Gavin's Zoomplayer Panel for NetRemote.

[brockgr]

Finally got this one out. It is a fairly complete Zoomplayer controller, complete with feedback. Zoomplayer (http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/) is a very versatile DVD playback frontend for windows. This will not work with anything else (but you might be able to hack it).

The grand-daddy of all this was a CCF by Tor (Masiff) along time ago. Sadly I have removed all the Norwegian ;-).

You will need:
* A very recent NetRemote RC3 or 4
* A very recent Zoomplayer 3.x
* DVD-Spy plugin for girder installed and enabled (painful, but worth it)
* Girder - with NetRemote feedback set up - This must be the newest (todays 0.06) version since I found some bugs - see here (http://www.netremote.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=192).
* This file: GavinsZoomPlayer-01.zip (http://www.netremote.org/drops/GavinsZoomPlayer-02.01.zip)

Install the GML in Girder (you may want to try it on it's own first before merging it with any other file). Load the CCF into NetRemote. Then open a DVD in ZoomPlayer. See how it goes.

Enjoy!!

Gavin

[Mastiff]

Thank you very much, Gavin-san. I'll try that out as soon as possible! 8)

[Mastiff]

My dear friend, here we go again! :shock: I get a parse error on the minutes/seconds, and that locks up the feedback system, so NetRemote thinks Zoom is stuck in Menu. Here's the error:

error: bad argument #1 to `strfind' (string expected, got nil)
stack traceback:
1: function `strfind' [C]
2: main of string "?" at line 20

My guess is that you have an idea, and maybe I goofed again? Anyway, this is with the latest DVDSpy, MC9, Girder 3.2.9 and your little Lua group put in. But I did put in the Lua group from DVD Spy. Can that be it?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[brockgr]

Hmm okay, I guess the[/code] time thing is dodgy. It is only 0.01!!

Go to the FeedBack->Time command in Girder and add this line to the top of the code:


print("["..pld1.."]")

Then tell me what output you are getting (I suspect it's a blank sting or something).

To get out of menu mode, press the ">" button at the top of the screen.

Cheers,

Gavin

[Mastiff]

I didn't get anything else than the parse error when I added it to the script, but when I created a new script with the same trigger, I got this feedback:

[Playing: 01:15 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:16 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:18 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:19 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:21 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:22 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:24 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
[Playing: 01:25 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]
--Pause (01:27 / 1:37:04)
[Paused: 01:27 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]


It looks about right to me...

And I didn't mean the menu page in the CCF, I meant that the word Menu is stuck in the playback window where the time should be when I have been in the menu screen first. Is that another clue to the same problem?

Another thing: I will change the CCF so it does not jump to he root menu every time you hit the menu screen button, that can be a problem if you hit the button by accident during a movie.

Thanks for your work on this, Gavin!

[brockgr]

Aha, you get:


[Playing: 01:15 / 1:37:04 - [T1:C1]]

I get:


[Playing: 01:15 / 1:37:04 ]

I'll have to improve my pattern matching!!

I use this to compute the position of the position drag bar. Give me a while, I'll hack out 0.02.

Gavin

[brockgr]

Oh, the menu this is a "feature" - I'm not sure if I like it yet either. It just seemed nice that NetRemote would use the DVD context (playback, menu, pause(?)) to choose which panel to show you...

Gavin

[brockgr]

Ok, try this one (http://www.netremote.org/drops/GavinsZoomPlayer-00.02.zip) out.

I wonder who chooses the syntax of the position string. Probably a Blight question.

Does anyone really like that end bit? I've chopped it for now since the string is too long (and chapter is displayed elsewhere).

Cheers, Gavin

[Mastiff]

Thanks a lot! It works now, at least on the Win32 NetRemote (so I'm sure it'll work on the PPC as well). One thing, though: Is the position bar only for show, or can I use it? When I try to move it on the Win32 version with the mouse, I get a quick flash of the "Go to" window on my ZoomPlayer, and then the movie jumps to the beginning and usually pauses. But this CCF is really cool! 8)

[brockgr]

The position bar is for use - but I would expect it to be really flakey - although it does work for me. The only way (I know) to get ZP to go to a position in the movie is the GoTo box, so moving the bar, pop's up that dialog - fills in the H:M:S according to the percentage of the bar relative to the end of the film.

My guess is that the H:M:S boxes are not getting filled correctly. You may need to open the GML and manually retarget those commands for your version of ZP - the widget names may have changed.

It would be so nice if there was a TCP port on girder where you could send commands, rather than hack with the GUI, or rely on the limitations of winodws messaging.

Gavin

[Ben S]

Wow! Awesome!

I downloaded Zoomplayer standard to play with this. I was playing a 15 second avi of Flight Simulator 2000 (it was the first non-dvd movie I could get my hands on).

Awesome! The win32 version is quite snappy, and all features work "out of the gate" for me, including using the position bar.

The PPC version for me is pretty slow, however. If I hit stop it takes a good 10-15 seconds to "catch up" before setting the values to --:-- for time. I wonder what I'm doing differently in Girder than Media Center? Media Center feedback is quite fast, both to Win32 and PPC.

What do you mean about a TCP port on girder where you could send commands? Do you mean a TCP port where you could create commands on the fly?

Anyway. This will give me something great to tune performance with. Really, really, cool.

Thanks Gavin!

[brockgr]

Glad it worked for someone other than me :D.

Those delays sound odd - I have been having similar problems on Win32. I'm still unsure where it's happening (Zoomplayer/DVD-Spy/Girder/NetRemote). My suspicion is that it's the "disconnect" of one NR (e.g. your Win32 closing before using the PPC version) taking too long to time out. This is then delaying all other NRs.

As for the TCP socket thing. I was sending mails while sleepy - what I meant to say was that I wished Zoomplayer had a socket. Sending complicated commands to ZP currently seem to be a bit hit-and-miss.

Cheers, Gavin

[Mastiff]

Gavin, I watched XXX with my wife yesterday (the Vin Diesel movie, not pornography...) and most of it worked very well. One thing that did not work at all was moving the image up, down, left and right. I changed the windows message to keyboard codes (shift + arrows), and that made it work, but painfully slow. Using shift+arrows on the regular IR keyboard I have connected makes it about ten times faster. Is the repeat speed limited in any way? Is this related to the speed with which NetRemote's able to send messages to Girder? Anyway, the combination is very nice! Will you do a version with the new Lawdawg-icons? Please! :D

[brockgr]

Mastiff,

You've used this more than me now!! New graphics are definatly on the cards. I had brief attempt at ripping of Blights ZP ones (I thought it would be nice to have a consitent look and feel), but that was to hard, as well as a little naughty.

The screen moving/resizing stuff is all very set-up dependent. Do you have "always assume menu mode" set in ZP? I don't think I have set any performance limiting (no anti-repeat for this). I guess you could send the commands multiple times for each event, but that is not ideal either. Maybe Girder buttonmode could give us acceleration - could also do it in LUA I suppose.

Gavin

[Mastiff]

Aha! Yes, I have always assume menu mode. That's probably it. Anyway, watched "The Phantom" yesterday with my wife (Kit Walker A.K.A. The Ghost who Walks, you know - very amusing 50's style movie) and I did not find any other problems. I agree that doing several commands at once would be a solution. Actually it would be possible to add more buttons, the size panel is far from crowded. Perhaps 20 up, 20 left, 20 right and 20 down? I have never become really good friends with button mode, but doing it in LUA sounds like a good idea...providing I don't have to do it myself, of course! :wink: I'm totally worthless there. And thanks again!

[Ben S]

Would having the repeat "settable" in NetRemote help? I noticed the same thing, that changing aspect or moving was heart-wrenchingly slow. I fire an event 4 times a second. Should I up this to 10 times a second? Have it configurable? Etc.?

[Mastiff]

I vote for configurable, or even better: configurable per button! That way I could fast forward in MC without getting to the end of the song in three seconds and at the same time move the window in Zoom in an acceptable speed. Or is this to difficult?

[Ben S]

Pretty difficult. Unless Stewart adds an option. Theoretically it could be "use default" or "specify" per button.

[Mastiff]

In that case I'll have to go for the answer "10", Regis. Am I a millionaire? :D

[brockgr]

Hmm 4 per sec sounds fast - 10 sounds very fast. I wonder if we are really getting this over the network. Should really test with Girder. It may be that NR/802.11b/Girder/ZP can't keep up.
Gavin

[Ben S]

Agreed. I want to setup a test suite of some sort for network performance. I really think the feedback to NetRemote (PPC) from Girder should be close to the same speed as feedback to NetRemote (Win32) from Girder.

I wonder... Media Center really seems fast to update, but I guess I'm sending less information now. We'll figure this one out.

[Ben S]

I'm getting better performance now from the PPC. Please tell me if RC5 fixes this for you guys, too (when it's released in the next few days).

[esajesa]

Hey..

I have a problem registering the ShowShifterSpy.dll. Anyone else had this? Tried to do it manually, but it complains:

LoadLibrary("ShowShifterSpy.dll") failed - The specified procedure could not be found

I'm running XP SP1 btw. Any ideas?

//Jens

[Landav]

I'm using you setup for netremote and zoomplayer and it works great but I'm not getting the info back. I see zp.time etc. It works great from the control side. I have dvdspy installed and see the info in logger.

Any ideas thanks

[Mastiff]

Make sure you have your PPC (or whatever you use) connected to the network before you fire up NetRemote, if not it won't register correctly on the LUA-system, and then you'll get those symptoms.

[rudolpht]

I am getting a "Not a valid RC device" when trying to Merge the GavinsZoomplayer.ccf into my main CCF.

The GML part integrated without a hitch.

Don't understand why it isn't working. Could Tonto load it but not ProntoEdit 4.0.5?

Tim

[Ben S]

Hi Tim,

Tonto is now the preferred editor of choice for NetRemote .ccfs, as Stewart and I have built a custom ccf format that does not work on any Pronto device.

You could theoretically copy and paste panels, but merging won't work. You could try merging your Pronto ccf into Gavin's, instead of vice versa. It could possibly work.

[rudolpht]

Thanks for info & thanks for RC7. Great stuff.

[rudolpht]

Has anyone use these files in a ProntoPro???


I could not merge in ProntoPro so did so in Tonto & Downloaded. Now I have a $600 paperweight. After coming up the pronto freezes after reset and will not take in any CCFs, including the revert to original config.

HELP?

Tim

[Mastiff]

I doubht that anybody has. And you have discovered why not... It's a custom format that is not backwards compatible with any LCD remote. My guess is that since hard reset (revert back) did not work, you'll have to let a service workshop fix it, probably by replacing or reprogramming some EPROM.

[Ben S]

Hi Tim,
I think you might be slightly confused. Although NetRemote allows you to use Pronto Pro .ccfs, and it might look similar, nothing from NetRemote can be used back in the Pronto Pro, especially any of the custom .ccfs.

Was it your intention to use the Pronto Pro and NetRemote on a Pocket PC? Unfortunately you will not be able to use the same .ccf.

Is there any way to do a hard reset of the Pronto Pro? I do not have one so am unsure how you can resolve this.

[rudolpht]

I doubht that anybody has. And you have discovered why not... It's a custom format that is not backwards compatible with any LCD remote. My guess is that since hard reset (revert back) did not work, you'll have to let a service workshop fix it, probably by replacing or reprogramming some EPROM.

Well I guess it isn't completely proprietary, since it is the basis for the Netremote format. That aside, still looking for any trips or tips. The CCF to Girder should be able to be the same on the Pronto or under a netremote client (using a tabletPC) for Zoomplayer (as per thread).

[Ben S]

It's not completely proprietary, but it is incompatible with -any- version of the Pronto remotes. If you design your ccf in Tonto as TSU6000 or directly in ProntoEdit you can use the same ccf on NetRemote as well as the pronto, but each version will still need to be completely different "under the hood" as NetRemote uses embedded IR codes to talk to Girder versus the Pronto using IR to talk to some IR receiver on the PC to do something.

[rudolpht]

It was my bad to assume the CCF would be well behaved having been dervied (but WAY different) than the originating non-English ZP CCF. Not loading in ProntoEdit should have been my first warning.

Understand the under the hood part, and due to some RemoteCentral help I'm back in business. Would like to get this to work via a tablet Netremote with IR passthrough, but the config issues are a nightmare. I may have better luck eschewing the girder route on the client (but lleaving on server) and running passthrough on the tablet client? Doable?

[Ben S]

Sounds good to me. You shouldn't ever need Girder on the client, as NetRemote connects directly to a host and port.

You can then have NRIRServ or Girder firing IR from the server while sending the commands from your tablet.