sigma415

Hello Tom, could you explain me how XDMD does the grayscale or colour handling of bitmap images ? Background of my question: I'm trying to create some static Real DMD Images for my PinDMD v2 with Vishay. I use GIMP 2.8, with a canvas of 128x32 and have defined a palette with 8 gray levels between 0% and 100% My problem is, that values below 50% all seems to be too bright on the Vishay. Anything between 5% and 50% looks the same. What I'm doing wrong ? Thanks a lot for some more information.

Have a look here: http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/13610-supported-in-pinballx/#entry123518

BTW: I have started to make some static Real DMD Images and have uped the first 3 to the FTP server. But as I said, it's far away from being really good .... ftp://ftp.pinballx.net/-PinballX-/Other%20Uploads/sigma415/Real%20DMD%20Images

Hi randr, welcome to the club. I also had to experience, that it's not so easy to create good DMD's as long as you have only 128x32 pixels available. (even if only static ones) My tipps: 1.) Crop or create your starting media (picture or video) to a format which can be divided by 32 (best would be multiples of 128x32). Because then the resizing algorithms in Tom's XDMD (or Russ' PinDMD firmware, don't know which one) has a much easier work (@Tom: Am I right ?) Ideally it has the generic 128x32 format. 2.) Reduce colours to grayscale, best would be only 16 levels (4bit). PinDMD can only display 16 levels. 3.) Don't use all those modern video compressors, I have made the best experience with Microsoft Video 1. 4.) If you want to make .AVI's, install (and learn ;-) Virtualdub 1.10.4. I also had first to learn working with it, but I did all my capturing and video editing for the last DMD's with this freeware tool. 5.) If you only want to make only a static DMD, you don't have to make an AVI. Putting a PNG or BMP or JPG in the PBX folder "Real DMD Images" does the same. But the graphics file should follow the same rules as in 1.) and 2.) I made a quick and dirty "processing" of your lightning ball file. (It's far from being a good result...) In the attached ZIP file you can see, what comes out by Virtualdub processing. I also have included the VirtualDub processing setting file (randr_lightningball.vdscript) which you can load and see the different filters I have used. (in "Video ...Filters ...) But again, it's a little bit try and error to get good looking DMD's (with the tools I have found up to now) But to test them, Tom has made a exe file which you can call to send the video or picture directly to the PinDMD, which makes life much easier. See: http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/14689-how-to-send-videos-or-png-to-xdmd-via-command-line/#entry124523 Now let's go on, we need more Real DMD's randr_lightningball.zip

Hi randr, do you wanna share them ?

Whirlwind is one of the tables which doesn't use graphics on the DMD but only segment characters. I did several trials to capture DMD videos out of the ROM with VPM setup, but the results were disappointing. 1.) the matrix resolution of the on screen DMD is weird and I didn't find a good way to resize it to 128x32 (I suppose these tables use some fixed fonts) 2.) what will be shown is not very exciting: only text characters (the most amazing is the phone number to order Twister t-shirts ;-) So we have to find something better for the segment DMD tables (even it's a static graphics like a logo, but something animated would be better) So if someone has a good idea, how to get 128x32 b/w graphics or animations, with 16 gray levels for the remaining tables please let me know.

Here is the Real DMD video for Twister Twister (Sega 1996).zip

Hi Tom, thanks a lot. Works perfectly. Right click .. Open with ... Tada ! Any chance to deactivate the additional DMD display on main screen ? Maybe by registry entry or second argument w/ special value ? (I know: Give him an inch and he will take a mile ....)

Hi Tom, is it possible to send video or graphic files directly to the PinDMD v2 by call of an exe, bat or small vb routine ? With the filename as parameter ? I'm still in progress of creating more Real DMD videos (and static png's) and it would be much faster and easier, if I could test them by sending them directly to the DMD instead of calling them via PinballX. I had a quick look on your XDMD source files, but my programming skills are limited and to be honest I was lost ;-) Thanks a lot !

BTW: Up to now I only created Real DMD videos for the tables I have installed on my cab. Maybe I have missed one or the other good FS table So if you need Real DMD videos of other tables (which support 128x32 DMD) then let me know. I think I could help you as long as the ROM's are available

Not really I'm thinking about a good solution for the tables which only has 7 segment LEDs. We will see ...

@randr: Do you start PBX immediately with or after windows start ? I guess the PinDMD v2 together with it's USB driver needs some time to initialize. Timing depends on speed of PC and also the whole configuration of the machine, i.e. what other drivers, servicesand whatelse have to be loaded after startup. On my cab I start PBX earliest when all other drivers and services has settled, this is at least 5 sec or more. So I think your 5 sec delay solution is not the badest ...

Real DMD Video 128x32 for "X-Files (Sega 1997)" X-Files (Sega 1997).zip

Real DMD Video 128x32 for "Sharkey's Shootout (Stern 2000)" Also uploaded to FTP server. Sharkeys Shootout (Stern 2000).zip

@jupiter: there are also two online shops in Germany who offers the PinDMD v2, but I don't know if they really have it on stock. xxx.vpin-shop.de/epages/64158583.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/64158583/Products/60001 xxx.wolfsoft.de/shop/index.php/cPath/325_327/page/2 Don't know if it's allowed to post direct links to shops in the forum, so please copy yourself into browser. I have nothing to do with the shops :-)

Something brand new from today: Avengers (Stern 2012) Another Real DMD Video 128x32 Avengers (Stern 2012).zip

I have updated the 1st pak in the ZIP file in my first post above (RealDMD Videos v01a.zip)

Yes, I also realized later on, that "Elvis" in the first pack did not run on my cab. This seems to be related to the "lines between pixels" problem Tom mentioned because the first pack is still in double size resolution 264x64. Elvis in the 2nd pack is in generic 128x32 and should be OK. I can't delete the older file on the FTP so please ignore it.

Some additional informations: Most of the videos I uploaded are in compressed MP4 format, but some others didn't look good as MP4, so I left them as uncompressed AVI. If someone has problems with MP4 format please let me know. All videos are also available in uncompressed AVI (but with filesize up to 10MB) All videos are in generic 128x32 format, grayscale and naturally have no spaces between pixels. I captured them with VirtualDub in VPinMame's test mode, VPM set to grayscale, single size and "Compact Display". VPM produces 131x35 pixels so I had to do some slight cropping. And for sure some video editing was necessary to pick out the best scenes. For tables which segment LED's we have to find another solution. What will come out there by capturing doesn't really look very interresting And we should also leave some room for Tom's standard PBX animation, which also looks very nice.

Here comes my next pack of Real DMD Videos. Included are these files: Avatar (Stern 2010).avi Batman (Data East 1991).mp4 Big Bang Bar (Capcom 1996).mp4 Bram Stoker's Dracula (Williams 1993).mp4 Demolition Man (Williams 1994).mp4 Dirty Harry (Williams 1995).mp4 Elvis (Stern 2004).mp4 Godzilla (Sega 1998).mp4 Goldeneye (Sega 1996).mp4 Hook (Data East 1992).mp4 Hurricane (Williams 1991).mp4 IronMan (Stern 2010).avi Monopoly (Stern 2001).mp4 No Good Gofers (Williams 1997).mp4 Party Zone (Bally 1991).mp4 Pirates of the Caribbean (Stern 2006).avi Popeye Saves the Earth (Bally 1994).mp4 Spiderman (Stern 2007).avi Tommy The Pinball Wizard (Data East 1994).mp4 Tron Legacy (Stern 2011).avi Whitewater (Williams 1993).mp4 XMen (Stern 2012).mp4 Have fun I will also upload them to the FTP server. sigma415 RealDMD_Videos_Pack_2.zip

Also runs fine here. Thanks Tom

Thanks Gregzkij, See the first results as posted here: http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/14608-real-dmd-support-is-here/#entry123597

As a start I have transformed most of the DMD videos from Gregzkij in the FTP folder "Pipshag" and transformed them for use with Real DMD (in my case PinDMD2 with Vishay) You can download them in the FTP folder "/Other Uploads/sigma415/RealDMD_Videos". See also the _Readme.txt Update: Attached ZIP archive with video files: Example (click on GIF): RealDMD Videos v01a.zip Edit 2016-10-23: Included files: Creature from the Black Lagoon (Bally 1992).avi Doctor Who (Bally 1992).avi Fish Tales (Williams 1992).avi Flintstones (Williams 1994).avi Getaway - High Speed 2 (Williams 1992).avi Guns and Roses (Data East 1994).avi Independence Day (Sega 1996).avi Indiana Jones (Williams 1993).avi Johnny Mnemonic (Williams 1995).avi Junk Yard (Williams 1996).avi Jurassic Park (Data East 1993).avi Lord Of The Rings (Stern 2003).avi Medieval Madness (Williams 1997).avi Monster Bash (Williams 1998).avi NBA Fastbreak (Midway 1997).avi Playboy (Stern 2002).avi Red and Ted's Road Show (Williams 1994).avi Ripley's Believe It or Not (Stern 2004).avi Rocky and Bullwinkle (Data East 1993).avi Rollercoaster Tycoon (Stern 2002).avi Safe Cracker (Bally 1996).avi Scared Stiff (Bally 1996).avi Simpsons Pinball Party (Stern 2003).avi South Park (Sega 1999).avi Star Trek The Next Generation (Williams 1993).avi Star Wars (Data East 1992).avi Star Wars Trilogy (Sega 1997).avi Starship Troopers (Sega 1997).avi Tales from the Crypt (Data East 1993).avi Tales of the Arabian Nights (Williams 1996).avi Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (Williams 1991).avi The Addams Family (Williams 1992).avi The Shadow (Bally 1994).avi Theatre of Magic (Midway 1995).avi Twilight Zone (Bally 1993).avi Whitewater (Williams 1993).avi Who Dunnit (Bally 1995).avi World Cup Soccer 94 (Bally 1994).avi