General feedback v1.0.0.0

Started by goblet1, May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AM

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goblet1

Overall good...

Pros:
Loads any PDF I throw at it.
Seems to render well so is legible at various scales
OSC control works well

Cons/Wishlist :
When each page loads first time, the interface flashes the BG colour.
No continuous mode option so you can see the overlap from page to page (helpful when you have a cue at the top of a page).
No rotation option for horizontal or upside down scripts.
No zoom option for partial page enlargement.
Thumbnail display page numbers are not visible on default black BG.

User error: *can't work out how to OSC control pdf viewer from Multiplay (I can control Multiplay from Android) - Maybe user error - can you please do a step by step of how you control it?

Tested using Multiplay 3.0.214

David

In MultiPlay set up a network patch for local host and OSC format, using a free port number.

Use network cues to send the select commands. Use the ASCII type message for the OSC text.

In PDF Viewer use the same port number you picked in MultiPlay's network patch.

goblet1

Thank you.
I see what I forgot to do - I had not filled in "Destination" IP address in "Production properties/network" . Not sure if I assumed it would default to 127.0.0.1, although that may be a good default (or a clue for newbies)?  Oddly when I was using "J-OSC monitor" freeware OSC scanner it was seeing the OSC messages even though I hadn't set them up properly...

Anyway, so now it works as advertised with full OSC control.
Very nice.
In the other post you mentioned some sort of auto operation if the page numbers were in The "Script Ref" column - I assume that isn't implemented, but it could be pretty neat, although would that go out as part of the OSC Output data, rather than with the current workflow?

David

In the PDF display component I'm using the available display modes are:
  • Single Page - this is what I've used to start with.
  • Double Page - might be useful to show two pages in landscape mode
  • Single Continuous - this is what you're asking for.
I could add a display mode in settings.

I don't know yet if the PDF display component supports rotation or zoom. I put this project together very quickly so haven't explored all of the options yet.

As for the auto operation with Script Ref, yes that's something I'll have to look into later as an option in MultiPlay.

goblet1

A display mode in settings would be great.
With continuous mode (and the current OSC mode) this would 100% replace what I am using now.

Rotation (possibly in the future) would help with the odd landscape PDFs I occasionally get from students...

Thanks again.

David

#5
The next version will have the display mode available in settings.

I had a play around with zoom. At the lower end it stops at 20%. At the upper end the page width is limited to the window width so I've used a nominal limit of 300%. CTRL+ and CTRL- will adjust it in 5% steps and CTRL0 resets it to 100%. You can also use the mouse (CTRL Scroll) to adjust it.

Brian Holder

What should the destination be set to in "Preferences - OSC Control" ?

David

That is for controlling MultiPlay via OSC so nothing to do with the PDF Viewer.

David

Quote from: goblet1 on May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AMWhen each page loads first time, the interface flashes the BG colour.
That's due to the way the control only loads pages as it needs them, so nothing I can do about it yet.

Quote from: goblet1 on May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AMNo continuous mode option so you can see the overlap from page to page (helpful when you have a cue at the top of a page).
Added in the next release.

Quote from: goblet1 on May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AMNo rotation option for horizontal or upside down scripts.
I've asked the component developer about this, but not sure if they will add it.

Quote from: goblet1 on May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AMNo zoom option for partial page enlargement.
Added in the next release.

Quote from: goblet1 on May 18, 2024, 05:57:29 AMThumbnail display page numbers are not visible on default black BG.
Fixed in the next release.

David

OK, I've worked out how to make it preload all pages in the PDF and have added it as an option in settings.

The good news is that once loaded it stops the flickering as new pages are loaded.

It does delay the loading on some files. It also increases initial memory usage, but if you were to scroll through every page to the end of the document the memory usage would end up being the same anyway.

goblet1

Just testing 1.1.0
Great additions - everything I wanted except for rotation.
A couple of issues though, when I use "preload" the smooth rendering seems to deactivate and everything is aliased (obvious when zoom in or out or window resize). Also , the first time "preload" is activated, some of the pages refused to load at all, leaving only BG. This goes away with closing and reopening the program, but aliasing is still present.
When zoomed in, there is no way to navigate the page (to the areas you can't see) in single or double page mode.
I did run into a "out of resources" popup at one stage while swapping into and out of preload with a largish  pdf which had 240 pages with graphics and photos. However I have not been able to replicate it.
 

David

I did see the rendering go weird at some stage so maybe that's why the component developer hasn't publicly enabled preloading yet. I hacked the code to enable it. I've asked them about it.

Brian Holder

Hi David
Is it possible to widen the settings window so that you can see the whole ip address when selecting your adaptor, currently I see either nothing or just a couple of digits. Hovering over the chosen adaptor doesn't work on my tablet.
Thanks
brian

David

For the next release I've made it so the IP address of the selected adapter shows like this:

David

It turns out that page rotation is not available for the PDF component I'm using.

There are components out there that do it, but they are quite expensive.