X1 Support

[szechyjs]

I'm considering purchasing some of the new X1's and wondering if anyone has verified if they work with this module?

[bryce-seifert]

There isn’t any API info on the BirdDog site for the X1, so I have not worked on integrating it. I also don’t have the X1, so I won’t be able to test it as of yet

[szechyjs]

There isn’t any API info on the BirdDog site for the X1

I just opened a support ticket for more details, will let you know what I find out.

[szechyjs]

In theory this could just be accomplished using NDI, https://docs.ndi.video/docs/sdk/ndi-recv#receiver-ptz-control

[bryce-seifert]

That's likely beyond the scope of this module, the goal here is support via the BirdDog API so that there can be feature parity across cameras.

[szechyjs]

Response from Birddog...

At the moment, there is only very basic API control for the cameras. However, later this year there will be a firmware update to implement API control for Q-SYS, Crestron and more.

When asked about documentation for already implemented APIs, this was their response...

There will not be any documentation until everything is fully implemented via the update later this year.

[bryce-seifert]

Well that's unfortunate. If I get access to one either physically or remotely, I should be able to see what values are currently available and build from there. But it seems like API support is still a WIP.

[BBrazner]

It's August, 2024. Anyone have any idea when we can expect support for this camera?

[bryce-seifert]

If you can either get BirdDog to provide API documentation or provide us a camera we can work it. But until then, there’s literally no information or way to test an implementation.

And as you can see directly from an interaction with BirdDog above, they state:

There will not be any documentation until everything is fully implemented via the update later this year.

[BBrazner]

Well, the generic Visca module seems to work for my purposes, so I'll stay with that for now.

[WalterKThe4th]

If remote access to a camera would help you out, I just bought one and could probably facilitate that...

BirdDog also posted some VISCA commands to their site but I'm not sure if that's what you're using under the hood to speak to the cameras or not.

It would be immensely helpful for me to have a way to trigger the AI tracking on and off via a companion button. I'm not sure how best to organize this, if I can be helpful, please let me know!

[koensayr]

@bryce-seifert we should have X Series firmware now with the API (starting with v53 on X1/X1U) for example

[bryce-seifert]

@koensayr Is there documentation available? I don't see the X series on the API 2.0 docs

[koensayr]

Sorry - you're right I didn't update the documentation, but it's exactly the same API. There are some new bits for turning on/off AI/Tracking but would be nice to just add the X series as drop downs, and then I can itterate on future PRs

[bryce-seifert]

It's difficult to add as a dropdown option without documentation info for the specific models, since the module needs to know what the expected responses are and for some values what the possible ranges are.

Welcome a PR or documentation that could help get it going

[jkeinath]

What is the recommended way to control an X1 with companion at the moment? It seems to work occasionally with the Sony: Visca, but stops at some point. I can usually get it going again (disconnect/reconnect/restart camera, etc.), but not yet sure what gets it to work again.

EDIT: For anyone finding this currently. I have been successfully using the Sony Visca module for controlling these cameras. The disconnections were related to other issues on the network.

[bryce-seifert]

What is the recommended way to control an X1 with companion at the moment?

I don't own an X1, and I don't have proper documentation for it, so at this point the answer unfortunately is: 🤷🏻‍♂️