Band-in-a-Box® - Save as a Video!

A feature added with our Band-in-a-Box® 2015 release was the option to Save as Video. This feature is easy to use! When you're ready to save your song within Band-in-a-Box®, choose "Save as Video..." and adjut the settings if you'd like, then choose [OK - Render Video]. Once it's rendered, you can select the [Upload to YouTube], or take a look at your video first when you choose [Show Video File]. You can also choose to open this video file up in a different video program - it's your video file!

What does the video show? The chordsheet within Band-in-a-Box® just as you'd see it when the song is playing - don't worry though, the rendering of the song to video is MUCH FASTER than the duration of the song!

To see this in action, visit THIS LINK for our Support video.

Have you made your own video using this feature? Share it here!

This is a great feature, and I'd love to see it extended to notation.
I'm a sax player, and it would be great to be able to read transposed dots while the backing is playing. I posted this on the wishlist a while back.

I have never quite understood what this feature is good for? Why would I upload a video like this to YouTube? The only thing I can think of is to use as a visual guide for playing along...kind of a musical karaoke for several players to follow along with. Is there some other benefit to this that I have not figured out?

J3, I think you answered your own question.

It can also be used for folks to concurrently see and hear what's going on in a song chord-progression-wise.

The feature also allows you to upload a song to YouTube without having to personally create a video.

Originally Posted By: Mike Laatz

This is a great feature, and I'd love to see it extended to notation....

+1 and Big Lyrics/chord window.

There's a free avi to mp4 converter here to convert the very large avi to smaller mp4 video:

Biab Songs On iPad/Tablets

What a great feature. And what a wonderful job of explaining the applications,
not the least of which is the collaborative, especially the part about muting tracks for the instruments and distributing copies to the band members, and as a learning and teaching tool.
I have been using screen recordings of Baib for a few years, now, and have found them very useful in on-line instruction. This new Baib feature sends that application into the stratosphere, as, now, the interface can be posted and distributed like never before.
You might think I'd have something to add; but, no, you guys have it covered, and more. Great future for Baib, to augment its illustrious past!

I'm glad Callie brought this up.
I wanted to see if anyone else is having problems with it.

I'm running BIAB 2017 (467) on a Windows 10 Home machine.
The problem I'm having (and have had for the past couple of versions of BIAB)
is that if I just want to create a video, and not post it on Youtube,
it doesn't seem to co-operate.

Here's my test:

1. In a new instance of BIAB, go to File > Open and navigate to the bb folder
2. Scroll down the list past all the folders and open the first .mgu file !BYRDQRT
3. Change the number of choruses to 1, just so it isn't so long
4. Click the Save As icon and select the "Save as Video" choice
5. Leave all the boxes to their defaults and click OK - Render Video
6. When it has finished, click Show Video File, then double click the file

Mine opens in a default player called "Films & TV", and contains only audio,
but when I open it in any of 2 or 3 other players, the AVI file doesn't show the entire song, only a portion.

If anyone has time to see if they can replicate this, I'd appreciate it.
I chased it around last winter with the PG Support team, to the point that they even sent me a test file, which I still can't get to work.

Help!
Thanks!
LLOYD S

I have a similar issue that the video does not show the entire screen. Only about 3/4 screen, the first 20 bars. I have found that selecting the scroll ahead option does advance the hidden bars...

Originally Posted By: Lloyd S

..

Mine opens in a default player called "Films & TV", and contains only audio,
but when I open it in any of 2 or 3 other players, the AVI file doesn't show the entire song, only a portion..

Can you try it with the converter from the above post
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Encoders-Converter-DIVX-Related/Free-AVI-to-MP4-Converter.shtml

or try https://www.codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_mega.htm
when you install KLite it will give a right click "MediaInfo"

Attached picture MediaInfo.jpg

Originally Posted By: Pipeline

+1 and Big Lyrics/chord window.

+100 !

I posted this black screen problem on the other thread. Definitely an issue in Windows 10.
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=430957#Post430957

Pipeline:

I don't mind trying some converters to get the AVI file down to MP4 size.
However, what I'm trying to establish is, does the BIAB "Save as Video" function, work as advertised, or does it need to be fixed, for those who want a video, but don't necessarily want to post it to Youtube.

If you and Charlie have both tried the non-youtube process and it works for both of you using my method above, then either I'm doing something wrong or there's a glitch in the BIAB program.

Thanks!
LLOYD S

No, sorry, I don't have Win10 anymore as I upgraded to Win7.

I would just try the converter to mp4 and see if you get the video first. The Mac versions saves straight to mp4.
If the uploaded avi won't show on Win10 but shows on youtube then it's just a codec issue.

Quote:

No, sorry, I don't have Win10 anymore as I upgraded to Win7.

I did the same thing on my laptop after Windows 10 developed an unrecoverable blue screen (after having using it with Windows 10 for almost a year). I much later figured out what the problem was and know what to do now, but haven't gone back. That being said, my two desktop machines are on Windows 10.

I agree...if it works with YouTube, but not locally, then it is a Codec issue.

I am hesitant to set up a YouTube account just to do a little testing.
I was hoping that someone running Win 10 would be able to try the non-youtube function to see if they get the same unusable results.

If it's a Codec issue, then it's a BIAB issue.
BIAB should include, and use, a working Codec when you click the "Show Video File" button, or at the very least, inform you that you don't have the correct Codec and offer to send you to the appropriate website to get it.

Thanks all !!
LLOYD S

Try a media player with it's own built-in codes like SMPLAYER

Pipeline:

That just may work, but it doesn't address the underlying problem.

Thanks!
LLOYD S

HI

The normal windows Media Player works for me on windows 7

However it wont play if BIAB is still using the file you need to exit the song in Biab, or close the program having made a note of where BI|AB saves the video file.

Almost any free media player will play these files including VLC it is a fairly common codec most media players will play by default as one of the possible AVI codec types.

Mke

Mike:

I tried your tip of closing BIAB before playing the .AVI file and that works in both Windows Media Player and VLC
HOWEVER
it only DISPLAYS the first couple of lines (8 bars), then the sound continues but the graphic is just a black background.
All this is, again, using Win 10.

I'll try Charlie's idea of using "scroll ahead" and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for your help!
LLOYD S

HI

Pleased it worked
Yes I did tick the Scroll ahead box on the render page.
Have fun
Mike

I tried the "scroll ahead" option in the "Make Video of the Chordsheet" window,
and it works way better than anything else I've tried.
HOWEVER
it still only displays the first couple of lines of bars, rather than filling the entire window with the chord grid.

Getting closer.
Thanks all for your help!

LLOYD S

Can you post a pic of the video ?
You can also try > Edit > Song form > Unfold.
While it's rendering the video and audio together,
make a copy of C:\bb\Data\avim\AVIMImages as it deletes them after it's finished.
Open the C:\bb\Data\avim\AVIMImages - Copy and see if the still bmp's are correct.

I will try and install Window10 on another drive later and try it rendering video.

Pipeline:

The song doesn't need to be unfolded. I've already changed the number of choruses to 1.
I managed to copy the images.
There are 35 .bmp files numbered 0_0 to 34_34, plus the "Audio.WAV" file.
(The song shows the "Start" and "End" bars at 1 and 32)

None of the bmp files are correct, in that they only each show 6 bars.
(Which is differently wrong from the AVI file.)
For example, the first image shows Bars 1,2,3 and then directly under them,
Bars 5,6,7. The remainder of each image is blank, black background.
And so on for each of the other .bmp files.

(Sorry, I don't know how to post the images here).

Thanks for your help!
LLOYD S

Quote:

(Sorry, I don't know how to post the images here).

Click the 'Reply' button (or 'Edit Reply' to change a previous post)
Then, below the box where you make the new (or edited) post is a pretty small link called 'File Manager'
If you open that link you can attach images to the forum post.

You have to select the file, then 'add' the file, then click 'done adding files'.
But after a few clicks and doing it once or twice it gets easier. See below.

Attached picture AddImage.jpg

rharv:

I tried following your instructions.
When I get done, it gives me an error message saying the file type has to be: gif, jpg, png.
Mine are all .bmp files.
Seems like a lot of hassle.
Hope my previous description will suffice.

Thanks for your help!
LLOYD S

In whatever program you are using for the image, try using 'Save As' and make it a jpg, gif (or whatever) accepted file type.

Some screen capture softwares default to saving as a bitmap (BMP), but I don't think I've won't seen one that won't allow "Save As' a jpg file .. then you can use the mentioned feature

The only program I'm using is BIAB.
And the only file type available to create the "video" is .AVI.
I'm just intercepting the .bmp files as per Piplelines instructions above.

Thanks!
LLOYD S

You can press the Print Screen button on your keyboard the open Windows Paint > Edit > Paste > Save As JPG.

Attached picture BMP2AVI.jpg

I had a Win10 Live CD that I booted from.
Biab ran form it, open song, saved to video, it use the default codec CVSM MS-CRAM
The bmp's sequence generated fine, the avi played fine.

Attached picture Win10 BMP2AVI.jpg

Pipeline:

I see that the screenshot of the bmp's shows they were created using Win 7.
So besides that one working, you're saying it worked the same in Win 10 is that right?

Also, which "player" did you use to run the .avi file?

Thanks!
LLOYD S

I uploaded the avi direct to Dropbox:
Watch: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1x1ribxqxfo2ri/BRAVADO_Win10.avi?dl=0
Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1x1ribxqxfo2ri/BRAVADO_Win10.avi?dl=1
Click No Thanks Continue at bottom if you get a Login.
Have a look in the bb\Data\avim\AVIM_Output.txt it should show the available encoding codecs.
If you could upload a screen shot of your bmp thumbnails "You can press the Print Screen button on your keyboard the open Windows Paint > Edit > Paste > Save As JPG." or open the bmp in Paint and save as JPG.

You can also try right click bb\Data\avim\avim.exe > Compatibility > run XP or 7 and Run as Admin.

This is the codec Win10 Biab used to encode the video.

Code:

General
Complete name               : C:\Users\Band In A Box\Downloads\BRAVADO Win10.avi
Format                      : AVI
Format/Info                 : Audio Video Interleave
File size                   : 40.0 MiB
Duration                    : 3 min
Overall bit rate            : 1 782 kb/s

Video
ID                          : 0
Format                      : MS Video
Codec ID                    : CRAM
Codec ID/Info               : Microsoft Video 1
Duration                    : 3 min
Bit rate                    : 372 kb/s
Width                       : 640 pixels
Height                      : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 16:9
Frame rate                  : 10.000 FPS
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.162
Stream size                 : 8.27 MiB (21%)
Title                       : 01E6-4BDF.avi Video #1

Audio
ID                          : 1
Format                      : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign       : Signed
Codec ID                    : 1
Duration                    : 3 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 1 411.2 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Sampling rate               : 44.1 kHz
Bit depth                   : 16 bits
Stream size                 : 31.7 MiB (79%)
Alignment                   : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration        : 734  ms (7.34 video frames)
Title                       : Microsoft Waveform: Audio.WAV

Pipeline:

1. I took a look at the avi file in Dropbox so now I know what a working one is suppose to look like.

2. The AVIM_Output.txt file shows this:

Success=1
Function=MakeVideo

OutputVideoName=C:\bb\Data\avim\OutputVideo1.avi

ErrorCode=0
ErrorString=

3. For the screenshot, I'll try it here after I post this. There's no "Reply" button available here.

Thanks!
LLOYD S

Pipeline:

I added the screenshot to this post. The "File Manager" says (Total Files: 1)

Attached picture Screen Shot.jpg

Pipeline:

You said:

"You can also try right click bb\Data\avim\avim.exe > Compatibility > run XP or 7 and Run as Admin."

When I right click that file, there's nothing about Compatibility. There is a "Run as Administrator" which I selected. Then when I double click on that file, I get a BIAB yellow box error "Video rendering video has failed."

Obviously, I don't know what I'm doing here.
Thanks for your help!
LLOYD S

In my AVIM_Output.txt

Click to reveal..

What Codecs do you have (see pic 1)
What row setting are you on (see pic 2)

Attached picture BB_Make_Video_Codec.jpg

Pipeline:

My codecs list is the same as the first 4 of yours. I`ve been using the default CVSM:MS-CRAM
My Number of Columns and Number of Rows are both set to 4.
My song plays correctly on-screen, it just seems to go haywire in the video.

Thanks!
LLOYD S

All that's left is Options > Return to Factory Settings.

Pipeline:

OK, I did a Return to Factory Settings, then did a "cold" reboot, and then went through my original "process" shown on Page 1 of this thread. After rendering, I got:

- With the default AVI player, it played audio only.
- "Open With" Windows Media Player it now shows the same as what Charlie Fogle got, i.e.
"I have a similar issue that the video does not show the entire screen. Only about 3/4 screen, the first 20 bars."

After that, the audio continues but no video. (Scroll Ahead has not been checked yet.)
- "Open With" VLC produced the same result.

****************************
After enabling the Scroll Ahead feature, the file now plays all the way through (as Charlie suggested), with both WMP and VLC, but the display window is never "full" like your sample. It shows only 5 lines of grid at one time.

I'm going to try the same process on another computer and see what results I get. Would it be possible that it has something to do with the graphics card or driver? I'm just grasping at straws now.

Thanks so much for all your testing. I appreciate it.
LLOYD S

As long as you get the correct bmp sequence, a still for every bar number it should mux encode them with the audio.wav to avi.
It's a mystery but I'm sure you will get it sorted.

* I just remembered something, change the font size and add a few more rows, as I remember rendering a video once with lyrics and it was fine playing in Biab but was totally screwed up and crammed in the video, but when I reduced the font size it was fine.
The bitmaps in your pic are a bit hard to see but it looks like the chord name take up the whole bar, can you upload a single bmp still, just open it in Paint and save as JPG.

Here's the post http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=373780#Post373780

Pipeline:

Here's the good news.
As per my last post, I tried the exact same process on a different (older, desktop) machine, and it works perfectly, even without scroll-ahead! Strange thing is, that old one is running Win XP.

Armed with your idea regarding font size, I went back to the original test machine (laptop, Win 10) and matched the "Display Options" exactly to the desktop. When I did a new rendering, still no luck. The only difference is, instead of getting 5 rows of chords, covering 3/4 of the window, I get 4 rows that cover 1/2.

So I went back to the Display Options and reduced the "Chord Font Size %" even further. Still no go.

My next step is to try running BIAB on 2 or 3 more laptops running Win 10. Wife, daughter and son all have different ones. I assume I can use the PGMusic "30 Day Test" function from my BIAB 2016 thumb drive. I'll report back with results.

Thanks for staying with me on this.
Much appreciated!
LLOYD S

Lloyd,
Try using the small main toolbar (Ctrl T) will switch it to that. Let me know if that fixes the video issues.

Peter:

I tried Ctrl T as you suggested.
It now works perfectly!
Hallelujah!
Thanks so much. Hope that little bit of info can somehow be added to the Help file as a suggestion, and your Support staff be made aware of it.

LLOYD S

Thank God, I mean Peter for that !

Just want to wrap up my part of this discussion.
I desperately wanted this feature to work, as I think I can find a pertinent place for it in my music goings-on. After battling the issue last winter, I waited through the summer to bring it up, as I knew it would need some time and patience here on the forum.

I appreciate those who took time to offer insights and suggestions, particularly Pipeline who likely spent as much effort on it as I, or maybe more.

And especially Peter for coming up with a viable solution. What other software company do you know, where the "main man" observes a couple of his program's users, struggling over a problem, and offers a simple and elegant solution, ON THE WEEKEND? It's no wonder PG Music has such a dedicated following.

My heartfelt thanks to all !!
LLOYD S