[Resolved] FullDMD in PinballX

[MrGrynch]

I am in the process of converting my 4:1 AR DMD to a FullDMD (16:9 AR).  For normal PinMame games, this will create a lot of empty space above and below the DMD info.  One solution to this is to create a Pup Pack for every table that provides an overlay to fill the empty space.  I want to avoid that for now.  I was thinking I could create a static image with a transparency in the DMD area and put it in the DMD images section of PBX and tell DB Manager to leave it on.

Do you think this will work?  Is there an equivalent "NO DMD IMAGE" behavior where I can specify a default file to use, in case I don't specify a table-specific image?

I appreciate any advice!

 

[scutters]

I've never been fully sold on the full dmd idea (i like the letterbox look!)

That said though i do have a none standard dmd screen res (1280*500 - big enough to fit the larger 192*64 sega dmd's nicely but that's about it). 

Here's what i do which may give you some ideas..

I define the dmd screen in PinballX to use the full 1280*500

I then have a standard default 'no dmd' image which i replace in PinballX\Media\Images

For the sega tables i use a larger dmd letterbox image which i add by table in database manager;

And for tables with no dmd i just add a company logo in the middle and add as a table dmd image e.g. 

I leave the dmd media on for all games in Database Manager and where a dmd is used in game it is sized to use the letterbox and appears on top of the image.

In PinballX i then use the stats plugin to display a flex dmd in the letterbox for game info in the otherwise vacant area.

Note - you will need to delete the 'no dmd' video in PinballX\Media\Videos for this as well (and do so again after PinballX updates)

 

There's lots of ways you can go about using the full dmd area, but i think creating a pup pack by table would be at the bottom of my list too! 

 

Edit - also note, if you have existing dmd media, changing the dmd area in PinballX will stretch them to fill the newly defined area. When i changed my settings as above i deleted all previously existing dmd videos / media.

 

[MrGrynch]

9 minutes ago, scutters said:

I've never been fully sold on the full dmd idea (i like the letterbox look!)

[...]

Thanks @scutters!  I'm not really a huge fan either, but I'm even less of a fan of FullDMD Pup Pack content on my backglass.  It just doesn't look right.

[scutters]

1 minute ago, MrGrynch said:

Thanks @scutters!  I'm not really a huge fan either, but I'm even less of a fan of FullDMD Pup Pack content on my backglass.  It just doesn't look right.

There's not many games where i use them (originals etc) but i have to agree.

(and now you've got me thinking about moving the pup pack content to my apron screens - so thanks for giving me more tweaking to try out )

[AndyMcDandy]

1 hour ago, MrGrynch said:

I am in the process of converting my 4:1 AR DMD to a FullDMD (16:9 AR).  For normal PinMame games, this will create a lot of empty space above and below the DMD info.  One solution to this is to create a Pup Pack for every table that provides an overlay to fill the empty space.  I want to avoid that for now.  I was thinking I could create a static image with a transparency in the DMD area and put it in the DMD images section of PBX and tell DB Manager to leave it on.

Do you think this will work?  Is there an equivalent "NO DMD IMAGE" behavior where I can specify a default file to use, in case I don't specify a table-specific image?

I appreciate any advice!

 

I tried the method of leaving DMD on when table launches in DB Manager but the game DMD still override the image/video DMD I set.

I tried editing dmddevice.ini where I change the default background to false, in hope the DMD presented by the tables would be blank but no change.

Like you, I do not want to deal with PinUp.  Hopefully one day Tom and Mike_da_Spike will bring a Full-DMD feature to PinballX.

[MrGrynch]

2 minutes ago, AndyMcDandy said:

I tried the method of leaving DMD on when table launches in DB Manager but the game DMD still override the image/video DMD I set.

I tried editing dmddevice.ini where I change the default background to false, in hope the DMD presented by the tables would be blank but no change.

Like you, I do not want to deal with PinUp.  Hopefully one day Tom and Mike_da_Spike will bring a Full-DMD feature to PinballX.

Does your overlay have a transparency layer in the DMD area?

[AndyMcDandy]

Don't believe so.  The full-dmd images/videos I downloaded from VPUniverse.

[MrGrynch]

1 minute ago, AndyMcDandy said:

Don't believe so.  The full-dmd images/videos I downloaded from VPUniverse.

That might be the issue.  Popper let’s you do things like sending layers to the back, which you have to do with DMD videos and images.  For PBX, you will likely need a transparency layer.  Another option is to create your own PUP Pack.  Frenchy has a tutorial on doing this on Youtube

[AndyMcDandy]

You might be right.  I thought when the DMD pops up when a table starts, only the text area would have a black background and not take up the entire screen.

[MrGrynch]

Also, in PBX display settings, is your DMD set for the size of the full screen?

[AndyMcDandy]

Hmmm, it might be.  I'll have to turn it on and see.

[scutters]

48 minutes ago, AndyMcDandy said:

I tried the method of leaving DMD on when table launches in DB Manager but the game DMD still override the image/video DMD I set.

I tried editing dmddevice.ini where I change the default background to false, in hope the DMD presented by the tables would be blank but no change.

Can you explain that more?

On my setup i have the dmd images as posted earlier set to stay on in game. They are all 1280*500 (matching the defined dmd screen size in pinballx settings). In game i have most dmd's sized to 1200*300 and placed in the centre of that 1280*500 space in dmddevice.ini.   PinballX then keeps showing the dmd image behind the actual dmd which appears on top of it but only covering the central area.

Maybe screenshots and copies of your pinballx.ini and dmddevice.ini would help my understanding..

[Mike_da_Spike]

12 hours ago, AndyMcDandy said:

Like you, I do not want to deal with PinUp.  Hopefully one day Tom and Mike_da_Spike will bring a Full-DMD feature to PinballX.

I'm not able to change anything within PinballX. If you have a feature request, you can post it here:

 

If there is anything me. (Or scutters) can help you with, let us know

[Mike_da_Spike]

21 hours ago, AndyMcDandy said:

I tried the method of leaving DMD on when table launches in DB Manager but the game DMD still override the image/video DMD I set.

This is just the feature you have. The game DMD is overwriting, so you have a good transistion between front end and game. If you want to hide the dmd in vp via dmddevice.ini,  set the following

[romname]
virtualdmd enabled = false

 

[AndyMcDandy]

Sorry for late reply, trying to get an Arkanoid PCB working.

So I checked Pinballx.ini and dmd is set to 600 high,  DMDDevice.ini is set to 256 high.

 

@Mike_da_SpikeI wasn't sure if it was something that could be added to DB Manager to make the use of Full DMD easier.

There is no [romname] but I do see [virtualdmd] with "enable=true" but wouldn't that completely remove a tables dmd leaving no scoring visible at all?

[AndyMcDandy]

Alright, I now see what is happening.  The background must be an image, not a video.  Now the fun part, trying to resize the scoring.

[scutters]

1 hour ago, AndyMcDandy said:

Alright, I now see what is happening.  The background must be an image, not a video.  Now the fun part, trying to resize the scoring.

I'm still a bit confused about what the issue was , but nice you got it working anyway.  Was the issue that PinballX dmd videos froze or went blank/black if a freezy dmd appeared on top of part of it in game?

Not sure if i ever tried with videos, thought i had but maybe not..

[AndyMcDandy]

In DB Manager, if you set the DMD to a video file, removing the check mark to keep the DMD onscreen will still result in the DMD going blank.  That option only appears to work for images.

[Mike_da_Spike]

I'm not able to test, as I have a real dmd. 

My real dmd shows the video if I uncheck the dmd during game.

@scutters,  you able to test with your dmd ?

[scutters]

Just tried with a DMD video in PinballX, it works for me...    DMD set to stay on in game continues to play and freezy DMD appears on top of it.

@AndyMcDandynot sure what's happening for you with videos. Might be worth updating your lav codecs just in case, if that doesn't fix it then raise as a new issue with logs / ini files etc and an example video file

Btw - i position the dmd by making adjustments in dmddevice.ini directly rather than the dmd drag/drop method, that way you can be pixel perfect and know you're not 2 or 3 pixels off centre. You can work out the offsets / size required from the location of the letterbox in the dmd media.

[AndyMcDandy]

Strange.  The video is MP4 and play's fine in db manager.

Is it possible there is a setting in pinballx setup that is currently off which I may have overlooked?

[MrGrynch]

38 minutes ago, AndyMcDandy said:

Strange.  The video is MP4 and play's fine in db manager.

Is it possible there is a setting in pinballx setup that is currently off which I may have overlooked?

DBM preview plays the video because it’s a video file.  Its not running VPX while doing so.

PBX is not designed to play video files once VPX is loaded, so only static images can be shown.  You cannot infer PBX behavior based on DBM behavior.  The only way to get the video working is to create a simple PUP pack.  I’m in the process of doing that for my installed tables now

[AndyMcDandy]

18 minutes ago, MrGrynch said:

DBM preview plays the video because it’s a video file.  Its not running VPX while doing so.

PBX is not designed to play video files once VPX is loaded, so only static images can be shown.  You cannot infer PBX behavior based on DBM behavior.  The only way to get the video working is to create a simple PUP pack.  I’m in the process of doing that for my installed tables now

I'm fine with sticking to static images if I have to. 

[MrGrynch]

Just now, AndyMcDandy said:

I'm fine with sticking to static images if I have to. 

Cool.. BTW, it's not that hard to make a PuP Pack for just the DMD.  I just did one in less than 5 minutes.

[SixOfTwelve]

23 minutes ago, MrGrynch said:

Cool.. BTW, it's not that hard to make a PuP Pack for just the DMD.  I just did one in less than 5 minutes.

I'm planning on doing exactly that - create a few PuP packs for modern tables that could use a bit of flourish (or a static image video) around the DMD.

Would you happen to have any useful video tutorials you could point me at? Or maybe care to share a simple DMD-only PuP-pack that I could then edit and replace the video file?