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Teaser RBG matrix marquee tool


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Posted

ItsMeBobO wrote:

This is just a preview. Working beta out in May.


Select an image and a from and to location. Then Marquee will build the frames into a clipboard file you can paste into your matrix sequence. Will be able to scroll text and create layered objects.

http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2012/MarqueeTeaser.wmv


Bob, this is so cool!

If you gave the ability to resize the original image, then this would replace the function i have in nutcracker for projecting an image. The issue that i think we have is megatrees are such a small resolution (ie 16x50) and original pictures are so big (800x600).

I see many opportunities for this.

good job

sean
Posted

Thanks Sean. A nice compliment from you who are so talented with Nutcracker.

Resolution is a major limiting factor. At this point I have a few ideas for that. But I want to complete the export first and get that to beta. Marquee will expect the user to edit images in their own PaintBrush image editing tool.

But one thing I could do is just take every other pixel which will have a scale effect and end up 1/4 size. I dont want to try to average them though. The image tools out there would do a much better job at that scaling than I could. An idea to try would be to alternate the skipped over pixels. Instead of always using the odd numbered pixels...as the frames go by the odd frames could use the odd pixels and the even frames could use the even pixels (moving by twos) This would be like interlaced frames of a 480i tv broadcast. This might allow me to scale down but also to not loose the color spot important to the image.

But all that has to wait for the layering which I think is much more important.

Posted

ItsMeBobO wrote:

Thanks Sean. A nice compliment from you who are so talented with Nutcracker.

Resolution is a major limiting factor. At this point I have a few ideas for that. But I want to complete the export first and get that to beta. Marquee will expect the user to edit images in their own PaintBrush image editing tool.

But one thing I could do is just take every other pixel which will have a scale effect and end up 1/4 size. I dont want to try to average them though. The image tools out there would do a much better job at that scaling than I could. An idea to try would be to alternate the skipped over pixels. Instead of always using the odd numbered pixels...as the frames go by the odd frames could use the odd pixels and the even frames could use the even pixels (moving by twos) This would be like interlaced frames of a 480i tv broadcast. This might allow me to scale down but also to not loose the color spot important to the image.

But all that has to wait for the layering which I think is much more important.


I have tried both in the the nutcracker. find the target tree's reolution (ie 16x100) and the source images (128x64) then i find the factor to divide by (ie every 4 pixels). I found that skipping them sometimes gave a better picture that resizing with the resize function in php.
resize in php
1) take original image , ex 128x64 x256 colot gif
2) convert into tru color (128x64 x 16 million colors)
3) resize image , blending colors
4) convert back to 256 colors.

so the two methods
1) skip pixels in image
2) convert and resize

both work.

it would be nice if on the target side you had a matrix maybe that shows what it is going to look like, say 16x100 pixels.

again, very nice
Posted

Oh between you and Sean this is costing me some cash. My matrix was going to be small part of my display. Now its getting bigger, now if you guys come up with video conversion to matrix Im done.

Posted

Already looked into it.. That's all I can say right now!

Posted

Progress update. Completed the mask section with 6 masking options. Added ability to scale the image and change the frame rate. Added new shortcuts for setting parameters.
Made the source area much larger and now can be scrolled to handle any size image. The preview pane on the right is exactly what the matrix will look like. After pasting into your sequence you will be able to see the 'tree' arrangement in visualizer.

http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2012/MarqueeTeaser2.wmv
http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2012/MarqueeTeaser2.mov

Posted

The box is the area that will be in the marquee running along your pixel tree or matrix. The 50x24 is the dimension of his setup for this example. I see this best as moving across pictures more than text as it would allow a larger picture than your matrix scroll though for less sizing and resolution loss.


Im sure there a million ways to make it do things, all of which Im not smart enough to do.



im curious of the timing as well, if you can add or speed up for lyrics perhaps?

Posted

This is a tool to pan around a picture for your RGB matrix or tree. As opposed to a still frame. The little yellow box on top of the picture is the window which is seen on your matrix. The other two are the start and end points along the path. The contents of the yellow box are isolated and shown on the right in a larger size and after any manipulation you ask for like scaling or color compression.

The little 'movie' or slide show will be a clipboard you can paste into your sequence. I am calling it Marquee which is often used to mean scrolling words, but this will be for any kind of image you desire.

My testing is with a 50 x 24 matrix while a SS tree would be 50 x 12. It will work with any size, vertical or horizontal, and any wrap method. The numbering issues are overcome with the vegomatic tool which gives a lot of layout options.

As far as the timings or speed goes... there is no limitation on the speed you can show the frames. In SE you select the paste to fit option. To make it faster you select a smaller time frame and all frames will be equally compressed to make the sequence run faster. The Marquee tool does not address the run time of the movie as it is completely unrestricted in SE. The frame rate option is only there to adjust the count of the frames along the selected path, not their play speed.


GG you are correct that the scaled words can come out a little choppy. It depends on the font and picture size. The small font tests came out perfectly. That is an image that does not have to be scaled with a font which is 8 to 12 pixels high and not blended or feathered.



http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2012/MarqueeMatrixSetup.wmv
http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2012/MarqueeMatrixSetup.mov

Posted

So for example bob to make sure Im reading right. If I want speed out of it, its controlled in sequencer. As Im running .05 timings, If I want the Marquee to run 2 seconds I set your tool to 40 frames and paste it in, is there even a place for total frames to force it to as well?

Im sure Im overlooking something in the videos, but as always you will make it easy to where even I cant mess it up. Sean has had plenty of patience with me thus far, Im sure Ill start pushing yours soon as well. Thanks for this tool as well in advance, I have about 30 more ideas to play with on the pixel tree.

Posted

In the video you can see the total number of frame on the lower right. It is the distance between the start and end frames in pixels. If you set the frame rate to 50% than half of the frames are skipped. There is another line for that in the same spot.
The timing marks in SE are not related at all. Using the chase tool as an example may help. The chase transitions are placed in the sequence even when there is no timing marks. If you just go a little to the right the channels of the chase are placed close together. Going wide to the right makes each successive channel further apart.

The marquee will work the same. That is, with no regard for any timing marks, If you band 5 seconds, the entire marquee will be fit into that space. 5 or 500 frames. But you really don't want a lot of transitions too fast as they wont be seen and will clog the network. When doing a short marquee you can lower the frames being created.

Posted

Tried to send you the Alpha version but was unable. Let me know how to get it to you. Its not ready for a public posting yet.

Posted

Jeff Millard wrote:

Got it, thank you. Replied with an error but I believe it was because I didn't have an image selected for the background... as I'm not getting the error anymore.

Jeff


Did the same thing, it was because of no image loaded. Pretty neat tool. Going to have boats and cars driving through my Mega tree and matrix!

Whatever you do, dont add a moving Gif by accident!
Posted

Almost ready for Beta release with all features enabled. If you want to try the latest version to help uncover any problems please PM me.

Newest feature is a blend scale to smooth the colors when zooming in. Also the connection between Vegomatic and Marquee is much cleaner.

Posted

He doesnt sleep. The tool is getting absurdly powerful in creating objects for anything pixel based. Vegomatic and this combined make anyone a star with pixels. From cartoon characters to text and anything you can think of. If its a Jpeg or BMP it can be on your matrix in about 20 seconds.

Neat tool to play with I tried my hardest to help out and put it through its paces. I do not reccomend this tool if you are not wanting to add pixels of some sort to your display. You will be spending the money fast.

As well the lastest edition of Vegomatic has a direct output of DMX universes and channels. Its really as simple as creating your matrix in Vegomatic, export that to a LOR sequence file which will align as well assign your DMX based addresses for output. The the Clipboard/marquee tool, add your Gif,Jpg,BMP file, assing your outputs to be your full matrix and click the areas you want the marquee to scroll. Left click is starting location, Right click is top left corner of box or ending location. Magnify if you need a larger box to fit a smaller matrix and click Generate! This generates a Clipbaord file you load into your sequence and paste! You can paste to fill time as well so if you make the marquee a second longer or shorter in your sequence.

The Alpha was fun to play with and glad I could be a part of it. I hope to have a video up before the BETA comes out to help take some work load off of Bob.

Posted

Im going to drag this back to the top, anyone with a mega pixel tree or matrix will want to watch this thread.

Between Bob and Sean were in for a very intersting season.

I hope everyone is ready for some outstanding personalized displays this year as lights will be a tool for the canvas these guys are giving us to use.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Thanks in advance from all of us spectators to you participants, who are working out the details of another great tool to use.

It's pioneers like you that add a lot of fun to this and make us look good to all of those who see our displays.

Keep up the good work.

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