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PBX Recorder - captures Playfield, Backglass and DMD videos and images


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PBX Recorder - captures Playfield, Backglass and DMD videos and images

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PBX Recorder will walk through all the VP tables found set up in Pinballx, launch each table and record/capture all videos and/or images automatically.  This is intended for VP cab setups but will add Desktop support at some point (Note: Desktop users - there is now a beta version for single monitor desktop users below).  By default, PBX Recorder is setup to find and record missing media.  There are options to re-record all media if desired.  What to record and length of videos are all configurable.  
 
NOTE: PBX Recorder uses the DirectB2S screenres.txt to figure out how to record the Playfield, Backglass and DMD.  (If the DMD portion of screenres.txt is not filled in correctly, you will have trouble with DMD video or screenshot capture.  Try the included ScreenResCheck utility, to see exactly what PBX Recorder will record) 

NOTE: PBX Recorder videos requires that you to install the LAV filters recommended for PinballX here: http://www.pinballx.com/codecs.exe 
To view the videos outside of PinballX, try a media player like this: https://mpc-hc.org/

Version history:
Version 1.4 beta:  
    - Drag and drop of new VPT/VPX files onto PBX Recorder to add a new table to the PinballX xml file
    - Ability to PAUSE recorder to setup table, i.e enable B2S, tweak script and RESUME.  Double tap PAUSE to start recording immediately
Version 1.3 
    - New record mode:  "Record complete media set for new tables only"
    - Drag and drop of new VPT/VPX files onto PBX Recorder to record a single table(must be in XML already).  
    - Ability to record in .mp4 format added
    - Ability to name media based on table or description names.
 Version 1.2
    - Basic support for automatic Wheel image download via FTP if you have Pinballx FTP access. To enable FTP support, open the FTPLoginInfo.txt file and put in your user info. (If you do not have FTP access, the log file will provide a list of any missing wheel images)
Version 1.1 - Bugfix release
Version 1.0 - Initial version

Special Thanks to:
- Carny_Priest for his original ffmpeg recording scripts and input on the PinballX forums (http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/15207-capture-videos-to-pinballx-media-table-backglass-and-dmd)
- All the beta testers 


 

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  • 3 months later...

@gtxjoe This is amazing. Thank you. My setup looks fantastic now that PBX uses actual footage of the tables I have instead of stock files. The time it's saved me downloading stuff is...just wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have a somewhat weird setup as it's a hybrid HTPC/GameEx/PinballX two monitor rig. For PBX monitor 1 is the playfield showing the tables in desktop mode and monitor 2 shows the backglass and DMD. The backglass records perfectly. The playfield is recording upside down. For the time being I've rotated the playfield image snaps 180 degrees, but I would love to be able to use the table videos at some point.

I've read through a few threads on other forums where you've helped a few people with their recording setups hoping that I could figure out the rotation issue on my own, but I wasn't able to. I was hoping you could help by letting me know what values need to be changed to rotate the orientation of the recorded playfield, if that's possible to do. Thanks in advance.

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The stock code supports cabinets and not desktop mode, so the playfield video output is rotated for cab use. For desktop mode, try not rotating. Change this line 

 

Spoiler

Run, "%FFMpegPath%\ffmpeg" -y -i "%A_ScriptDir%\playfield.mkv" -ss 5 -to 1000 -vf "rotate=PI:bilinear=0" -c:v libx264 -crf 26 "%MediaOutPath%\%MediaSubDirOut%\Table Videos\%SearchString%.%RecExt%",,UseErrorLevel

to this:

Spoiler

Run, "%FFMpegPath%\ffmpeg" -y -i "%A_ScriptDir%\playfield.mkv" -ss 5 -to 1000 -c:v libx264 -crf 26 "%MediaOutPath%\%MediaSubDirOut%\Table Videos\%SearchString%.%RecExt%",,UseErrorLevel

Let us know if that works.

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Thanks Carny. I knew it wasn't setup for desktop recording, but that there is a desktop version in the works. I saw that the backglass and DMD recordings were able to be manipulated in the script and thought I could figure it out. Well I couldn't. Ha.

Unfortunately what you posted didn't work. I'll keep messing with it. Not that I'll figure something out before you or gtxjoe, but hey, it's worth a try. :-)

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Hmm. I'm not familiar with how PinballX behaves in desktop mode. If you are just looking for playfield rotation you can also try just rotating the screen in PinballX. Default key 'R'. I don't know if PinballX saves the rotation setting between sessions. Give it a try though.

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No joy. First rotation rotates the table selection bar clockwise 90 degrees, but not the table image. Second rotation rotates the table selection bar 90 degrees counter-clockwise and table image 180 degrees. Third rotation sets it back to normal. It doesn't do anything once the table is launched or in PBX Recorder while it's running.

 

On a whim I rotated the display to "landscape (flipped)" in the Nvidia control panel and tried recording, but the recording was still rotated 180 degrees This was with both the original script and with the altered line suggested earlier. I was hoping one would offset the other.

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Ok, I'm just tossing out some ideas. I don't have much time to test things out myself. Are you capturing screenshots or videos? The line change I gave was for video. You'd have to change a different line when the condition is 

(PFImageOnly=1)

Basically, you would just delete out the -vf parameter in the ffmpeg instruction. This is what rotates the output playfield media video/image for cab support.

When you play is your screen oriented in landscape or portrait?

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I have it set to just capture the video. I deleted all of the -vf parameters in the script and it still came out rotated 180 degrees.

When playing the screen is oriented in landscape. Thanks for helping me out with this Carny. It's much appreciated.

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9 hours ago, Carny_Priest said:

I have not had a chance to look further. I recall that obs-studio also has filters to allow rotation. You might check profile preferences to see that any of these filters are disabled.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does PBX Recorder use obs? I thought it used ffmpeg. I'm using obs to record the screen manually and it's recording them in the correct orientation. 

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The FP port of PBX Recorder uses obs to capture openGL and ffmpeg for the transcode. I thought that's what you were asking about since you mentioned obs. If you are using the official PBX Recorder to record media for VP or VPX then you don't need obs at all. In any case, if you modified the rotation parameters and you are still having trouble then you need to attach your log and a screenshot of your display settings. 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Just stumbled across this thread.  Always wanted video caps of all my tables but never wanted to take the time.  I will deffinately try this out some time before the end of the year.

 

Man...this made my day...thanks!

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Just stumbled across this thread.  Always wanted video caps of all my tables but never wanted to take the time.  I will deffinately try this out some time before the end of the year.

Man...this made my day...thanks!

 

EDIT:  does this still work?  The link at the top does not go anywhere.

 

EDIT 2:  Nevermind...found it on the other place :)

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...
On ‎08‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 12:18 AM, xagesz said:

Does the FTP server Block the PBXrecorder? I can't get basic input commands to grab the wheels.

I made secure connections to the FTP required so that's probably why. You will need to use a client that supports secure FTP.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

When I use PBX on vpx 10.4 or higher tables, the tables will not close after capuring.

This results in tables with wrong backglass videos :D

Even wrong tables get captured.

Vp9 tables getting closed nicely.

Something I do wrong ?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
23 hours ago, mccorkled said:

Sorry to bump such an old thread. I recently started setting up my cab and I came across this program and it looks great. I was curious if there is a similar program for Pinball Arcade tables.

Thank you

This is function is added too gamemanager in pbx. And yes you can capture the TPA tables too. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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