Some userfreindlyness issues..

Christie Pandoras Box Version 5

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Some userfreindlyness issues..

Postby Ebbe » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:34 pm

Right now im not impressed over pandoras in some points, mainly concerning not so easy to use.

* Wavs must not be signaled broken if OK. Gives a lack of attention so we in end will miss those where its important.
* Why on earth must thGUI be in same resolution as output. We use a 800*600 projector and there is no reason at all to get a bigger one. But running GUI in 800-600 is a pain in the ass.
* Why does output on second card blank out my GUI-preview. I dont sit so i easy can see output so it would be nice to see it on GUI preview even if its out live on proj.
PB Player STD, Magicq PC Wing, Win 7, Console mode fullscreen on external screen.
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Re: Some userfreindlyness issues..

Postby Dennis Kuypers » Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:44 am

Wavs must not be signaled broken if OK. Gives a lack of attention so we in end will miss those where its important.
Your wave files are flagged as "inconsistent". Inconsistent means that one system in your current setup is not ableto handle this file correctly. This does not imply that Pandoras Box can not playback the file. It can have various reasons. In your case I guess that you don't have a DirectSound compatible soundcard and Pandoras Box is not able to calculate the track length. We have fixed this problem in version 5.3 which can be downloaded for testing purposes (Revision 7612).
To solve the problem with your current revision: ReImport the wave files while having a sound card attached. If you only have a ASIO sound card, you can probably set it to non-asio mode as long as you are adding wave files to the project.

Why on earth must thGUI be in same resolution as output. We use a 800*600 projector and there is no reason at all to get a bigger one. But running GUI in 800-600 is a pain in the ass.
The thing about having the same resolution on both outputs is due to technical limitations and to maintain synchronicity between both outputs. On a player with one output however you are able to use two different resolutions. Just follow these steps:

1) Start Pandoras Box, load your project (keep your current resolution)
2) Go to the Configurations tab and make sure that "Full Screen opens on secondary Screen" is NOT checked
3) Put Pandoras Box into full screen. If the full screen opens on your local monitor switch the Monitor&Projector plugs at your graphics card
4) Set your desired resolutions for both displays
5) Open Pandoras Box and move the GUI (Pandoras Box Interface) to the second output
6) Go into full screen and enjoy your
Note: We do not recommend this, but as long as the full screen output is on the primary screen you should be fine.
Dennis Kuypers
(former Product Developer, Software)
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Re: Some userfreindlyness issues..

Postby Markus Zeppenfeld » Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:08 am

Hi Ebbe,

just to make it a little more clear, what Dennis told about setting the resolutions:

As the application is starting, DirectX is always initializing the render engine with the resolution of the first output of the graphic card. This is not the setting "primary" or "secondary" screen within the windows desktop setting, but the real first output. If you make sure to run the fullscreen on your first output, you can assign every other resolution for the second GUI screen. Obviously, this is not possible for notebook applications, but is a limitation of DirectX.

One other restriction of DirectX is, that you can only have one render engine running at the same time. Therefore and unfortunately, you cannot have a local preview at the same time as a fullscreen render output.
If you definitely need a preview while running a fullscreen, you have to use two licenses of Pandoras Box. Either a Manager controlling a (Player-)Client or another Player in Master Mode, controlling the outputting one as a client.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is unfortunately nothing, we can change within our source-code.
Markus
Markus Zeppenfeld
Senior Product Manager, Pandoras Box

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" (from "The IT Crowd" / channel 4)
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Re: Some userfreindlyness issues..

Postby Stouenborg » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:35 pm

Hi Markus

How can I know what output on my graphic card that is the first one if nothing is printed on it?

So do I get this right...
If i plug my projector (lets say in Full HD) in the first output on my graphic card and my local monitor (lets say 1280x1024) in the second output. I should be able to run both in the right resolution. Can i still get my Windows start button and my PB Menu buttons at the local monitor by changing Windows primary screen to the graphic cards secondary output? Should i then check "output on secondary screen" in PB or not?

Best Regards,

Kasper Stouenborg
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Re: Some userfreindlyness issues..

Postby Markus Zeppenfeld » Tue Nov 06, 2012 12:54 pm

Hi!

This is right, yes.
Basically you should be able to move the menu as well as the task bar over to the local monitor by switching the windows settings. Depending on your OS and the graphic cards driver sometimes it is a little bit weird in which way it changes or not. However, you can always move the taskbar over to the second monitor by picking it with the mouse and dragging it over.

Markus
Markus Zeppenfeld
Senior Product Manager, Pandoras Box

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" (from "The IT Crowd" / channel 4)
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