1622 replies to this topic

[STV]

Put that ffmpeg command line into the command prompt and see what it does.   When I did this I got a nifty malloc error that doesn't make it to the pinballY.log.  Went and found a new ffmpeg.exe and it worked almost.  got closer anyway...  it makes a video now but its more like a 1 frame per 5 seconds in the mp4.  .. noodling now with the ffmpeg switches that might help make it better.    I'm 4k so that probably has something to do with it.

pbxrecorder does the 4k PF vids just fine so ...  we should get there soon.

[mjr]

Media file lookup for Eight Ball 1.0.0, for capture: Playfield Video, path C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X\Table Videos, found C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X\Table Videos\Eight Ball 1.0.0 (Bally 1988).mp4

 

Huh? No such directory created. Only Tables.

 

PBY actually should be automatically creating the folder if it doesn't already exist, so that could be the whole problem if that didn't happen.  Could you go back and check to see if the folder is there after all?  PBY should be creating the folder before running ffmpeg, and if it didn't get created properly, that error should be visible in the UI - you should see something like

 

Playfield Video: Failed: <some windows error about why the folder creation failed>

 

in the on-screen box that appears with the capture results.  If you didn't see that, PBY thinks it created the folder successfully, so it would be worth checking your actual Media folder tree after the fact to see whether or not that happened.  If it didn't, there seem to be two problems - the failure of the folder creation attempt, and the failure to detect the failure of the folder creation attempt.

 

 

If recording with sound I got a sound Mix error. I'll have to look at that one.

 

ffmpeg depends on the "Stereo Mix" device driver (the exact name varies - it depends on your sound card hardware - but it should always contain the words "Stereo Mix" somewhere in the name) to do the audio capture.  That's usually installed by default on Win 7 and 8 systems, but I've read that some Win 10 systems don't have it.  

 

If you go to the Windows "Sound" control panel (press Windows+R, type sound.cpl into the box), and go to the Recording page, see what you have listed there.  If there's no device with the words Stereo Mix in its name, that's the problem.  If that's the case, let me know what you do have - there might be equivalents by other names that I don't know about.  Or you might just have to explicitly enable/install the Stereo Mix device.

[hlr53]

ffmpeg depends on the "Stereo Mix" device driver (the exact name varies - it depends on your sound card hardware - but it should always contain the words "Stereo Mix" somewhere in the name) to do the audio capture.  That's usually installed by default on Win 7 and 8 systems, but I've read that some Win 10 systems don't have it.  

 

If you go to the Windows "Sound" control panel (press Windows+R, type sound.cpl into the box), and go to the Recording page, see what you have listed there.  If there's no device with the words Stereo Mix in its name, that's the problem.  If that's the case, let me know what you do have - there might be equivalents by other names that I don't know about.  Or you might just have to explicitly enable/install the Stereo Mix device.

 

 

I took the tables out of the VPX and FP table folders and placed them back in. I think the capture was having trouble with an FP table it thought was a VPX table. I think? PBY is now capturing audio/image/videos for the VPX tables. I still have to test FP. However, the MP4s are completely black. They have audio but no video. Play length is correct to what was set in PBY.

 

For audio, my cab has the Stereo Mix option which I set. On my Alienware laptop it is not an option. They installed Sound Blaster Recon3Di by Creative.

 

So, we need to figure why the videos are black? I know ZERO about video. I took a black video over to my other daily use i5 laptop and it still played black. I dropped it into VideoPad Video Editor Professional and low and behold the video was there. I saved it as an MP4, auto detected the resolution, and used H.264 Codec.

 

Black video properties: Data rate 475kbps Total bitrate 611kbps frame rate 30.07 frames/second

H.264 saved video properties: Data rate 937kbps Total bitrate 1017 kbps 30.00 frames/second

 

If that helps. Probably doesn't except for the codec.

Edited by hlr53, 18 August 2018 - 10:06 PM.

[mjr]

So, we need to figure why the videos are black? I know ZERO about video. I have a video editor on yet another laptop and I can check them on that system to see what type of MP4 was created? Bit rates, etc. Might help?

 

I'm assuming you mean they play back as blank black screens in PBY?  How about in your separate VLC player app, if you have that installed?  How big are the files (just regular byte size)?  If they're all black in both players (PBY, VLC) and the files are relatively small, it's almost certainly a capture/encoding failure.  A 30-second 1080p playfield field should weigh in at about 4-8 MB.

 

Are you using the one-pass or two-pass encoding?  You might try the other one, whichever you're using, and see if the results are any different.

 

I'm working on tweaking the ffmpeg encoding parameters based on some 4K settings STV found, so hang on for a bit - I should have an update soon (by Monday) to try out.

[STV]

when I was getting the malloc errors the vids it created were black. 

[mjr]

when I was getting the malloc errors the vids it created were black. 

 

Yeah, blank black videos usually just mean that ffmpeg bombed out with some kind of error.  It seems to happily create an empty file and leave it behind when it encounters a fatal error.  I just noticed out that I was missing capturing the error output stream from ffmpeg in the log file - that'll be fixed in the next update, which should help A LOT with mysterious encoding failures.  The whole point of the log was to clear up those mysteries by capturing the ffmpeg error messages, but I was only capturing the non-error informational output, which kind of defeated the purpose.  And a separate error was misinterpreting the ffmpeg process result code, which would let PBY delete these vestigial blank files when it detects that ffmpeg failed.  Next update will clear all of that up, if I can manage not to botch the fixes.

[hlr53]

 

So, we need to figure why the videos are black? I know ZERO about video. I have a video editor on yet another laptop and I can check them on that system to see what type of MP4 was created? Bit rates, etc. Might help?

 

I'm assuming you mean they play back as blank black screens in PBY?  How about in your separate VLC player app, if you have that installed?  How big are the files (just regular byte size)?  If they're all black in both players (PBY, VLC) and the files are relatively small, it's almost certainly a capture/encoding failure.  A 30-second 1080p playfield field should weigh in at about 4-8 MB.

 

Are you using the one-pass or two-pass encoding?  You might try the other one, whichever you're using, and see if the results are any different.

 

I'm working on tweaking the ffmpeg encoding parameters based on some 4K settings STV found, so hang on for a bit - I should have an update soon (by Monday) to try out.

 

 

I was doing one-pass (i7-6700). I can't recall inside PBY but they were blank running in standalone players. Using VLC and whatever is on my other laptop. As I said above, when I brought them into my video editor the video was all there. So, FFMPEG did capture. 15 sec 1080p were 1.9meg. Why blank, before I converted, in the standalone players is a very good question? 

 

Just now the capture wasn't working again, even after a reboot and shutdown, but I'm done for today and will look at everything again tomorrow AM.

[mjr]

I was doing one-pass (i7-6700). I can't recall inside PBY but they were blank running in standalone players. Using VLC and whatever is on my other laptop. As I said above, when I brought them into my video editor the video was all there. So, FFMPEG did capture. 15 sec 1080p were 1.9meg. Why blank, before I converted, in the standalone players is a very good question? 

 

That's bizarre - so you're saying...

 

1.  Capture file A with PBY

 

2.  Play back file A in PBY -> blank black screen

 

3.  Play back same file A in VLC -> blank black screen

 

4. Load same file A into video player -> looks valid

 

Or am I completely missing the point here?

 

If I'm understanding so far, then how about:

 

5. Save file A from video player

 

6.  What does A look like in VLC?

 

7.  What does A look like in PBY?

[hlr53]

 

I was doing one-pass (i7-6700). I can't recall inside PBY but they were blank running in standalone players. Using VLC and whatever is on my other laptop. As I said above, when I brought them into my video editor the video was all there. So, FFMPEG did capture. 15 sec 1080p were 1.9meg. Why blank, before I converted, in the standalone players is a very good question? 

 

That's bizarre - so you're saying...

 

1.  Capture file A with PBY YES

 

2.  Play back file A in PBY -> blank black screen As I recall no video. I _THINK_ it was just the images being displayed. Will test tomorrow.

 

3.  Play back same file A in VLC -> blank black screen YES

 

4. Load same file A into video player editor -> looks valid YES

 

Or am I completely missing the point here?

 

If I'm understanding so far, then how about:

 

5. Save file A from video player editor YES

 

6.  What does A look like in VLC? It plays correct

 

7.  What does A look like in PBY? Placed new converted file back in Table Videos and it plays correct in wheel menu

 

Only option in video editor I used was auto resolution and H.264 compression.

 

Edited by hlr53, 18 August 2018 - 11:50 PM.

[hlr53]

Good morning. Using A-12 32 bit build.

 

First things: The game type (SS/EM/ME) are not being displayed.

 

Is the Internet pinball database lookup functionality active yet? I don't see that option in game setup?

 

Can I have 32 and 64 bit builds on the same system to test together? Perhaps one on C drive and other on D?

 

Are the high scores working?

 

Table launching for FP and VP is running correctly.

 

Visual Pinball X (only VP tables I have) image\video\audio capture working correctly. Videos are also correct using standalone video players. My videos are displayed upside down in attract mode. Is there something I can set to fix that?

 

Future Pinball: As soon as I start Begin Capture I get an immediate error box "The screen capture didn't complete properly because the game exited unexpectedly. Playfield Image: Not started." Then, the table launches and I can play it and exit. No errors in log file. Only:

 

Media file lookup for Star Trek, for capture: Playfield Image, path C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Images, found C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Images\Star Trek (STERN) ULTIMATE 1.03 (Midway 1990).png

 

Media file lookup for Star Trek, for capture: Playfield Video, path C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Videos, found C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Videos\Star Trek (STERN) ULTIMATE 1.03 (Midway 1990).f4v

 

Media file lookup for Star Trek, for capture: Table Audio, path C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Audio, found C:\PinballY\Media\Future Pinball\Table Audio\Star Trek (STERN) ULTIMATE 1.03 (Midway 1990).mp3

Edited by hlr53, 19 August 2018 - 03:46 PM.

[martymoose]

Anyone getting a firmware version not supported error every time I change settings
I have. A pinscape installed

Edited by martymoose, 19 August 2018 - 09:00 PM.

[mjr]

Anyone getting a firmware version not supported error every time I change settings
I have. A pinscape installed

 

Hi - I take it you're trying to set up a Pinscape controller in the Config Tool?  It's off-topic for this thread, so you might want to pursue further follow-ups in one of the Pinscape firmware related threads, but if you're getting that error it probably means that you have older Pinscape firmware installed on the KL25Z and that you'll have to update it to use the current Config Tool.  The "Update" icon on the front page of the Config Tool should be able to lead you through that.

[mjr]

First things: The game type (SS/EM/ME) are not being displayed.

 

Are you looking in the "Information" box?  Main Menu -> Information.  It should be displayed there, under the "Manufacturer, Year" line.  If you were looking for it in the popup box that appears automatically, it's not meant to be there; I could add anything else there that people are interested in seeing, obviously, but just didn't want to over-clutter it.

 

 

Is the Internet pinball database lookup functionality active yet? I don't see that option in game setup?

 

Yes, it's been there all along, and it's not exactly an option or command.  When you open up the Game Details dialog (operator menu -> Game Setup -> Edit Game Details), it tries to find approximate matches to the .vpt/.vpx/.fpt file, and uses that to populate the Title drop list.  If you select one of the titles in the drop list, it'll populate the rest of the fields with the IPDB data for that title. 

 

 

Can I have 32 and 64 bit builds on the same system to test together? Perhaps one on C drive and other on D?

 

Absolutely.  Just put them in different folders; there's no need for different drives, but that wouldn't be a problem either.  There are zero registry settings or anything else global; I tried to make it as self-contained as it's possible to be on Windows.  The only effects on anything outside of the install folder are:

 

- If you set up auto launch, it'll create a Windows Task Scheduler entry to do the launch, and there can only be one of those system-wide because the task is identified by name ("PinballY Startup Task").  But you probably wouldn't want to auto-launch both the 32- and 64-bit versions simultaneously anyway.

 

- If you want to share media between the two installed copies, point them both (via their individual settings) at the same base media folder and base table database folder.  They're obviously then both going to read and write the same media and table database files, so they'll affect each other's table lists and graphics.  Everything should be perfectly happy as long as you run one copy at a time.

 

 

Are the high scores working?

 

They are for me.  If you're asking, I assume they're not for you - let me know what doesn't seem to be working.

 

 

Future Pinball: As soon as I start Begin Capture I get an immediate error box "The screen capture didn't complete properly because the game exited unexpectedly. Playfield Image: Not started." Then, the table launches and I can play it and exit. No errors in log file. Only:

 

You're using FPLoader, right?  Here's my guess about what's going on:

 

- PBY launches FPLoader

 

- FPLoader launches FuturePinball.exe and then immediately quits while FuturePinball.exe carries on

 

- PBY monitors the game process it launched, in this case FPLoader, to determine when the game exits.  Oops, FPLoader just exited, so the game must be over.  Darn, didn't get a chance to capture any video; flag them all as failed and return to the main UI.

 

Sound plausible?  Fortunately, there's a provision for this thanks to Steam, which does exactly the same thing (PBY launches Steam.exe, Steam.exe launches Pinball Arcade or one of the other Steam-based games, Steam.exe quits, launched game keeps running).  If you go to the Future Pinball system page in the options, there's a box for "Process name".  You can enter a process name to monitor there in place of the actual launch process, for weird cases like Steam and FPLoader where there's an intermediate launcher program that terminates itself as soon as the main game is started.  Try entering Future Pinball.exe into the box and see if that clears it up.  Don't enter any path information - the process is identified by the plain .exe file name, so you just want to enter it exactly like that.

 

 

My videos are displayed upside down in attract mode. Is there something I can set to fix that?

 

Could you clarify what you mean by attract mode?

[martymoose]

The pinscape firmware is the latest Jan 2018 have been using it long before pinbally. It all still works fine except if I go into pinbally options it gives firmware error

Anyone getting a firmware version not supported error every time I change settings
I have. A pinscape installed

 
Hi - I take it you're trying to set up a Pinscape controller in the Config Tool?  It's off-topic for this thread, so you might want to pursue further follow-ups in one of the Pinscape firmware related threads, but if you're getting that error it probably means that you have older Pinscape firmware installed on the KL25Z and that you'll have to update it to use the current Config Tool.  The "Update" icon on the front page of the Config Tool should be able to lead you through that.

[mjr]

The pinscape firmware is the latest Jan 2018 have been using it long before pinbally. It all still works fine except if I go into pinbally options it gives firmware error

 

Oh, okay.  Maybe if you could post a screen shot of the error I might be able to figure out where it's coming from.  Do you think it's coming from PinballY?  As far as I know that's not an error PinballY is even capable of conceiving of.

[martymoose]

The pinscape firmware is the latest Jan 2018 have been using it long before pinbally. It all still works fine except if I go into pinbally options it gives firmware error

 
Oh, okay.  Maybe if you could post a screen shot of the error I might be able to figure out where it's coming from.  Do you think it's coming from PinballY?  As far as I know that's not an error PinballY is even capable of conceiving of.

I think it's pinbally.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[mjr]

Yeah, I can see why you’d take that as a PBY error message. But I’m just about sure it’s not. I don’t think it has anything to do with Pinscape, either. I think it’s coming from some other device entirely. Do you by chance have a DMD of some kind? I”m trying to think of what other device interactions could be triggered by bringing up the opyions dialog, and that’s the only one that comes to mind.

[hlr53]

 

First things: The game type (SS/EM/ME) are not being displayed.

 

Are you looking in the "Information" box?  Main Menu -> Information.  It should be displayed there, under the "Manufacturer, Year" line.  If you were looking for it in the popup box that appears automatically, it's not meant to be there; I could add anything else there that people are interested in seeing, obviously, but just didn't want to over-clutter it.

 

The black info boxes for each table as you scroll through. I swear in earlier builds that was displayed? I feel it would be useful to have the initials right after the Manufacturer/Year. I'm still trying to slog through your highly complex source code along with learning Standard C++. Might get there by this time next year :-) Can you tell me what source file the variables and method(s) are for doing this? Application? Thanks!

 

Is the Internet pinball database lookup functionality active yet? I don't see that option in game setup?

 

Yes, it's been there all along, and it's not exactly an option or command.  When you open up the Game Details dialog (operator menu -> Game Setup -> Edit Game Details), it tries to find approximate matches to the .vpt/.vpx/.fpt file, and uses that to populate the Title drop list.  If you select one of the titles in the drop list, it'll populate the rest of the fields with the IPDB data for that title. 

 

I am not seeing that at all. Manufacturer names are there to add but I have been manually filling in the fields. I can check again after work.

 

Can I have 32 and 64 bit builds on the same system to test together? Perhaps one on C drive and other on D?

 

Absolutely.  Just put them in different folders; there's no need for different drives, but that wouldn't be a problem either.  There are zero registry settings or anything else global; I tried to make it as self-contained as it's possible to be on Windows.  The only effects on anything outside of the install folder are:

 

- If you set up auto launch, it'll create a Windows Task Scheduler entry to do the launch, and there can only be one of those system-wide because the task is identified by name ("PinballY Startup Task").  But you probably wouldn't want to auto-launch both the 32- and 64-bit versions simultaneously anyway.

 

- If you want to share media between the two installed copies, point them both (via their individual settings) at the same base media folder and base table database folder.  They're obviously then both going to read and write the same media and table database files, so they'll affect each other's table lists and graphics.  Everything should be perfectly happy as long as you run one copy at a time.

 

That's what I thought. Good point on referencing one set of Media.

 

Are the high scores working?

 

They are for me.  If you're asking, I assume they're not for you - let me know what doesn't seem to be working.

 

Let me check the correct NV files are being referenced with the tables. Mine are not being displayed.

 

 

Future Pinball: As soon as I start Begin Capture I get an immediate error box "The screen capture didn't complete properly because the game exited unexpectedly. Playfield Image: Not started." Then, the table launches and I can play it and exit. No errors in log file. Only:

 

You're using FPLoader, right?  Here's my guess about what's going on:

 

- PBY launches FPLoader

 

- FPLoader launches FuturePinball.exe and then immediately quits while FuturePinball.exe carries on

 

- PBY monitors the game process it launched, in this case FPLoader, to determine when the game exits.  Oops, FPLoader just exited, so the game must be over.  Darn, didn't get a chance to capture any video; flag them all as failed and return to the main UI.

 

Sound plausible?  Fortunately, there's a provision for this thanks to Steam, which does exactly the same thing (PBY launches Steam.exe, Steam.exe launches Pinball Arcade or one of the other Steam-based games, Steam.exe quits, launched game keeps running).  If you go to the Future Pinball system page in the options, there's a box for "Process name".  You can enter a process name to monitor there in place of the actual launch process, for weird cases like Steam and FPLoader where there's an intermediate launcher program that terminates itself as soon as the main game is started.  Try entering Future Pinball.exe into the box and see if that clears it up.  Don't enter any path information - the process is identified by the plain .exe file name, so you just want to enter it exactly like that.

 

Ahhhhhhhhh, that is what Process is for! Learned something new. I will test after work. I'm sure that's it.

 

My videos are displayed upside down in attract mode. Is there something I can set to fix that?

 

Could you clarify what you mean by attract mode?

 

 

The main "wheel" menu where the videos or images are displayed as one cycles through. I've seen a lot of people call that attract mode, referencing real tables running their light shows to attract people passing by to play.

[Gilrock]

I'm enjoying watching this development.  Let me know when I can become a lifetime member of GameEY.

[Tempest43528]

@mjr 

 

PinballY is crashing right after it starts when I enable Auto or On for a real DMD.   I have a PinDMD3 and use it without issue in PBX, VPX, FX3, etc.      Also,  Is there a way to disable DOF?  I am also getting an error with Failed to Initalize DOF Framework.

 

Error that is being logged to dmddevice.log

 

 [1] 2018/08/20 12:47:56.935  INFO | Successfully loaded config from C:\Pinball\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\DmdDevice.ini. 

 [1] 2018/08/20 12:47:56.952  INFO | Determined color path from assembly path: C:\Pinball\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor 

 [1] 2018/08/20 12:47:56.952  INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through PinballY.exe. 

 [1] 2018/08/20 12:47:56.952  INFO | [vpm] Open() 

 [7] 2018/08/20 12:47:57.121 ERROR | System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.

Parameter name: path2

   at System.IO.Path.Combine(String path1, String path2, String path3)

   at LibDmd.DmdDevice.DmdDevice.Init() in C:\Development\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\DmdDevice\DmdDevice.cs:line 109

   at LibDmd.DmdDevice.DmdDevice.RenderGray4(Int32 width, Int32 height, Byte[] frame) in C:\Development\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\DmdDevice\DmdDevice.cs:line 515

   at PinMameDevice.DmdDevice.RenderGray4(UInt16 width, UInt16 height, IntPtr currbuffer)