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I just want a button and a video. Why is it so hard?

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Larry Seth!
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I don't know why this can't be easier. If I can get this answered, I'll be set for life. This is all I want to do with my HD410 units:

Have an attract video. Visitor  presses button. Show plays. Show ends and attract screen starts again. Repeat...

What is happening is that the attract screen plays (at the wrong size) then the show video plays (at the wrong size) when the button is pushed. After the video ends, it just loops. It does not go back to the attract screen. There are 12 files on my SD card. Surely they are not all needed.

Can someone just email me the files that I can put on my SD card so I don't have to use that insane authoring software?

Here's the specifics:

Attract video = attract.mpg

Show video = show.mpg

Video size = 1920x1080

Monitor resolution = 1920x1080

I'm pretty sure that I have my GPIO adapter set for button zero.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. My head hurts from banging it on the wall.

Also, does anyone know of an easier to use and lower cost digital player that allows for pushbutton control? This HD410 seems like overkill.

Seth!

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22 comments

  • 0
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    Lance Lander

    I could help you if you were open to using BrightAuthor. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to just put files on a SD card and get that to work.

    BrightAuthor allows you to easily set the GPIO's to either input or output (Presentation Properties).  You can also select the correct output resolution (Presentation Properties) Set the playlist to "interactive". Then you just select the GPIO button you want to use and draw a line from the attract video to the video.  Then you select the Media Event button and drag a line from the video back to the attract video. Then publish.

    What GPIO hardware adapter are you using?

     

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    HI, Lance. Yeah, I can't figure out how to replicate what you did there and save it or export it or whatever. I also can't figure out how to draw the lines. I'm not an idiot; this is just weird software. It looks like it would be simple. I also don't know where you tell it the resolution. 

    I don't recall what GPIO thing I'm using. It's not here in front of me. It's just a little green block with screws. I think it's third party. The BrightSign should just come with one.

    If you can save what you made in that screen shot and could make it a zip file, I could probably just use it!

     

    Thanks for replying.

  • 0
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    Lance Lander

    In Bright Author, under "File" (top left), go down to "Presentation Properties" in the "main" tab you can select "connector type" and "Screen Resolution". Next to the "Main" tab is the I/O tab and this is where you select weather you want the GPIO to be an input or output.  I believe the default is input but you need to check to make sure.

    Make sure you set your presentation to "interactive".  it's on the right side "playlist type".

    Drag your two video files onto the playlist.

    To make a connection between two files; place your mouse at the bottom of the attract video, click and hold, move the mouse to the video icon then release. The line will be generated within the BrightAutor GUI.

    There are a lot of great tutorials on the BrightSign web page.  But for some reason the videos aren't working right now. But you should definitely try to watch some later.  There is one about making an interactive presentation.

    http://www.brightsign.biz/training/tutorials/

     

  • 0
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    Lance Lander

    I'm not sure which version of BrightAuthor you are using but BrightSign no longer supports the HD410.

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Thanks, Lance. I'll give it a shot. I sure hope that the authoring software works because I'm not about to throw away all of my HD410 units. (And why would they stop supporting them? Lame.)

  • 0
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    Lyndon

     

    Brightauthro 3.8.0.41, which is listed under downloads, legacy, will still work with the HD410 and other models in that series. It's the newer brightauthor, starting with 4.1, that doesn't support those older players. 

     

    I've recently started adding some sample projects to the forum, slowly at first.. The example posted wouldn't work with your older brightauthor though. I can create an easy project for you to test with. Yes, all the files published on the sd card are needed when you create a playlist in brightauthor.

    I've attached an example project created in ba 3.8.0.41 with a video 1 acting as the attract, and video 2 acting as the video you play. Button 0 is the trigger. When video 2 finishes, video 1 will play again. 

     

    If yours is already setup this way, then the problem could be with the video. If there's an encoding problem, then it may not report back to the unit properly when it's finished playing. 

     

     

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Thank you. I'm going to try it out in just a bit. More soon....

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Also, do I just need these three files? No .xml file? I get an error trying to open the .bpf with BrightAuthor but I'm going to put all of this on an SD card to see if it'll run.

  • 0
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    Lyndon

    If you can't open the file and publish it, I"m not sure how you're going to see if something runs. If you're using an HD410, your brightauthor version can't be higher than 3.8.0.41. If you can't open the file I sent, it sounds like you're using something newer. 

     

    On this page, http://www.brightsign.biz/downloads/legacy/, you'll find the 3.8.0.41 software along with firmware 3.11.11. As long as you're not using an HDMI to DVI cable, you can use firmware 3.11.11.

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Okay, I made a .bpf file. My SD card has it and the two videos. That's all. I looked at an SD card from a previous show and it also had .xml files. I gather that I don't need to make .xml files for what I'm trying to do; the .bpf file is essentially an .xml file.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lyndon

    The bpf file doesn't go on the sd card. Once you've created a playlist or you've opened a playlist, you then go tot he publish tab, select the sd card, the root of it, and hit publish. Then, all the files are written in their correct place. If you start deleting files from the sd card that you don't think are needed or if you don't actually publish the playlist to the sd card, then nothing's going to work. YOu must publish the playlist you have open to the sd card from he publish tab. 

     

    Did you download and install brightauthor 3.8? If not, what version are you using?

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    i figured that publish would be the thing to do but it has a calendar on it. I don't see anything as simple as 'publish to SD card'. This is version 2.0.0.42

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lyndon

    ok, that's very old software. I would recommend updating firmware on the player to 3.11.11 and newer brightauthor. 

    But, with that said, you should still have a publish tab in the older 2.0 software, and under publish, it should default to the local storage setting, and on the lower left of the screen, you'll see where you can browse to select the "publish to" folder. 

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Hi. Okay, I published it via that totally unintuitive interface. Now, instead of playing the videos incorrectly, they just don't play at all. The purple bar is on the screen or it's just black.

    We are circling back to my original point that this BrightSign is not a good product.

    It seems dumb to have to update the firmware and the authoring software. Didn't the original firmware and software function properly together?

    Again, it would be great if someone could just upload the necessary files for playing a video with an attract screen and a pushbutton on this unit. It's just one simple .xml file, right? I'd edit the code myself but I'm not sure what lines need to be changed.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lyndon

    gpio0script.JPG

    Ok, maybe you are correct. Here's a script I wrote in 2008. It's even used the same file names you are using, attract and video.  It's a plain text file but its extension is brs. It has no other. If the file name is changed or extension changed, then it won't run. You can edit it with notepad, not wordpad.

    • It's currently set to video output of 1280x720x60p which will work over HDMI.
    • Just copy it to your sd card with your two videos. 
    • Plugin your gpio cable
    • Power up and it should paly your attract.mpg video, and play your video.mpg video on button 0 press

    I've attached a picture of what your sd card should look like with the files on it.

     

    You didn't have to update the firmware, but it seemed you were having problems using the software and it seemed better to work with something that wasn't years old. There's been various bug fixes and improvements. Plus if you're encoding videos using software today, then those newer vides may not work perfectly with firmware from 4+ years ago. 

     

    As far as why your current project doesn't work. If you get no output, it's usually for a few reasons:

    1. The firmware didn't actually update on the unit
    2. The resolution you selected for the playlist isn't one that the display actually supports
    3. The videos are out of spec so aren't supported
    4. The sd card is formatted to a file system the unit doesn't support

    But you don't have to worry about about 1 or 2 if you use the script file I sent. You can also download any of the projects on our demos page for the older players and take the videos out of them and test with those videos if your cotnent is the only that fails to work. This would rule out content. 

     

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    Okay, it worked. I used your file and inserted my own videos. Bam. Just like that. Thank you!!!

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    I posted a comment here yesterday and it vanished! I'll try again, this time shorter.

    I want to do a two-button choice now. Downloaded software mentioned above. Buttons are grayed out on the menu. Can't create new .prs file. Failure. Help? Can someone just make me a file? BrightAuthor does not work. Frustrated like you can't even believe.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lyndon

    Usually, the only reason buttons are grayed out is if you picked a model that doesn't support buttons.  In brightauthor, if you choose HD210 for example as the model you're building a project for, you'd get no button options since the HD210 doesn't support those buttons. So, you can open brightuathor, go to file, new presentation, and create a new one this time choose a model that supports buttons. 

     

    You mention a two button choice, what are the two buttons choosing between? Last time you had attract video and show video. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Larry Seth!

    Thanks. I could try that. I encountered a phenomenon on the earlier version where "publish" took me to a calendar and generated this enormous (and useless) file.

    I will have an attract screen that says "push the left button for video 1. push the right button for video 2". They are choosing between two videos, both of which will go back to the attract screen when done.

    Thanks.

    Brightsign13!

  • 0
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    Larry Seth!

    I'm attaching two screen shots. One is of the "schedule" thing that makes no sense since I'm just trying to set up buttons. It will not save the .brs file without all kinds of crap in it.

    I am also attaching a screenshot of the .brs you posted for me. It works like a champ for one video. Can I just copy and paste the part circled in blue, changing the button number to 1 and the file name to video2 ? That would give me to "if" statements, one on top of the other. I'm picturing that, when a person presses button 1, that the player will read the "if" command for button 0 and think "nope" and then move on to the next "if" statement for button 1 and think "aha! do this!".

    Yes?

    I could do  this by trial and error but I have not yet installed my second button on the kiosk.

    Thanks

  • 0
    Avatar
    Larry Seth!

    I don't see any of the attachments for this thread. I can upload them again but does anyone have a suggestion? We are having an event in a few hours and I really need to get the two buttons working. The Brightsign software is useless.

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lyndon

    Try this script:

    https://www.brightsignnetwork.com/download/Scripts/gpio-play2videos/autorun.brs

    It plays video 1 if you press 0, and video 2 if you press 1.

     

    I'm not sure what you're doing with the brightauthor software that's giving problems.  THere are no useless files generated by brightauthor. Everything that's published by the software has to go onto the sd card. If you are picking and choosing what to put on the sd card from the published files, then it's not going to work. 

    If you like we can setup a gotomeeting next week to show you how the software works. I'll post a brief video, no audio that shows how easy it is to create a project using the same funtionality in this script and that you described. 

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