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GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

Moderator: MiRai

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Sylver

Posts: 388

Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:02 pm

Post Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:59 pm

GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

Neverwinter has a rearrangeable interface that can be easily combined with VFX to create some amazing party member silhouettes that have click-through functionality. This allows you greater control over your entire party without having to leave your main character's screen. See below to learn more about how this works and how YOU can use this in your Neverwinter ISBoxer setup as well.

Video FX FEEDS - Totally cool:

I currently have one feed for each party member in place of the normal block of party member silhouettes showing their hitpoints. This minimizes the need to swap back and forth between characters when playing. Remember that you can make them any size you want both for both the source and the viewer (destination side); I made these just the right size to fit all 4 of them into the top corner. Here you can see the 4 VFX feeds at the top left of my screen where the party is normally displayed...

Image

Here's a closer view - the feeds show hitpoints, XP, pots, cooldowns and silhouette with names. I use a stacked 1-5 window display and project the VFX feeds directly onto my SLOT1 player screen. With Repeater enabled for the feeds, the keystrokes go through to the underying SLOT2-5 screens and allow you to click to use potions and perform right-clicks on the portraits to inspect, etc. This second screenshot also shows how I have arranged different elements of the in-game User Interface (Press Escape key and choose to 'Rearrange HUD' from the options menu if you want to do this) piled on top of each other to look like what you see in the screenshot and simply fed that block of screen to the SLOT1 display for my main character (Sylverangel).

Image

And in the 'Re-arrange HUD' view, here's what it looks like:

Image

So here's how you go about doing thisfor your own setup... I personally found the wiki instructions on how to set them up to be a little backwards (viewer before source?), so here's my attempt at explaining a little more clearly how you configure them.

For reference, click this link to see the ISBoxer Wiki background info and instructions on Video FX: http://isboxer.com/wiki/Video_FX

There are 2 steps: 1] Create a source (on the screen or area you want to grab video from) and 2] Create a viewer (on the screen or area you want to display your grabbed video).

**NOTE: ISBoxer must be running and you need to have at least 2 characters loaded before doing this - one screen to grab video from (source), the other to put video onto (destination). I think that the 'stacked' display mode affords more screen space to display VFX, so that is what I use. You can do whatever you want, but I recommend you experiment with that setup first as it makes it very apparent that you're grabbing video from one screen and outputting it to another, different one.

** UBER IMPORTANT - Windows Aero MUST be installed and running on your PC before VFX feeds will work. You can tell if you have Aero if you get little screenshots of your desktop windows on the WIndows Task-bar when you hover your mouse over them. If not, right-click on the Windows Task-bar and configure Windows Aero - then you can proceed...

Also, before getting started creating your sources and viewers, you must know that there are some preset VFX sources named "is1, is2, is3,...". These are full screen feeds of your character screens. If you choose them as a source, you can do per-character Picture-inPicture (PIP) like on a TV. Just so you know up front.. If all you want to do is show a miniature full-screen, then you won't need to create your own source - just use one of these. ;)

1] Creating the VFX source:
- Go to the screen from which you want to grab your source video feed. Once you are there, bring up the in-game ISBoxer Control Panel (by default, this is usually Ctrl+Shift+Alt+G)
- Select the Video FX tab in the ISBoxer Control Panel box that opens as an overlay on your source screen
- The drop-down box at the top has a selection that allows a choice between Source or Viewer - in this case choose 'Source'
- Press 'Add' right next to it. A 'green' box/area will open up that you can put over the part of the screen you want to grab video from
- If you click on that 'green' box/area another window will open where you can adjust the size and position of the source. Adjust to your liking...
- Give your VFX 'source' feed a name if you want to toggle this feed on and off with a key, otherwise leave the name as 'Auto' so that it automatically 'turns on' when you start up your game through ISBoxer. Once the name has been selected, press save.
- Now your source VFX feed will be saved and when you go to the screen you want to output it onto (the destination screen or area) it will show up in the 'source' list. If it doesn't, then you probably didn't hit the save button. I found this interface really confusing and it looks like it was programmed by some Linux geek (no offense to you Linux geeks), but that's the style of graphics and unconventional layout it has...

2] Creating the VFX viewer:
- Go to your destination screen (usually the one you want to play your main character on) and summon the ISBoxer Control Panel (again, by default, this is usually Ctrl+Shift+Alt+G)
- Select the Video FX tab in the ISBoxer Control Panel
- The drop-down box at the top has a selection between Source or Viewer - in this case choose 'Viewer'
- Select the VFX source you created earlier from the list. (If it's not there, go back and create it again - remember to press save!)
- The 'green' box/area window will show up with the title of the source VFX you made earlier ;)
- You can now manually adjust the size and position of the VFX feed
- Repeat this for all of the VFX feeds you want on your screen...

If you've followed everything correctly, you should now be grabbing video from one screen/area and displaying it on another one in just the size and position you want!
- Sylver
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zandokan

Posts: 140

Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 7:50 pm

Post Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

Ok at least I got this done and it looks badass, only minor thing it wont let you click on add to grab video unless you have a name which you put a couple of steps below but the software tells you that. Thanks again man.
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mrmagoo

Posts: 61

Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:01 am

Post Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:56 pm

Re: GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

This info is great! :)

I am such a noob though.

I was trying to do this via keymaps and did not realise the x,y are relative to the screen and not the desktop x,y as used in the window layouts. Could not work out why all my viewers were invisible. They were at coordinations like (2880, 0) and (0,-768)

Of course they are relative to the screen! :(
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Spockette

Posts: 2

Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:14 pm

Post Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:09 pm

Re: GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

Quick Question:

Can this be done in Windows XP ? Any workarounds for installing Windows 7 for the AERO, please?

Thanks in advance!
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MiRai

User avatar

Vibrant Videographer

Posts: 3010

Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:30 pm

Post Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:22 pm

Re: GUIDE: Using Video FX (VFX) to enhance your Multi-box setup

Spockette wrote:Quick Question:

Can this be done in Windows XP ? Any workarounds for installing Windows 7 for the AERO, please?

Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, Windows XP isn't compatible with Video FX.

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