showstack / protocols / psn
PosiStageNet
Also called PSN, PosiStage, PosiStageNet.
An open multicast UDP protocol for streaming live 3D position, orientation, speed and acceleration of tracked objects on stage. It is how a tracking system tells lighting consoles, media servers and audio renderers where a performer or a piece of scenery actually is, right now.
Stewarded by VYV Corporation, developed with MA Lighting Technology GmbH.
Control
Small, urgent, must arrive
Small messages that either repeat constantly or fire once. Bandwidth is almost never the problem.
What kills it. Latency and loss on the messages that fire once. A repeating level survives a dropped packet; a GO does not.
Ports
udp/56565
PSN_INFO and PSN_DATA packets
Default in the specification. Both address and port are configurable at the tracking server.
Default in the specification. Both address and port are configurable at the tracking server.
Multicast
236.10.10.10 (IPv4 default group)- The default group sits in globally scoped multicast space rather than the administratively scoped 239.0.0.0/8 block, so networks with strict multicast policy may drop it. One stream feeds every consumer at once, which is the whole point of using multicast here.
What goes wrong
There are two packet types. PSN_INFO carries system and tracker names at a slow rate, PSN_DATA carries the positions. A parser that only reads DATA gets numbers with no idea which tracker they belong to.
Default rate is 60 Hz and it can be pushed to 250 Hz. Every increase multiplies packet load on a network that is often shared with lighting multicast, so raise it deliberately, not by default.
Positions are metres in the tracking system's own coordinate frame. PSN carries no origin, axis convention or handedness, so the venue origin and which way is up have to be agreed and written down before anyone patches.
The protocol is public domain and royalty-free, but the name is not. You can implement it freely; you cannot ship something called PosiStageNet without talking to VYV.
Trackers can drop out and reappear. Consumers that hold the last known position will happily keep pointing a light at a spot the performer left thirty seconds ago, so check what your receiver does on timeout.
What speaks PosiStageNet (24)
24 products — 14 hardware, 10 softwareshow all
| Product | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chataigne Ben Kuper |
in | |
| Depence Syncronorm GmbH |
in | PosiStageNet listed as a supported tracked-object input on the same page. |
| disguise Designer disguise |
in | Listed among Designer's position drivers. |
| grandMA3 onPC MA Lighting |
in | |
| Hippotizer Green Hippo (an ACT Entertainment brand) |
in | PosiStageNet controller receives position, velocity and acceleration for multiple tracked objects, with axis interpolation smoothing. Docs say new projects should use the Automation Reader. |
| L-ISA Controller L-Acoustics |
in | Performer position from tracking systems. |
| Smode Smode Tech |
in | PosiStageNet input for tracked objects. |
| Stage Precision Stage Precision |
bidirectional | PosiStageNet in and out. |
| Unreal Engine Epic Games |
in | PosiStageNet via plugin. |
| WATCHOUT Dataton |
in | |
| Christie Pandoras Box Christie |
in | PosiStageNet tracking input. |
| d&b audiotechnik DS100 Signal Engine d&b audiotechnik |
in | PosiStageNet positions, usually via a bridge. |
| disguise gx 3 disguise |
in | |
| disguise vx 4 disguise |
in | PosiStageNet tracking input for automation-following content. |
| Follow-Me 3D Follow-Me |
bidirectional | Position exchange. |
| grandMA2 full-size MA Lighting |
in | PosiStageNet input for tracking-driven follow. |
| grandMA3 full-size MA Lighting |
in | |
| MA Lighting grandMA3 light MA Lighting |
in | Position data for tracking-driven fixtures. |
| Kinesys Elevation 1+ Kinesys |
out | PosiStageNet output of axis positions to lighting and media systems. |
| Modulo Kinetic Modulo Pi |
in | PosiStageNet for tracked objects and moving scenery. |
| AV Stumpfl PIXERA one AV Stumpfl |
in | PosiStageNet input for tracked objects. |
| TAIT Navigator TAIT |
out | PosiStageNet output of axis and object positions. |
| TTA StageTracker II TTA — Track The Artist |
out | Position output. |
| zactrack PRO zactrack |
out | PosiStageNet output of tracked positions. |
Open source implementations
- psn-cpp — C++, MIT
Typical use
- Automated followspot systems driven from performer tracking
- Projection mapping onto moving scenery and performers
- Feeding object-based audio renderers with source positions
- Sending automation and scenery positions to consoles and media servers
- Broadcasting one tracker stream to several consumers at once
Sources
- PosiStageNet protocol description v2.02 — VYV Corporation and MA Lighting Technology GmbH primary
- PosiStageNet protocol description v2.03 (PDF in the reference implementation) — VYV Corporation primary
- PosiStageNet — An Open Protocol for On-Stage, Live 3D Position Data — VYV Corporation primary
- PosiStageNet protocol description v1.7 (earliest dated release, September 2013) — VYV Corporation primary
Understand the mechanism
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