Marquee Feature Using VLC 1.1.0 with Win XP 32bit

[Hawaii Guy]

Hi gang:

I posted something before and it ended up to be a bug that I believe has been fixed, but I still have the same quandry.

VLC is showing a movie on several TV screens throughout the store. Just trying to be a bit fancy, we'd like to show which customer is up next to be served. You know, like pulling a ticket with a number, we can show on the TV "Now serving 57", "Now serving 58", etc. while the movie is still playing.

I found how I can initiate VLC remotely using VLC -I rc, then setting up a marquee with VLC -I rc --marq-marquee="Now servicing 58", but I don't know how to send the change ("Now servicing 59") once I start up VLC via remote. We'd use VLC on a PC using a video graphics card capable of multiple windows (like we do now); then move VLC from the main window to another window which is connected to our S-Video and audio out to a signal booster that then feeds the TVs. Hopefully we can then run VLC commands to change the marquee message from the main Windows window.

I do see people using --sub-filter 'marq{marquee= type entries in other comments and replies but I don't understand what the sub-filter option does. Does anyone have the time to give me the lowdown on how I can get this accomplished? if anyone can give me the start to finish simplistic way of doing this, I'd really appreciate it. Am willing to make a donation to VLC or your favorite charity!

[VLC_help]

You can change the marquee text via the RC interface. So type something like

Code: Select all

@name marq-marquee text

there.

[Hawaii Guy]

That's great, but you're assuming I understand where @name is coming from...I was told for Windows users you need to follow --marq-marquee="text" format. Is this not correct?

Do I use your format after I initiate VLC by entering: VLC -I rc

Sorry, I keep getting cryptic responses. I would really appreciate you/someone to give me
1. the initial entry to launch VLC
2. the exact entries to send marquee text to that launched VLC

I say that because you can have multiple VLC sessions running concurrently. I don't plan to do that, but I don't know if that changes anything. Thanks in advance!

[VLC_help]

Start should be something like

Code: Select all

vlc.exe -I rc --sub-filter=marq@something{marquee=$t ($P%%),color=16776960}:marq@something2{marquee=%H:%m%s,position=6} somevideo.avi

then you can change the first text with command

Code: Select all

@something marq-marquee new_text

and the second with

Code: Select all

@something2 marq-marquee new_text2

[Hawaii Guy]

I entered the following from a Windows DOS prompt
C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC>vlc -I rc --sub-filter=marq@movie(marquee=%H;%m%s,position=6) d:\movies
d:\movies is a directory where the video clips are stored
@movie was used to replace your @something

It opened VLC and started playing the first clip, but there was no indication of %H;%m,%s onscreen which I am sure is hours, minutes and seconds. (It was just the player, I had no control. The only thing I could do was 'X' the program but it just closed the screen window. And I noticed that there were several instances of VLC32 showing in Task Manager. I had to kill those programs.)

I entered in the same DOS prompt window (since it didn't open up any other command window)
vlc @movie marq-marquee newtext

It opened a new instance of VLC and an error dialog box which read:
File reading failed:
VLC could not open the file "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\@movie".
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///C:/Program%20Files%20%28x86%29/VideoLAN/VLC%2F%40movie'. Check the log for details.
File reading failed:
VLC could not open the file "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\marq-marquee".
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///C:/Program%20Files%20%28x86%29/VideoLAN/VLC%2Fmarq-marquee'. Check the log for details.
File reading failed:
VLC could not open the file "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\newtext".
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'file:///C:/Program%20Files%20%28x86%29/VideoLAN/VLC%2Fnewtext'. Check the log for details.

[VLC_help]

Those commands are entered to different window. So it should look something like
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3167/vlcmarquee.jpg
with VLC 1.1.0 following might work better

Code: Select all

vlc.exe -I oldrc --sub-filter=marq@something{marquee=aaaa}:marq@something2{marquee=bbbb,position=6} movie.avi

[Hawaii Guy]

Thank you for the information and follow up. As you can see, it is not easy to keep up with things. I haven't seen a -I oldrc command mentioned anywhere that I have looked. Plus it's a little different when initially starting up the program and then sending commands in the DOS-looking command window. But I kind of get the gist now. Can I ask these different questions ...

1. Is there a shortcut to entering the new marquee text in the DOS window
* currently I have to type @text marq-marquee This is the new text
* I want to know if you can shorten the marq-marquee part
* I'm guessing the @text is just giving the VLC session some type of name

2. I am using a multi-display ATI video card. The TV output is composite. It is numbered 4 according to the Output module using DirectX (Win XP32), so I selected \\.\DISPLAY4. When I turn on the option to open in full screen mode, it starts up, looks like it's opening a full screen but then it disappears and I see the Windows desktop (display 4). In display 2 (main LCD monitor), I see the VLC control panel. If I go to the Video drop down and uncheck Fullscreen, I see the video playing on display 4 in a smaller window. The only way I can get it to full screen is for me to doubleclick within the playing video.

There is no problem of manually doing #2, but the situation is, If the PC should reboot for whatever reason, it will start up VLC not in full screen. Being DirectX, is there something (else) I should be doing to force start up in full screen mode? (Even if I start up VLC using --fullscreen, it does that funky ghostly look like a window is opening but vanishes to the desktop.)

Just an awesome product - does so much!

[VLC_help]

@text refers to the name you give. So if you would use --sub-filter=marq@a{marquee=aaaa} you could use

Code: Select all

@a marq-marquee new_text

AFAIK there isn't any shortcut for this, but you naturally create one with netcat or similar tool.

Does it help if you separate controls from video window?
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-1.1 ... _window.3F

[Hawaii Guy]

Regarding:
AFAIK there isn't any shortcut for this, but you naturally create one with netcat or similar tool.

Does it help if you separate controls from video window?
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-1.1 ... _window.3F

No, separating the controls did nothing. I toggled that and full screen combinations (each time closing VLC and opening it back up). It would still look like it is opening up a full screen window then just show the desktop.

Also, it seems to be erroring out lately. The command window is still open but the video is gone. I would attach a screenshot of the command window but it seems you cannot attach attachments here. I'd prefer not having to retype all the text...

[Hawaii Guy]

Can I get a reply to this please...thank you.

No, separating the controls did nothing. I toggled that and full screen combinations (each time closing VLC and opening it back up). It would still look like it is opening up a full screen window then just show the desktop.

Also, it seems to be erroring out lately. The command window is still open but the video is gone. I would attach a screenshot of the command window but it seems you cannot attach attachments here. I'd prefer not having to retype all the text...

[VLC_help]

You can share images via Imageshack or similar service. And yes, the command-window will be there after video ends. If you want to close VLC after playback, add vlc://quit to playlist.

[Hawaii Guy]

I understand that there are lots of inquiries about the program, which I think is great. But you seem to use quick answers based on a quick read. Would you mind taking a step back and seeing if you understand the question before answering, as it really doesn't resolve the issue and actually makes it harder to explain.

You wanted me to separate the controls because I am having a problem getting the video to open up in full screen mode when using multiple monitors. When I separated the controls, it did nothing. I toggled Full Screen mode and it did the same thing as before - it started the program, created the Command Window, put the Control panel on the main LCD monitor (which is labeled 2), and then seemed to open up the video in full screen mode by giving you the ghostly image of a window being opened, but after that happens, there is no video showing anywhere. I do see that on the task bar there is a YUV and a VLC tab. So I cannot get it to start up in full screen mode using Display 4.

I am also seeing errors in the Command window, but there is so much text that I would hate to type it all in. I cannot cut/paste that text, and I tried having VLC create a log but I get no readable text. I understand that the Command window stays 'open' after the last movie plays, but what I was trying to explain is that the movies will "stop" playing and all I have is a blank Display 4 and messages in the Command window. Is there some way I can cut/paste or capture the text so I can submit it? As I mentioned as well, I cannot attach a jpg screen shot.

Thank you in advance for your assist.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I understand that there are lots of inquiries about the program, which I think is great. But you seem to use quick answers based on a quick read. Would you mind taking a step back and seeing if you understand the question before answering, as it really doesn't resolve the issue and actually makes it harder to explain.

What about starting to write short and summarized questions?
Do you see the number of requests in this forum?

[Hawaii Guy]

Tried doing that but the replies got further away from a resolve. You can get defensive but that doesn't solve the issue.

Does this now mean you won't assist me?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

No, that means: 'If you want VLC_help to answer correctly, make shorter questions', refering to

'Would you mind taking a step back and seeing if you understand the question before answering, as it really doesn't resolve the issue and actually makes it harder to explain.'

If your question cannot be understood fast and easy, then don't expect people to understand.

[Hawaii Guy]

Have you read some of the answers to replies? They are totally off tangent to what was asked. Sometimes it is not easy explaining what the problem is. A simple question usually gets a misdirected answer. Have you really read throgh the forum? This happens time and time again.

All I want is for someone to be able to answer the "actual" questions I have to get your product working properly.

[Hawaii Guy]

Why are you making this so much harder and also removing my replies so people see only what you are commenting on? I just want my answers to your great product.

Thank you.

[Hawaii Guy]

I'm sorry you don't understand.

Please just let the support people tend to my questions and problems. That would be appreciated.

[Hawaii Guy]

It's so sad that you have one guy who has no tact and obviously is not customer service oriented.

I will make do with the assist that I have received up to this point. Many of our customers have asked how we do what we do with our video presentation. At one point in time, we were glad to tell them about VLC, but unfortunately, we have had to change our tune because we do not want our customers to encounter bad treatment.

Good luck with your product. It still is great but we just cannot will not continue to say good words about it.