This weekend we managed to get the first working demo done for the new creature mod that replaces the holo with a screen under the playfield.

It basically works by combining two of my projects:

1. RasPiSound to get better sound for the creature (also discussed here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rebuilding-sound-for-de-jurassic-park-using-a-pi)
2. serial-media-server that plays / shows media controlled by the sound effects being played.

A more detailed description can be found on my blog: https://pinball-mods.de/2018/10/21/new-cftbl-mod/.

There's of course a working demo already and instead of making much words, just see for yourself:

The video material used in this demo was taken from another pinsider how did a similar mods a while ago (PinballMikeD).

Hope you like it.

Br Steve

In the beginning of the video you already saw the complete controller installation. We decided to place both controllers in the backbox and connect the screen via HDMI that is a little longer.

Serial connection is really just two wires from the RasPiSound shield to the other pi (serial media server) that's an easy one.

There will be a complete image including media files so that you only need to write that image to the SD card.

What is not yet 100% clear is the mounting brackets for the screen. The demo installation is not the final one.

If you want to be an early adopter willing to give it a try, you can already order a RasPiSound kit and the serial media server image without media files. Both available here: https://go-dmd.de/shop.

Better sound is granteed. Mounting the screen, putting media on the server controller is DIY work.

Br Steve

I just reached an agreement with pinballmiked, the creator of the former CFTBL mod, so you can also get the serial media server package INCLUDING all media for CFTBL.

I know the attitude of many pinheads to always get something "plug and play" and I can understand it, but to be honest: I'm not in the pinball supply business and never will be. I have a normal job and pinball ball projects is my favourite hobby.

So if your going to give this a try, expect to still do some DIY work: some wiring, maybe some soldering, download some software or image putting that to an sd card ...

I'm willing to support everyone as much as I can, but I'm best if I am behind my keyboard or in my "pinball laboratory" trying, testing, measuring, creating new ideas ...

And of course everybody is welcome to contribute. So if anybody feels he/she has the best mounting solution ever for screens in CFTBL, step forward and present your approach, you're very welcome.

Br Steve

The test installation we did uses an extra power supply dedicated to the new sound system (RasPiSound) and the serial-media-server, that controls the display underneath the playfield. So we hooked up main power switch in the cabinet in order to get it switched on an off together with the machine.

When you look at the demo video at second 1 you see the power supply, at second 7 the machine is switched on, then the sound system boots ending with the chim at second 26, serial-media-server also shows a startup animation until it displays the default screen for CFTBL at second 34.

I will provide a parts list later today of all the parts we used in the demo installation and post it here in this thread.

I've updated the blog article https://pinball-mods.de/2018/10/21/new-cftbl-mod/ added a complete part list for all you need to build it.

Just to quote it here:

For RasPiSound:

1* power supply 12V Mean Well RD-65A (or RD-85A) combined one with 12V / 5V
1* RasPiSound Kit
1* RasPiSound Image
1* RasPiSound Lizenz
1* Raspberry PI3 B
1* 16GB micro SD Card Sandisk Ultra
1* Mini-USB Soundcard
1* Mounting plate f. RasPiSound + Serial Media Server
4* Screws ca. M2,5*12 + 4 nuts M2,5 + 4 standoffs 5mm
1* power cable 3pol. f. main supply
2* red/black wires to 2nd Pi (see below)
1* short audio cable (usb sound to amplifier) 3.5 mm audio jack

If you like to upgrade speakers as well:
2* panel speakers
1* cabinet bass speaker
5m speaker cable

For Serial-Media-Server:

1* Serial-Media-Server-Image (incl. media package)
1* Raspberry PI3 B
1* Raspberry heatsink (optional)
1* 16GB micro SD Card Sandisk Ultra
4* Screws ca. M2,5*12 + 4 nuts M2,5 + 4 standoffs 5mm
1* HDMI cable 3m angulated on one side
2* DuPont cable (female-female) 20cm
1* 13,3" LCD panel full-hd (e.g. this)
1* mounting plate und vesa brackets matching display mounts
1* adapter 2 pol 12V to power jack matching lcd panel power plug
2* 10m red/black wires for lcd power supply

yes I will provide something and there is already quite some pre read for RasPiSound in this thread https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rebuilding-sound-for-de-jurassic-park-using-a-pi.

Maybe this wasn't outlined that clear, but this isn't of course not only about new movies playing instead of holo, but also a total new sound experience. To get an impression what this means check out my youtube playlist for RasPiSound: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7wZK3Dpsn941nw1Wfdt1E1nPjo_W5dHP

You can e.g. start with rebuilding sound and add CFTBL mod later.

So at least for the second part building the CFTBL mod I will provide a how to. But compared to rebuilding sound the latter is easier. You get two files for setting up an sd card, plug in sd card, power adapter, hdmi monitor cable and serial link into media server PI and thats it.

I expect that the mechanical work and the power / hdmi wiring for the monitor should be feasible for anybody with some experience in pinball repair.

And one final addition (maybe not so interesting to the CFTBL folks): this solution is flexible. There was another guy how wants to adapt this to a data east star trek replacing the backbox "beam me up" animation with some nice video from the original tv series. I would be happy to assist with this as well.

You could use it in another machine. An alternative would be to trigger the videos with a pin2dmd device.

Pin2dmd supports sending out serial commands for a long time, but was never used so far. But even if the demo shows an installation of pin2dmd in CFTBL we didn't use it for the demo. But it would be an alternative.

As I have a pin2dmd in my LW3 already, I may can prepare a demo that shows the general procedure. Necessary steps in principle are:

* install pin2dmd as color replacement display
* setup a pin2dmd project for your game (for lw3 there is already a decent colorazation from malenko available)
* setup some keyframe trigger point of the type "event" and note down the numbers (device id / event id)
* connect pin2dmd device with serial-media-server
* setup media files for media server
-> enjoy

Hop I can make also a demo for that, but its very time consuming creating / preparing such demos.

As preview of a more detailed HOWTO including pictures, there was a specific question on how to link the two PI's together:
Serial-Connection (resized).png

As a more general FAQ of how to use the serial media server I started a FAQ here https://pinball-mods.de/2018/11/05/serial-media-server-faq/. Feedback / comments welcome.

I currently working on an alternative controller that instead of using RasPiSound can emit control commands to the serial media server. This will make the mod installation even easier, but of course no sound improvement included.

Today we finally found a very cheap but solid solution of how to mount the monitor. There a monitor stand available at amazon https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00OQSVJPM which can be truncated a bit and then wil be a perfect fit for our CFTBL mod.

Monitorstand3 (resized).jpgMonitorstand2 (resized).jpgMonitorstand1 (resized).jpg

Unfortunately the alternative approach which replaces the RasPiSound (complete sound replacement) by a much simpler controller board that then triggers the videos is still not ready, because I could not test it in the real machine. But anyway giving the creature a sound upgrade (especially with the wool mix) together with this mod makes perfect sense

/Steve