Video Preview in EmulationStation

mattrixk · 9 Mar 2017, 01:10

@FlyingTomahawk said in Video Preview in EmulationStation:

Is there a way to run the beta ES in window mode?

Have a look at this Repo I'm putting together. It's still a work in progress, but you can grab one of the .bat files and put it in your Windows ES root. Click the .bat file to start ES in windowed mode instead of clicking on the .exe to open full screen.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Mar 2017, 01:18

@mattrixk

Is that the same bat file that comes with the package from herb fargus portable USB version?
If so then I have that file already. So placing it into the ES root is all there is to it? Cool that will help a great deal to get things aligned proberly.

@jdrassa
Very interesting. If system is the only place that needs it then basic, detailed and video can be combined for some of the elements.

herb_fargus · 9 Mar 2017, 01:44

@mattrixk perhaps we can work together.

Fee free to use any resources from here:

https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station

I've been meaning to update the version of ES and retroarch has recently been updated so I may borrow some of your stuff too when I find the time to do it

mattrixk · 9 Mar 2017, 02:42

@FlyingTomahawk: Yes they are from Herb's portable ES. I think he only had 1 or 2, so I added the others for testing different sizes. I do most of my work in the 1280x720, then test in the Full size and 4:3 when I get near the end.

@herb_fargus: Sounds good. I'm in the process of scraping all the metadata/images/videos for a bunch of roms. It's taking a bit of time because I'm also making some custom MIX and Scrape profiles for UXS. After that I need to scale down the videos so they don't take up as much room. I have no idea how to do this. I'm hoping to find a program that just lets me batch-resize them or something. I'd also like to squash the filesize of the images too. Once they're all as small as I can make them, then I'll add them to the Repo.

I also need to make some changes to the included theme (mainly reducing the image sizes and messing the image layouts).

Once it's finished I'll make a new thread about it and I'll include links to the various Windows ES versions I've found (yours, Fieldofcow's Video Preview and Zigurana's Carousel Mod).

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Mar 2017, 03:39

@mattrixk

I do most of my work in the 1280x720, then test in the Full size

That is what I do too. I created my theme for 1080p but my laptop only can show max 1366x768 so 1280x720 is best to work for me.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Mar 2017, 14:35

Finally could set it up as I wanted.
It looks like the Standard (2img) Mix profile from the UXMLS but instead of a game screenshot it shows the video.
Now I need to find a way to scrape that video+marquee set directly with UXMLS.
Thanks to all involved, job well done.

giventofly · 9 Mar 2017, 18:55

@mattrixk if you find someway to batch reduce videosize please share :)

quick question, i have all my systems with videos (i would say >400videos) and sometimes ES crashes when going thru the gamelist (some detailed info here: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/58983 ) are you having the same problems?

(btw, i'm using an adaptation from your io theme)

daeks · 9 Mar 2017, 21:14

@giventofly said in Video Preview in EmulationStation:

@mattrixk if you find someway to batch reduce videosize please share :)

at least for Windows, google for handbrakecli

mattrixk · 9 Mar 2017, 22:41

@FlyingTomahawk said in Video Preview in EmulationStation:

Now I need to find a way to scrape that video+marquee set directly with UXMLS.

This is a Scrape profile for UXS that downloads videos and logos for each Rom. It also creates a gamelist that adds the video links to the <video> tag and the logos to the <marquee> tag:

http://pastebin.com/GwB2uW9U

You just need to copy that code into an XML file and place it in the "ProfilsFiles" folder within the scraper folder, then you can select that Profile within the UXS program. You will need to play with the autoconfig settings so it finds your Roms and outputs the correct file paths.

Keep in mind that the videos are downloaded at 640x480, and between 3-15MB, so you'll probably want to make them smaller somehow before putting them on your Pi (but they'll be fine for Windows testing).

If you want screenshots too then let me know.

@giventofly: I don't use videos on my Pi, so I can't really comment. I just use a couple of them for making themes, using a Window version of ES.

@daeks: Thanks for that. I gave Handbrake a little try yesterday, but the results were unsatisfactory. It's probably just a case of finding the right config. I'll keep trying with it, see where I get.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Mar 2017, 23:25

@mattrixk

Thanks for the code!
If you can make time and add a screenshot of what it would look like that would be great.

mattrixk · 9 Mar 2017, 23:38

@FlyingTomahawk: That code in the pastebin is just a Scrape profile that gets the Video and the Logo, so there isn't really anything to screenshot.

I'm in the middle of making some UXS Profiles that do various things, like scraping for videos or not, and creating MIX images depending on if you want videos or just screenshots. I also have one that just downloads everything (fan-art, 2d and 3d box-art, cartridges, videos, etc) so you can do whatever you want with it.

mattrixk · 12 Mar 2017, 23:12

@herb_fargus The ES in that link (https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station) doesn't have any Retroarch stuff in it does it? I know I have one of yours from somewhere that does include the stuff that lets you actually play the games, but I can't remember where I found it. I think it was from a link on a YouTube video, but I'm not sure.

herb_fargus · 12 Mar 2017, 23:57

@mattrixk it's in the releases tab

mattrixk · 13 Mar 2017, 00:00

@herb_fargus: Awesome. I always forget to look in releases. Cheers.

**Scannigan** · 15 Mar 2017, 08:32

@Nismo hey bud, still loving your old room theme, just one thing I've encountered with overlays not working with OMXplayer, is that backgrounds like Sega CD I believe have the game box over the TV screen which which is where the art work populates, meaning it's cut off from the video, you wouldn't happen to have amended the images to move the box art on the base image would you, I hope that makes sense

Nismo · 15 Mar 2017, 09:14

I'ts known that overlays doesn't work with OMX player for any theme, that's because I said in my theme thread that my theme needs VLC, but seems nobody read the first post...

About the other question, I don't understand what do you mean exactly, place 3dbox inside tv screen?... I don't like that, and anyway if yoy use the command for use image if no video, the 3dbox image is stretched and looks very ugly so it's not an option.

I think you must ask for my theme in it's own thread anyway.

Regards.

**Scannigan** · 15 Mar 2017, 09:28

@Nismo Thanks for the reply bud, I downloaded your theme ages ago and love it and I knew it had to be VLC, OMX just seems to be a little smoother even if I do lose the CRT overlays, etc. Never mind ignore me, I worked out that the downloaded box art goes over the box art location in the background image in your theme, so the issue I have isn't with your background images but the media I need to use, my apologies, I should've looked deeper in to it

filiphdan · 27 Mar 2017, 16:27

Nismo i realy love this theme, i think its one of the best out there, any chance off finishing more platforms on it?

Nismo · 27 Mar 2017, 17:31

@filiphdan I'm working on it.

HurricaneFan · 27 Mar 2017, 17:51

@fieldofcows Could you share your theme you used in the video at the top of this post? I'd love to have my mame roms show up like that.