Progress! Converting to RGB did make the colors display correctly, but the problem now is that the 1st animation gets hung up and just plays over and over ad infinitum - never reverts back to clock - have to unplug to stop it. I will play with "ani format version" (there are 6 settings) to see if that makes a diff, otherwise looking for more sage advice.

Alright, I've been out of this game for a little while, but a few years ago I bought one of these LED setups including a laser cut bracket set. I also at the time got an RGB DMD Mini board. Then I did precisely nothing with it all.

But now I want to do something with it, even if it's just to spruce up my Williams Strike Master puck bowler. I'm guessing nobody has colorized any of it, and I'm not sure *I* care to, either. But maybe if I can throw that display in there and at least be able to select a different color or something, I'll get motivated to play with colorizing. *shrug*

Now, it looks like ecurtz hasn't touched the firmware on the RGB DMD Mini in four years, and my guess is in looking that it's not up to this task anyway? If that's the case, I suppose I just need to get a Pin2Dmd controller and go from there?

--Donnie

I reached out to Eli and asked him about RGBDMD and he pointed me to the Eagle files, so I had a few printed up - but at the end of the day, the Pin2DMD has a better processor behind it, better colorisation options, and all around is a generation ahead. The price isn’t even much more if you DIY. Maybe $120? That’s nothing compared to how much we can spend on mods. And it’s WAY less than the other colour option ..

That said, you are depending on a lot of your own work or the work of the community for a great colour job. I just installed a P2D in a STTNG and let me tell you .. that is an amazing job slippifish did. Amazing.

Thanks very much It was also really good fun to do, colouring can be challenging to learn for sure, but once it "clicks" it can be addictive

As for Williams Strike Master; this recently appeared on the virtual pinball circuit, and my immediate thought was "that's ripe for a colour project!" As DMD games go it doesn't strike (no pun intended) me as being particularly tricky to colour (that is, I didn't see many dynamic scenes that would be challenging to trigger palette or animation changes for)

How does the RGBDMD even work to colorize? Does it need something plugged in via USB? Or is there enough storage on it to load the new data? It's pretty short on documentation other than "connect Pinball-Browser to it" (and Pinball-Browser doesn't seem to mention it as a compatible device though).

I know colorizing something isn't trivial (though I understand this game may be easier than most pins), but how hard is it to just say "make it all blue"? I'm not above buying new hardware (or even *making* new hardware...I have a reflow oven and know how to use it), but if this hardware will get me the very basics, wouldn't hurt to try it.

--Donnie

Okay, but if basics is all I want, how does it *work*? The docs on github for it don’t really say anything other than “use pinball-browser.”

I mean if I plug this thing in to a game and a machine running pinball-browser, will it all be obvious? Seems like no.

—Donnie

It's not plug-and-play. If you want that, you need to buy a ColorDMD. You build or buy (there are some guys who have a few in stock), decide how you'll power the display (through the game's PDB or the recommended external power supply) then look for the appropriate game's color files, and load it.

I have several ColorDMDs in both LCD and LED. I understand this isn't that, nor is it close.

Trust me, I get all that. I'm looking for the specifics of how RGBDMD works, though. But it sounds like it might be as "easy" as what I asked...I really need to plug what I have into a game, plug Pinball-Browser into it, and then ask more specific questions as they pop up (well, and read the stuff Lucky1 posted above).

(Yes, I even understand I have to power the LED array separately...I followed enough of the discussion back in the day to know that as well. Have a 10A 5V supply sitting ready.) Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was asking for something plug and play.

I've got a feeling I'll end up with Pin2DMD. Any pointers to someone with stock?

--Donnie

dpannell has them AFAIK

Well since the RGBDMD board isn’t available any longer - unless you have one already, you’ll definitely end up with a Pin2DMD

It isn’t that complicated, although I did have some questions initially, it turned out to be user error anyway

I got mine from dpannell as well - he does a few batches every year. You may also want to sign up on VPUniverse.com, which is where he also lurks. That’s also where a lot of the files are

I do already have an RGBDMD. But yeah, as it isn’t supported and there are things it can’t even do due to lack of CPU power, it still may not be worth messing with.

Honestly it would be cool if it simply let you select a single color and just helped act as a DMD replacement, though. It’s so tiny and cute.

Thanks for the pointer on someone maybe stocking Pin2DMD. Will hit him up.

—Donnie

This topic has gotten derailed. This post was supposed to be about PIN2DMD which is a very capable color display. DJB seems to have a different type of display "RGBDMD" which is much less capable from a colorization standpoint and it confuses this forum topic.

Yep RGBDMD can be set to 1 color - 4 shades of colors for B/W games. I think Stern games support 16 colors. But Pin2DMD is a far superior solution for B/W games because you can create a package which dynamically switches the color palette - so 4 colors at a time, but switching those 4 on demand, so it really looks awesome.

RGBDMD doesn’t have the processor (it uses a Teensy Arduino) or software to do this. Wish I’d switched long ago!

Pin2DMD has full color replacement possible for most games. Please don't spread information that is misleading. There are full colorizations including hundreds of colors(up to 16 per frame, more actually possible I believe) for B/W games, data east games, stern games etc. The colorizations if done well can be on-par or sometimes superior(IMO) to what other more expensive companies sell. Plus if you don't like something you can change it to whatever you want. You could write your name in the background of an animation if you felt like it using the pin2dmd editor. Don't get me wrong, colorizing a game is very time consuming but there are already many games people have done and freely distribute the files (props to malenko and martin).

here’s an example of an animation used in HS2 on a PIN2DMD.
E528FC1B-1FE9-4E79-8B26-E790ADD5C460 (resized).png

Well, at least it is a still frame of the animation. Here are a few other examples - Full credit to Malenko. FYI, click on an image to see full resolution GIF.
kickback.giffreeride.gifdh.gif

yay me!

Lots of people doing lots of good work. Martin, Slippi, CB3, etc all of them are rockstars.

That's a really old version of the hitch hiker scene though. I made changes to make it look less like ColorDMDs release and match the backglass a little better (it looks like a black/grey interior). I almost added a beard to the guy :p

hiker.PNG

"Seems to"? No, that's exactly what I have and we've already covered all that.

I forget how weird this particular issue is. Some of you guys seem to get butt-hurt over the strangest things. I've already asked for pointers on buying Pin2DMD hardware and we've already covered that RGBDMD is inferior and a dead end. I was just trying to find someone who remembers a little bit about it so I could maybe use it to get some mediocre, but better than original, output with it BECAUSE ITS SITTING HERE DOING NOTHING OTHERWISE. Seems to have the power needed to let you have a tiny little simple one-color plasma-DMD replacement with it for games with which there is no colorization, for example. That's all, not trying to do anything more. I know the likelihood of me doing much useful work in colorizing Strikemaster is low for two reasons...one, I don't have a lot of time for it and two, well, I'm partially colorblind.

But hey, I'm curious and maybe I can still do something interesting with it. I'm off to order Pin2DMD hardware. Sorry to derail your precious thread a tad bit.

--Donnie

Huh? I have a PIN2DMD and have colored games
Myself. Wtf misinformation are
You referring to?

I believe this thread was started by lucky1, not this dude. Carry on. How is discussing the pros and cons of. Different solutions NOT related to the original topic? PIN2DMD appears to me to be the best technical solution, as
long as
The buyer is ok with it it not being plug-and-play

Rdoyle1978 , I am a little confused about your rep;ly to him. You both seem to be saying the same thing?

Yes, there was some complaining that the thread is being derailed by discussing other solutions

No, I'm pretty sure I never spread "information that is misleading", as tjc02002 said. I've never tried to imply or state that RGBDMD is anywhere close to as capable as Pin2DMD. I admitted from the start it was obvious it was probably a dead project. I poked here and asked for some information on it (I mean given the size, I was curious what it could do), that's all. And then I bought a Pin2DMD (it's on the way!). And now that I let it go, nobody else seems to want to. Sheesh.

--Donnie

One step after the other..
I have now a working pin2dmd on my Simpson party white star.
Picture is clean, card is activated.
I've purchased the colorization files, placed the pin2dmd.pal and pin2dmd.fsq on the sdcard.
when I boot the pin2dmd, I see the pallet is changing, so it's loaded.
But the display only uses 3 colors, not the whole pallet.
I have a friend who is using the same config (pin2dmd + same files+ same ROM French) and it works fully, as the video showing muticolor animation ..
What am I missing (again?)

Thanks

I'll say! LOL

You have to configure the board when it's installed. There is a "Enhancer" setting which can be on or off. The .fsq file is set to work with it either on or off, you will need to try both. Also, make sure you set the "mode" to Stern, and save.

To get into the menu, hold the right-hand button and press the left-hand button. This will reset the Pin2DMD. Then keep holding or pressing (I apologize, I forget which) the right-hand "menu" button. Make sure you are pressing the buttons on the Pin2DMD board, and not the Nucleo or other board which is also attached. press "menu" to cycle to the different menu options, and press the other button to select a value.

I also had to try multiple times to get the .fsq file to load properly. You may need to download the .zip again from VPuniverse. Also, I did a full format on my SDCard.

Also try adding a boot.fsq and see if the startup process uses this (it's sort of a multi-colored spinning vortex)

Thanks for these ideas. Will give a try !

with or without Enhancer, same thing
mode whitestar is ok (with the latest soft, it's even autoselected if i put the virtual pinball mode. So no issue.
boot.fsq works without issue on boot.

Display rom version is F5.00, which is the good target, and i know that another french user is working with the same rom..

What could be the trick ?

A bit obvious perhaps, but is the PIN2DMD display definitely activated?

Yes, no more activation required.

I would go re-download the files. I had a mysterious issue like this for a few days, and I finally re-copied the files (make sure they are named pin2dmd.fsq and pin2dmd.pal). After I downloaded them again, unzipped them and transferred to the newly formatted card, they worked. I am still not 100% sure what exactly fixed it

and try a different SD Card just in case

Good point! BENETNATH you may have downloaded a Virtual pinball file. Make sure where you got the .fsq and .pal it says specifically for “real pinball” machine

Thanks all for your assistance.
ReDL files, put them on another sdcard, re-reset the card..
Then it worked !
Happy guy

YES! Congratulations

That’s exciting! How do the animations get programmed? Is there some editor program for the P-ROC which can create DMD animations, or must he somehow create Pin2DMD masks and replacement frames for the entire game?

So I was reading through this and don’t understand what I have to do. My Checkpoint unfortunately fell off the stool while I was setting it up and it slammed down so hard it sheered the internal little connectors for the DMD so rather than spend a ton for a new one might as well spend the money and get some color.
How do I go about getting this, what do I need for Checkpoint?

If you are looking to buy one fully working pm dpannell and see if he has any at the moment. If you want to put it together yourself you will need 2 p2.5 64x32 led panels, a frame, a v4 pin2dmd shield, a NUCLEO-F429ZI board and a Data East controller board.

Anyone in USA have extra EVO128x32 they would sell?

Just hesitant to order 10, but alternately, anyone else want any if I order 10? PM me.

I just ordered 5. There were no issues with PCBWay producing/assembling/shipping a small number. I'm not sure if I will have any leftover but I may be putting in another order at some point if my friends show any interest. My parts all arrived over the last few days so I haven't had a chance to test anything out.

That's good to know, thanks. Will see if I can get a quote on 5 then.

Just heard back: price per unit goes up a lot for only 5. 75% of the cost for only half as many: doesn't really make sense.