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Active: 1409 users

[bcoverlay] an overlay for windows / games / bw

Forum Index > BW General
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dosbox
Profile Joined May 2011
27 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-18 16:49:57
May 13 2011 11:19 GMT
#1
hello,

here is a small overlay program that can be used to cover portions of the screen when you record a replay or broadcast a tournament, for example. in can also work for any other purposes outside BW (e.g. SC2, CS, QUAKE) etc.

it only runs on windows but probably on a lot of different versions of the os. tested on xp-x86 and vista-x64. not tested on wine but there is a big chance its broken there due to api incompatibility and bugs.

i'm also pretty sure that most definitely there are alternatives of this out there :-).

------------------------
preview with bw:
[image loading]

preview with bw: (12mb gif video):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28720954/bcoverlay_demo.gif

loading images:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28720954/bc_overlay_demo2.gif

scripting:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28720954/bcoverlay_pos_demo.gif

------------------------
some q&a:

[q]: why use this when bitmaps can be placed in multi-cam software like VHMultiCam ?
[a]: this is a very efficient yet simple alternative written in c (+ some asm to cut a couple of corners). if you have a lets say 10y/o machine you might find that VHMultiCam is actually quite resource hungry. on the other hand you can possibly run 100 instances of this program and still be under 1% cpu (for single frame images).

[q]: how to load images and use transparency ?
[a]: supported image formats (since 0.52) are BMP/GIF/PNG/JPEG. you can check for a short example in the [extras] sections of the "readme.txt" file on how to load images with transparency.

[q]: it says that it cannot load an image ?
[a]: probably there is something wrong with the image format. try to open the file in an image editor (like ms paint, photoshop, image ready) and save the image as a new file.

[q]: why do the colors look bad for some animated GIFs ?
[a]: this should be a similar answer to the one above.

[q]: when i set transparency the overlay disappears with VHScrCap or Xsplit ?
[a]: bcoverlay uses very simple winapi methods to make use of transparency. it also depends on what the capturing software is doing. for example CamStudio _does_ capture transparent windows.
edit: looks like VHScrCap has an option which enables that "Config -> Settings -> Capture layered windows".

[q]: how efficient is it ?
[a]: it is quite efficient for a static overlay, but rendering animated images (multiple frames) is a cpu heavy operation.

[q]: does it support unicode and different languages ?
[a]: it is an unicode application essentially and "should" work with all languages, but i have only tested with latin / cyrillic. one of the downsides of this is that it consumes more ram per instance (~2mb) thus the current maximum number of characters is limited to 512.

[q]: why keyboard shortcuts instead of a settings panel ?
[a]: i think there should be less configuration windows and panels popping out during a stream, so most overlay controls are accessible with shortcut keys. its very easy to get used to the controls.

[q]: i find it a bit difficult to prepare my overlay setup each time ?
[a]: bcoverlay allows command line scripting. each overlay which is currently on the screen has a command line accessible via f5. a list of command lines can be stored in a cmd or bat file and executed later. please check the included files "set_start.cmd" and "set_kill.cmd" for an example.

[q]: where to report bugs ?
[a]: you can report in this thread for now. if not check the "readme.txt" for contact info.
please specify OS/ CPU and steps to reproduce.

[q]: source code ?
[a]: i may release it eventually. it is quite a mess and needs some cleanup. (edit).
------------------------
download (v.0.52):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28720954/bcoverlay.zip

------------------------
cheers ;-)
dosbox
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66202 Posts
May 13 2011 11:26 GMT
#2
wow, this is awesome! thanks! pretty sure some people will find it useful
POGGERS
Essbee
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Canada2371 Posts
May 13 2011 11:31 GMT
#3
Nice first post. This is definitely useful
Hyde
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Australia14568 Posts
May 13 2011 11:52 GMT
#4
Welcome! Awesome first post :D
This will be handy for streamers that's for sure.
Because when you left, Brood War was all spotlights and titans. Now, with the death of the big leagues, Brood War has moved to the basements and carparks. Now, Brood War is unlicensed brawls, lost teeth, and bloody fights for fistfulls of money - SirJolt
2Pacalypse-
Profile Joined October 2006
Croatia9510 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-13 11:53:47
May 13 2011 11:53 GMT
#5
Wow this is awesome!

Any chance for source? For educational purposes only of course!

edit: ah nvm, I see you answered it in faq.
Moderator"We're a community of geniuses because we've found how to extract 95% of the feeling of doing something amazing without actually doing anything." - Chill
Caos2
Profile Joined November 2008
United States1728 Posts
May 13 2011 12:57 GMT
#6
I'd love for streamers to use this, a lot easier for non-korean speaking folks.
Suc
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia1569 Posts
May 13 2011 14:03 GMT
#7
Great contribution, it's about time bw got something like this.
Armathai
Profile Joined October 2007
1023 Posts
May 13 2011 14:07 GMT
#8
Wow this is awesome! I've always been missing a simple solution for putting up player scores.

Great first post, and dosbox is an awesome name, I remember using dosbox to play Tie Fighter, Billy the Kid and other great classics <3

Looking for ArcticCerebrate formerly from @USEast
Grobyc
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Canada18410 Posts
May 13 2011 14:41 GMT
#9
Sweet, I'll probably use this next time I decide to cast replays or something
If you watch Godzilla backwards it's about a benevolent lizard who helps rebuild a city and then moonwalks into the ocean.
byFd
Profile Joined May 2006
Germany620 Posts
May 13 2011 15:29 GMT
#10
thumbs up for the effort!

and nice and clean style, fits to bw imho!
(>°_°)>
Rodiel3
Profile Joined March 2011
France1158 Posts
May 13 2011 15:30 GMT
#11
Thx u, i test it
http://www.youtube.com/user/rodiel3 SCBW FPVOD
infinity2k9
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United Kingdom2397 Posts
May 13 2011 15:32 GMT
#12
I like efficient programs, good job.
byFd
Profile Joined May 2006
Germany620 Posts
May 13 2011 15:36 GMT
#13
ah btw, whats bc in bcoverlay mean?
(>°_°)>
One Page Memory
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
Bulgaria2145 Posts
May 13 2011 16:03 GMT
#14
Welcome and great first post!
Thanks!
Jin Youngsoo before game with Savior: But, I demanded myself (of composure) by saying: Same old, same old - only a Zerg, only a Zerg
[-Bluewolf-]
Profile Blog Joined January 2003
United States609 Posts
May 13 2011 16:51 GMT
#15
Awesome! Seems quite easy to use. Going to use this for my broadcasting event tomorrow.

Thank you for making the available.
The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth.
alypse
Profile Joined May 2010
2771 Posts
May 13 2011 18:32 GMT
#16
Awesome man! Broadcasters will definitely make good use of this!
KT Violet 1988 - 2012
dosbox
Profile Joined May 2011
27 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-14 16:35:27
May 14 2011 16:33 GMT
#17
hello,

thanks for the comments.
@ byFd: bc means "BasiC" i guess. "boverlay" project name was already taken last time i've checked via google.

here is a quick update. the download link in the first posts now points to version 0.2. changelog:
- f5 - will show all settings in the form of a command line, so that such can be reused later on if copy/pasted to a cmd prompt or in a batch script.
- double click right mouse button - duplicates the window with all its settings (except multiline text)
- double click left mouse button - closes the window

notice: the new duplicate functionality might trigger a false-positive in AV software. let me know if this is the case, specifying the AV program (+vendor) and possibly if a heuristics engine is active.

--
[-Bluewolf-]
Profile Blog Joined January 2003
United States609 Posts
May 15 2011 04:07 GMT
#18
I used this today (Version 0.2) and appreciate the release. From my attempt to use it, noticed the following things:

1. Changing the color (F3 or F4) also seems to update the text in this version to the color that was set. So - if I have "Player VS Player" and then change the text color to white, it would now read "FFFFFF".

2. Double clicking on it shouldn't close it, I think. It is too easy to accidentally do so and it happened to me twice using this. I think it would be more user friendly for a double click to simply pop-up the text editor as it is more likely one wants to edit text rather than close it?

Thanks again for the application!
The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth.
dosbox
Profile Joined May 2011
27 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-15 06:56:41
May 15 2011 06:54 GMT
#19
On May 15 2011 13:07 [-Bluewolf-] wrote:
I used this today (Version 0.2) and appreciate the release. From my attempt to use it, noticed the following things:

1. Changing the color (F3 or F4) also seems to update the text in this version to the color that was set. So - if I have "Player VS Player" and then change the text color to white, it would now read "FFFFFF".


oops, that was a bug. fixed in the link in first post now (0.2a).


2. Double clicking on it shouldn't close it, I think. It is too easy to accidentally do so and it happened to me twice using this. I think it would be more user friendly for a double click to simply pop-up the text editor as it is more likely one wants to edit text rather than close it?

Thanks again for the application!


yes, you are correct - "edit text" is more intuitive for double left click. i though that it might be way to easy to close unintentionally....option is now present like you suggested in 0.2a.
--
edit:
p.s. if someone records a vod when using this overlay solution, please post a link for everyone to check out.
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
May 17 2011 14:51 GMT
#20
Does it have to be in windowed mode? I kind of want to put this at the top of my screen just to pretend I am a progamer T.T lol
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