Pi Presents: A display package for museums & visitor centres

[Benonymous]

Hi Ken.
I've looked everywhere but I cant find the gpio.cfg file that comes with the tarball download. I have written my own which goes:

[P1-11]
name = play
direction = in
threshold = 2
front edge = true

Should the gpio.cfg file be in the pp_exhibit folder or in the pp_home folder?

edit: I think I need to set the trigger to PIR don't I.....

Ken! I've cracked it! It's starting the exhibit profile off the button on gpio pin 11 now
Happy, happy, happy!

[KenT]

>>>I've looked everywhere but I cant find the gpio.cfg file that comes with the tarball download.

My mistake I was thinking of a later version of Pi Presents there isn't one in [pipresents]

>>>>>>edit: I think I need to set the trigger to PIR don't I.....

If that is what it says in the manual. Its different for [presents-next] and is going to change again in the version I am currently developing . The input system is becoming a lot more reconfigurable in the latest version.

[Benonymous]

Thanks for all the help so far Ken

I have a mixture of jpeg, mp3 and video in my medialist. The video displays nicely, right to the edges of the screen but when the mp3 plays, the tool bars at the bottom and top are visible (the file bar in the presentation window and the desktop toolbar at the bottom) and when the jpeg is displaying they are there as well. Is there a command to suppress these while the presentation is playing?

I am using the command line you suggested for starting the presentation, " sudo python /home/pi/pipresents/pipresents.py --home /home/pi --noblank --fullscreen bottom --profile pp_exhibit --gpio "

Cheers.

Ben.

[KenT]

Thanks for all the help so far Ken

I have a mixture of jpeg, mp3 and video in my medialist. The video displays nicely, right to the edges of the screen but when the mp3 plays, the tool bars at the bottom and top are visible (the file bar in the presentation window and the desktop toolbar at the bottom) and when the jpeg is displaying they are there as well. Is there a command to suppress these while the presentation is playing?

I am using the command line you suggested for starting the presentation, " sudo python /home/pi/pipresents/pipresents.py --home /home/pi --noblank --fullscreen bottom --profile pp_exhibit --gpio "

Cheers.

Ben.

-- fullscreen is not taking effect, did you install xserver utils:

sudo apt-get install x11-xserver-utils

if you did, try installing again and then reboot the Pi. May be different on any OS ther than Raspbian

EDIT*****
Gave you the wrong advice x-server utils is for sceen blanking

check your edits to the /home/pi/.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml file. one user reported that fullscreen did not work unless the xml was correctly indented

Fortunately in [pipresents next] there is a different way to do fullscreen which does not require editing the file.

[Benonymous]

Just a quick one Ken. I may have missed something in my setup but I have noticed that if the trigger is pressed after the presentation has started in pp_exhibit, the software will launch multiple versions of the presentation under the one that kicked off first. I have my mediashow set to oneshot, the duration set to 45 seconds (which is longer than the actual presentation) After pipresents has run the multiple versions of the presentation, it locks up and won't allow itself to be triggered again. I have changed the trigger device to button, which works well BTW.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Ben.

[KenT]

Just a quick one Ken. I may have missed something in my setup but I have noticed that if the trigger is pressed after the presentation has started in pp_exhibit, the software will launch multiple versions of the presentation under the one that kicked off first. I have my mediashow set to oneshot, the duration set to 45 seconds (which is longer than the actual presentation) After pipresents has run the multiple versions of the presentation, it locks up and won't allow itself to be triggered again. I have changed the trigger device to button, which works well BTW.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Ben.

Before I look at this are you using [pipresents] or [pipresents-next]

are you using a PIR or a button

Is the PIR a normally closed contact with a relay

'I have changed the trigger device to button' I assume this means the entry in the profile not the actual physical device.

if -next please post the gpio.cfg entry for the relevant pin.

Is this an urgent showstopper,I am trying to release the next issue of [pipresents-next]

Did you sort out the fullscreen problem, if so how?

[Benonymous]

I'm using a physical button with normally open contacts to trigger the mediashow.

My gpio.cfg file is :

[P1-11]
name = play
direction = in
threshold = 2
front edge = true

If there isn't a method in the current version to address this I can do a workaround by putting a one=shot timer in circuit with the switch so that the switch is effectively deactivated while the presentation is running.

CHeers Ken

[chuco61]

Hi I could really use some help from the board when i run python /home/pi/pipresents/pipresents.py from my accessories -> root terminal i get the messgae "the command line options specefied a profile that does not exist"

Ive read through the forums by running different command line profiles to pp_mediashow and still cannot get the application to run.

Everything is installed in the home/pi root Ive also copied the pp_home to the root home/pi any suggestions?

[lannyca]

Ken,

Wonderful package. I plan to use it displaying on a TV to communicate events, activities and news at our local library. Using the LiveShow option, I can set it up black box, full screen and just change out USB drives to update the presentation. That works fine.

What you uniquely provide is the ability to combine images, videos and audio in a combined show.

However, I am having a bit of trouble setting up the still images (png created in PowerPoint). I have them set at 1920 x 1080, but when displayed on a TV using HDMI, the still images have a black bar between the edge of the images and the images are cropped with the actual edges not showing. But when a video shows (mp4) in a combined LiveShow with both images and videos, the video images are full screen with no black bars and no cropping.

If this was the result of overscan not being set correctly for the Pi, wouldn't the problem exhibit itself for both video images and still images? Should I resize the images to a different size?

[KenT]

Hi I could really use some help from the board when i run python /home/pi/pipresents/pipresents.py from my accessories -> root terminal i get the messgae "the command line options specefied a profile that does not exist"

Ive read through the forums by running different command line profiles to pp_mediashow and still cannot get the application to run.

Everything is installed in the home/pi root Ive also copied the pp_home to the root home/pi any suggestions?

Hi

You should not be copying pp_home from within /pipresents

Two possibiliies:

1.It looks like you have not downloaded the examples. Go back to Github and use the [pipresents-examples] repository. Instructions are in the readme.md

2. When running pipresents.py using sudo or from anywhere other than the pipresents directory it is best to include the full path of pp_home e.g

Code: Select all

python /home/pi/pipresents.py -o /home/pi/pp_home -p pp_mediashow

Hope this works
Ken

[KenT]

Ken,

Wonderful package. I plan to use it displaying on a TV to communicate events, activities and news at our local library. Using the LiveShow option, I can set it up black box, full screen and just change out USB drives to update the presentation. That works fine.

What you uniquely provide is the ability to combine images, videos and audio in a combined show.

However, I am having a bit of trouble setting up the still images (png created in PowerPoint). I have them set at 1920 x 1080, but when displayed on a TV using HDMI, the still images have a black bar between the edge of the images and the images are cropped with the actual edges not showing. But when a video shows (mp4) in a combined LiveShow with both images and videos, the video images are full screen with no black bars and no cropping.

If this was the result of overscan not being set correctly for the Pi, wouldn't the problem exhibit itself for both video images and still images? Should I resize the images to a different size?

Don't really know but I suspect the problem is overscan. Images uses x windows whereas videos write to the screen without using x windows (uses Openmax on GPU?) so they could be different. When I first got my Pi overscan was set wrong and it resulted in some menu on the LXDE desktop reporting the wrong screen size. Does the LXDE desktop have the black bars that would indicate overscan problems.

Tell us if you find the answer. Also, do you remove the USB stick live. I would be interested to know if you have any problems with Pi Presents crashing when you do that?

If you look out for the next issue of pipresents-next it will have the ability to put images and videos in viewports with text overlays around the edge. It could make your liveshow look much nicer. The next issue is in the 99% complete stage at the moment, if you have done any software development you will know what that means.

[lannyca]

Ken,

Thanks. It was an overscan issue. Now everything looks great.

And I will do some testing with the USB stick. I wonder if it would be different if the profile is on the stick and when it is not.

Ahhh, the agony of 99%. No sense in asking when then. When it is done, it will be done.

Lanny

[laurilubi]

Hello,

I hope this is a right place for asking questions. I have googled without success on this question.
I am using current stable version of PiPresents.
I have trouble with fullscreen mode for images and messages.
I have tried command-line switch -f top, but it maximizes the window (title bar and other open applications are still visible). I would like to use fullscreen mode as it works for video - nothing else is displayed on the screen.
Is there a way for it?

Thanks.
Lauri Lubi

[KenT]

Hello,

I hope this is a right place for asking questions. I have googled without success on this question.
I am using current stable version of PiPresents.
I have trouble with fullscreen mode for images and messages.
I have tried command-line switch -f top, but it maximizes the window (title bar and other open applications are still visible). I would like to use fullscreen mode as it works for video - nothing else is displayed on the screen.
Is there a way for it?

Thanks.
Lauri Lubi

Hi

I assume you have moved the taskbar to the top of the screen as you are using top rather than bottom

Ensure you have carried out all the other operations on the taskbar as specified in the manual Section 5.6

Check your edits to the /home/pi/.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml file. one user reported that fullscreen did not work unless the xml was correctly indented.

Please tell me how you fixed the problem

Fortunately in [pipresents next] there is a different way to do fullscreen which does not require editing the file.

[laurilubi]

Thank you!
I downloaded [pipresents next] and fullscreen switch worked well.

Ps. I wrote a script for creating simple playlists (media.json files) from a folder - supports images and videos. I was wondering if there maybe already was a function/module for it.

[lannyca]

Yes, check out the Liveshow option. It allows for PiPresents to play the videos, audio files and images contained in one or two directories.

However, I would be interested in seeing the script that you created as I try to better understand how to work with the Pi, PiPresents and Linux.

Lanny (just a happy user)

[KenT]

Thank you!
I downloaded [pipresents next] and fullscreen switch worked well.

Ps. I wrote a script for creating simple playlists (media.json files) from a folder - supports images and videos. I was wondering if there maybe already was a function/module for it.

Hi
Glad it works OK. [pipresents-next] is going to get a major upgrade, hopefully tomorrow, so don't do too much.

The Track>Add from Dir menu option in pp_editor.py adds to medialists from a directory. Includes audio files.

[KenT]

Ken,

Thanks. It was an overscan issue. Now everything looks great.

And I will do some testing with the USB stick. I wonder if it would be different if the profile is on the stick and when it is not.

Ahhh, the agony of 99%. No sense in asking when then. When it is done, it will be done.

Lanny

Having the profile on the USB stick would make things worse in general because files are read when a show is started. However with your particular application I think once started Liveshow doesn't read anything but the media directories. if there is a problem I need to improve the (non-existent) exception handling

[chuco61]

Ken,

I was finally able to create a new profile and run the program however my videos are coming up blank and the screen flashes the same number of times as I have video files. Any suggestions? The videos are avi and in a new directory called mydir in the pp_home folder.

[KenT]

Ken,

I was finally able to create a new profile and run the program however my videos are coming up blank and the screen flashes the same number of times as I have video files. Any suggestions? The videos are avi and in a new directory called mydir in the pp_home folder.

Sounds like omxplayer is trying to play the video but failing. Possibly the files are not one of the formats supported by RPi and you need to buy a codec from the Foundation or convert the files to mp4.

To confirm this run omxplayer from a terminal window open in the directory that contains the video

omxplayer myfile.avi is the command IIRC

https://github.com/popcornmix/omxplayer

Does the profile validate OK when checked by the profile>validate menu option of the pp_editor
Is the location field +/mydir/videofile.avi
Turn on debugging with the -d option, there should be a line saying ,send command to omxplayer......', check this looks OK

[KenT]

I have just released a major upgrade to the beta test of the next version of Pi Presents

If you are comfortable with bleeding edge software head over to here and read all about it

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... 33#p407533

Please make any comments about it over there, not here.

[chuco61]

Ken,

I was finally able to create a new profile and run the program however my videos are coming up blank and the screen flashes the same number of times as I have video files. Any suggestions? The videos are avi and in a new directory called mydir in the pp_home folder.

Sounds like omxplayer is trying to play the video but failing. Possibly the files are not one of the formats supported by RPi and you need to buy a codec from the Foundation or convert the files to mp4.

To confirm this run omxplayer from a terminal window open in the directory that contains the video

omxplayer myfile.avi is the command IIRC

https://github.com/popcornmix/omxplayer

Does the profile validate OK when checked by the profile>validate menu option of the pp_editor
Is the location field +/mydir/videofile.avi
Turn on debugging with the -d option, there should be a line saying ,send command to omxplayer......', check this looks OK

I read on the forum that the omxplayer has issues if the video is not converted properly to mp4. I will try this tonight.

Do you recommend any video conversion software? Are there any special parameters that i need to adhere to?

Thanks for the help

[KenT]

I read on the forum that the omxplayer has issues if the video is not converted properly to mp4. I will try this tonight.

Do you recommend any video conversion software? Are there any special parameters that i need to adhere to?

Thanks for the help

Don't know much about video conversion. I used Handbrake on a PC for a couple of test videos, just used the default options I think.

[KenT]

Hi Ken,

To your questions: for me it wouldn't be necessary to have a frame-precise sync, something in between a frame and a second would work for me.
And we use PiPresents with video and audio, but for the synchronized displays, only one display would use sound.

And thanks for the link, I'll try the mplayer and the omxplayer-sync - but I worry that I'll lose your perfect solution of a black box use, which is a big requirement.

Well, thanks for your help - and I'll keep myself updated to all the things you'll improve, try out, and add... You're helping a lot of people with your work!

Best,
Manuel

Hi Manuel

SYNCHRONISING MULTIPLE PI PRESENTS
I have just finished a major upgrade which is in [pipresents-next] on github. It has two things which together might make it possible to sync together Pi Presents.

a. Animation Control - you can change the state of a GPIO line coincident with the start of a track or just after (or before with a bit of thought)

b. There is now a Radiobuttonshow which can trigger a track when a gpio line changes

Just connect a length of wire between the two and voila a quick and dirty synchronisation. Adjust time delays to suit and I reckon you could achieve sub one second sync.

One of my next extensions will be sending commands between many pipresents's or to pipresents from other controllers. I have been looking and Midi Show Control and Open Sound Control as possibilities but I have no experience in syncing art installations, I just wondered if you or anybody else listening know what protocol if any is popular.

[KenT]

I need to change volume through gpio is there a chance to get tips how to implement that

In the beta of version 1.2 you can set the initial volume of a track but otherwise no way to do it at the moment without additional coding. What exactly do you want to do? I am thinking of some extensions to Pi Presents at the moment and doing this could fit in with current plans.

Ken

In version 1.2.2. now in [pipresents-next] github you can us a run-time control to control the volume of omxplayer and mplayer while the track is runnning.