Re: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Fri, Jul 11, 2003 at 10:41:21AM -0700, Alan Coopersmith wrote: >Peter \"Firefly\" Lund wrote: >> The request for a screen shot operation that leaves the mouse pointer in >> the image has come up several times on the XFree86 mailing lists (please >> google for it). AFAIR the discussions can be summed up as: no, you can't >> currently do it with a vanilla XFree86, yes, some X servers have an >> extension to do, yes XFree86 could also conceivably get such an extension, >> no, nobody has written one yet, yes, there are in principle other >> solutions but they are hacks too -- and anyway, you have the source code, >> you can do whatever you like. > >Actually someone has written one and it's in the XFree86 CVS tree, if you >look in the "attic" directories and CVS history files for the remains of >Keith Packard's rejected X-Fixes extension. I've had a couple of people from Sun ask me privately about how some (or all) of that functionality can make it into the next XFree86 release. The standard answer is that the first step is for those advocating it to write up a proposal submit it to public review. Getting this type of stuff in through the back door via a tame committer is not the right way to do it. For all the interest Sun has shown in this, I haven't seen any such proposal yet. I was surprised that Sun didn't do it through X.Org, since that's surely the appropriate way for a major X.Org member to handle extensions that are intended to have status close to that of the core protocol. Maybe the review process there was the sticking point? Or maybe now you're waiting for X Consortium / X.Org v3.0 (or whatever it's being dubbed) to come into existence? The whole thing doesn't make much sense to me... David -- David Dawes Founder/committer/developer The XFree86 Project www.XFree86.org/~dawes ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Fri, 11 Jul 2003, Alan Coopersmith wrote: > Actually someone has written one and it's in the XFree86 CVS tree, if you Wonderful! :) > look in the "attic" directories and CVS history files for the remains of > Keith Packard's rejected X-Fixes extension. It was merely puzzled for some months why it was rejected. Now I'm bewildered. Thank you, Alan :) -Peter "I'm going to explain this as well as I can, given the limits of my space and your attention span." ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
Peter \"Firefly\" Lund wrote: The request for a screen shot operation that leaves the mouse pointer in the image has come up several times on the XFree86 mailing lists (please google for it). AFAIR the discussions can be summed up as: no, you can't currently do it with a vanilla XFree86, yes, some X servers have an extension to do, yes XFree86 could also conceivably get such an extension, no, nobody has written one yet, yes, there are in principle other solutions but they are hacks too -- and anyway, you have the source code, you can do whatever you like. Actually someone has written one and it's in the XFree86 CVS tree, if you look in the "attic" directories and CVS history files for the remains of Keith Packard's rejected X-Fixes extension. -- -Alan Coopersmith- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Sun Software Group Quality / User Experience (QUE) - Globalization Platform Globalization Engineering: X11 Development ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Fri, 11 Jul 2003, james amen atayi wrote: > the same job. Camtasia for example records on windows the screen. I can > allready do it using xwd or other tools to make the screenshots. The problem > is that with these tools the mousepointer disappears when Why on Earth didn't you say so at first instead of wasting everybody's time? It seemed you only knew how to make manual screenshots! The request for a screen shot operation that leaves the mouse pointer in the image has come up several times on the XFree86 mailing lists (please google for it). AFAIR the discussions can be summed up as: no, you can't currently do it with a vanilla XFree86, yes, some X servers have an extension to do, yes XFree86 could also conceivably get such an extension, no, nobody has written one yet, yes, there are in principle other solutions but they are hacks too -- and anyway, you have the source code, you can do whatever you like. Please google now. -Peter ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
Am Freitag, 11. Juli 2003 16:39 schrieben Sie: Amen! Thanks a lot! but in the way vnc realises to capture the display I would like to be able to do it. nice week-end james > On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 11:06:22AM +0200, james amen atayi wrote: > > Hallo! > > > > Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a > > file as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. > > Doing it making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying > > to find out how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I > > record the screen as a movie file without making screen shots? > > > > thank for your help > > OK, this is messy and only an outline of what to do, but I think I have a > couple ways for you to solve your problem. > > On a Windows box: > >1) Install an X windows implementation such as X-Win32 (the one I use) > or Cygwin. >2) Obtain one of many Windows utilities to make a movie out of screen > activity (I have no direct experience with such packages -- I hear > there are many such as gifgifgif and Camtasia). > of the package he uses is not in right now). >3) Set up the security on your Windows-box X server so your XFree86 box > can access the X server. You likely just have to put the IP of the > XFree86 box into some security dialog. > > On the XFree86 box where you'd like to do the video capture: > >4) Reset the DISPLAY environment variable to your Windows box IP with > > :0 for the display number (or whatever it takes to redirect the > : windows > > to your Windows box and start your XFree86 application. > > The biggest issue I think you'll have is running a window manager and > keeping it from interfering with the appearance of your application. > > Here's the alternate (probably better) solution... > > On a Windows box: > >1) Obtain a VNC client for Windows. >2) Obtain a Windows screen capture movie program (same as #2 above). > > On your XFree86 box: > >3) Install VNC server and VNC client. >4) Start a VNC server with :1 as the display. >5) Start your application with :1 as the display. >6) Start the VNC client using :1 as the display -- go full screen. > [At this point you should be able to do whatever you would on > your XFree86 box and your VNC client will display the activity. > It should look normal to you (not crucial, but reassuring). > > On the Windows box (suggested order of events): > >7) Start your screen capture utility. >8) Start your VNC client using the XFree86 IP address and display :1 > then go full screen. >9) Do whatever work you'd like to do on the XFree86 box via the VNC > client on your Windows box. When you're done just stop the screen > capture utility. You naturally have to edit the captured result > to drop whatever you don't want at the start. > > Please accept the above as concepts. I have tinkered around with trying > to capture XFree86 activity on Redhat 7.3 and did set up a VNC client on > Windows/NT (full screen) so I could see what was happening on the XFree86 > box. I never took the next step of recording the activity, I simply made > a recommendation to a gentleman who wanted to go to the next step. > > Good luck! > Joel Breazeale > ___ > XFree86 mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86 > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 11:06:22AM +0200, james amen atayi wrote: > Hallo! > > Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a file > as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. Doing it > making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying to find out > how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I record the > screen as a movie file without making screen shots? > > thank for your help OK, this is messy and only an outline of what to do, but I think I have a couple ways for you to solve your problem. On a Windows box: 1) Install an X windows implementation such as X-Win32 (the one I use) or Cygwin. 2) Obtain one of many Windows utilities to make a movie out of screen activity (I have no direct experience with such packages -- I hear there are many such as gifgifgif and Camtasia). of the package he uses is not in right now). 3) Set up the security on your Windows-box X server so your XFree86 box can access the X server. You likely just have to put the IP of the XFree86 box into some security dialog. On the XFree86 box where you'd like to do the video capture: 4) Reset the DISPLAY environment variable to your Windows box IP with :0 for the display number (or whatever it takes to redirect the windows to your Windows box and start your XFree86 application. The biggest issue I think you'll have is running a window manager and keeping it from interfering with the appearance of your application. Here's the alternate (probably better) solution... On a Windows box: 1) Obtain a VNC client for Windows. 2) Obtain a Windows screen capture movie program (same as #2 above). On your XFree86 box: 3) Install VNC server and VNC client. 4) Start a VNC server with :1 as the display. 5) Start your application with :1 as the display. 6) Start the VNC client using :1 as the display -- go full screen. [At this point you should be able to do whatever you would on your XFree86 box and your VNC client will display the activity. It should look normal to you (not crucial, but reassuring). On the Windows box (suggested order of events): 7) Start your screen capture utility. 8) Start your VNC client using the XFree86 IP address and display :1 then go full screen. 9) Do whatever work you'd like to do on the XFree86 box via the VNC client on your Windows box. When you're done just stop the screen capture utility. You naturally have to edit the captured result to drop whatever you don't want at the start. Please accept the above as concepts. I have tinkered around with trying to capture XFree86 activity on Redhat 7.3 and did set up a VNC client on Windows/NT (full screen) so I could see what was happening on the XFree86 box. I never took the next step of recording the activity, I simply made a recommendation to a gentleman who wanted to go to the next step. Good luck! Joel Breazeale ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
RE: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
There doesn't seem to be any info out there on the output format of an FB dump, apart from people saving the files with a .raw extension. Maybe do this and try it in gimp? Came across this, may be of use: http://www.sfires.net/fbshot/ -Oli >= Original Message From james amen atayi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> = >Am Freitag, 11. Juli 2003 14:16 schrieben Sie: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >well, > >The thing is that I know it must be possible to do it. Commercial products do >the same job. Camtasia for example records on windows the screen. I can >allready do it using xwd or other tools to make the screenshots. The problem >is that with these tools the mousepointer disappears when >a screenshot is made. The user can no more work properly. So I'm thinking in >the way to do it as the VESA driver refresh the screen.Just send the >framebuffer output, in this case not to the display but into a file with a >very simple command like . I want to use >for this example the VESA framebuffer that is fb0. (path /dev/fb0). But it is >not working properly. >The file I create is very big a can't be displayed. > >here how I'm processing. > >[begin of code] >[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cp /dev/fb0 t1 >[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dir t1 >-rw-r-1 userusers33554432 2003-07-11 14:35 t1 >[EMAIL PROTECTED]> display t1 >display: Incorrect image header in file (t1). >[end of code] > >Any idea or comment? > > >thanks > > >James > >___ >XFree86 mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86 ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
Am Freitag, 11. Juli 2003 14:16 schrieben Sie: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] well, The thing is that I know it must be possible to do it. Commercial products do the same job. Camtasia for example records on windows the screen. I can allready do it using xwd or other tools to make the screenshots. The problem is that with these tools the mousepointer disappears when a screenshot is made. The user can no more work properly. So I'm thinking in the way to do it as the VESA driver refresh the screen.Just send the framebuffer output, in this case not to the display but into a file with a very simple command like . I want to use for this example the VESA framebuffer that is fb0. (path /dev/fb0). But it is not working properly. The file I create is very big a can't be displayed. here how I'm processing. [begin of code] [EMAIL PROTECTED]> cp /dev/fb0 t1 [EMAIL PROTECTED]> dir t1 -rw-r-1 userusers33554432 2003-07-11 14:35 t1 [EMAIL PROTECTED]> display t1 display: Incorrect image header in file (t1). [end of code] Any idea or comment? thanks James ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
FWD: RE: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
I think the only way to not have to make 'screen shots' is to hang something off the video-out of the machine to record it high quality - ie, digital video camera (don't laugh, a lot of them have 'video in' :0) ) and pipe the video back to the computer later. Otherwise, at some point you'll have to take screenshots. I believe that if you're using the framebuffer, you can 'cat /dev/fb0 > ~/ScreenShotX' -Check the framebuffer howto(s) for details, also for the format of the resulting piccie! If you can't get a high enough framerate, I wonder if it would be possible to record the XDMCP traffic, and replay it slowly later while making the shots? -Oli >On Thu, 10 Jul 2003, Eric Christopherson wrote: > >> > how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I record the >> > screen as a movie file without making screen shots? >> > >> > thank for your help >> >> I'm not sure of anything specifically for making movies/animations out of >> them, but there are several programs that can capture X protocol events, >> such as xmon, xscope, and xlab. Also, you could run a VNC server and use >> rfbproxy to capture its output. > >Maybe he could use a separate video capture card? > ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Thu, 10 Jul 2003, Eric Christopherson wrote: > > how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I record the > > screen as a movie file without making screen shots? > > > > thank for your help > > I'm not sure of anything specifically for making movies/animations out of > them, but there are several programs that can capture X protocol events, > such as xmon, xscope, and xlab. Also, you could run a VNC server and use > rfbproxy to capture its output. Maybe he could use a separate video capture card? Otherwise I'd say that the only way to go would be to take screenshots some number of times per second for as long as necessary but to get a program to do it, of course. -Peter Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; Give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 11:06:22AM +0200, james amen atayi wrote: > Hallo! > > Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a file > as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. Doing it > making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying to find out > how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I record the > screen as a movie file without making screen shots? > > thank for your help I'm not sure of anything specifically for making movies/animations out of them, but there are several programs that can capture X protocol events, such as xmon, xscope, and xlab. Also, you could run a VNC server and use rfbproxy to capture its output. -- Furrfu! r a k k o at c h a r t e r dot n e t ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
[XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer output
Hallo! Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a file as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. Doing it making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying to find out how to capture the video card output. in other way how can I record the screen as a movie file without making screen shots? thank for your help James ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
[XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
Hallo! Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a file as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. Doing it making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying to find out how to capture the video card output. In other way, how can I record the screen as a movie file without making screen shots? thank for your help James ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
[XFree86] read directly from the video card framebuffer
Is it possible to directly read the video card output and save it into a file as a screen shot? I have to capture for a long time the display. Doing it making screen shots is not a good solution. That why I'm trying to find out how to capture the video card output. in other way how can I record the screen as a movie file without making screen shots? thank for your help James ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
