Alternative Servers
The use of the a connection box allows for the Mk2 server to be replaced by an alternative computer. There are a number of reasons why a user may wish to do this:
Cost - Customers may already have the required computer hardware needed to run Ncam Reality, purchasing Mk2 servers in this case is unnecessary
Performance - Certain use cases benefit from having more powerful processing available. These include trying to track very large spaces (cable cameras for instance) or when rendering inside Ncam Reality using the Motionbuilder Geometry streaming plugin
This page contains a list of requirements and considerations for using your own hardware to run Ncam Reality
Limited Hardware Testing
Currently Ncam has conducted quite limited testing on 3rd party computers, we strongly advise thoroughly checking all specifications prior to investing in any hardware
Ncam Reality runs on the Ubuntu 18.04.5 operating system, to ensure proper driver support we recommended using hardware that is "Ubuntu Certified"
The Ubuntu Certified website provides details of all supported hardware
Ncam Reality 2022 has been tested on the following video cards:
- Blackmagic Decklink Series of cards
- Aja Corvid 44
The Decklink SDI 4k is the preferred choice, we do not recommend the use of the mini monitor card
If the server/laptop you are using has thunderbolt 3 support then it is possible to use the UltraStudio HD Mini thunderbolt device for video acquisition.
If intending to use a thunderbolt video acquisition device, make sure that the thunderbolt drivers for your server are properly supported on Ubuntu 18.04
For AJA cards only the corvid 44 has been tested, it is likely the corvid 88 and Kona series of cards will work without issue however these have not been explicitly tested yet.
It is recommended to have at least 2 network interfaces on the server, a Ubuntu supported USB to Ethernet dongle can be used if a 2nd network interface is not available
CPU - Intel i7 8th gen or comparable equivalent
RAM - 16Gb
GPU - Intel UHD onboard graphics
HDD - 256Gb SATA SSD
Certain use cases of the Ncam system may benefit from more powerful hardware, tracking large environments using the natural tracking core or using the MotionBuilder Geometry streaming plugin for instance. We provide the following specification for these use cases
CPU - Intel i9 or comparable equivalent
RAM - 16Gb
GPU - Discrete Nvidia GPU (AMD GPU's are not supported)
HDD - 512Gb SATA SSD
The following off the shelf computers have been tested and are confirmed working with Ncam Reality 2022, these are primarily servers from the previous hardware generation of Ncam
- HP Z4 workstation
- HP Z2 G5 with Nvida GPU
AMD GPU's are not supported at all by Ncam Reality