1622 replies to this topic

[mjr]

This was a Future Pinball table. I'll try with a VPX table checking B2S. External viewer of captured image shows same image.

 

Oh, okay, that's different - I'm not sure where it keeps its config for that.

 

 

EDIT: Tried with a VPX table and it looks like the top quarter quadrant was captured. I'm not following so

here are the settings from B2S_SetUp which creates a ScreenRes.txt file on install. That is what ships with latest VPX full install v10.4. 

 

I'm not even sure how to read ScreenRes.txt - easier to see what's going on in the B2S_ScreenRes Editor program.  It should be in your Tables folder.  But actually it's kind of hard to interpret too, since it uses monitor-relative coordinates rather than desktop coordinates like ffmpeg does.

 

I should have also asked if you're running PBY in Full Screen mode for the backglass.  What does BackglassWindow.FullSreen say in Settings.txt?  I'm assuming you are because the size numbers don't match up otherwise.

 

So: ffmpeg thinks your backglass window is 1280x720 pixels in size.  Does that seem right to you?

Is there any chance you're switching screen resolutions when running in FP and/or VP?

[mjr]

I'll wait to hear back if you want me to test anything else regarding the DMD.

 

Let's start with a test of the fixes I've put into dmdevice.dll so far, just make sure it's not one of those known issues.  Here's a test build - I think you said you're using 64-bit, but I built both just in case:

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...Mjr20180823.zip

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...Mjr20180823.zip

[hlr53]

 

This was a Future Pinball table. I'll try with a VPX table checking B2S. External viewer of captured image shows same image.

 
Oh, okay, that's different - I'm not sure where it keeps its config for that.
 
 

EDIT: Tried with a VPX table and it looks like the top quarter quadrant was captured. I'm not following so
here are the settings from B2S_SetUp which creates a ScreenRes.txt file on install. That is what ships with latest VPX full install v10.4. 

 
I'm not even sure how to read ScreenRes.txt - easier to see what's going on in the B2S_ScreenRes Editor program.  It should be in your Tables folder.  But actually it's kind of hard to interpret too, since it uses monitor-relative coordinates rather than desktop coordinates like ffmpeg does.
 
I should have also asked if you're running PBY in Full Screen mode for the backglass.  What does BackglassWindow.FullSreen say in Settings.txt?  I'm assuming you are because the size numbers don't match up otherwise.
 
So: ffmpeg thinks your backglass window is 1280x720 pixels in size.  Does that seem right to you?

Is there any chance you're switching screen resolutions when running in FP and/or VP?
 

 
My backglass monitor is set at 1920 x 1080. I never ever change it. So what ffmpeg is seeing is not correct.
 
B2S_ScreenRes Editor was not part of the cabinet install. I can check my other laptop tomorrow afternoon 
& see if it is there. That was a recent VPX 10.4 install. I can also crunch some numbers and see if I can make some
sense of it. No time tonight.
 
BackglassWindow.Position = 1115,760,2301,1193
BackglassWindow.Rotation = 0
BackglassWindow.MirrorHorz = 0
BackglassWindow.MirrorVert = 0
BackglassWindow.Visible = 1
BackglassWindow.FullScreen = 1
BackglassWindow.Maximized = 0
BackglassWindow.Minimized = 0
 
Going out of town in AM and will be back Tuesday. So, can't play with cab until then :-(

Almost forgot. Long MFG names still causing vertical wrapping. Not sure if you looked at.

Edited by hlr53, 24 August 2018 - 12:50 AM.

[Tempest43528]

Success! I am running 32bit build and Dmd is working. I have some issues with PBY using my pinballx databases that I need to sort out. It is trying to start vpx tables with vp9 version. I'm sure I will get that straightened out. I also tested the dll from pinballx/vpx I ran a colored rom without problem. Thanks for the help!

[bord]

 

I'm having a hard time getting video capture working properly. I'm using build A13 (64 bit), a 4k monitor for table, 1080p for bg. When I capture video the prompt screen stays visible and it only captures about 1/4 of the PF image (2560x1440 to be exact).

 

Go to the options dialog, select the Log File page, and make sure that the Media Capture logging is enabled.  Then do a capture, quit the program, and take a look at your PinballY.log file (in the main install folder).  That'll let us see the ffmpeg command being attempted, and any errors back from ffmpeg.  

 

One thing to be aware of is that the capture area for a given media type (playfield, backglass, DMD) is always identical to the *PinballY window* for that media type.  PinballY doesn't have any separate knowledge of where the VPX window is going to come up.  It counts on you to set up the PBY window layout to match your VPX layout, and captures video from that area.  So it's important to set up your PBY windows so that they cover the same monitor area as the VPX windows.

 

 

Ok, here is my log. This is happening when PinballY is fullscreen on my 4k monitor.

 

Thursday, August 23, 2018, 8:09:43 PM: Session started
PinballY 1.0.0 (Alpha 13), build 6266 (x64, 20180821-2127)

Media capture: Capturing Playfield Image: launching FFMPEG
> "C:\PinballY\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -y -loglevel warning -probesize 30M -thread_queue_size 32  -f gdigrab -framerate 30 -offset_x 0 -offset_y 0 -video_size 2560x1440 -i desktop   -vf "transpose=1,transpose=1" -vframes 1 -rtbufsize 2000M "C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X\Table Images\Flight 2000 (Stern 1980).png"


+ FFMPEG completed: process exit code 0

Media capture: Capturing Playfield Video: launching FFMPEG
> "C:\PinballY\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -y -loglevel warning -probesize 30M -thread_queue_size 32  -f gdigrab -framerate 30 -offset_x 0 -offset_y 0 -video_size 2560x1440 -i desktop -c:a none  -vf "transpose=1,transpose=1" -t 30 -rtbufsize 2000M "C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X\Table Videos\Flight 2000 (Stern 1980).f4v"


+ FFMPEG completed: process exit code 0

Thursday, August 23, 2018, 8:12:42 PM: PinballY session ending
 

[mjr]

Success! I am running 32bit build and Dmd is working. I have some issues with PBY using my pinballx databases that I need to sort out. It is trying to start vpx tables with vp9 version. I'm sure I will get that straightened out. I also tested the dll from pinballx/vpx I ran a colored rom without problem. Thanks for the help!

 

Terrific!  So, was the test build of the dmddevice.dll what finally solved it?  If so, that's good confirmation.  I've already filed a pull request with the same changes, so hopefully the next official dmd-extensions build will include them.  In the meantime, you can stick with my test version - it's otherwise up to date with the latest version of Freezy's code in github.

[mjr]

 

 

I'm having a hard time getting video capture working properly. I'm using build A13 (64 bit), a 4k monitor for table, 1080p for bg. When I capture video the prompt screen stays visible and it only captures about 1/4 of the PF image (2560x1440 to be exact).

 

 

 

The 1/4 size gives me a hunch - I think this might be a high-DPI monitor.  I haven't been building with DPI awareness enabled, which makes Windows virtualize the screen coordinates that the app sees to simulate the fixed 96 dpi that Windows always used before Vista.  I just did a build with DPI awareness enabled.  Try that out and see if that's the issue.

 

hlr53, this might explain the problems you're having with your backglass capture, since to all appearances there's just a blatant mismatch between the pixel coordinates PBY is seeing and the true coordinates.

 

My build setup isn't 4K equipped, so I can't directly test the other side effects that enabling DPI awareness might have.  So I'm not going to post this as an official Alpha 15 - just as secret links to the minimal update versions, here:

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...in-20180823.zip

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...in-20180823.zip

 

One thing I think you'll immediately encounter is that you'll have to redo your window layout, since the saved layout from the last version is for the virtualized coordinates, and this version is going to change the interpretation to real coordinates.  That should be a one-time update since it'll save and restore with real coordinates from now on.  I think most of the rest will adapt pretty automatically, but there might be some scaling issues for text or graphics.  If anything is obviously the wrong size, like 1/4 size or 4X size on your 4K monitor, let me know.  There might be a few issues like that to work through, or maybe a gigantic number, but I'm hoping it's on the few-to-none side.

[_jonte]

Hey mjr! Really appreciate you developing this kind of software; including all the other ones from you that I'm using!

I just tried out PinballY last night for a few hours. I ran into some issues listed below. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong for a few of them, let me know.
If you need logs, or if you'd like me to try and do a build/debug I'd be happy to try. I have no experience of that though.

When I exit a table it goes back to the VPX app window, and I have to close that manually with the mouse to get back to PinballY.

The IPDB auto fill feature doesn't seem to work at all for me.

Dropping media packs doesn't work. It says the pack isn't correct, or something like that.

The PinballY DMD window doesn't have any effect on where the DMD is placed. Its just at the default VPX place and size. (Haven't tried the backglass yet though)

And a related question involving PinVol: Is there a way to adjust only the DMD sound level; i.e. the volume level you adjust in the service menu. (That's the volume levels that differ from table to table for me. Mechanical sounds are always at the same level.) Or do I have to do that manually myself for each table?

[Tempest43528]

 

Success! I am running 32bit build and Dmd is working. I have some issues with PBY using my pinballx databases that I need to sort out. It is trying to start vpx tables with vp9 version. I'm sure I will get that straightened out. I also tested the dll from pinballx/vpx I ran a colored rom without problem. Thanks for the help!

 

Terrific!  So, was the test build of the dmddevice.dll what finally solved it?  If so, that's good confirmation.  I've already filed a pull request with the same changes, so hopefully the next official dmd-extensions build will include them.  In the meantime, you can stick with my test version - it's otherwise up to date with the latest version of Freezy's code in github.

 

 

Yes,  just replacing dmddevice.dll with your build fixed things.

[bord]

 

 

 

I'm having a hard time getting video capture working properly. I'm using build A13 (64 bit), a 4k monitor for table, 1080p for bg. When I capture video the prompt screen stays visible and it only captures about 1/4 of the PF image (2560x1440 to be exact).

 

 

 

The 1/4 size gives me a hunch - I think this might be a high-DPI monitor.  I haven't been building with DPI awareness enabled, which makes Windows virtualize the screen coordinates that the app sees to simulate the fixed 96 dpi that Windows always used before Vista.  I just did a build with DPI awareness enabled.  Try that out and see if that's the issue.

 

hlr53, this might explain the problems you're having with your backglass capture, since to all appearances there's just a blatant mismatch between the pixel coordinates PBY is seeing and the true coordinates.

 

My build setup isn't 4K equipped, so I can't directly test the other side effects that enabling DPI awareness might have.  So I'm not going to post this as an official Alpha 15 - just as secret links to the minimal update versions, here:

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...in-20180823.zip

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...in-20180823.zip

 

One thing I think you'll immediately encounter is that you'll have to redo your window layout, since the saved layout from the last version is for the virtualized coordinates, and this version is going to change the interpretation to real coordinates.  That should be a one-time update since it'll save and restore with real coordinates from now on.  I think most of the rest will adapt pretty automatically, but there might be some scaling issues for text or graphics.  If anything is obviously the wrong size, like 1/4 size or 4X size on your 4K monitor, let me know.  There might be a few issues like that to work through, or maybe a gigantic number, but I'm hoping it's on the few-to-none side.

 

 

Yes! I ran the 64 bit version and it worked perfectly. As you stated, the fonts are all super-sized and I can't read most of the menus, but 4k capture works great now.

[mjr]

 

 

Success! I am running 32bit build and Dmd is working. I have some issues with PBY using my pinballx databases that I need to sort out. It is trying to start vpx tables with vp9 version. I'm sure I will get that straightened out. I also tested the dll from pinballx/vpx I ran a colored rom without problem. Thanks for the help!

 

Terrific!  So, was the test build of the dmddevice.dll what finally solved it?  If so, that's good confirmation.  I've already filed a pull request with the same changes, so hopefully the next official dmd-extensions build will include them.  In the meantime, you can stick with my test version - it's otherwise up to date with the latest version of Freezy's code in github.

 

Yes,  just replacing dmddevice.dll with your build fixed things.

 

Great.  I've added links to my builds of the DLL to the main project page so that people won't have to go through the whole thread to find them.

[mjr]

When I exit a table it goes back to the VPX app window, and I have to close that manually with the mouse to get back to PinballY.

 

Let me guess that you're exiting by pressing "Q" a couple of times as though you were running in desktop mode, right?  That will indeed leave VP running, since you're not actually quitting VP, you're just exiting play mode and returning to the editor.  What you want to do instead is press Escape, which PinballY monitors and uses to terminate the whole VP process.  (If you already were using Escape, it might be how you have the keys mapped in VP and/or PinballY.  Check your PinballY keys and make sure you have Escape mapped to the EXIT GAME command.)

 

 

 

The IPDB auto fill feature doesn't seem to work at all for me.

 

Could you walk me through the exact process you're using that's not working, and point out where it's not acting as you'd expect (and what you'd expect)?  Detailed steps would be helpful - I can't see what you're doing, so it's helpful to break everything down into tiny steps like you were explaining it to someone who doesn't know how to use a mouse.

 

 

Dropping media packs doesn't work. It says the pack isn't correct, or something like that.

 

If you could give me the exact error message, that would be helpful, and also point me to a particular media pack that isn't working for you.  If I can look at the file you're trying maybe I can see why the program isn't accepting it.

 

 

The PinballY DMD window doesn't have any effect on where the DMD is placed. Its just at the default VPX place and size. (Haven't tried the backglass yet though)

 

I'm not sure I understand, but are you thinking that PinballY should control where VP places its windows?  I'm afraid it can't do that - PinballY has its window layout, and VP controls its own window layout separately.  You just have to set up the layout for each program on its own terms.  Sorry if I'm missing your point - if you could explain more about what you meant maybe I'll see it.

Edited by mjr, 24 August 2018 - 09:00 PM.

[mjr]

Yes! I ran the 64 bit version and it worked perfectly. As you stated, the fonts are all super-sized and I can't read most of the menus, but 4k capture works great now.

 

Great, that's some good progress.  Now I just have to get the scaling working.  As I was saying, I can't test the variable DPI monitors directly since I don't have that in my own setup, so I'm going to have to rely on you to tell me where it's not scaling properly.  I'm sure it'll take a few iterations to find everything, but most of the drawing code goes through common handling, so hopefully it'll converge sooner rather than later.

 

One question about the last build:  are the background images and videos scaling properly?  I.e., is it just the text that's supersized, or are the backgrounds also drawn at 4X scale?  How about other graphics, like the boxes containing the menus, the info boxes and dialog popups, and the wheel images?   My guess is that it's mostly the text that will be wrong, but I haven't done anything with the Windows variable DPI handling before so I might be making faulty assumptions about their model.

 

[hlr53]

I can only background capture on my currently single monitor laptop 1920X1080 native (out of town) so I couldn't go full screen, but got it close. Image looks like it scaled just fine.

 

Here is the log capture:

 

Saturday, August 25, 2018, 7:35:09 AM: Session started

PinballY 1.0.0 (Alpha 15), build 6319 (x86, 20180824-0509)

 

Media capture: Capturing Backglass Image: launching FFMPEG
> "C:\PinballY\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -y -loglevel warning -probesize 30M -thread_queue_size 32  -f gdigrab -framerate 30 -offset_x 13 -offset_y 38 -video_size 1894x953 -i desktop    -vframes 1  "C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X\Backglass Images\Airport (Gottlieb 1969).png"

+ FFMPEG completed: process exit code 0

 

I was wondering if a person had to set their Windows scaling to 100%? Mine is set to 125% on the laptop because it's only 13". It didn't seen to bother the capture image.

 

(In my day high res gaming was 800x600 and we liked it! - LOL)

Edited by hlr53, 25 August 2018 - 12:54 PM.

[Tempest43528]

@mjr

 

I started to configure PBY for Visual Pinball X,    I got AC/DC setup with my backglass and playfied videos and the PinballY logo is showing on my PindDMD3.    When I start the table it is loading properly

but the DMD is blank and does not function.   It seems like PBY isn't closing the open connection to the DMD so when VPX runs the DMD is blank.  The table is working fine othewise and when I hit Esc to quit

VPX it goes back to PBY and the DMD starts to function again.

Edited by Tempest43528, 25 August 2018 - 08:19 PM.

[hlr53]

FX3 setup. I am bringing the tables over via PBX xml. I'm on laptop this weekend so I didn't test media capture. Tables launched fine.

 

Edited by hlr53, 25 August 2018 - 07:10 PM.

[mjr]

FX3 setup. I am bringing the tables over via PBX xml. I'm on laptop this weekend so I didn't test media capture. Tables launched fine.

 

Thanks!  I just added it to DefaultSettings.txt.

I can only background capture on my currently single monitor laptop 1920X1080 native (out of town) so I couldn't go full screen, but got it close. Image looks like it scaled just fine.

 

Good!  

 

 

I was wondering if a person had to set their Windows scaling to 100%? Mine is set to 125% on the laptop because it's only 13". It didn't seen to bother the capture image.

That might be exactly what was going on with your past capture problems.  With the addition of DPI awareness in the new builds, that will hopefully no longer be an issue and you'll be able to keep running at 125% scaling.

[mjr]

I started to configure PBY for Visual Pinball X,    I got AC/DC setup with my backglass and playfied videos and the PinballY logo is showing on my PindDMD3.    When I start the table it is loading properly but the DMD is blank and does not function.   It seems like PBY isn't closing the open connection to the DMD so when VPX runs the DMD is blank.

 

You're exactly right about not closing the connection.  That was a workaround I had to put in place before I figured out where the DLL was crashing internally, since closing and reopening the session was one of the things that triggered the crash.  The original testing version I pointed you to had the crash fix, but it still had the old version number, so PinballY thought it had to apply the workaround even though it really didn't.

 

I posted a new version of the DLL yesterday that identifies itself as containing the fix, and the new Alpha 16 detects that and returns to normal behavior where it opens and closes the session on demand.  So if you update both parts - get the new DLL and the new Alpha 16 - it should hopefully give you full functionality with the DMD.   The latest DLL is linked from the main page under the "Real DMD DLL update alert" section.

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...pe/PinballY.php

 

 

This new Alpha 16 release has the DPI awareness and hopefully a fix for the text scaling problems, so I'm hoping it'll look right on all monitors (high DPI and/or with scaling factors other than 100%).  If anyone finds any weird scaling issues with text or graphics, let me know what you're seeing.  Please keep in mind that I won't be able to reproduce high-DPI issues directly, since my build system is all plain old standard-DPI monitors, so a screen shot might help if you run into anything that's not easy to describe verbally.

Edited by mjr, 25 August 2018 - 10:39 PM.

[Tempest43528]

@mjr

 

Got Alpha 16 and the new build of DMDDevice.dll.      PinballY shows on the DMD when starting.  After I launch AC/DC the DMD isn't blank anymore but just shows PinballY on it and the actual game DMD never displays.  I confirmed the DMDDevice was the new 08/24 build from your site.

Edited by Tempest43528, 27 August 2018 - 12:07 AM.

[bord]

 

Yes! I ran the 64 bit version and it worked perfectly. As you stated, the fonts are all super-sized and I can't read most of the menus, but 4k capture works great now.

 

Great, that's some good progress.  Now I just have to get the scaling working.  As I was saying, I can't test the variable DPI monitors directly since I don't have that in my own setup, so I'm going to have to rely on you to tell me where it's not scaling properly.  I'm sure it'll take a few iterations to find everything, but most of the drawing code goes through common handling, so hopefully it'll converge sooner rather than later.

 

One question about the last build:  are the background images and videos scaling properly?  I.e., is it just the text that's supersized, or are the backgrounds also drawn at 4X scale?  How about other graphics, like the boxes containing the menus, the info boxes and dialog popups, and the wheel images?   My guess is that it's mostly the text that will be wrong, but I haven't done anything with the Windows variable DPI handling before so I might be making faulty assumptions about their model.

 

Yes, background images and videos are all scaled properly. Boxes are scaled correctly. Only the text is super-sized.

 

[edit] Didn't see your Alpha 16 post. Will report back after testing.

Edited by bord, 27 August 2018 - 12:17 PM.