Visual Pinball X VideoSnap Creator 2.1.0

This sounds pretty cool. Any chance it will work with Future Pinball? Or any plans on a version for Future Pinball?

32 minutes ago, The Papaw said:

Any chance it will work with Future Pinball?

No. Strictly Visual Pinball.

33 minutes ago, The Papaw said:

any plans on a version for Future Pinball?

I honestly hadn't thought about making one for FP.  I rarely use it, but I may take a look at what's all's involved with it. (just don't hold your breath. ) 

 

1 minute ago, JoeViking245 said:

No. Strictly Visual Pinball.

I honestly hadn't thought about making one for FP.  I rarely use it, but I may take a look at what's all's involved with it. (just don't hold your breath. ) 

 

Come on Joe, YOU CAN DO IT!!!  . I got about 1000 tables. Would be a great tool. Keep us posted?

On 10/25/2021 at 1:10 PM, The Papaw said:

I got about 1000 tables.

Then you definitely got your work cut out for you. lol

I did some digging into what it takes to 'automate' creating videosnaps for Future Pinball.  This can not be done with ffmpeg (which is what this plugin uses).  At least not in a manner that's [end]user friendly.  "The way to go" is with OBS (Open Broadcast Studio).  [There're probably "alternatives", but I ain't going there.]  

Compared to the steps it would take to do it with a plugin, LaunchBox (with minor setup) can already do this for you.

 

Easily record videosnaps for Future Pinball in LaunchBox

Step 1)  Follow this tutorial.

To make it non-intrusive on your OS, (Excellent comment from @Cauptain)  "Download zipped OBS pack and extract in LaunchBox/Extras/OBS and create a dummy file in root OBS folder named portable_mode.txt. Now u have a fully portable OBS."

I suggest placing it under /LaunchBox/ThirdParty/OBS/  rather than creating an new "Extras" folder.

To set a fixed record duration, open OBS and select Tools, Output Timer, and set Stop recording after: to your desired video length(s).  Check the box Enable recording timer every time.

Step 2) Record and save your videosnaps per the instructions in the video, but... with the above setting in place, you shouldn't need to press your HotKey again to stop the recording.

If you have a backglass monitor and DMD, you may need to setup OBS to capture the specific monitor.  This plugin for VPX automatically seeks out the actual Playfield no matter how many monitors you have attached or which one it's on.

@JoeViking245 Thanks Joe, that stinks and great as well. TY for taking the time you did and getting back with the info you did!!!

VPX Video Recorder version 2.0 is out.

New Feature    (Option) Record backglass at the same time as the playfield.
                           The backglass video will be saved as its own video file in the temp Backglass folder.

New Feature    (Option) Record 3rd screen DMD.
                           The DMD video will be saved as its own video file in the temp Backglass folder.

New Feature    (Option) Record Table sounds with the Playfield video.  (Additional setup required)

Thanks for adding the sound option and the cool features in 2.0.  That makes it (for me) the go to plugin to tackle the video snaps for VP. I had mostly finished Future Pinball, FX3, and TPA the manual way but it took forever and had been avoiding dealing with VP. The backglass and DMD options are great too, need to test those out. I have a ffmpeg script that does a short fade in/out, normalizes audio, adds a png logo and trims the video (not needed with this plugin) but needed to have the source videos dumped to a folder first to do its thing... so this plugin will help on that step.  

Not super critical, but a bit longer option on delay time beyond 30 secs would be helpful (~45 secs maybe). Some tables seem to take forever to get loaded.

Bonus points for an "improve player skill" option since never fails I immediately become super lame while recording....immortalized on video for all to see!  

7 hours ago, sundogak said:

Thanks for adding the sound option and the cool features in 2.0.

You're welcome!  It almost wasn't going to happen because you have to tell ffmpeg the EXACT name of your audio device, which varies by computer and is not the easiest to find/extract.  Then I discovered audio_sniffer, but now the end user HAS to register it with their Windows. Which I hate making a plugin that requires ANY sort of changes to Windows, even something minor like this.  But there comes a time when we all have to make 'sacrifices'.  

 

8 hours ago, sundogak said:

I have a ffmpeg script that does a short fade in/out, normalizes audio, adds a png logo

Let me know how the [default] audio comes out for you.  Then if it's 'that bad' and really should be normalized, let me know.  All I did was confirmed there was sound in the final video and called 'er good. lol   I'm debating the idea of fade for a mechanical machine.  But could be an option.  I assume the png logo is a clear logo you're overlaying on the tables video.?.  

 

7 hours ago, sundogak said:

Some tables seem to take forever to get loaded.

After starting up LB, launch a table. After it fully loads, exit it then try the plugin (or launch another table) and see if 30 seconds is sufficient.  I played around quite a bit with this and [for my setup] found that on 1st run (via LB), VPX does take longer to fully load.  But after that, 12 seconds was a good, modest loading time for the tables I tested.  Let me know if that helps.  If your tables do take longer than 30 seconds to fully load (I know FP can), 1st off, sorry to hear that.  But I can change that to allow more load time.

 

8 hours ago, sundogak said:

never fails I immediately become super lame while recording....immortalized on video for all to see!

Oh good.  It's not just me. 🤣

The slow tables tend to be some of the dual VR/non-VR tables. Although don't use VR myself and script has VR turned off, it still seems they churn extra code. Most times as you said 20 seconds is plenty for majority of tables (and can always adjust via XML for oddballs). 

Messed with plugin a bit today, seems to get the backglass on my second screen without problem (minus the DMD). I only have dual screen setup in desktop orientation most times (to lazy to rotate screen) and BG and DMD on second screen.  

For the DMD recording, is the assumption that the DMD be on screen #3?  I don't get a separate DMD recording either for PinMAME DMDs (Ver 3.4) or Virtual DMD (freezy DMDEXT 1.9) on any table I have tried.  Only time I see a DMD in a plugin video is if in desktop orientation for playfield and the DMD was coded into the script of the table (but still no separate DMD video). Any DMD placed on top of the BG or playfield screen (if desktop orientation) does not show in table video or BG video. Suspect that is function of gdigrab getting either the B2S or VPX window only so wouldn't capture the DMD window on the playfield/BG video.  Not huge issue since not sure what I would do with the DMD videos anyway on my setup (maybe for PinballX but rarely run that). 

On normalizing, a quick test of the table "24" (attached, with fade/logo). It seems a bit louder normalized (to YouTube/Spotify baseline) than one out of plugin but would be hard pressed to tell unless did side by side (i.e., NOT that bad) plus if everything is out of the plugin they will be consistent. Originally I started the DOS batch script (I am not a coder) to clean up some packs of table videos I had for Future Pinball which were different lengths...vastly different loudness levels, etc.  Also, the normalizing routine is unfortunately not part of the ffmpeg build and needs to call a python script....so not plug and play.  

Yeah, the logos are clear logos, although in theory could use a JPG since ffmpeg doesn't care. Script looks for png the same name as the video and uses ffmpeg to overlay at end of video. Once start getting into complex filters it got to be headache figuring out since makes for a gory command line (particularly since had trim functions). I did all my FX3 and TPA videos with end logos but not sure if will bother on VPX. LB merrily renamed much of my standardized naming for clear logos relative to the tables. I wish the poll item "name media same as ROM" would get some love. So will have to wait until I am procrastinating on something I need to do for work!  😎

Spoiler

::This is output command for batch once options set and does the math for the settings such fade out/in (1 sec) and logo at end (fade 2 sec) to existing video. If not doing any trimming the command could be cut down by about half. 

ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -y -i "G:\to_convert\videos\24.mp4" -loop 1 -t 30.009 -i "G:\to_convert\logos\24.png" -filter_complex "[0:v]trim=start=0:end=30,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[vt0];[0:a]atrim=start=0:end=30,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[at0];[vt0]fade=t=in:st=0:d=1:c=black,fade=t=out:st=27:d=2:c=black[fv];[at0]afade=in:st=0:d=1,afade=out:st=27:d=2[outa];[1:v]fade=in:st=27:d=2:alpha=1,fade=out:st=30:d=2:alpha=1,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[wm];[wm][fv]scale2ref=w=oh*mdar:h=ih/4[logo][video];[video][logo]overlay=x=(W-w)/2:y=(H-h)/2[outv]" -map "[outv]" -map "[outa]" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -profile:v high -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 27 -movflags +faststart -c:a aac -b:a 192k "G:\to_convert_done\24.mp4"

::Batch then calls a normalize routine where the "ffmeg-normalize" command is referencing a phython script.  

ffmpeg-normalize "G:\to_convert_done\24.mp4" -f -t -14 -v -nt ebu -c:a aac -b:a 192k -ar 48000 -o "G:\to_convert_done\24.mp4"

 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by sundogak

Start Delay:  I've never even attempted a VR table.  I figured it'd be like getting mud tires for a truck I don't even own. lol  I'll go ahead increase that top limit.  Good call on an interim fix of editing the xml.

 

DMD 'screens':

8 hours ago, sundogak said:

Suspect that is function of gdigrab getting either the B2S or VPX window only

You are spot on.  It's is only looking for specific window titles.  So the number of monitors has no significance.  And as you discovered, it's only looking for B2S 2nd and 3rd "screens" (as well as the playfield).  This was WAY easier than messing with ScreenRes.txt to get xy coordinates for the different 'screens'.  And the ones built into the tables are inherently part of the playfield.  I went with the assumption that no one is going to want or have a use for a PinMAME or freezy DMD video.

If there's enough [serious] interest, say 25% or more (aka 3 of the 9 total downloaders  lol), I'll [attempt to] look into adding PinMAME or (better yet) freezy's DMD's.

 

Normalizing Audio:

I think I'll go with "everything is out of the plugin so they [each video's audio output] will be consistent".  But I get that, grabbing various videos from here-and-there ARE going to be inconsistent.  I added your GitHub link [above] to my ffmpeg notes and will refer anyone needing to normalize their audio to your post.    (Nice find! Thanks!!)

 

Fade and Clear Logo:

That looks really nice!  The fade-in is short and sweet and the clear logo at the end is actually a nice touch.  I'm going to "steal" your code for the fades and add that option.  For the clear logos, I should be able to get those using LB's API, which will eliminate any issues with file naming and image type.  I'll need to break down and digest the batch script 1st to understand it all. lol   Thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks, appreciate all the work on your plug-ins including this one. The bulk add and software list plugins are great as well.    

I agree on the VR aspect. The hybrid tables are somewhat new animal so likely they will improve on speed over time. The VPW group that does them does good job on physics and graphics which is why downloaded initially (plus comes up in Discord feed so new..means better right?!) 

The normalizing is a cool deal and hope they incorporate into the main ffmpeg code at some point. Right now you have to do in two stages if doing anything else requiring encoding. 

Here is are some snips of the simpler code parts for the fade in/out and the logo only fade in/out without the trim/rescaling in the other I posted.  With your coding skills and the LB APIs the input for the names would be much simpler since known input versus a match setup.  

I also attached the master batch file I have which is where married all the above into one big blob....designed for my logic...and not a coders!  Each individual function was fairly straight forward but once start getting into chaining filter graphs it was major pain, particularly if the video input was variable length vs fixed (client scope creep and I was the client!).

Spoiler

>>Here is a bit simpler version which only does the logo overlay. 
[change the 30 to 60 if 60 fps ; setpts=N/30/TB]
[fade in at 28 seconds over 1 second. Fade out at 31 seconds over 1 second]
[logo placed in middle of screen and scaled to 1/3 (ih/3) value]
[if start daisy chaining mutiple filter graphs AND working with variable length video inputs, will run into a ffmpeg bug where you cannot use the -shortest flag for logo overlay. If working fixed length not issue. If working with variable length video and trying to place a logo at end then have to use PROBE and set slightly longer than logo fade duration or get inconsistent results.]


ffmpeg -i "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert\Test.mp4" -loop 1 -i "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert\logo.png" -filter_complex "[1:v] fade=in:st=28:d=1:alpha=1,fade=out:st=31:d=1:alpha=1,setpts=N/30/TB[ov];[ov][0:v]scale2ref=w=oh*mdar:h=ih/3[logo][video];[video][logo]overlay=x=(W-w)/2:y=(H-h)/2[v]" -map "[v]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset slow -c:a copy -shortest "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert_done\Alienlogovid5.mp4"

>>Here is audio/video fade. Initially took some of this from a post from Criticalcid
[Audio fade (adds to end of file) of 2 seconds (d=## in seconds)]
[Video fade in 30 frames from zero (30 frames = 1 second if 30 fps).  (fade=in:0:30)]
[Video fade out starts at 30 frames to end of file  (fade=out:0:30)]


ffmpeg -hide_banner -n -i "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert\Test.mp4" -sseof -1 -copyts -i "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert\Test.mp4" -filter_complex "[1]fade=out:0:30[t];[0][t]overlay,fade=in:0:30[v];anullsrc,atrim=0:2[at];[0][at]acrossfade=d=2,afade=d=2[a]" -movflags faststart -map "[v]" -map "[a]" -c:v libx264 -preset veryslow -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 18 -c:a aac -b:a 192k -shortest "G:\Utilities\Video Convert\to_convert_done\Test_convert1.mp4"

 

 

Master Script.zip

Edited November 17, 2021 by sundogak

New  version 2.1

- New Feature   Video will now have a 1 second fade-in at the beginning and a 2 second fade-out end of the finalized video(s)
- New Feature   (optional) Add a Clear Logo overlay at the end of the video (if Clear Logo exists)

- Clean up          Cleaned up log file output
                            Removed option for 60 FPS.  Videos will record at 30 FPS
                            VPX edit window is now minimized during video capture

- Fixed                Now handles Titles with "illegal characters" in them when saving as the video filename
                            UltraDMD, PinUpDisplay and PinUPPlayer windows will now properly close (if your table uses them) when recording is complete

- Change            Increased maximum delay start time to 3 minutes

- Other                Click (almost anywhere in the window) and drag to move window around

Hi I know this is an old thread, but love this plugin. I'm only getting the main playfield to record however even though I've got backglass option selected. Any troubleshooting steps?

54 minutes ago, g0badgers said:

Hi I know this is an old thread, but love this plugin. I'm only getting the main playfield to record however even though I've got backglass option selected. Any troubleshooting steps?

Thank you! Glad you like it.

Are the tables you're trying to record using the B2S Backglass Server (required)?  I know they've done quite a few enhancements on it since this plugin was released.  Actually, mostly within the last several months.  And I haven't done any recording since my last post. 😊

Are any errors showing during or after recording?  I think the DMD and backglass recordings get saved to a separate folder(s), below the plugins folder.  (ya, it's been a while since I've looked at it. lol)  Are the subfolders even being created (empty or otherwise)?  Also, there's supposed to a log folder with a (or some?) log file(s) created when attempting to record.  I forget what all gets 'recorded' in the log file(s).  See if there's anything enlightening there.

Let me know if/what you find or don't find and if need be, I'll dig into it more.

8 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

Thank you! Glad you like it.

Are the tables you're trying to record using the B2S Backglass Server (required)?  I know they've done quite a few enhancements on it since this plugin was released.  Actually, mostly within the last several months.  And I haven't done any recording since my last post. 😊

Are any errors showing during or after recording?  I think the DMD and backglass recordings get saved to a separate folder(s), below the plugins folder.  (ya, it's been a while since I've looked at it. lol)  Are the subfolders even being created (empty or otherwise)?  Also, there's supposed to a log folder with a (or some?) log file(s) created when attempting to record.  I forget what all gets 'recorded' in the log file(s).  See if there's anything enlightening there.

Let me know if/what you find or don't find and if need be, I'll dig into it more.

The latest version renamed the "form1" for the backglass.  My recollection on the code, was the plugin looks for that screen name.  I hadn't recorded anything since new version came out so will double check.  It does have some useful controls on where the backglass form goes.  

 

Edit: per the developer -  "Just a note for later B2S releases, the form name has changed from "Form1" to  "B2S Backglass Server". So the pupinit.bat has to be updated..."

PuP-Packs ON TOP! (Use PuP-Packs on a single Screen or Desktop view) - PuP Packs - Virtual Pinball Universe (vpuniverse.com)

Edited January 23, 2023 by sundogak

9 hours ago, sundogak said:

The latest version renamed the "form1" for the backglass.

Thanks!!!  This bit of info saved me A TON OF TROUBLESHOOTING TIME!!!  Confirmed with WindowSpy that it is now "B2S Backglass Server".  

 

19 hours ago, g0badgers said:

Hi I know this is an old thread, but love this plugin. I'm only getting the main playfield to record however even though I've got backglass option selected. Any troubleshooting steps?

sundogak took care of the troubleshooting for us.  

• Exit LaunchBox.
• Download this file    ➔➔➔➔    VPXVideoCreator (v3.0.1-beta).7z
• Replace your "VPXVideoCreator.dll" with the one inside the zip.
  • (shouldn't need to unblock it if using 7-Zip.)
• (Re)start LaunchBox.
• Try recording with the backglass option again.

This hasn't been tested as my single monitor setup is not really setup anymore for VPX backglass.  (I can run tables showing a backglass and DMD. But I use script to adjust all the VPX settings, and that doesn't work well with the plugin.)

On 1/23/2023 at 8:50 AM, JoeViking245 said:

Thanks!!!  This bit of info saved me A TON OF TROUBLESHOOTING TIME!!!  Confirmed with WindowSpy that it is now "B2S Backglass Server".  

 

sundogak took care of the troubleshooting for us.  

• Exit LaunchBox.
• Download this file    ➔➔➔➔    VPXVideoCreator (v3.0.1-beta).7z
• Replace your "VPXVideoCreator.dll" with the one inside the zip.
  • (shouldn't need to unblock it if using 7-Zip.)
• (Re)start LaunchBox.
• Try recording with the backglass option again.

This hasn't been tested as my single monitor setup is not really setup anymore for VPX backglass.  (I can run tables showing a backglass and DMD. But I use script to adjust all the VPX settings, and that doesn't work well with the plugin.)

I have been using 3.01 and realized nobody ever gave feedback until I was posting to the VPX thread.  So just 8 months late!

The beta version of plugin works great with latest B2S 2.02 server version on recording the back glass.  I have also switched to 64 bit VPX and B2S so no plugin issues there. 

The only caveat is that if the "background" option in B2S server is selected to "Visible" (see snip below) then the LB Video plugin will record all black.  This is used if making the back glass aspect ratio correct and if turned to visible the B2S server fills in the remaining screen space with a black background. Alternatively it is used for custom grill layout/background image behind the back glass. Most people use "Standard" or "Hidden" on background which then makes the back glass image stretch full screen.  Not quite sure why the video plugin is doing that vs B2S layering shows correctly. One of the code updates to B2S was to merge layers before display to avoid the older B2S version issue where things got out of order. 

Not a big deal to work but in case someone else hits it , the simple fix is to turn off the background layer and back glass recording works as expected.  

 

Background selected as Hidden or Standard.  Aspect ratio of back glass is smaller than screen (in this case second screen is 1920x1080) it nicely just records the active B2S window only.  

If turned to Visible the above is just 30 seconds of black screen.  

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by sundogak