Milkdrop won't work. Why?

[StratMangler]

There are about a dozen different visualizations in XBMC. Few work while others don't. The only one I actually care about doesn't (Milkdrop).

Here's a list of the one that work :

goom_win32
waveform_win32
opengl_spectrum_win32
projectm_win32

Running latest build on XP SP3 but also tried with Atlantis and it doesn't work. I just get an empty black screen where the graphics should be. Using different skins doesn't change anything.

Any ideas or suggestions?

[althekiller]

Milkdrop is a DirectX based viz from xbox it won't work on the other platforms since they use OpenGL. ProjectM is the OpenGL "port" of Milkdrop and should look very similar. The list you noted are the only ones that work for now. I would find a different source for builds if whoever is making your current ones is packing xbox vizes.

[Nazgulled]

The "problem" is that projectm is very unstable at the moment. At least on my end, it keeps crashing XBMC whenever I try to use it :(

[StratMangler]

Milkdrop is a DirectX based viz from xbox it won't work on the other platforms since they use OpenGL. ProjectM is the OpenGL "port" of Milkdrop and should look very similar. The list you noted are the only ones that work for now. I would find a different source for builds if whoever is making your current ones is packing xbox vizes.
??? That doesn't make sense. So you're saying that DirectX-based vizes only work on an actual Xbox & not in Windows?

[althekiller]

Yes that is exactly what I said. Xbox is the only platform that uses DirectX, all others are OpenGL.

@nazgulled, I haven't seen any problems with projectm other than some presets spamming the log.

[Nazgulled]

@nazgulled, I haven't seen any problems with projectm other than some presets spamming the log.
Whenever I select it, the background goes black... If I try to change the preset, it crashes XBMC.

I do remember that it was working the very first time I installed and tried XBMC, then I tried to select a few different presets, some worked, some didn't and eventually it crashed XBMC. Since that time I cannot use projectm...

[StratMangler]

So XBMC for Windows is coded to exclusively use OpenGL? Isn't that ironic that a M$-developed application won't run a M$-developed API on a M$-developed platform like Windows? lol!

[WiSo]

delete the projectM.conf in userdata/visualisations and try again. Works very stable for me.

[Nazgulled]

delete the projectM.conf in userdata/visualisations and try again. Works very stable for me.
Thanks it's working now :)

But I can change visualizations without crashing XBMC? I though there was some kind of instability with projectm vis...

[althekiller]

So XBMC for Windows is coded to exclusively use OpenGL? Isn't that ironic that a M$-developed application won't run a M$-developed API on a M$-developed platform like Windows? lol!

Huh? MS never developed XBMC, they did some crappy xbox media extender thing. OpenGL is used on all of the PC platforms to keep the code and feature set platform agnostic, thereby simplifying our job.

[Bob___]

I have another question to projectm_win32: Is it possible to increase the resolution in which projectm_win32 is running?
My default screen resolution in XBMC is 1920x1080 and it seems that projectm_win32 uses a lower resoltuion than FullHD?!

[WiSo]

Thanks it's working now :)

But I can change visualizations without crashing XBMC? I though there was some kind of instability with projectm vis...

There were a lot of changes to projectM meanwhile and the vis api that it shouldn't crash on changing vis or presets nor settings.
At leasts it works for me good enough :grin:

[WiSo]

I have another question to projectm_win32: Is it possible to increase the resolution in which projectm_win32 is running?
My default screen resolution in XBMC is 1920x1080 and it seems that projectm_win32 uses a lower resoltuion than FullHD?!

Afaik it should run in the resolution XBMC uses but I dunno if it's restricted lower resolutions somewhere.

[Nazgulled]

There were a lot of changes to projectM meanwhile and the vis api that it shouldn't crash on changing vis or presets nor settings.
At leasts it works for me good enough :grin:
Nice to know, I'll have to test this on my machine :)

My default screen resolution in XBMC is 1920x1080 and it seems that projectm_win32 uses a lower resoltuion than FullHD?!
I would also like to know about this...

[althekiller]

I have another question to projectm_win32: Is it possible to increase the resolution in which projectm_win32 is running?
My default screen resolution in XBMC is 1920x1080 and it seems that projectm_win32 uses a lower resoltuion than FullHD?!

There are viz settings somewhere in the music OSD, you can change the default texture size. Just fiddle with it, you'll find them.

[Nazgulled]

It seems to be running nicely now, changed presets and it worked fine too.

I also tried that texture size thing, but I didn't notice any change sin quality at all :/

[Mardagg]

I was playing around with the projectM.conf last night trying to improve the graphics.

Here is my current config:

Aspect Correction = 1
Easter Egg Parameter = 0
FPS = 100
Hard Cut Sensitivity = 10
Menu Font =
Mesh X = 90
Mesh Y = 60
Preset Duration = 15
Preset Path = special://xbmc/visualisations/projectM
Shuffle Enabled = 1
Smooth Preset Duration = 5
Texture Size = 2048
Title Font =
Use FBO = 0
Window Bottom = 108
Window Height = 864
Window Left = 192
Window Width = 1536

I've incresed the Mesh X & Y settings and the Texture size which do seem to have improved the visualization with my 8800GT.
Unfortunately the size settings seem to have no effect as they automatically reload after the vis has started.

I've also noticed on my 1920x1080 display that the visualization's aren't centered and seem to be offset to the right.

[StratMangler]

Mardagg, where is that file? Can't find it... :(

[Mardagg]

It's in the userdata/visualisations directory (under your profile) not the main XBMC install directory.

[StratMangler]

Thanks.

I'll tell you however that you can customize the "texture size" setting within XBMC without resorting to toying with files manually. But the "Mesh" settings aren't accessible within XBMC.

As for your offset issue, I'd suggest changing the values. Here are mine :

Window Bottom = 0
Window Height = 720
Window Left = 0
Window Width = 1280