@polygame
BAM menu settings and CFG files
As for messing with BAM's Lighting and Post Processing in BAM menu....yes you can make that work for all tables. The easiest way to do that is get the look you want... then in BAM chose "Save as Default" (which savesthose settings to BAM\default.cfg).
From this point on you can use those settings for any table at any time by choosing "Reset to Default".
If you want all tables to use those settings without you needing to mess with any menus for other tables....then delete the tables's BAM cfg files in BAM\CFG. When a table loads the first time it will use the default.cfg file's settings automatically and create a BAM\CFG file for the table based on that.
However... keep in mind, that you are only mostly changing the main "global light" from the BAM menu. The one big limitation FP has is that light inserts / image lights are not self luminous and are affected by the global lighting.
So if you try to reduce the main global lighting to get a more realistic look, then the inserts and image lights will also be dim.
BUT.... BAM now allows you to change almost every aspect of all lights from table script! This is a big deal and something I wanted for a long time! This allows you to reduce the global lighting and change post processing to get a more realistic look... but then you can adjust all the playfield lights / flashers / images lights, etc to match your desired global lighting so they will be lit up correctly!
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Old tables verses new tables using BAM features
Here's an example of an older table NOT using any BAM features. It's the older
Jaws Ultimate.
The BAM "Lights" settings in this pic are actually what we like to use on NEW updated tables using BAM features and lighting,etc.
As you can see.... on an old table it looks horrible. The light inserts are very dim... the playfield is using the older method of using another playfield surface with a "dark texture" (which means no reflections). This is with no other lighting turned on.
Here is the same table with the same BAM settings with the game started and all lights are on. Same problem. Everything is dim... you can't see anything...it looks terrible.
New table using BAM features
Here's the new
Jaws Ultimate Pro - PinEvent (with a few changes from me on top of SLAM's many changes and updates).
This is using the same BAM lighting as above that we tend to like to use today. It's almost the same as Dark Night preset with some adjustments, and I also adjust the Post Processing.
This is with no other lights on. As you can see the light inserts are now very bright and visible.
Now here is the table with the GI and other lights on. Still using the same BAM lighting set in the pic. When combined with other settings and hardware lights (flashers) for GI you can see the table looks stunning in comparison. When you see it play the lighting from the flashers looks so much better and it all looks more realistic. You can see it shine and reflect off the ball and it affects everything on the playfield!
...and here you can see all the light inserts and other lights change their colour to red for when a swimmer gets eaten. The playfield texture is also changed here to accent the red...but it isn't showing another playfield surface! It's BAM changing the texture on the fly in table script. This can be done on the translite...objects...any texture used on almost everything can be changed!
So what changed to make it look so much better using BAM features?
- removal of all additional fake playfield surfaces... no dark playfield textures needed! This allows for full reflections on the playfield and also shadowmaps to be used
- adding 3 detached hardware lights (flashers with a nano model) for GI lighting that are hidden in the lockdown bar. Since they are detached (you change that in script), BAM lets you position the actual light source anywhere you want (x,y,z) separately from the model! In this case 2 are positioned in the slingshots, and the 3rd is back in the bumper area. this is a BIG change to how lighting is done!
- adding BAM generated shadow maps (you can see them around the sling shots, etc) that will automatically show and hide with the light they are generated from
- bump / normal mapping on Jaws, slingshot ring vests, barrel light, wall art
- adjusted brightness / glow as needed for all lights (mostly inserts and GI flashers) in table script for when the GI is on and when the GI is off
- swapping of playfield textures (if needed) for accenting lighting,etc.
- add the adjusted BAM Light and Post Processing settings (shown in the pic) to the table script startup to be sure ALL lighting is correct for everyone who uses the table! Very important! No need for anyone to mess with BAM for lighting!
Using the above steps as standard for new and older tables can really make a huge difference! There's much more that can be used and done with BAM though!
My Lightsaber mod in this pic was made by changing the lightsaber blades to bulbs.... then using BAM in script to set the blade colour to white and change the brightness to a VERY intense bright white so it can be seen no matter what and will look like the core of a lightsaber blade. Then I used your "Neon" table example Steve as inspiration to use animated holograms for the blade colours. BAM's mini playfield captures the entire blade handle, bulb, flasher light and hologram and moves it for table events (when the two blades clash together, etc)
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Large texture images...not sure as I haven't run into that yet (maybe it was fixed). I've used 4K playfield images without any problem.
Image sequences you can definitely do more than 8 fps :)
On my MOTU mod I think I was using anywhere from 15 to 20 fps for my Image Sequences, but that was more to the limited animation of the source material (no need for more). I have 1000+ images for videos. I did have over 2000+ images at one point....but that was pushing FP too far for memory (its a 32 bit app still)...so I removed the "intro" video.
I think there's still be a max number of images you can use per Image List... at least SLAM mentioned that not long ago. You can still use a lot though.
As for polygons...well I can tell you that you can use objects with a high polygon count... but they will take a LOOOOONG time to load when you play.
I was playing around with trying to import a fester object from a friend's highly detailed VPX version of TAF. When I used it with the original high polygon count...it took like 5 mins to load the table :) I reduced the polygon count to like 15% of the original...and that worked much better. Here's a pic of the newer fester with the reduced poygons.
....and me using BAM to make TAF U-Pro change to black and white for the Classic Addams TV mode by simply changing the Post Processing settings in script. Most of the table changes correctly.... but I still need to change some bulb and flasher colours to white... and I needed to use BAM to swap the translite texture to black and white as well.
Converting the model was a fun process...
- export object and texture from vpx table
- import to blender to reduce the polygon count and also to orient the object (VPX use messed up orientation)
- import object to milkshape to size and position it for FP use
- export it to milkshape 3d format
- import to FP Model Editor and change to whatever FP toy / object you want to use
- export to FP model format
- import fp model and UV texture to use....test....wait forever for table to load...
- repeat process until model doesn't take forever to load