupopenaconsoleonyourserverandpingoneoftheclientslike
so:
ping192.168.2.104l1472f
Thisshouldnotreturnanyerror.Nowincreasethat1472numberandseewhenyougetanerrormentioning
fragmentation.Ifyoufindanumberdifferentto1472thatworksforyouyoucansavelysetthatviathe
MaximumUDPPacketSize

onBoygroup(VVVVServer)

andvvvvwillonlyswitchtotcpformessages

largerthanthat.
NowyoucanevenincreasetheMaximumUDPPacketSize

ifthepingtestfailsforhighernumbers.Justbe

awarethatthisincreasesthechancesforpacketlosswhichmaydependingontheneedsofyourprojectnotbe
aproblematallandgainyoursomeperformance.

ClientID
Sofarallclientswouldreallyalwaysdoeverythingincompletesyncwhichisn'tofmuchuse.ConsiderJustin,
Lance,JC,JoeyandChrisperformingtheirdancemovementsallattheverysamepositiononstage.Whilethis
wouldcauseinterestingartefactsitjustwouldn'tworkinourlimited3dimensions.Thereforeboygrouping
introducesaClientIDwhichistheonlyfeaturethatletsyoudistinguishbetweentheclients(andindeedthe
server)fromapatchsview.
TheBoygroup(VVVVClient)

nodereturnsadifferentIDfrom0uptoClientsCount1oneachclient.The

orderdependsonthespreadofIPaddressesyouenteredontheBoygroup(VVVVServer)

node.IPinslice0

willbeClientID0,IPinslice1willbeClientID1andsoon.NotethatontheserverBoygroup(VVVVClient)
returnswhatevervalueyousetonitsServerIDinputandwhatevervalueyouchoosefortheServerIDhasno
effectontheclients.ChangingtheServerIDsimplyletsyousimulateanyoftheclientsontheserver.
Forasimpletestpatchsee
girlpower\takethat.v4p.
ThereyouseetheBoygroup(VVVVClient)

nodeinaction.Intheexampleitisusedtosetthecameratoa

differentoffsetoneachclient.

FullscreenonClients
Thestandardboygroupingscenarioisthatyoustillwanttobepatchingontheserverwhileyourclientsalready
areinfullscreen.Thereforeyou'llwanttheRenderersFullscreen

besetto1ontheclientsbut0onthe

server.Rememberthattheonlywaytodistinguishtheserverfromalltheclients(andtheclientsfromeach
other)istheClientID.Dependingonthisyoucanpatchsomethinglikethefollowingtohavearendereronthe
serverinwindowedmodewhileitisfullscreenonallclients.

SynchronizedVideoPlayback
seevideosynchronization

RemotingClients
Whenhavingtodealwithalargenumberofclientsitisoftenusefultostart/stopvvvv.exeorotherprocesses
onallofthemwithjustoneclickfromtheserver.Alsoyoumaywanttoreboot/shutdown/WakeOnLAN
individualclientsorestablishaVNCconnectiontooneofthemfordebugging.Allthisandsomemorecan
convenientlybedonewithourseparatetool:RemoterSA.
AlternativelysomeofthosefeaturescouldbeevenpatchedusingtheRemoteShellnodeRSh(Network)

AlsoseeRSHHowTo.

FAQ
WhydoesCTRLBnotwork?
Thisshortcutonlyworksinservermode.Startvvvvwiththe/serverflagtoenableboygrouping.

Itseemsthatbangsarenotarrivingonclients
randomly?!
Yep,thatisverylikelyso.Thesolutiontothisproblemissimple:Insteadofhavingabangbetweenablueand
agraynodepatchitsoyouhaveonlyachangingvalue(e.g.countingupavalue)beingtransmittedviathe
network.ThefirstbluenodeisthenaChange(Animation)

toconvertthevaluechangetoyourdesiredbang.

Foranexplanationreadon:serverandclientsarenotframesynced.Itismostlikelythatclientsrunfasterthan
theserver,whichusuallyhassomeoverhead.Eventhoughthebangwilldefinitelybesentfromtheserverit
mayjustarriveonclientsinbetweenframesandbediscarded.Abangisessentiallyachangeto1followedby
achangebackto0inthenextframe.Ifboththosemessagesarriveontheclientinthesameframeonlythe
lastmessageistakenresultinginalossofthebang.

WhichnetworkportsdoesBoygroupinguse?
http://vvvv.org/documentation/boygroupingbasics

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WhichnetworkportsdoesBoygroupinguse?
PerdefaultvvvvestablishesaTCPconnectiononport3333toeveryclientfortransmittingallgraphchanges.
AllvaluechangesarebeingbroadcastonUDPport3333.Youcanchangethatdefaultportviathe
Boygroup(VVVVServer)

nodesNetworkPort

.Notethough,thatifyoudosoyoualsohavetostartyour

clientswithamodifiedstartupcommandlikethis:
/client192.168.0.100:4444

impressum|Pagecreatedby

joreg,lastmodificationby

http://vvvv.org/documentation/boygroupingbasics

joregon29.08.14[16:32UTC],read40619times

5/5