How do you use the -burnin option in MAME

[sandheaver]

I'm trying to set up a -burnin image but I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly.

I'm running "mame64 -str 90 -burnin pacman" and waiting. 

As I understand it, in snaps/pacman/ there should be a "burnin-0.png" file, but all I have is "burnin-" with zero filesize, and final.png, which is generated at the end of an -str run.

Am I doing this wrong or is there a bug?  I ran this on 148u1 and am compiling 148u2 now.

[yotsuya]

I wasn't even aware you could do a burn-in image.

[sandheaver]

I wasn't even aware you could do a burn-in image.

Hehe.  Also, once I get the thing created, I'll have to know how to use it, I suppose...  one step at a time, I guess.

[yotsuya]

I wasn't even aware you could do a burn-in image.

Hehe.  Also, once I get the thing created, I'll have to know how to use it, I suppose...  one step at a time, I guess.

I'll have to research that further. I'm on .145 on my cab, but I plan to redo the system soon and might update. Thanks for the heads up.

[sandheaver]

turns out my troubles were caused by a bug in MAME.  (Presumably MESS as well.)

It'll be fixed in 0.148u3 according to mametesters.

[Endprodukt]

Why would anyone ever want a  burn-in image? That's the point I start throwing away a CRT. Also, that's the point a CRT is losing 3/4 of it's value. Why? Because burn-ins suck.

[Vigo]

You mean this?

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=77221.0

Headkaze's solution is the only thing I am aware of, but it is not a burn-in option, but a way to trick mame to use a burnin image as an overlay bezel.

[sandheaver]

You mean this?

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=77221.0

Headkaze's solution is the only thing I am aware of, but it is not a burn-in option, but a way to trick mame to use a burnin image as an overlay bezel.

Are you asking me?  Well you have to generate the burnin image.  MAME apparently does it well.  Creating a .lay file to display it is the only way to do it that I know of.

Why would anyone ever want a  burn-in image? That's the point I start throwing away a CRT. Also, that's the point a CRT is losing 3/4 of it's value. Why? Because burn-ins suck.

Someone spent time writing it, so it must have seemed like a good idea to someone.  I just wanted to try it, and found that MAME had burnin support broken for over a year.  Clearly not many people use it or I would not have been the one to find it.

I'm not sure how I feel about MAME being a monitor emulator; seems like there should be a separate app for that, but what do I know.  I just know I want to try a burnin image and see how it looks.

[Nightbring3r]

It looks like it does a fair job of creating a burnin mask, but make sure to run it long enough. I used -nothrottle and gave it a few minutes and they look halfway decent. Gives Arkanoid a more realistic feel if you give it some Centipede burnin I bet you could offset the burnin a bit to make it look like a monitor with weak caps too.

Seems like it works in version 0.144 and is broken beyond that. Doesn't work for vectors, and I got inconsistent results with vertical games.

[sandheaver]

It looks like it does a fair job of creating a burnin mask, but make sure to run it long enough. I used -nothrottle and gave it a few minutes and they look halfway decent. Gives Arkanoid a more realistic feel if you give it some Centipede burnin I bet you could offset the burnin a bit to make it look like a monitor with weak caps too.

Seems like it works in version 0.144 and is broken beyond that. Doesn't work for vectors, and I got inconsistent results with vertical games.

Do you have a sample .lay file people can use w/quick instructions on how to use it?  This thread comes up first if you search for 'mame burnin usage' so we have the opportunity to unofficially document the way it's to be done, if we like.

[sandheaver]

End result is pretty decent:

  I went a bit overboard with the convergence maladjustment but I hope you can see what I was aiming for with this test.  No, I will not be doing this full-time; I have an arcade monitor with enough issues of its own. 

Here's the XML that made it work.  For me, this file (default.lay) lives in c:\mamesrc\artwork\mspacman\ along with the burnin image I created using -burnin option.

<mamelayout version="2">
  <element name="BurnIn">
    <image file="burnin-screen.png" />
  </element>
  <view name="Hide Burn In">
    <screen index="0">
      <bounds x="0" y="0" width="224" height="288" />
    </screen>
  </view>
  <view name="Show Burn In">
    <screen index="0">
      <bounds x="0" y="0" width="224" height="288" />
    </screen>
    <bezel element="BurnIn">
      <bounds x="0" y="0" width="224" height="288" />
     <color alpha="0.1" />
    </bezel>
  </view>
</mamelayout>

[Le Chuck]

Thanks for posting the link to the pic.  Perhaps it looks better in person but I'm not sold.  It's too sharp almost, and the color is off.  That said it oddly does feel more legit to play with a slightly burnt in screen since that's how you always find them in the wild.

[sandheaver]

It does look better in person; motion always tricks your eyes a little.  Also, I adjusted this so it looked acceptable on my monitor.  yours may be different.

Also, it might look better if i had a commando burn-in screen while I played Pac-man, for example.  Ms. Pac burn-in with Ms. Pac playing doesn't really show you what it looks like.

[Nightbring3r]

My layout is similar, but I used an alpha closer to 0.05 - looks better on my screen. I does lighten up the black spots too much but maybe it looks better on a CRT. You can also mess with the offsets a bit, maybe by 2-5 pixels in either direction. I haven't tried it yet, but editing the file and making it a bit taller and wider might make it look more authentic too - you know, like the size of the image has shrunk due to caps getting older.

I couldn't get all the games to generate decent burnin images, but I did get a few. Arkanoid looks pretty good, for example, with Gyruss burnin. How did you get a screenshot like that? When I hit F12, all my effects are gone.

[MacGyver]

It looks like it does a fair job of creating a burnin mask, but make sure to run it long enough. I used -nothrottle and gave it a few minutes and they look halfway decent. Gives Arkanoid a more realistic feel if you give it some Centipede burnin I bet you could offset the burnin a bit to make it look like a monitor with weak caps too.

Seems like it works in version 0.144 and is broken beyond that. Doesn't work for vectors, and I got inconsistent results with vertical games.

It won't be long now until someone creates a script to pick a random 80's burnin overlay for use on a 90's machine.   

[sandheaver]

How did you get a screenshot like that? When I hit F12, all my effects are gone.

I had to run it windowed, and use the PrtSc key.