359 replies to this topic

[allheart]

Hi GxtJoe,

 

No, it seem that other tables of the same type, where the DMD is standalone (not integrated into the backglass), I get the same "white box".   I had tried increasing the delay some, but it didn't seem to help.   I watch the table getting displayed (while the PBXR countdown bar is going).  I notice everything stabilizes with the backglass and the DMD visible.   The PBXR dialog box goes away and everything still looks okay.   I abort it at that point (24 is the first table that seems to be of the format with the full DMD on it).  I look at the resulting image and it has the white box.

 

I had let it run on all the tables I have installed (capturing both table and backglass).  All the tables seemed to record just find.  Looking at the backglasses, I see white boxes on multiple backglass images.   That got me started investigating.  I haven't looked through all the images to see if any appear correct.  I'll also try to do that tonight as well.

 

It looks to me like somehow it is capturing the underlying B2S image with the grill.   Tonight I'll try moving the DMD to another location on the backglass and see whether the "white box" follows the image.

 

Another interesting thing is that while the faststone image thumbnail shows the white box, when displayed full size, it is black.  Also puzzling almost as it is somehow a transparent portion that displays what is underneath.

 

Thanks for thinking about this.

[gtxjoe]

Maybe try running as adminstrator.  I will try this on my cab this weekend

[allheart]

Well, I made sure everything was running as administrator that I could think of - no difference.

 

I moved the DMD display into the middle of the B2S backglass/   - the "white box" did move to the center in the captured image.   Very strange, it almost seems that it is not capturing the DMD window as if it is looking at screen layers or something similar.

 

It appears that most of the other tables are similar.  If they have the pinmame DMD, it appears as a white box.

 

I have a couple of tables that use the UltraDMD software and those do seem to be capture in the screengrab of the backglass.  

 

I'll continue trying thing this weekend.

 

Thanks.

 

I'll try to attach an image that was captured.   I did resize it down to be smaller.

 

 

 

Attached Files

•  24 (Stern 2009) small.png   160KB   19 downloads

[allheart]

Hi gtxjoe,

 

Been doing some testing with some very strange results.   I copied the ffmpeg command to do the second monitor capture.   If I run it from a command prompt with just an explorer window open on the second monitor, the screen capture looks normal as expectd.  I tried this multiple times in a row and everything appeared normal.  

 

I then did the following:

 

Start vpx (no table loaded) - screen capture looks normal

load a vpx table (not played) - screen capture has changed (colors in correct, text missing, etc.)

Terminate vpx - screen capture back to normal

 

Repeat and play table, then hit esc and close backglass - screen capture again looks strange

exit vpx - screen capture back to normal.

 

It almost looks like somehow the screen parameters are being changed.

 

Still investigating.

 

Thanks,

[gtxjoe]

Did you try running pbxr as administrator?

[allheart]

That was one of the first things I checked.   I think it is a permission thing somewhere.   Haven't been able to locate it though.

 

Right now, I'm trying to see why there is a difference running the ffmpeg screen capture between the cases.   IF I turn the same ffmpeg capture command with a desktop, desktop with vpinmame test screen on it, I get one set of status commands.  If I do the same while a table is running with a backglass, there are some lines missing in the output from ffmpeg capture.   It may be nothing, but that is the only thing so far that I can see different.

 

Since you can recreate on your cabinet it must be something on mine.

 

Thanks.

[Umpa]

Want to report an issue not sure why lately but when I record one table pbxrecorder acts as if it records the table, back glass, and dmd. When it is finished I look in my pbx media folder and 1 of the 3 recorded. So I then record just the bg, or pf, or dmd one at a time. No big deal just wanted to report it. I run a 3 screen cab in exclusive full screen mode with freezys dll

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[Wob]

I'm seeing an issue with AlternateEXE support, It runs and records, but it doesn't detect that it has worked, and as such it doesn't kill the after recording, that it turn messes up and other recording happening in the same run.

 

Log file.

Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995)
AlternateExe found in xml: VPX.4\vpinballx.exe
MISSING: Table Image
FYI (FTP not enabled): No Wheel Image - Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).png
Launching table: C:\Visual Pinball\VPX.4\vpinballx.exe -DisableTrueFullscreen -play C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\VPX\Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).vpx
Table Launch timed out.  Continuing anyways
Video and screenshot capture (12:40:06)
Screenshot "C:\PinballX\Media\Visual Pinball\Table Images\Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).png"
Screenshot "C:\PinballX\Media\Visual Pinball\Backglass Images\Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).png"
Recording "C:\Tools\PBXRecorder\playfield.mkv"
Recording "C:\Tools\PBXRecorder\bg.mkv"
Convert Videos to f4v if video was captured (12:41:19)
Converting to "C:\PinballX\Media\Visual Pinball\Table Videos\Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).f4v"
Converting to "C:\PinballX\Media\Visual Pinball\Backglass Videos\Indianapolis 500 (Bally 1995).f4v"
Table done (12:42:47)

[gtxjoe]

Hmm if the alternate exe is "VPX.4\vpinballx.exe" , PBXR Is getting confused because the exe is actually a sub folder and exe. Try renaming vpinballx.exe to something like vpinballx10.4.exe and moving it to the main Visual Pinball folder

[Wob]

I would normally, but 10.4 has a bunch of new addition files, and I am not sure how they will affect my 10.3 exe, and I don't want to mess with my stable 10.3.

 

I did a search to see if that was a "safe" move, but couldn't find an answer, so subfolder is safer for the moment.

 

I'll just stick with doing the 10.4 tables 1 and a time with PBX for now. If I use the "Choose 1 table" and point it to the .vpx file, does it still use the xml to locate the exe to use?

 

Thanks,

Wob

[Thalamus]

To be honest. I find 10.4 to be more stable than 10.3. And copying only the *.exe into the "correct" folder will not break your 10.3.

 

Just call it "scary_new_thing.exe" ;-)

 

It is the same program with additional features and a few bugs has been crushed too.

Edited by Thalamus, 29 August 2017 - 06:01 AM.

[Wob]

To be honest. I find 10.4 to be more stable than 10.3. And copying only the *.exe into the "correct" folder will not break your 10.3. It is the same program with additional features and a few bugs has been crushed too.

 

Hi Thalamus,

 

Thanks for the response, I have seen a few bugs posted with a few of my fav tables, so just holding off a little longer. It seems more and more tables are coming out with a 10.4 requirement, so I don't think It will be long before I jump.

 

I just asked on the beta thread, I am fine with the exe, but I was just unsure if the supplied dll and script files are still backward compatible. Can you confirm?

 

Thanks,

Wob

[Thalamus]

I haven't had any problems with 10.4. But, of course I haven't played all my tables on that release either. What GtxJoe is saying is that you only need the *.exe in the correct folder to make it work. The name of the *.exe isn't important. That's what I'm trying to tell you above

[Wob]

Yeah, I do understand that, I just wasn't sure on the "extra" files, the scripts and the dll's, I just bit the bullet and did it anyway, looking at the file dates all the files looked new, but it appears only a couple of script files are updated, the rest matched the old ones.

 

So I have just made my "VPinballX.4.exe" in the same location as all my other VP versions, unless one of those scripts causing some backward compatibility issue it should be fine.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Thalamus]

Actually - you are running yourself into a corner by using this scheme. There are a few entries in the registry that believes that your VP is installed where you actually installed the program. Not, where you extracted the updated files to. So, when you run the new exe it will read from the older version' location. I haven't checked, but if eg. scripts where updated in 10.4 - you will still run them out of 10.3 folder. Thus, not using the changes that 10.4 expects.

 

A better solution. Zip down your 10.3 - before overwriting it .. or copy/paste the whole folder. In both cases it is easy to go back if needed.

 

Scripts folder will from time to time get additions, but, these are tested - and should not make any problems. Hopefully only improvements. IF something breaks due to scripts incompabilities, it will be fixed since it will effect every single one of us.

Edited by Thalamus, 29 August 2017 - 06:18 AM.

[Wob]

Yeah, that is basically what I ended up doing, I zipped a "backup" of all the folders\files that came with the 10.4 beta, and then just unzipped the beta into the existing install folder, with the exception of the exe, which is now "VPinballX.4.exe" as I want 10.3 to still be the default exe.

 

I was getting myself confused with file dates, the files I had previously extracted where all dated with the extraction date, so they all looked new to me, I just went back to the archive and I can clearly see only a few files are actually new.

 

Tested a couple of 10.3 and 10.4 tables and they all seem to a least be loading fine.

 

Thanks all.

[parabolic]

Is there a way to increase the 15 second "wait" time before it starts recording? I feel some of my tables arent initialized yet

[Outhere]

You just have to run it as if you're setting it up for the first time

[GatorJim]

First off, thanks GTXJoe for this fantastic utility.

 

I've read through the entire thread and am having an issue that I have not seen mentioned previoiusly.   I have a three screen cab, running the latest version of VPX, PBX, and PBX Recorder.  Prior to running PBX Recorder, I used static images of my playfield and backglass in PBX.  All worked well.   Wanting to give my cab's "attract mode" more eye candy, I ran PBX Recorder to change from static images to videos.  I only have about 30 tables and PBX Recorder properly recorded videos of the playfield and back glass for each table and saved them to the media folders.

 

After running PBX Recorder, when I re-open PBX, the back glass and playfield videos play perfect for the first game.  However, when I change the wheel to the next table, the video does not change to the next table for either the backglass or playfield.  Instead, the playfield and backglass remains "stuck" on the first game.  Scrolling through the wheel for all 30 games, nothing changes.

 

If I close PBX and reopen it, the backglass and playfield videos properly play for whichever game was chosen on the wheel when I last closed it, but it will not change.

 

I feel like I am really close, but does anyone have any advice or suggestions I should try?   Thanks. 

[gtxjoe]

I would try installing the LAV filters install that is referenced on the www.Pinballx.net homepage, if you have not tried that