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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight
Is performing a grab not possible then or is it just too slow? I'm having performance issues with my XBMC modifications at the moment.
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight
I did a few commits today that at least makes full 1080p videos like Avatar play back without issue?
Here's a video of my work in action:
http://youtu.be/AP2fJgS-b8g
Installation pictures here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 828&type=3
Source here:
http://github.com/hydra/xbmc
Here's a video of my work in action:
http://youtu.be/AP2fJgS-b8g
Installation pictures here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 828&type=3
Source here:
http://github.com/hydra/xbmc
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I think it is just not possible to grab frame while a video is playing.
I managed to make it works with another PC running XBMC (like you) but not with xbmc and lights on the Rpi.
With raspbmc, when grabbing frames during video playback, it is the frames behind the video (XBMC UI for 1 or 2 frames and the next frames are black)
What I understand is OMXplayer uses overlay to render video, so we don't have access to the framebuffer
I managed to make it works with another PC running XBMC (like you) but not with xbmc and lights on the Rpi.
With raspbmc, when grabbing frames during video playback, it is the frames behind the video (XBMC UI for 1 or 2 frames and the next frames are black)
What I understand is OMXplayer uses overlay to render video, so we don't have access to the framebuffer
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Well, my approach at first was to access the image data during the rendering process via a callback by using RenderManager to give my code the image. However this was problematic as some videos work but other ones that are encoded differently caused my code to crash because there's no checking going on in the XBMC code and some XBMC data structures are not correctly initialised and the image format is not accessable from the YUV12Image structure (iirc).
My second approach has been to hook into the code that takes screenshots and just continually take screenshots (without saving to disk, obviously) and process them. This uses a bit of CPU time and causes the mouse pointer to be less responsive in the menus so I tweaked it and bit and it's usable and working but by no means optimal yet.
After talking to the guy that wrote boblight on IRC last night in the #xbmc channel on FreeNode it seems XBMC has something called CRenderCapture which might be able to be used by my C++ code. I skipped over that when I encountered it because I thought it was something to do with PVRs. heh!
It might be worth you having a look to see if the boblight xbmc python code can successfully get a screenshot capture. Here's the code you need:
https://github.com/bobo1on1/script.xbmc ... default.py
Specifically take a look at the process_boblight(): and maybe hook a debugger in and dump out RGB values to the console rather than allowing it to send the data over the network to a boblightd process.
My second approach has been to hook into the code that takes screenshots and just continually take screenshots (without saving to disk, obviously) and process them. This uses a bit of CPU time and causes the mouse pointer to be less responsive in the menus so I tweaked it and bit and it's usable and working but by no means optimal yet.
After talking to the guy that wrote boblight on IRC last night in the #xbmc channel on FreeNode it seems XBMC has something called CRenderCapture which might be able to be used by my C++ code. I skipped over that when I encountered it because I thought it was something to do with PVRs. heh!
It might be worth you having a look to see if the boblight xbmc python code can successfully get a screenshot capture. Here's the code you need:
https://github.com/bobo1on1/script.xbmc ... default.py
Specifically take a look at the process_boblight(): and maybe hook a debugger in and dump out RGB values to the console rather than allowing it to send the data over the network to a boblightd process.
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I use boblight daemon on the raspberry and XBMC boblight plugin on the client (ubuntu) to display lights in my project, so yes, the boblight plugin can make capture and it works great !
But as I told you, when XBMC runs on the rpi (with the boblight plugin and the daemon), it can't make capture of the video, because the video is decoded by the GPU and it uses another memory space (I guess).
I modified the plugin code to write capture on disk, so when I start a video it results to 1 or 2 frames of the XBMC UI (just before the video is displayed) and black frame for the rest (when the video is displayed).
But as I told you, when XBMC runs on the rpi (with the boblight plugin and the daemon), it can't make capture of the video, because the video is decoded by the GPU and it uses another memory space (I guess).
I modified the plugin code to write capture on disk, so when I start a video it results to 1 or 2 frames of the XBMC UI (just before the video is displayed) and black frame for the rest (when the video is displayed).
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
WOW!!!
That is just awsome. Will it work with 2 Raspberrys, on for watching one for ambient light playback?
That is just awsome. Will it work with 2 Raspberrys, on for watching one for ambient light playback?
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
For the moment, no, because you can't take screenshot on the raspberry while playing video.
You need a PC with XBMC and a raspberry for lights
You need a PC with XBMC and a raspberry for lights
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ciggybumly
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2012 1:19 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Hi
Sorry to ask the question, but im looking at doing a DIY ambilight system, would you say its best to go down the Raspberry Pi route or the Arduino route?
Looking at controlling a 4m strip of LED's that use LPD8806 addressable LED's, the setup would be a HTPC running something like XMBC, and either the Pi or Arduino for the lights.
Cheers
Tim
Sorry to ask the question, but im looking at doing a DIY ambilight system, would you say its best to go down the Raspberry Pi route or the Arduino route?
Looking at controlling a 4m strip of LED's that use LPD8806 addressable LED's, the setup would be a HTPC running something like XMBC, and either the Pi or Arduino for the lights.
Cheers
Tim
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
The Pi has loads more resources than an ardiuno. If you're making a custom device that just does one thing an arduino might be suitable. But from what I read people driving lots of LEDs found the basic arduino's a bit slow. Have a look at existing projects and code and see what you can find out.
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Can u give us a "how-to" page with step by step instructions and a picture about leds connecting into the pi, please?dominicclifton wrote:The Pi has loads more resources than an ardiuno. If you're making a custom device that just does one thing an arduino might be suitable. But from what I read people driving lots of LEDs found the basic arduino's a bit slow. Have a look at existing projects and code and see what you can find out.
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Sure.
Hook up the raspberry pi as per this diagram:
http://learn.adafruit.com/light-paintin ... i/hardware
Ensure you use a common ground when wiring up. I found the LEDs did not work if i powered the RPI and LEDs seperately. I found an old 5V 2A PSU I had lying around and that is fine for my WS2801 104 LEDs.
LED strip or Pixel chains work fine as long as you have either WS2801 or LPD8806 or LPD6803 IC's in you LEDs. Avoid the LPD6803 if you can as it doesn't support as many colours.
Install Python and Git on your raspberry pi (via apt-get).
These are the python libraries i have installed, some may already be installed on your Pi, can't remember which ones were 100% required. Ask the author of PixelPi if you get stuck with python related stuff.
ii idle-python2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 all IDE for Python (v2.7) using Tkinter
ii idle-python3.2 3.2.3-2 all IDE for Python (v3.2) using Tkinter
ii libpython2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Shared Python runtime library (version 2.7)
ii python 2.7.3~rc2-1 all interactive high-level object-oriented language (default version)
ii python-cwiid 0.6.00+svn201-3 armhf library to interface with the wiimote
ii python-dbus 1.1.1-1 armhf simple interprocess messaging system (Python interface)
ii python-dbus-dev 1.1.1-1 all main loop integration development files for python-dbus
ii python-gi 3.2.2-1 armhf Python 2.x bindings for gobject-introspection libraries
ii python-gobject-2 2.28.6-10 armhf deprecated static Python bindings for the GObject library
ii python-imaging 1.1.7-4 armhf Python Imaging Library
ii python-imaging-tk 1.1.7-4 armhf Python Imaging Library - ImageTk Module
ii python-minimal 2.7.3~rc2-1 all minimal subset of the Python language (default version)
ii python-numpy 1:1.6.2-1 armhf Numerical Python adds a fast array facility to the Python language
ii python-pygame 1.9.1release+dfsg-6 armhf SDL bindings for games development in Python
ii python-smbus 3.1.0-2 armhf Python bindings for Linux SMBus access through i2c-dev
ii python-support 1.0.15 all automated rebuilding support for Python modules
ii python-tk 2.7.3-1 armhf Tkinter - Writing Tk applications with Python
ii python2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Interactive high-level object-oriented language (version 2.7)
ii python2.7-dev 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Header files and a static library for Python (v2.7)
ii python2.7-minimal 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Minimal subset of the Python language (version 2.7)
I also have RPi.GPIO-0.4.0a installed (I had to download it and build it from source - you may find the raspbian package works but it stopped working for me after I did an apt-get upgrade on my pi, grr.
Download my code from github (or fork it and download your own fork):
git clone git://github.com/hydra/PixelPi.git
cd PixelPi
git checkout ambipi
If you've not used git before then visit gitready.com or other git sites
run PixelPi in my new AmbiPi mode (only available from my fork currently), set your chip, ip/port and leds as appropriate. sudo is required because of the way the python gpio libraries work.
sudo python pixelpi.py ambipi --chip WS2801 --udp-ip 192.168.1.142 --udp-port 20434 --num_leds 104
You can use the fade, chase, all_on and all_off modes to test your LED and wiring first.
If you use the all_on mode of pixel pi to test you can see if you need more power as the lights might not be bright enough or your Pi might suffer from low voltage due to the load. I also applied power at BOTH ENDS of each chain/strip. otherwise the lights at one end are not as bright as the other end.
Then for the XBMC side of things... Ideally you'll want to be able to download and build XBMC yourself but that is the best way. You'll need visual studio (the free one works) and a git client.
Fork my XBMC repository and checkout the appropriate branch and build it.
You'll need to make sure the dependency dll's are copied to the right place in order to run it.
I'll package up my work-in-progress build and attempt to attach it to this thread in a few minutes.
Once you've got XBMC up and running find the AmbiPi options in the menus - System/Input Devices/Peripherals/AmbiPi.
Enable it and set the IP address of the Pi. the default port should be kept at port 20434.
Ensure your Pi and your PC can talk to each other via UDP on that port. i.e. check your firewalls!
Once you've done that the LED's should light up and you're good to go!
After that you may wish to ensure that PixelPi starts automatically on your Pi when it starts up. That I'll leave as an exercise to the reader but if you create any shell scripts or similar please share them with me and I can include them with the project.
OK?
Hook up the raspberry pi as per this diagram:
http://learn.adafruit.com/light-paintin ... i/hardware
Ensure you use a common ground when wiring up. I found the LEDs did not work if i powered the RPI and LEDs seperately. I found an old 5V 2A PSU I had lying around and that is fine for my WS2801 104 LEDs.
LED strip or Pixel chains work fine as long as you have either WS2801 or LPD8806 or LPD6803 IC's in you LEDs. Avoid the LPD6803 if you can as it doesn't support as many colours.
Install Python and Git on your raspberry pi (via apt-get).
These are the python libraries i have installed, some may already be installed on your Pi, can't remember which ones were 100% required. Ask the author of PixelPi if you get stuck with python related stuff.
ii idle-python2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 all IDE for Python (v2.7) using Tkinter
ii idle-python3.2 3.2.3-2 all IDE for Python (v3.2) using Tkinter
ii libpython2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Shared Python runtime library (version 2.7)
ii python 2.7.3~rc2-1 all interactive high-level object-oriented language (default version)
ii python-cwiid 0.6.00+svn201-3 armhf library to interface with the wiimote
ii python-dbus 1.1.1-1 armhf simple interprocess messaging system (Python interface)
ii python-dbus-dev 1.1.1-1 all main loop integration development files for python-dbus
ii python-gi 3.2.2-1 armhf Python 2.x bindings for gobject-introspection libraries
ii python-gobject-2 2.28.6-10 armhf deprecated static Python bindings for the GObject library
ii python-imaging 1.1.7-4 armhf Python Imaging Library
ii python-imaging-tk 1.1.7-4 armhf Python Imaging Library - ImageTk Module
ii python-minimal 2.7.3~rc2-1 all minimal subset of the Python language (default version)
ii python-numpy 1:1.6.2-1 armhf Numerical Python adds a fast array facility to the Python language
ii python-pygame 1.9.1release+dfsg-6 armhf SDL bindings for games development in Python
ii python-smbus 3.1.0-2 armhf Python bindings for Linux SMBus access through i2c-dev
ii python-support 1.0.15 all automated rebuilding support for Python modules
ii python-tk 2.7.3-1 armhf Tkinter - Writing Tk applications with Python
ii python2.7 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Interactive high-level object-oriented language (version 2.7)
ii python2.7-dev 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Header files and a static library for Python (v2.7)
ii python2.7-minimal 2.7.3~rc2-2.1 armhf Minimal subset of the Python language (version 2.7)
I also have RPi.GPIO-0.4.0a installed (I had to download it and build it from source - you may find the raspbian package works but it stopped working for me after I did an apt-get upgrade on my pi, grr.
Download my code from github (or fork it and download your own fork):
git clone git://github.com/hydra/PixelPi.git
cd PixelPi
git checkout ambipi
If you've not used git before then visit gitready.com or other git sites
run PixelPi in my new AmbiPi mode (only available from my fork currently), set your chip, ip/port and leds as appropriate. sudo is required because of the way the python gpio libraries work.
sudo python pixelpi.py ambipi --chip WS2801 --udp-ip 192.168.1.142 --udp-port 20434 --num_leds 104
You can use the fade, chase, all_on and all_off modes to test your LED and wiring first.
If you use the all_on mode of pixel pi to test you can see if you need more power as the lights might not be bright enough or your Pi might suffer from low voltage due to the load. I also applied power at BOTH ENDS of each chain/strip. otherwise the lights at one end are not as bright as the other end.
Then for the XBMC side of things... Ideally you'll want to be able to download and build XBMC yourself but that is the best way. You'll need visual studio (the free one works) and a git client.
Fork my XBMC repository and checkout the appropriate branch and build it.
You'll need to make sure the dependency dll's are copied to the right place in order to run it.
I'll package up my work-in-progress build and attempt to attach it to this thread in a few minutes.
Once you've got XBMC up and running find the AmbiPi options in the menus - System/Input Devices/Peripherals/AmbiPi.
Enable it and set the IP address of the Pi. the default port should be kept at port 20434.
Ensure your Pi and your PC can talk to each other via UDP on that port. i.e. check your firewalls!
Once you've done that the LED's should light up and you're good to go!
After that you may wish to ensure that PixelPi starts automatically on your Pi when it starts up. That I'll leave as an exercise to the reader but if you create any shell scripts or similar please share them with me and I can include them with the project.
OK?
Last edited by dominicclifton on Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Download an XBMC build from here:
http://hydraservices.com/files/ambipi
Ensure you backup your existing XBMC profile before you use it.
If you encounter problems use a fresh XBMC profile.
profiles (on windows 7) are stored in: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC
Note that this is an unstable build of XBMC (but it has been fine for me since I built it). Post on the XBMC mailing list or #xbmc irc channel on freenode for non-ambipi related issues.
If you want to build it yourself then please consult the xbmc site:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Ho ... or_Windows
Enjoy!
http://hydraservices.com/files/ambipi
Ensure you backup your existing XBMC profile before you use it.
If you encounter problems use a fresh XBMC profile.
profiles (on windows 7) are stored in: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC
Note that this is an unstable build of XBMC (but it has been fine for me since I built it). Post on the XBMC mailing list or #xbmc irc channel on freenode for non-ambipi related issues.
If you want to build it yourself then please consult the xbmc site:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Ho ... or_Windows
Enjoy!
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Thank you so much for this very detailed How-to!
I will give it a try when my led arrives in the middle id the next week, maybe at the weekend.
Ive ordered this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150889364507
I believe this is the exact same as yours so it should be working. Right?
Thanks again! Have a nice weekend! (And try to get it work w/o pc on the pie alone itself
if u have more free time )
I will give it a try when my led arrives in the middle id the next week, maybe at the weekend.
Ive ordered this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150889364507
I believe this is the exact same as yours so it should be working. Right?
Thanks again! Have a nice weekend! (And try to get it work w/o pc on the pie alone itself
if u have more free time )Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I got the 512MB RAM Version, is that enough resource? I guess it is not but I do have a little hope...The Pi has loads more resources than an ardiuno. If you're making a custom device that just does one thing an arduino might be suitable. But from what I read people driving lots of LEDs found the basic arduino's a bit slow. Have a look at existing projects and code and see what you can find out.
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I was referring to CPU resources.I got the 512MB RAM Version, is that enough resource?
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
thanks dominicclifton for the step-by-step guide
Where is PixelPi with udp support?
I tried your steps, and get an error:
pixelpi.py ambipi: error: argument --tcp-ip is required
seems like i have an old version of pixelpi.py? Where can I find a newer one?
Bye
Georg
Where is PixelPi with udp support?
I tried your steps, and get an error:
pixelpi.py ambipi: error: argument --tcp-ip is required
seems like i have an old version of pixelpi.py? Where can I find a newer one?
Bye
Georg
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I'll ensure the latest code is in github ASAP. Sorry about that.
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Ive just finished my adjustable frame for my monitor and my tvdominicclifton wrote:Latest AmbiPi code for PixelPi is now there:
https://github.com/hydra/PixelPi/commits/ambipi
Next week ambipi time
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dominicclifton
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:40 pm
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Awesome, make sure you guys upload photos of your hardware and pop a video on youtube too!Ive just finished my adjustable frame for my monitor and my tv
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
Yea, I want do see that too!!!
Nice Project!
Nice Project!
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
We have holidays in hungary yesterday and today, so i should get my new pi tomorrow, and my led arrives to my friend to the usa today and i hope that she will send id to me today or tomorrow and in that case i will get it friday or next monday, it depens on her free time 
After everything is working i will post pics and vids of my frame and leds
After everything is working i will post pics and vids of my frame and leds
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
I dont have many experience in programming. But with the release of gpu source code maybe RPi can process the images now for Boblight???
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
That would be great. I am planing to build also a ambient light! Searching now for low cost components. Any suggestion's?But with the release of gpu source code maybe RPi can process the images now for Boblight???
Re: RaspiLight (ambient light)
i have this:Hofie wrote:That would be great. I am planing to build also a ambient light! Searching now for low cost components. Any suggestion's?But with the release of gpu source code maybe RPi can process the images now for Boblight???
raspberry pi + http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pc-12mm-Diffu ... 889364507?
or you can buy a kit:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/461