225 replies to this topic

[RustyCardores]

 

 

 

I don't read script very well. Would this allow a "loop" to play and is interrupted by video calls then restart the loop once the called video ends? 

 

I keep trying to imagine how to create a seamless experience with this so that the the video calltransitions return back to a loop without you being aware of it. Hmmmm. 

That's a good idea....  background video for topper and then 'splash' videos and then back to background....

 

I could imagine a movie theme table like 'terminator'.....and the interactive toppers would go in sequence of the movies time,  so as you progress you get further in the movie

 

good thing I went with a 450GB SSD

 

 

I was thinking that we could use still topper images as normal (keeping load & hd space req to a minimum) and have video overlay them on call.  This would work fine for movie segments that represent the current table action, but in its simplest form, the video could appear to provide animation to the still image topper.

 

So for example:  If we were to animate one of the current Fishtales toppers to have a 2 second clip of it with a wagging tail, we could drop that on top of the still version on call. The result... a still fish that wags it's tail in response to table events.  We could do the same with lighting effects.

 

If the new tail wag video can't be blended with a still image, I guess the background topper could be a 2 second loop of a still fish. This should achieve the same result, while keeping load & space to a min.

 

 

 

I gave it a very quick testing last night. Videos look and play smoothly on top of DMD, or Topper, or on top of B2S! Also displays still pics. Very nice!

 

Alot more testing to do...there may be a limit to how quickly you can switch between videos / pics without causing some kind of fps dip in the game.  This may be more an issue with VLC player than anything else.

 

So, yes...,. you could possibly have a VPX version of Aliens Legacy (with videos) with this! (but no video overlays for Alien Tracker).

 

 

 

I love how flexible this is turning out to be, as we don't all like the same things and we don't all have the same system resources available.  Plus of course authors can choose to implement the feature in their own "artistic" way, which is always a good thing.

[NailBuster]

 

 

Alot more testing to do...there may be a limit to how quickly you can switch between videos / pics without causing some kind of fps dip in the game.  This may be more an issue with VLC player than anything else.

 

 

 

I've been doing performance testing/tweaking and found that loading jpeg/png/images using VLC is what is causing 'stutters'... I don't think VLC media player is optimized (maybe it's converting the images to a video format on the fly?).

 

I can program TVX to process image files directly(and a lot quicker than VLC)....so if you could just test videos for now,   until I get around to supporting the image file formats directly.

Edited by NailBuster, 07 November 2017 - 02:35 AM.

[TerryRed]

 

 

 

Alot more testing to do...there may be a limit to how quickly you can switch between videos / pics without causing some kind of fps dip in the game.  This may be more an issue with VLC player than anything else.

 

 

 

I've been doing performance testing/tweaking and found that loading jpeg/png/images using VLC is what is causing 'stutters'... I don't think VLC media player is optimized (maybe it's converting the images to a video format on the fly?).

 

I can program TVX to process image files directly(and a lot quicker than VLC)....so if you could just test videos for now,   until I get around to supporting the image file formats directly.

 

 

 

Sure thing. Sounds about right. I was mixing pictures with videos...and keep in mind I was also attaching this to the flippers for testing.

 

 

I'm playing around with Tron and video clips right now.   Small clips that trigger with the ramps and drop targets,etc for now.   Working nicely. These are 1920x560 (cropped a little smaller than 21:9 to fit my middle screen) with no audio, and they are playing fine.

 

It's taking me longer to get some video clips than anything else right now. 

 

Pretty cool seeing these videos playing with table events. Not quite to the controlled level of SLAMT1LT's FP version (cause its a vp rom table)...but the videos sure look alot nicer!

Edited by TerryRed, 07 November 2017 - 02:57 AM.

[NailBuster]

see if you can tell what I tried here:

 

if HasTopperVideo Then
Set VideoTopper = CreateObject("TopperVideoX.TopperDisplay") 
VideoTopper.Init("mytable")
VideoTopper.playlistadd "", 1 , 1
VideoTopper.playlistadd "ramps", 0 , 1
VideoTopper.playlistadd "multi", 1 , 10
VideoTopper.playlistadd "images", 1 , 1


VideoTopper.playlistplayex "","background.mp4",100,1
VideoTopper.SetBackground(1)


Set VideoTopper2 = CreateObject("TopperVideoX.TopperDisplay") 
VideoTopper2.Init("mytable")
VideoTopper2.playlistadd "", 1 , 1
VideoTopper2.playlistadd "ramps", 0 , 1
VideoTopper2.playlistadd "multi", 1 , 10
VideoTopper2.playlistadd "images", 1 , 1

VideoTopper2.setPosX(400)
VideoTopper2.setPosY(800)


VideoTopper2.playlistplayex "","background.mp4",100,1
VideoTopper2.SetBackground(1)


end if

 

   For fun I tried and you can run multiple video displays this way....got the extra CPU /displays....add a few extra monitors  (add two monitors to the wall next to you)...    

 

Even better...buy a used tv projector...  hide it and project a huge screen on the ceiling....ok I've gone a bit too far.....

 

On original tables you could run the backglasses with rotating photos/videos and still use topper videos....or on big multi-ball...start playing a big video off VideoTopper2....

 

fun stuffs....

 

 

[TerryRed]

No such thing as too far!

 

Imagine having the BAT SIGNAL for the Batman table projecting...just like Stern's Batman 66.

[NailBuster]

good for a bat signal?

 

[hlr53]

Man, don't give me any more ideas - LOL

[shannon1]

This is fantastic! If it works like you guys think, it will really take VPX to the next level.

[Onevox]

Oh heck go all out. Let the town know you’re playing. https://www.ebay.com...3D1358054719805


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xenonph]

I am just hoping it can have something like the screenres.txt so you can tell it which monitor you want this to show the video topper on.

Thereby allowing 1 monitor users to be able to see these video toppers!!

Us desktop users are lucky to even be able to see the dB2S backglasses in action!! (Only because the backglass can be told which screen you want it on.)

Is it possible to integrate into this what screen you want it to use?

Or am I just dreaming, and hoping to be able to see these topper videos as a Desktop 1 monitor user?

Still, this will be great for cabinet users as is.

If it can be told what screen to show on, then it could not only be used for in-game videos and such, but much much more!!

And Desktop users would be able to enjoy the same thing that cabinet users already enjoy.

Thank you for your time.

[NailBuster]

I am just hoping it can have something like the screenres.txt so you can tell it which monitor you want this to show the video topper on.

Thereby allowing 1 monitor users to be able to see these video toppers!!

Us desktop users are lucky to even be able to see the dB2S backglasses in action!! (Only because the backglass can be told which screen you want it on.)

Is it possible to integrate into this what screen you want it to use?

 

You can place it on any screen/monitor (as long as you're not running exclusive full-screen).....if you'd like I can send you the files for testing.

Edited by NailBuster, 08 November 2017 - 01:03 AM.

[TerryRed]

I am just hoping it can have something like the screenres.txt so you can tell it which monitor you want this to show the video topper on.

Thereby allowing 1 monitor users to be able to see these video toppers!!

Us desktop users are lucky to even be able to see the dB2S backglasses in action!! (Only because the backglass can be told which screen you want it on.)

Is it possible to integrate into this what screen you want it to use?

Or am I just dreaming, and hoping to be able to see these topper videos as a Desktop 1 monitor user?

Still, this will be great for cabinet users as is.

If it can be told what screen to show on, then it could not only be used for in-game videos and such, but much much more!!

And Desktop users would be able to enjoy the same thing that cabinet users already enjoy.

Thank you for your time.

 

If you use windowed fullscreen...then yes you "should" be able to see the videos on a desktop view / single screen.

 

If you use "exclusive fullscreen", then NO you can't see TVX videos, UltraDMD videos, dmdext, or any other additional window on the same screen.....hence the name "exclusive".   

Edited by TerryRed, 08 November 2017 - 01:07 AM.

[xenonph]

I would love for you to send me files for testing!!!

This is going to be great!!!!

OMG I am excited!!!!

More than usual!! lol

(All this Pinball stuff is exciting to me!!!)

Carry on.

[RustyCardores]

Have we discussed/explored the option of pulling a window up with a key command?  A number of people have always wanted to be able to display the instruction cards/brochures and this seems like it could be the answer if we can stipulate a key in the script.

[TerryRed]

Have we discussed/explored the option of pulling a window up with a key command?  A number of people have always wanted to be able to display the instruction cards/brochures and this seems like it could be the answer if we can stipulate a key in the script.

 

No reason why you couldn't, but the instructions would have to be a regular picture format...and it would be better to not have it come up on the playfield...because if you are using exclusive fullscreen it wont work.

[RustyCardores]

Have we discussed/explored the option of pulling a window up with a key command?  A number of people have always wanted to be able to display the instruction cards/brochures and this seems like it could be the answer if we can stipulate a key in the script.

 
No reason why you couldn't, but the instructions would have to be a regular picture format...and it would be better to not have it come up on the playfield...because if you are using exclusive fullscreen it wont work.

I'm thinking pulling them up large and clear on the BG


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TerryRed]

 

 

Have we discussed/explored the option of pulling a window up with a key command?  A number of people have always wanted to be able to display the instruction cards/brochures and this seems like it could be the answer if we can stipulate a key in the script.

 
No reason why you couldn't, but the instructions would have to be a regular picture format...and it would be better to not have it come up on the playfield...because if you are using exclusive fullscreen it wont work.

I'm thinking pulling them up large and clear on the BG


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

What is the resolution you guys are using for Topper videos...I know its 21:9 roughly....but for a video 1920 wide, what is the height you guys are aiming for?   I would think it would be 1920x820? I want to know what I should be converting video clips to that would look best with what everyone is using for Toppers....   (I can crop them afterward, just for myself to fit in my cab)

[RustyCardores]

Terry we have adopted 21:9 as our standard, so that is 1920 x 822

 

Not all of our screens are physically mounted to display an exact 1920 x 822 however, but we are not far off. So we each stipulate our viewable screen window in PBX (generally just a few pixels off either way in height) and PBX "fits to screen".

 

Any tiny shrink or stretch of a couple of pixels is not noticeable at all.

Edited by RustyCardores, 08 November 2017 - 02:07 AM.

[NailBuster]

figuring out a resolution 'standard' will be a challenge.  I know mine is non-standard at 1600x450.   And to get best look/performance videos should be at your native resolution so the player isn't wasting time re-scaling.

 

I could post some batch files (love me some DOS)....on using ffmpeg to rescale/crop/resize a whole folder of videos in one shot.

 

also for speed you can use ffmpeg to convert all your jpg/png to short video clips....you can specify the length and do it on a whole folder.

[TerryRed]

Has 1920x822 been the "exact" resolution you guys have been using?  I want to make sure I will convert to what is the most often used....it may make a difference with VLC. I don't want VLC to need to change / scale to a different ratio if not needed...and even though it may only be a couple of pixels off, it can make a difference.

 

I'm busy just getting video clips to use right now. I'm keeping them at 1920x1080, for now (and then batch crop them after), but it may be an issue for other movies with a 21:9 ratio. So I kind of want to make sure I have a good standard that will be consistent. At least as long as one table is concerned that is, since you can have different ratio videos on each table....like you can have a 4:3 ratio for the backglass like what I did with MOTU for FP to blend in with the backglass.