No Focus on Render Node

MarkP1

I've got the CineLink plugin working with UE 5.5.4 and I can see the focus change on the frustum camera on the editor node, but it doesn't change on the render node/LED wall. Any ideas?

AndyJarosz

Hi Mark, the master nDisplay node also needs to be activated with the CInelink key and connected to the camera for it to update in nDisplay.

MarkP1

I feel like I did that, but I'll check the render node version of Unreal to make sure it's activated.

MarkP1

When I open Unreal on the render node and entering the activation code, it gives me an 'Invalid Product Key' status in Live Link. It works on the Editor node just fine. FYI, I'm working off a drive on the render node that's mapped to the editor node, so the project lives on the render machine. Not sure if that has something to do with the issue. For whatever reason, I can't get a 'Connected' status on the render computer.

AndyJarosz

MarkP1
The first most obvious thing to check is that the render node can actually see the camera over the network. If you find the cameras IP in it's menu, you can just try to ping it from the render node. If it can't see the camera, that's an issue outside of Cinelink.

Beyond that, since Cinelink uses the computers hostname to reference if the license is valid, it's possible that running the project off a shared drive may be causing issues. That's not a typical VP setup, so it's just not a tested workflow.

MarkP1

Andy, we're learning as we go! Where would the project drive be placed for most VP setups?

AndyJarosz

MarkP1
Generally, each node has their own local copy of the project, which is maintained with a file transfer program like SyncThing, FreeFileSync, GoodSync, etc. Some people use Perforce for this, but that's not really what it's intended for.

Setting it up this way prevents each node from overwriting each others local cache and logs, which prevents crashes and unnecessary shader recompilation.

MarkP1

I can ping the camera from the render machine, no problem. I've set up the system so I'm running separate instances of the same project on the two computers and can connect them through switchboard. However, I keep getting the "Invalid Product Key" in the Live Link section on the render machine. Editor machine works fine and the camera data comes through. Do I need a second key for the render machine?