[PLUGIN] FLEXDMD real DMD video player (version 1.3)

[Mike_da_Spike]

This plugin is created as work around for issues with the XDMD API that is used within PinballX. 
See : https://forums.gameex.com/forums/topic/27873-realdmd-still-in-use-by-pinballx-after-table-is-launched-when-attract-mode-was-active/ 
In short : I have a real DMD (PinDMDv3) and after PinballX running attract mode (screensaver  mode) in PinballX and launches a table that uses the DMD (via Pinmame, or DMDext) the display is still in use and nothing is showed during game.
Exiting the game will sometimes release the DMD again and next launch of table will sometimes works fine. Or I need to relaunch PinballX.

Side effect is that exiting PinballX could take up minutes to close the XDMD dll.

This plugin will use FLEXDMD (as this is part of Visual Pinball now) and will show the videos from your realDMD directory.

Pre-requests for this plugin :

• Working Flex DMD 1.9 or higher (https://github.com/vbousquet/flexdmd/actions For non public version, you need to login to Github)
• Turn off XDMD to initialize the real DMD during start
• This can be accomplished, by editing the PinDMD.ini in your PinballX directory (if not exists create the file) 
  add/modify the next line :

  comport=COM7

  (the comport bust be a non existing comport of your real DMD)

Copy from the attached zip file the PBXFlexDMD.dll to your PinballX\Plugin directory

Starts from your PinballX folder (in your start menu) the option Plugins (or from your PinballX directory PluginManager.exe)

 

From the Plugins program, enable FlexDMD Plugin by checking the checkbox and click exit (nothing to configure)

 

Launch PinballX 
If FlexDMD is configured correctly you will see on your DMD display :

 

When PinballX is started , you will see the corresponding video for your table.

The videos are searched in the following order :

• Extension in priority:
  • MP4
  • AVI
  • WMV
  • GIF
  • PNG
• Name :
  • Filename (tablename)
  • Table description
• - system -
• \Media\Videos\No Real DMD Color.avi

This means it will first search for the exact filename (tablename) with extension .MP4. If not found, it will search for the AVI, still not found for a WMV file.
Not matched, it will do the same on table description (with the extension).
Still no  match, it will check if there is a file - system -.MP4 (avi and WMV)  
Still no match , it will display the default \Media\Videos\No Real DMD Color.avi

The same as PinballX does, the plugin will look in your XML to the  HideDMD. If this is set to false, it will display the current video during game play.
As I could not get a good scrolling with FlexDMD, the highscores check in settings.exe will be ignored by now.

In the plugin directory a log file will be created : PBXFlexDMDDisplay.txt
The log file will show all the events that are happening.

If you got any question, requests or need support, just ask and I'm willing to help.

Most important thing: A big thanks to @scutters who is the 'PinballX Plugin Wizard' and the overal 'FLEXDMD master'.
I used parts of his statistics plugin for this plugin, as I was too lazy to do the initialize of FLEXDMD.
Thanks buddy !

2024-11-02 : Updated to v1.3 - added 256x64 support
Need to be enabled via PLuginManager.exe

 

 

PBXFlexDMD.zip

[Mike_da_Spike]

If you use the plugin and you see the FLEXDMD plugin initialized on your screen, but you don't see any video's, please check in the above post that you installed the modified FLEXDMD 1.8 with the fixed MP4 encoding .
See: https://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=43569&p=511058

This is fixed with FlexDMD 1.9 and higher

[chadman]

I just tried this plugin and it seems to work great.  My only issue is that when I first launch PinballX, I dont see a dmd displayed.  After I launch a table, quit, and go back to pinballX it back and working until the next restart of pinballX.  I did create that file, but that did not change anything.  I do see your start screen come up when PinballX is loading, so I guess it's working.

[Mike_da_Spike]

Do you see the text Flexdmd initialized during pinballx start ?

Can you post the pinballx log file and the plugin log file(in the plugin directory)

[chadman]

Yes, I do see that displayed when it first starts.  Then the dmd goes black shortly after that when PinballX is done loading.  I can start a game and the dmd works.  When I exit the game the DMD for PinballX comes back on fine.  It's just when I first start PinballX.

log.txt PBXFlexDMDDisplay.txt

[Mike_da_Spike]

Thanks. Log file looks differrent as I expected. I dont see the video that should play. I'm not at a pc now, but will send you my latest version. 

Do you got flex dmd 1.9 from github installed ? Because 1.8 had issues withnplaying video files. I fixed this, but latest version of 1.9 is also working. 

Btw. This plugin is only if you have issues with the buildin xdmd player.

[chadman]

Thanks!  I am running v1.8 of Flexdmd and don't see 1.9 available.  Do you have a link for that?  My dmd is working much better now that Tom made those changes.  I do see it fail if I wait to long before playing a table.  This would rarely happen to me, but figured if you already worked out the fix I would try it.

[Mike_da_Spike]

10 hours ago, chadman said:

Thanks!  I am running v1.8 of Flexdmd and don't see 1.9 available.  Do you have a link for that?  My dmd is working much better now that Tom made those changes.  I do see it fail if I wait to long before playing a table.  This would rarely happen to me, but figured if you already worked out the fix I would try it.

The pre-requisite is to have 1.9 or higher. A good version of 1.9 can be found on githun. You need a (free) subscription to download it :

https://github.com/vbousquet/flexdmd/actions

I will soon change plugin zip in the first post as well. Uploaded version 1.2

[Mike_da_Spike]

Uploaded Version 1.2
Some extra features in this version :

Supports PNG and GIF as well
logging will also show which media is selected to view

 

[chadman]

Thanks for the help Mike!  I did get this working and it did require the 1.9 version you mentioned.  Load times are so much faster now for each table.  Great fix for my Pindmd3 issues.

[Mike_da_Spike]

For those interested in using flexDMD with a 256x64 resolution, it's not merely an upscale; it actually renders media at this resolution. This feature can be enabled through the plugin manager.

Once activated and launched, either virtually or through a real DMD supporting 256x64 pixels, you will observe:

This indicates that the 'HD' size is functioning correctly. If you have an actual DMD and the text isn't visible, it could mean that you have a 128x32 display running at 256x64 pixels. To fix this, adjust the settings in the plugin manager and click configure to deselect the HD checkbox.

When it displays as the following picture, it indicates that it is still utilizing a 128x32 pixel resolution.

Thanks to our own flexDMD master @scutters for his support and help