Bugs in 5.05

[dononeil]

Hello all... first off I need to say that this is a great program!!! I was searching and trying out a dozen or more before I finally settled with pc_dimmer.

I used the program last weekend for a theatrical show, and ran into a few bugs I though I should report.

I was using the latest 5.05 code, on Windows 7 64 Bit with the OpenDMX USB dongle. Here are the bugs I ran into;

1) In Audio Effects Player, after you define a direct scene, you cannot delete it

2) In Audio Effects Player, when "Repeat" is enabled, a right click on the waveform to move the time index causes the app to freeze & crash

3) When starting app it states there is no EN language file, where do I get this?

4) In Audio Effects Player, even when repeat is not checked the audio will still sometimes repeat

5) In Audio Effects Player, when auto scroll is enabled you cannot right click to move the time index

6) When using the command line tool to run a DOS .cmd file, the application crashes

7) Open DMX driver does not support more than one universe... When you rename the DLL and enable the 2nd interface on channels 513 to 1024, the channels 'overlap' with channels 1 to 512

Any help would be appreciated in solving these bugs or finding work a work around.

Thanks!

[Christian]

Hi dononeil,


thank you very much for your comments and feedback.


1: to delete a scene within the audio-effect-player, you have to select the small checkbox in the very left side of the listbox next to the number of the cue. Another way to select the scenes you want to delete: draw a rectangular with your mouse in the timeline to select the scenes to delete.

2: I tried this, but on my computer this is working without problems. Maybe the language-setting of your computer makes some trouble. I will create an entry within the bugtracker and test this issue under English-language-setup.

3: the English-language is shipped with the standard installer. It should activate the language automaticly. Is your program in english after this error-message? If not: what happens when you click on the tab "Einstellungen" then on "Languages" and then on "English"? On my computer the complete interface changes to English.

4: Many people are using the Audio effect player and no one has figured out such a problem. I tried it with some audio-files and I cannot reconstruct this problem. Can you start the PC_DIMMER together with your project on another computer?

5: this is not a bug. When "Autoscroll" is active you can only use the scrollbar below the timeline to scroll. Otherwise you can activate the "View mode 2" in the right upper corner of the audio effect player. There the timeline will scroll automaticly and you can scroll with the right mousebutton pressed.

6: can you send me this cmd-file so that I can check if there are some kind of typos in the commands? Normally you should be able to use the program together with a cmd-file.

7: I will check this soon.


kind regards,
Chris

[Ingo]

4) kann ich bestätigen

Ingo

[dononeil]

I will check the other solutions you suggested, thanks...

Here's a sample command file I was using;

named 'video.cmd'... when you double click on it normally it works fine, it launches the VLC media player, and the video.

Inside the video.cmd file is this;

"c:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --no-audio --fullscreen --no-osd --play-and-stop --disable-screensaver --no-embedded-video --video-x=1800 --video-y=100 "F:\video.m2v"

[Christian]

6) When using the command line tool to run a DOS .cmd file, the application crashes

Inside the video.cmd file is this;

"c:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --no-audio --fullscreen --no-osd --play-and-stop --disable-screensaver --no-embedded-video --video-x=1800 --video-y=100 "F:\video.m2v"

Sorry, but the Command-file has nothing to do with PC_DIMMER. You are starting the VLC-program. When you start this cmd-file the PC_DIMMER program crashes? Really strange. There is no connection between VLC and PC_DIMMER.

I thought you are using the "PC_DIMMER_CMD.exe" program for remote-access to the PC_DIMMER.


bye,
Chris

[dononeil]

I was using the command line function of the cues to launch the external dos command file.

Here's what I did;

1) In the audioeffects player, I loaded a file
2) At the beginning of the audio file I chose "Start object from library"
3) I added a "Command" with the following settings;
Name: f:\video.cmd
Description: blank
Part of program: Audioeffectplayer
Control: start
<= checkbox not checked (What is this???)
Start command on project load not checked

As soon as I start the player playing a dialog box comes up with a crash message and the command file is never run. I don't know if I'm even doing it right to run an external program.

The reason I am using the command line tool instead of the video player is that I can't figure out how to specify the screen to play it on and how to make it full screen. I also wanted to play 2 different videos on 2 different screens, and with the command file I can do this in VLC. I tried figuring out the video player but I didn't understand how to set it up.

[dononeil]

For the English language bug....

I did select English from the language menu, but when the program launches it gives me the following error;

"The PC_DIMMER does not have a languagefile for your language "EN". The PC_DIMMER will start in English now...."

Most of the menus and items are in English, but there are some that are not. I don't know if this is a function of the completeness of the translation, or the error.

[Christian]

Good morning,

I was using the command line function of the cues to launch the external dos command file.

Ah, now I've got it. On my computer this is working, but maybe I have a hint for you. You've written:

3) I added a "Command" with the following settings;
Name: f:\video.cmd
Description: blank
Part of program: Audioeffectplayer
Control: start
<= checkbox not checked (What is this???)
Start command on project load not checked

"Part of program" within the command should be "Master / MIDI / Program" and the Control should be "Start external program". If you set the command to "Audioeffectplayer" and "Start" as you did, you will create a feedback-loop, because you start this command out of the audioeffectplayer. The command should look like the picture I've attached to this post.

You can test the command without the audioeffectplayer:
1. open the scene library
2. select the command you want to test
3. click on the blue play button in the right corner of the scenelibrary


I hope I could help you.


bye,
Chris

[dononeil]

Thanks... that explanation helps a lot and it works fine now.

Can you post a brief tutorial on how to use the video player? No matter what I've tried I can't get a video to play through it. Nothing ever starts, just a blank screen.

Using the video player would be a better option than launching VLC from the command line for simpler setups where I don't need the video wall functions of VLC.

Thanks!

[Christian]

Hi,


to play a videofile within the MedaCenter Server, you can use the following steps:

1. Start the PC_DIMMER MediaCenterServer on the computer you want to play the video
2. make shure that the firewall opens the port you've set in the settings (Port 10153 as default)
3. open the PC_DIMMER and open the Scenelibrary
4. create a new scene of the type "MediaCenter scene"
5. enter the address and port of the MediaCenterServer (127.0.0.1 if it is on the same computer)
6. choose the command "Load videofile" and enter the name and path to this file at the bottom of the screen (eg. c:\test.m2v)
7. click OK and create a second MediaCenter scene
8. now choose "Start video".
9. First run the load-scene and then the play-scene to run the video.


kind regards,
Chris

[dononeil]

What about using the 'videoscreen' program instead of the mediaserver? How does one use that? I'd like to be able to set cues based on when something happens in the video. From what I understand, the mediaserver is used to launch a video, and there is no way to pause it, see the waveform on the audioeffects window, etc..

Thanks!

[Christian]

Hi,


ok, to use the videoscreen together with the AudioEffectPlayer, you can do the following steps:


1. Start AudioEffectPlayer (I think this was clear )
2. Load an audiofile and click on "Videoscreen" in the right side of the Audioeffectplayer
3. Set the video timeindex with the slider of the videoscreen to a position, where your audio starts
4. Within the audioeffectplayer set the audio timeindex to the beginning of the song
5. Now click with the right mousebutton on the cuelist and select "Setup videoseeking"
6. in the new window click on "Use videoseeking" on the first option (you can use up to four videoscreens at the same time)
7. To synchronize video and audio now click on "Current Position" and the audioeffectplayer will calculate the difference between startindex and the current index of the video and use this difference as a kind of offset compensation. This is only nescessary, if your video has a different timeindex than your audio. If both files are of the same index, than you do not have to set a Startposition.


after this steps the videoscreen will follow the Start/Stop and scroll commands of the audioeffectplayer.


bye,
Chris