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If full screen mode is selected (by pressing Ctrl+F4 to enter full screen mode and display the ready image) a series of images can be displayed to the user to show them what's happening and to advertise the photo booth. These images are held in the same folder as the background, header and footer images and are as follows:
ready.jpg
ready_overlay.png
ready_overlay_qr.png
release.jpg
preview.jpg
processing.jpg
reprint.jpg
reprinting.jpg
mms.jpg
age_too_young.jpg
Typical Sequence of Screens
A typical photo booth shooting sequence will display screens in the following order: •ready.jpg •1.jpg | taking.jpg | release.jpg •2.jpg | taking.jpg | release.jpg (repeat for rest of photos) •processing.jpg •confirm_printing.jpg •share.jpg •printing_confirmed
ready_overlay.png Please note that areas of the ready_overlay.png and video_ready_overlay.png screens must be either fully opaque or fully transparent. You can't use an alpha channel to provide semi-transparent areas.
A different screen for the taking.jpg, release.jpg and preview.jpg screens can be displayed for each photo in the sequence for by appending the photo number to the end of the filename. e.g. taking1.jpg, release1.jpg, preview1.jpg for the first photo; taking2.jpg, release2.jpg, preview2.jpg for the second photo etc.
Please note that it is not always necessary to define all the screen images e.g. share.jpg and the email screens are not required if the email options are not used. The simplest way to get started is to run the photo booth setup wizard which will automatically create all the screens for you. You can then edit the screens in an image editor to customize the look of your photo booth.
These images can be JPEGs containing any information you like and are displayed centered on the display with a black background. The images 1.jpg, 2.jpg etc are displayed together with the text defined in the settings dialog which can be used to give a count down timer before each picture. The text is displayed centered on the screen below the live view display, if applicable, as white text on a transparent background. The following tokens can be used in the text:
@imageNumber@ @secsToNextPhoto@
It is also possible to display different screens depending on whether color, black and white or monochrome toned mode is selected and the number of print copies. This provides a way of giving feedback to the user when different settings have been selected.
The way it works is to check for a suffix after the filename for the appropriate screen image in the form <screen>_<b|c|t><1..9>.jpg where <screen> is the name of the screen image e.g. "ready", <b|c|t> is the color mode: "b" for black and white, "c" for color, "t" for monochrome toned or f, g, h, i, j, k for filters 1 to 6 and <1..9> is the number of print copies e.g. "1" is one copy is selected.
For example when the ready.jpg image is to be displayed, the color mode is set to black and white and the number of print copies is set to 2 the software will look for a suitable screen image in the following order: ready_b2.jpg
So to have screens to indicate the color mode and the number of print copies from 1 to 3 you need the following "ready" screens: ready_c1.jpg, ready_c2.jpg, ready_c3.jpg, ready_b1.jpg, ready_b2.jpg, ready_b3.jpg.
When a setting is changed, e.g. the color mode is set to black and white, the screen image is updated automatically to show the user the current status.
This technique can also be used for the confirm_printing.jpg screens when displaying the print confirmation screen e.g. confirm_printing_1.jpg is used for 1 copy, confirm_printing_2.jpg is used for 2 copies etc. The touchscreen actions "Confirm printing (+ # prints)" and "Confirm printing (- # prints)" can be used to increase or decrease the number of copies to print and the screen will be updated to show the confirm_printing.jpg background to provide the user with visual feedback of the selected number of copies. The maximum number of copies that can be selected in the "Output Settings" dialog.
One or more information screens can be displayed from the stills photo ready or video ready screens. Touchscreen actions are available to display the information screens from the ready screens, to display the next or previous page, to close the information screen and to start the photo booth shooting sequence.
To display information screens from the stills photo booth ready screen (ready.jpg) create screen images named ready_info1.jpg, ready_info2.jpg, ready_info3.jpg etc. and place them in the photo booth images folder. Then add the following touchscreen actions to control the display of the information screens:
Photo info open - display the first information screen (ready_info1.jpg) from the stills photo ready screen (ready.jpg) Photo info next - display the next information screen if available e.g. switch from ready_info1.jpg to ready_info2.jpg Photo info previous - display the previous information screen if available e.g. switch from ready_info3.jpg to ready_info2.jpg Photo info close - close the information screen and return to the ready screen (ready.jpg) Photo info start - close the information screen and start the photo booth shooting sequence
To display information screens from the video booth ready screen (video_ready.jpg) create screen images named video_info1.jpg, video_info2.jpg, video_info3.jpg etc. and place them in the photo booth images folder. Then create add the following touchscreen actions to control the display of the information screens: Video info open - display the first information screen (video_info1.jpg) from the video ready screen (video_ready.jpg) Video info next - display the next information screen if available e.g. switch from video_info1.jpg to video_info2.jpg Video info previous - display the previous information screen if available e.g. switch from video_info3.jpg to video_info2.jpg Video info close - close the information screen and return to the ready screen (video_ready.jpg) Video info start - close the information screen and start the video booth shooting sequence
The information screens can be animated using GIF or MP4 images (see below for details). The information screens will be automatically closed after 30 seconds of inactivity. This timeout can be changed by editing the InfoInactivityTimeout setting using the Configure utility.
Using animated GIF files to animate screens Animated GIF files can be displayed on the screens by placing an animated GIF in the photo booth images folder and giving it the same name as the screen image. For example, to play an animated GIF when the ready.jpg screen is displayed the file should be named ready.gif. Animated GIFs can be displayed over the live view images and the live view will be visible behind transparent areas of the animated GIF. Append "_loop" to the filename , e.g. ready_loop.gif, if you want the animated GIF to play in a continuous loop.
By default animated GIFs are displayed in the center of the screen. Animated GIFs can also be positioned manually by appending the offsets from the left and top of the screen to the filename in the form _{LeftOffset}+{TopOffset} e.g. to position ready.gif 200 pixels from the left of the screen and 100 pixels from the top the file should be named ready_200+100.gif (or ready_loop_200+100.gif if you want it to play continuously). The size and position of the animated GIF can also be specified as a percentage of the screen size e.g. ready_{w50%}_loop.gif will display an animated GIF that is half the width of the screen and plays in a continuous loop in the ready screen. Please see this page for more information
When an animated GIF is displayed on the countdown screen (e.g. by naming it 1.gif) it replaces the normal countdown text and is only played once. Approximately 1 second before the end of the GIF the taking.jpg screen is displayed and then the photo is taken when the GIF reaches the end.
Example animated GIFs (in the installation folder): start.gif - displays a pulsating "Start" button. To test this copy start.gif to your photobooth images folder and rename it ready_loop.gif. This will display an animated button in the center of the screen. It can be moved by appending the left and top offsets to the filename e.g. change the filename to ready_{l200t100}_loop.gif (or ready_loop_200+100.gif using the older naming scheme) to place it 200 pixels from the left of the screen and 100 pixels from the top.
1.gif - displays a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 countdown with a progress ring. To test this copy countdown.gif to your photobooth images folder and rename it 1.gif. This will display the countdown in the center of the screen during the countdown for the first photo. It can be moved by appending the left and top offsets to the filename e.g. change the filename to 1_{l200t100}.gif (or 1_200+100.gif using the older naming scheme) to place it 200 pixels from the left of the screen and 100 pixels from the top. Alternatively change the filename to 1_{t25%}.gif to place it 1/4 of the way down the screen. Make copies of the file and rename them 2.gif, 3.gif etc. to provide animated countdowns for photos 2, 3, etc.
Using movie files to animate screens Movie files can be displayed on the screens by placing a movie file in MP4 or QuickTime MOV format in the photo booth images folder and giving it the same name as the screen image. For example, to play an MP4 movie file when the ready.jpg screen is displayed the movie file should be named ready.mp4. Movie files can't overlap the live view display and so if live view is active the movie will be displayed in the area below the live view.
Append "_loop" to the filename , e.g. ready_loop.mp4, if you want the movie to automatically restart from the beginning and play continuously.
By default movie files are displayed centered on the screen unless live view is active in which case they are displayed below the live view. Movie files can also be positioned manually by appending the offsets from the left and top of the screen to the filename in the form _{LeftOffset}+{TopOffset} e.g. to position the ready.mp4 movie 200 pixels from the left of the screen and 100 pixels from the top the file should be named ready_200+100.mp4 (or ready_loop_200+100.mp4 if you want it to play continuously). If the movie is larger than the screen it will be automatically scaled to fit the screen.
The size and position of the movie can also be specified as a percentage of the screen size e.g. ready_{w50%}_loop.mp4 will resize the movie so that is half the width of the screen and plays in a continuous loop in the ready screen. Please see this page for more information about sizing and positioning movie files
When a movie is displayed on the countdown screen (e.g. by naming it 1.mp4) it replaces the normal countdown text and is only played once. Approximately 1 second before the end of the movie the taking.jpg screen is displayed and then the photo is taken when the movie reaches the end. There is a sample movie file called countdown.mp4 in the folder where Remote Pro is installed. To use this simply copy it to your photo booth images folder and rename it to 1.mp4, 2.mp4 etc. Please note: If an animated GIF has been defined for the countdown the countdown movie file will be ignored.
Troubleshooting If a video does not play properly it could be a video CODEC problem. Please try downloading and installing the K-Lite CODEC pack which should fix the problem. The K-Lite CODEC pack can be download it from: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm
Audio prompts can be added by placing a WAV sound file in the photo booth images folder and giving it the same name as prompt screen. For example to play a sound when the photo booth is ready copy a WAV file named ready.wav into the photo booth images folder and it will be played when the ready.jpg image is displayed. You can also play an audio file when the touchscreen keyboard is displayed by naming it keyboard.wav and placing it in the photo booth images folder.
The easiest way to see how this works is to try it out. To do this run Remote Pro for Windows then press Ctrl+F4 to display the ready screen. Then press Shift+F4 to take a test sequence or F4 to take the pictures and print them.
A typical 4 picture sequence would be:
At startup: "ready.jpg" image displayed on screen and "ready.wav" played once (if present)
Sequence started: "1.jpg" image displayed on screen together with countdown text and "1.wav" played once (if present)
Approx 1 sec before taking picture #1: "taking.jpg" image displayed on screen and "taking.wav" played once (if present)
After taking picture #1: preview image displayed for the required number of seconds (if enabled in the settings) then "2.jpg" image displayed on screen together with countdown text and "2.wav" played once (if present)
After taking picture #2: preview image displayed for the required number of seconds (if enabled in the settings) then "3.jpg" image displayed on screen together with countdown text and "3.wav" played once (if present)
Approx 1 sec before taking picture #3: "taking.jpg" image displayed on screen and "taking.wav" played once (if present)
After taking picture #3: preview image displayed for the required number of seconds (if enabled in the settings) then "4.jpg" image displayed on screen together with countdown text and "4.wav" played once (if present)
Approx 1 sec before taking picture #4: "taking.jpg" image displayed on screen and "taking.wav" played once (if present)
After taking picture #4: preview image displayed for the required number of seconds (if enabled in the settings) then "processing.jpg" image displayed on screen and "processing.wav" played once (if present). During this time the images are formatted ready for output and either saved to file or sent to the printer queue. When this has finished the screen goes back to the "ready.jpg" image and the ready.wav sound file is played ready for the next sequence.
For example when the ready.jpg image is to be displayed, the color mode is set to black and white and the number of print copies is set to 2 the software will look for a suitable screen image in the following order: ready_b2.jpg - i.e. "ready" + black and white + 2 copies selected or if this isn't found it looks for: ready_b.jpg - i.e. "ready" + black and white or if this isn't found it looks for: ready_2.jpg - i.e. "ready" + 2 copies selected or if this isn't found it looks for: ready.jpg
So to have screens to indicate the color mode and the number of print copies from 1 to 3 you need the following "ready" screens: ready_c1.jpg, ready_c2.jpg, ready_c3.jpg, ready_b1.jpg, ready_b2.jpg, ready_b3.jpg. When a setting is changed, e.g. the color mode is set to black and white, the screen image is updated automatically to show the user the current status.
A watermark can be added to prints displayed in the confirm printing and sharing screens by placing a PNG file named print_watermark.png in the photo booth images folder. The PNG file should contain transparency information in an alpha channel so that the print is visible when the PNG is overlaid on top of it. |
