How do I get in line for this mod?
(Topic ID: 181440)
Linked Games
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Bally, 1992
Topic Gallery
Quoted from bkaelin:How do I get in line for this mod?
Do what the rest of us are doing. Sit, wait, be patient, and look for announcements.
Pittsburgh, PA
Quoted from NPO:Do what the rest of us are doing. Sit, wait, be patient, and look for announcements.
But I want it nooooooooooowwwwwwwa. stomping foot and sticking out bottom lip. 
Randers
Quoted from bkaelin:So no sign up sheet or queue to buy one?
Nope!
Quoted from fiberdude120:Good things come to those who wait.
Or they get left behind
Valencia
Tomorrow I will receive, by DHL, the two monitors, one of 10 inches and another of 11.6 inches (the Chinese were delayed enough in the shipment). I will try them and I will decide what size to install in the final kit, I have three options, 10, 11.6 and 13 inches.
For me, I think the best one will be the 11.6 inch, this allows the screen to be very close to the hole under the playing field, with a good size to play the videos so that the images cover the whole hole. The acrylic bracket is more compact, with shorter stays and could be made all in one piece, for a simpler installation.
If finally the kit installs a monitor of 10 or 11.6 inches, the new acrylic bracket will be very close to the hole, and this will force to eliminate not only the support of the original hologram, also the black visor that is around the hole, to be able to place the new bracket a few centimeters from the hole. In any case it is a simple task.
I wait to see if my friend Jose from Portugal makes me a small cardboard model of the hole area, to be able to prove that the monitor fits well and be able to finish the design of the acrylic bracket.
Today I received the 10 and 11.6 inch monitors. It has been very interesting to see how light they are, compared to the 13-inch metal case. These two are with aluminum and plastic housing, both very light. Both are Full HD, IPS, LED, HDMI, and I got very good prices.
I can start with the final tests, to decide which of the three to use, my favorite is the 11.6 inch, although this would require removing the housing so that it can be placed as close as possible to the playfield hole, with a compact support braces short, probably made in one piece. The 10-inch, could be mounted directly, even without full support, four small braces would be enough to fix it to the playfield.
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Quoted from bsbdmd83:Have not seen any posts regarding another mod??
search "cftbl" and you will find it.
Quoted from wamonkey:Another person came out with a similar mod and even got the images from MikeD hopefully either of you can wrap up your mods soon.
Both look great
There is room for both. steve’s Is much more configurable but you need to assemble, solder and install it yourself. This looks like a nice permanent solution which will be more substantial. Pretty cool to have all these options. I am thinking I may install one to my MB!
This one is worth the wait to me. I'm all about tinkering and engineering it up, but with family, a Masters degree, and my military job - to name off just the big rocks - I am fine with being patient and having a true plug and play option.
Looking forward to this!
I have already tested the monitors, and finally the chosen one will be the 10-inch one, with an acrylic stand fixed directly under the playfield, this places the monitor just 3cm from the hole of the playfield. It also turns out that it is the most economical of the three, and the lightest because its housing is made of plastic. I will say the brand and model of the monitor, for those who prefer to buy the kit without a monitor, although by weight it will not change the final price much, and buying the monitor separately implies additional shipping costs, and a price much higher than what I have from the distributor .
As for the bracket to fix the monitor, it is paradoxical, because in the end, we go back to the initial design that my friend Jose from Portugal did long ago (pictures attached). It is fully tested in his Creature pinball, with the right dimensions, so that it fits without problems, although at that time it was going to be done with a tablet.
The advantage of having the monitor attached to the playfield (very close to the hole), is the viewing angle of the screen, which will allow it to look perfectly practically from any location. That means that both the player and anyone around the machine will see the animations with the highest quality. The same does not happen with monitors fixed to the bottom of the cabinet or with a bracket and long braces, the more separated it is, the worse the image quality (poor view angle).
The monitor is a 10 inch, LED, IPS, with HDMI and Full HD input.
I have asked for an estimate of the support in acrylic, which will be in one piece (as seen in the attached images), much more comfortable to assemble, there are no braces to fix with screws to the bracket, this is fixed directly to the playfield with 4 screws (of those that use the original support), and that's it.
The mechanical part and the display, finally are already solved, I continue with the rest, which is basically the creation and editing of the videos, all original created by me with the software Adobe Premiere and After Effects. As you can see, I do everything, hardware, software programming, design of mechanical parts, editing and creation of videos. That way I can respond to the product I offer, because I know how everything is done, and I can solve any problem or improvement that is needed, there is no dependency of third parties on any component of the product.
As for the comments, that there is another product on the market, very well, that's the way it should be, that everyone chooses, that does not change anything at all for me, nor does it compete with my product, because it does not look like anything. I only make quality products, ready to use, professional designs, hardware, software and mechanics, all plug and play, for those who want the best. DIY products do not interest me at all, from experience, they only give problems.
Now whoever is in a hurry can already buy that DIY product, if you do not worry too much about the quality it's a good option, go ahead. They will do me a favor, so I have less pressure, and I can work better. Who prefers to wait a little longer, to have a quality product, with a professional design, I continue with my design at my own pace, which will not change at all because another product has appeared to compete, does not affect me or worry me in absolute.
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first post by the competition actually has a video of a working product! yet over year later all you have are pictures of pcbs/monitors...... They also have partnered with PinballMikeD who by far has the most experience with this mod. Who even offered you help but you threw it back in his face....
Plus your attitude to the competition is embarrassing! Probably better off not saying anything at all!!! Its already cost you quite a few customers.
Good luck but like all your products they are always half finished with missing features that are yet to be released.....
Karlsruhe
Quoted from pinballsp:As for the comments, that there is another product on the market, very well, that's the way it should be, that everyone chooses, that does not change anything at all for me, nor does it compete with my product, because it does not look like anything. I only make quality products, ready to use, professional designs, hardware, software and mechanics, all plug and play, for those who want the best. DIY products do not interest me at all, from experience, they only give problems.
Putting some nice looking hardware together is the easy part, when the concept is known to be working.
Normally you start such projects with a proof of concept but you seem to prefer to produce nice looking pcbs and posting pictures of them without having tested that your technical approach works at all.
Like you admit in your post here in a raspberry Pi forum (https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=189280)
"Yes, I know, but my two MCP23S17 share same address (and SPI port), and I can not change it now, because of my PCB is already manufactured."
Very strange and not very promising from my perspective. But what do I know. I´m not a professional.
I have been discussing the issue of the monitor with the manufacturer, a few minutes ago by WhatsApp, and I can confirm that the amount to be deducted from the monitor of 10 inches, for those who want the kit without the monitor, will be about 65 to 75 US dollars . The shipping cost remains the same, because the monitor is very light and does not affect the cost of transport.
At the moment, I will communicate the brand and model of the monitor to the interested people, so that it fits perfectly in the acrylic support of the kit. I will also give instructions for its installation, since you have to remove the plastic housing and keep only the TFT panel and the video controller board, fixing the panel with some adhesive gums (which includes the monitor itself) and the plate with 2 screws . It is very simple.
Those who prefer to buy the complete kit, will already receive everything ready for installation, 100% plug and play, with all the necessary components included.
Quoted from hank527:Do you have a date for completion?
I will try to give a date of availability of the product, next week.
This morning, the manufacturer has provided me with the cost of the stand for the display, in black acrylic of 3mm thick, with the design that I put in the last pictures. A very compact stand, with 4 tabs, made in one piece, to fix directly to the playfield with 4 screws.
I already have the cost of all the components of the kit, to be able to calculate the final price. Also the freight cost to Spain/Portugal, USA/Canada and other European countries.
1 x Raspberry Pi3.
1 x Micro SD card with HolomodSP software for RPY3.
1 x Customized HolomodSP main board (connect directly to RPY3)
1 x Customized HolomodSP small input board (connect to WPC-CPU)
1 x 10 inches display, LED, IPS, HDMI + video controller board
1 x Customized acrylic stand to mount the displày.
1 x HDMI cable
1 x Customized supply cable for the display (12v DC)
5 x Plastic flanges, to hold the cables
1 x USB Pendrive to store the video animation files.
This product does not need any external power supply, it gets power from the WPC Power Driver board, with a short cable.
All components, except the two HolomodSP boards, the micro SD card with software and the Custom Acrylic Stand, are optional, can be removed from the kit if someone already has them and want to save money. I suggest to keep the USB pendrive also, because it requires configuring the system to recognize it and it can be complicated for someone who does not know the Raspberry.
Hamilton, ON
Quoted from pinballsp:
I will try to give a date of availability of the product, next week.
This morning, the manufacturer has provided me with the cost of the stand for the display, in black acrylic of 3mm thick, with the design that I put in the last pictures. A very compact stand, with 4 tabs, made in one piece, to fix directly to the playfield with 4 screws.
I already have the cost of all the components of the kit, to be able to calculate the final price. Also the freight cost to Spain/Portugal, USA/Canada and other European countries.
1 x Raspberry Pi3.
1 x Micro SD card with HolomodSP software for RPY3.
1 x Customized HolomodSP main board (connect directly to RPY3)
1 x Customized HolomodSP small input board (connect to WPC-CPU)
1 x 10 inches display, LED, IPS, HDMI + video controller board
1 x Customized acrylic stand to mount the displày.
1 x HDMI cable
1 x Customized supply cable for the display (12v DC)
5 x Plastic flanges, to hold the cables
1 x USB Pendrive to store the video animation files.
This product does not need any external power supply, it gets power from the WPC Power Driver board, with a short cable.
All components, except the two HolomodSP boards, the micro SD card with software and the Custom Acrylic Stand, are optional, can be removed from the kit if someone already has them and want to save money. I suggest to keep the USB pendrive also, because it requires configuring the system to recognize it and it can be complicated for someone who does not know the Raspberry.
How about the video's, how are those coming along.
Melbourne
Quoted from pinballsp:This product does not need any external power supply, it gets power from the WPC Power Driver board, with a short cable.
Good luck!
Quoted from Manny65:Congrats on the work so far and getting the hardware squared away.
Keen to see a demo of the mod in action, particularly being triggered and latency to displaying the video
Looking forward to the next update
Thanks.
As for the trigger time of activation of the videos, there will be no delay, since it is NOT based on omxplayer, that video player software I tried it a long time ago and I rejected it immediately because it adds at least a couple of seconds of delay after receiving the command to play a video.
My firmware does NOT use the typical omxplayer video player, as most people do, who do not know how to program the Raspberry Pi GPU, typical development for beginners who make programs adding scraps from others.
Regarding the hardware, I do not think that the reading of the direct signals of the CPU, supposes some delay with the current design by SPI, and if there were, I can still change the design for a direct reading with a microcontroller, using the Raspberry only to play the videos.
I am really surprised by your disregard of omxplayer; it is the only player compiled specifically for raspberry Pi GPU acceleration, and we use it in our stage design videos, which need to play immediately on demand just like a pinball video would. These have been used in live music performances and theater installations s.
There is -no- delay at all, and that’s when triggering from a phone app over WiFi to a matrix of 4 raspberry pi’s playing 1 video in sync. I guess it’s too late but it might be worth another look.
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:I am really surprised by your disregard of omxplayer; it is the only player compiled specifically for raspberry Pi GPU acceleration, and we use it in our stage design videos, which need to play immediately on demand just like a pinball video would. These have been used in live music performances and theater installations s.
There is -no- delay at all, and that’s when triggering from a phone app over WiFi to a matrix of 4 raspberry pi’s playing 1 video in sync. I guess it’s too late but it might be worth another look.
I will put a video with omxplayer, and you can see the delay it produces, then I will place a second video with my current solution (without omxplayer) that is capable of playing any video immediately, instantly.
The use of omxplayer is the simplest, if I discard it is precisely because of the delays that it introduces, that it is unacceptable to play videos instantly, triggered by events in a product like this. If omxplayer worked without delays, I would have used it, it would have been easier for me, in the software development.
I do not think that the complaints about delays in the play of the videos, which some users point out in the mod that was made previously (not in mine), were due to the hardware. My suspicions are directed to the software, and specifically to omxplayer, because I have verified it personally.
I applaud both parties for tackling something which most of us wouldnt do. The proof will be the the end result, the final costs and then like any other product people can decide which version they want. The mud slinging doesnt get us where we want to go. The products will have to stand on their own merit. Again I applaud both endeavors and will await to compare. After all- its pinball- lets enjoy!
Quoted from pinballsp:
I will put a video with omxplayer, and you can see the delay it produces, then I will place a second video with my current solution (without omxplayer) that is capable of playing any video immediately, instantly.
The use of omxplayer is the simplest, if I discard it is precisely because of the delays that it introduces, that it is unacceptable to play videos instantly, triggered by events in a product like this. If omxplayer worked without delays, I would have used it, it would have been easier for me, in the software development.
I do not think that the complaints about delays in the play of the videos, which some users point out in the mod that was made previously (not in mine), were due to the hardware. My suspicions are directed to the software, and specifically to omxplayer, because I have verified it personally.
I wonder what is different in our setups, as ours play immediately - but anyway if you have a better alternative that is great! I have also tried compiling the HW accelerated VLC player which I normally use on desktop, and it was much slower to start up. I’d love to see a video of the differences
Quoted from pinballsp:
typical development for beginners who make programs adding scraps from others.
describing your own firmware here as your first firmware on the dmd project was not even written by you but your competition!!! and when you finally did write your own firmware all you did was copy another pinside members firmware from github and tweak it and call it your own.
Quoted from russdx:describing your own firmware here as your first firmware on the dmd project was not even written by you but your competition!!! and when you finally did write your own firmware all you did was copy another pinside members firmware from github and tweak it and call it your own.
I just don't get these snarky, combative posts by people like you. The OP is creating a product where there was a vacuum since MikeD stopped making his mod. He is doing a pretty decent job of posting the developments of the mod and appears to be putting an effort to offering a completed, bug-free, fully operational mod. And he hasn't asked for a dime from anyone for pre-orders.
Yet guys like you come in here like some consumer defender or defender of the truth. I don't care if he modified firmware or hacked a design. The fact is - NO hologram mod was on the market and NONE were advertised to be in development. And I have yet to see anyone come on this well-known thread to say their work was stolen in some way.
There appears to now be another product on the market and, as someone said in a different post, money is agnostic. People will have a choice in which mod to use. As a consumer, choice is never a bad thing. In fact, lack of choice is quite the opposite. Look what happenend when MikeD's stopped - no more options to replace a bad hologram. And, if Mike wasn't such a decent guy, there would have been no technical support when his mod has issues or stops working.
I'm looking forward to seeing both of these mods finished, so I can make an informed choice as a consumer. And I'm thrilled I now have options, where previously it was either: 1. Blue hologram 2. Paying out the ass for an OEM hologram 3. Paying a huge markup for one of MikeD's mods.
Where's the downside for pinheads here?
Quoted from robotron911:I just don't get these snarky, combative posts by people like you....
Where's the downside for pinheads here?
Less drama.
Personally, I know one more person being added to my ignore list as of now.
Quoted from steve45:just a quick comment on the delay (and I'm not saying this is better, that is better). Just watch and see for yourself:
before anyone is commenting on that: yes, I did not exchange the default screen, I know its from LW3
This is how our videos look as well, Steve are you using omxplayer?
Quoted from robotron911:I just don't get these snarky, combative posts by people like you. The OP is creating a product where there was a vacuum since MikeD stopped making his mod. He is doing a pretty decent job of posting the developments of the mod and appears to be putting an effort to offering a completed, bug-free, fully operational mod. And he hasn't asked for a dime from anyone for pre-orders.
Yet guys like you come in here like some consumer defender or defender of the truth. I don't care if he modified firmware or hacked a design. The fact is - NO hologram mod was on the market and NONE were advertised to be in development. And I have yet to see anyone come on this well-known thread to say their work was stolen in some way.
There appears to now be another product on the market and, as someone said in a different post, money is agnostic. People will have a choice in which mod to use. As a consumer, choice is never a bad thing. In fact, lack of choice is quite the opposite. Look what happenend when MikeD's stopped - no more options to replace a bad hologram. And, if Mike wasn't such a decent guy, there would have been no technical support when his mod has issues or stops working.
I'm looking forward to seeing both of these mods finished, so I can make an informed choice as a consumer. And I'm thrilled I now have options, where previously it was either: 1. Blue hologram 2. Paying out the ass for an OEM hologram 3. Paying a huge markup for one of MikeD's mods.
Where's the downside for pinheads here?
i dont care if ppl buy his crap or not but think people should be aware half of what he says is total crap!!
Probably shouldn't bother! ppl seam to like buying crappy products and believing everything they are told by con men!
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:This is how our videos look as well, Steve are you using omxplayer?
Yes that's why I was posting this as an example. BTW serial media server sources are available on GitHub
Sooner or later this thread was bound to implode. Happens when it takes over a year to get the mod to market. Let's get some video up and get this moving!
Quoted from russdx:i dont care if ppl buy his crap or not but think people should be aware half of what he says is total crap!!
Probably shouldn't bother! ppl seam to like buying crappy products and believing everything they are told by con men!
So now you've moved off of bad talking the op to bad talking everyone. Inspiring.
Quoted from nwpinball:So now you've moved off of bad talking the op to bad talking everyone. Inspiring.
Edit: last post then ill shut up!
I am not bad mouthing the op i, am trying to point out not every thing he says is quite true, and the quality of this work is not as good as he makes out. If you want proof / examples of this i can give them if not ill just shut up. Any one with an electrical / pcb layout background will most likely say the same. Its only me that actually stands up and points this out! so not sure why i receive all the hate for it?
I am definitely not bad mouthing any one in this thread either i fully appreciated that 99% of people do not know any better when it comes to that sort of stuff so believe everything they are told by the op which can be very untrue some of the time.
If a member started selling machines for x3 the price saying how much of amazing deal it was and loads of people were buying them would you not step in and say wait!! this is actually not a good deal you need to be careful??? I think loads of members would. That is all i am trying to do maybe not in the best way but that is my intention!
Any way as no one else is standing up and helping me i will just leave it be.
Quoted from russdx:Edit: last post then ill shut up!
Quoted from russdx:i will just leave it be.
Thank you
Piton St Leu
I am happy that multiple people are making a mod for CFTBL because the option of a $300 hologram is just not realistic. If you can even find one... Even if this mod is not a 100% or as great as he claims or the other mod producer is as great as they claim - seriously trashing it or anything they produce without them standing up with an alternative is just crap talk.
I hate how people say other steal their ideas - that is also crap. Welcome to capitalism. Everyone copies and slightly alters it and sells it. Think of all the things copied - from cars to electronics it happens everywhere. Only patents that are enforced would protect anyone from that and for pinball mods no one is getting rich enough to really defend their patent.
As a CFTBL owner with a blue hologram a mod (maybe even a bad one) will be better than a blue hologram. For all the people who are crap talking this mod or this op please tell me what they have for my CFTBL and my blue hologram because I will likely buy it, put it together and fix my machine. Mine is not awful but I would like to upgrade it and see it during game play.
That being said - one project is done and a bit DIY - and this guy has been talking about this mod for a year.
I guess I am simply I just want to fix my blue hologram one way or another. I support anyone who will make that happen at a reasonable cost and sometime soon.
If you guys want to fix your hologram it's easy. Unplug the bulb in the back. Put a 12v green led strip on the mirror and wire it to the harness where the bulb in the back. The green light is bright and turns the hologram mega green and looks great. Good temp fix
Quoted from russdx:Any way as no one else is standing up and helping me i will just leave it be.
No, it's just some people want what they need... regardless of the morals or ethics involved. As long as THEY get what they want... they don't care.
It's been this way since this guy announced his colorDMD solutions that clearly just ignored all legalities and morals... yet the people who just want a cheaper DMD replacement don't care.
And here we are ages later and people don't recognize the pattern yet again. The guy likes to design hardware... he'll do it over and over again instead of focusing on shipping and supporting the product. Case in point here... the need to design and build a test board..
The guy tells tall tails, half truths, and obscures the truth all the time... but most here don't care because he's promising them what they so desperately want.
See...that's why it's stupid to post updates here! Say you're working on a Creature Mod and you'll let everyone know when it's ready to ship. Otherwise people will fill the void with nastier and nastier stuff. If I was the OP, I'd shut my mouth until I was ready to show a video, take orders and ship. JMO 
Quoted from spfxted:See...that's why it's stupid to post updates here! Say you're working on a Creature Mod and you'll let everyone know when it's ready to ship. Otherwise people will fill the void with nastier and nastier stuff. If I was the OP, I'd shut my mouth until I was ready to show a video, take orders and ship. JMO
Can't show off your latest HW toys doing that tho... There is a reason his DMDs have gone through like 4 processors before they've even shipped in volume... and it's not because the newer processor is needed.
The pattern has been clear for years.. yet people ignore it.
Quoted from flynnibus:Can't show off your latest HW toys doing that tho... There is a reason his DMDs have gone through like 4 processors before they've even shipped in volume... and it's not because the newer processor is needed.
The pattern has been clear for years.. yet people ignore it.
The hardware's better and cheaper than anything else anyone else is offering, and putting it out before a platform has been finalised has meant that there's a choice for people who don't want to build kits themselves.
Colouring software has lagged far too far behind, but as far as hardware is concerned, how many people have had problems, how many people have not been supported, and how many people have had to complain for months on forums to either get product or refunds, after private communications have been totally ignored? Few / none. The alternative ... loads of people. It's an un-ending stream.
Quoted from rubberducks:The hardware's better and cheaper than anything else anyone else is offering, and putting it out before a platform has been finalised has meant that there's a choice for people who don't want to build kits themselves.
Colouring software has lagged far too far behind, but as far as hardware is concerned, how many people have had problems, how many people have not been supported, and how many people have had to complain for months on forums to either get product or refunds, after private communications have been totally ignored? Few / none. The alternative ... loads of people. It's an un-ending stream.
That's a nice self-serving loop you got there. "no complaints!" because of No customers! It's easy to point out no rash of complaints if you've only got a handful of customers.
Whatever.. you guys can keep holding out for your dream. But the guy has laid it all out on the table for ages now. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink!
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Man I sure am glad I quit making these.
Thanks for your support on the matter. Great mod, love for a plug n play kit but I think most people can see this thing will likely never be completed. No reason to be hostile about it with the thread OP. Once people start to Tune the DIY kit it will pass and if this comes out great, If not I'm glad people are supplementing an alternative
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