bushav

Hey guys, I'm an avid arcade dude from the 80's! I've built a virtual pinball cabinet running PinballX front end. I have also built two stand up Galaga themed cabinets running the cheap jamma based emulators available. I hate the crummy user interface in these cabinets. Has anyone designed a jamma board that runs GameEx? Ideally one that would plug and play in my cabinets that are running above mentioned hardware. Thanks

I have a feature request I would like to propose. The request is in regards to how "hide backglass" affects the recording of table videos for the media folders. Myself and I suspect others, use the backglass videos in the front end wheel and continue to let them play while the selected table is loading. The result is that the user sees a seamless transition from the wheel to the actual loaded table. The alternative to this experience is a loss of the selected backglass while the selected table is loading, ruining the illusion of a seamless transition from browsing to playing. The way this illusion is achieved is by deselecting "hide backglass" for the individual table in Game Manager or Database Manager. With this method the backglass video from your PinballX media folder plays and then is covered up by the B2S when the table loads. Be cautious with Pinup Player tables as those videos will conflict with the backglass video and therefore the traditional method of "hiding backglass" must be used in this instance. The issue arises that when recording table media in Game Manager or Database Manager the "hide backglass" option MUST be checked in Game Manager. As far as I can tell this is a requirement for me to get a fresh backglass recording. I have tried several combinations and this is the option that works. If "hide backglass" is not selected in Game Manager then PinballX will skip the backglass when recording media. I realize that using the bulk video recording has worked for some but I would rather not use bulk video recording as a habit. EDIT AS REQUESTED IN BELOW COMMENT: Mike_da_Spik points out that Database Manager does work when using Bulk Video Recording method. My request is to divorce this backglass selection from the recording code. It seems that if the user has selected to record the backglass in the general settings then there should not be a secondary consideration. I realize that I have found a work around but I would like the community and Tom to give consideration to this request in the pursuit of avoiding the work around. Thank you for your great work here, Lane

Thank you for the explanation. Humor me for a moment as I describe why I don't hide the backglass expcept on Pup pack tables. If you "hide backglass during game" 1) You browse tables in the front end and see the table, backglass, topper, DMD etc. change with the table. 2) When you select a table the backglass goes "blank" and only the table loading media is shown. In my case a table video. 3) Upon completion of table loading the B2S and the table are active. If you Don't "hide backglass during game" On step 2 above the backglass video remains while the table is loading and you do not get the glitch of losing the backglass while loading On step 3 above the B2S is on top of the backglass video so you actually see the B2S and the scoring and forget the backglass video is there To me it is a more prototypical experience to not have the backglass go "blank" while waiting for the table to load. Now with pup packs I must hide the backglass video because it doesn't play nice with the pup player and they fight each other for screen priority. But in summary you guys are the ones putting the effort into this product so I only offer an opinion. Manipulating the settings for recording is no big deal now that I realize what I must do. Thank you for all you guys do and just consider the above if it is a worthwhile consideration.

I don't think it has always been this way but for the last six months I have had trouble recording backglasses. My log would show "Not Hide Backglass!" and then in the recording area of the log it would show "playfield video exists" " DMD video exists" and would not even show that it checked for a Backglass. I started really noticing this when I started using Database Manager and was cleaning up my media files and tidying up my front end. Today I tried multiple combinations of PinballX settings and Game Manager and Database Manager. I have discovered that "hide backglass" must be checked (selected) in Game Manager for PinballX to look for a backglass video and if one is missing make a recording. I prefer leave the backglass visable so there is a seamless transition between loading and game playing. Of course, now I know to make sure it is "hidden" when recording videos for front end and then uncheck that selection. My question is "why". Why must "hide backglass" be selected in Game Manager to get a backglass recording using the single table "record video" button? Could a change be implemented so that the "hide" features don't effect the recordings? Thanks guys! log.txt DBManagerLog.txt PinballXDatabaseManager.ini PinballX.ini

EDIT: Don't spend any time with this issue. I am not recording new backglasses no matter how I configure or what EXE is use. My recording issue is local to me and a real head scratcher. You are correct with the above description. Regarding bulk videos. I am just hesitant to start a bulk process. I have my frontend neatly arranged and beautiful. I'd rather not let any executable start rearranging on my behalf. Just me.

Using Database Manager - Back in July I reported I was not able to get my backglass to record a video and place it in the media file for the frontend use. Playfield and DMD were recording but no backglass recording attempted. You reported that I should "uncheck" "hide backglass during gameplay" in the default setting and in the individual game setting while recording videos. I never do bulk recordings. I record as I add tables, one at a time. I was still unable to get this feature to work, irregardless of how I treated the hide backglass in database manager. This moring I worked on it again. I discovered that I must use the legacy PinballX Game Manager and uncheck "hide backglass" for Goldeneye table. Once I did that I was able to record backglass as expected. It leads me to believe that at least on my system Database Manager is not playing well with PinballX when it comes to "hide backglass" options. It could be just a local problem with my system. I am sure others would be mentioning it if there was a coding issue.

I continued to struggle with this. I could not get my backglass to record a video irregardless of the settings on "hide or not hide". However, I discovered my problem this morning. I had to uncheck "hide backglass during game" in the settings for PinballX using the legacy settings exe. Evidently Database Manager was not overwriting this particular setting in PinballX on my system. I have not tested on additional tables but I was able to record a backglass for "Goldeneye" this morning after unchecking "hide backglass" in the PinballX "Settings EXE".

Here is my PinballX Future Pinball xml if that helps. Future Pinball.xml

Guys, Thanks for the update! I am getting an error message while loading Database Manager this morning. It was not present before the update. I believe from the log it has to do with my Future Pinball Database. Could you comment on what the issue might be please. I seem to have all the Future Pinball tables that are listed in my database and have not altered my Future Pinball tables in months. The message does not seem to be a fatal error but my OCD side hates to see "red"! DBManagerLog.txt

Thanks for figuring out what is going on! I have unselected the "hide backglass during game" because I want a seamless loading experience. It is my thought that the backglass goes blank during the game loading pause if this is checked. I will check this box while recording videos going forward. I am glad to see that the problem is just an error on my part. Thanks again!

@Mike_da_SpikeThanks for taking a look. PinballXDatabaseManager.ini

I also tried recording a video using pinballx in game feature. I selected game in PinballX and started playing. I hit the "C" key and it started "capturing video - please wait - this may take a few minuites". Then it closed game. You can see from the log it realized there was a playfield and DMD video. It never tried to record the backglass. I must have a setting incorrect somewhere. Also, where does Database Manager place "old" files? I did have a backglass video for this table at one time but I renamed the table and had Database Manager remove old files. log.txt

I've run into a problem today. With database manager I am not getting a backglass when I "create videos". I'm creating a video for a single table and getting the DMD and playfield but not the backglass. The log states "no backglass mp4". I've tried it with GPU capture and without GPU capture. I believe this has been working for me last week. DBManagerLog.txt log.txt PinballX.ini

I am a recent convert to Database Manager and I have also been "catching my table up". I installed all of Terry Red's latest PinEvent tables yesterday. Some I did not have videos for (these are Future Pinball) tables. I went into PinballX settings and changed the video recorder to my Nvidia card and set "C" as the hotbutton to start capturing a video. After doing this I can open a Future Pinball table, play the table after pressing "C" on my keyboard. I hear the "recording - this may take a few minuites" audio and after a few minuites the table closes out. I then have the playfield and backglass videos in my PinballX media and they are already tagged appropriately. Working great!

Let me join in and say how much I am enjoying this Database Management Tool. I had taken a break from my cabinet after VPW creators switched to 64 bit. Last week I decided to take a day or two and upgrade to a 64 bit/32 bit install. Of course that led to installing a dozen new tables and various other upgrades. The Database Manager Tool was a part of those upgrades. You fellows have produced an excellent tool. It performs the designated job in an elegant and simple manner. Thank you so much for your contributions. Lane

Thanks for hint on screenres.txt file modification.

Hey guys. I’m on a family vacation. I’ll be back on 13th to try a few of your suggestions. I flipped over to this forum while on vacation because I saw the same issue reported on a Facebook group. Thanks for looking into it. Lane

Here is the ini file. Mike_da_Spik, the log file is no different with "iron maiden legacy of the beast" vs "legacy of the beast". The last log entry shows "loading "whatever table name is clicked on"". The crash occurs without a log entry showing the error. The only error I had yesterday logged was the flash ocx error. I deleted and reloaded flash and eliminated that error. I have had that error for quite a while. Finally took the time to mess with the permissions so I could delete it (what a pain). The table just shows the pinballx media ie table video and b2s video and says "loading" with my loading overlay video. After about 60 seconds all monitors go black and the computer is locked up. Task Manager with a power down is the only way to recover. I have an Iron Man table in the wheel. I have wondered if having the two names so similar is causing an issue. But I see some people have several different versions of the same table in their wheel so it must have to do with the specific letters that "Iron Maiden" entails. As stated this came up last year with Iron Maiden Virtual Time also. Any ideas appreciated. Otherwise I will just stick with not using "Iron Maiden" as the name of any table. Lane PinballX.ini

Today I downloaded the fabulous VPW team's Iron Maiden (Stern 2018) table. I rediscovered a bug that I believe exists within my PinballX. A few years back I installed "Iron Maiden Virtual Time" which is based on the Laser War table I believe. At that time PinballX would crash when selecting Iron Maiden from the wheel. I had to rename the table "Virtual Time Iron Maiden" to fix the issue. With the VPW Iron Maiden table I once again experienced crashing until I renamed the table "Legacy of the Beast". For some reason anytime the table is named "Iron Maiden........" PinballX will crash upon selecting the table in the wheel. This could very well be limited to my installation but I just can't figure out the issue and must create a work around to have it in the wheel. Anyone else experienceing this? Using 5.55 and log doesn't show any error messages. As a side note I have noticed similar issues anytime the name has a special character such as "&". When a special character is used you can view the visual pinball database file and see the scrambled name. With Iron Maiden the datablase XML file looks intact and accurate. Not a related issue as the special character usage. Thanks to Tom for such a great front end and the continuous updating. Also thanks to you other guys that hang in there and help us hobbiest. [SETTINGS].log log.txt

Works Great! Thanks so much.

To make my Pup tables work correctly I have "hide backglass" checked in PBX Game Manager for any and all Pup video tables. Also to make PBX work faster and smoother I do not "Use B2S". This option you will find in the PBX settings. I think if you follow the above suggestions the PBX backglass B2S nor video will show while the table is running. Good luck.

4.60 works great! Thanks for the fix. Lane

I notice that in looking at these lists, if the game name is possessive such as Gilligan's Island or Charlie's Angels then PinballX creates some extra characters in the XML description of that table. I have noticed in the past that PinballX Recorder will default to "can't find the file" when these tables are selected for recording. If you correct the table name in the XML list then PinballX Recorder works correctly. I went through and corrected the names some time back but it looks like they are messed up again. Not related to the above issue but another small issue I am seeing.

Use the files or I don't mind giving you access to the cabinet desktop if that is what you would like to do. Anyway you want to proceed is A OK with me. I am just grateful that you provide such good service to the community.