Looking at most posts about projectM, there is no information or documentation that I have found about loading textures, and an install of projectM does not even include the /usr/local/share/projectM/textures directory. In an attempt to get some kind of texture loading I installed winamp in a virtual machine and copied the textures folder out of milkdrop, and put it in the directory where projectM says its looking for a textures folder. I noticed that in that folder, there is a texture called "cells" which happens to be the very texture loaded in the screenshot I mentioned above. I can see from your screenshots that it is indeed possible to load textures in projectM, but I have found no documentation on the subject and am lost as to how to get to that point. I have tried asking for help in the projectM irc and after about 20 hours i gave up when i recieved no response from anyone in there. I have built projectM with cg support and have all the dependencies installed, why is it still not possible to load textures?
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@trademark91 (not that this is still on your radar; but for anyone who may stumble upon this, in response to your query...)
First of all, regarding the "screenshots" you mentioned. I've come to the conclusion that they are screenshots of MilkDrop running in WinAmp, (some of) which they have modified by overlaying their logo or something.
Basically, this project is crap! I've devoted multiple days trying to get this working as the developers claim it does, but without success... (this is a number of years ago-so pardon me if some details have slipped from memory; but I clearly remember the important stuff; and BTW, there have been NO updates to the code since then)
Eventually, by asking questions on other forums I learned some interesting information. Most importantly: that MilkDrop v2 presets—while technically supported—are only partially "rendered", and the part that doesn't render is BY FAR the MOST important aspect of MilkDrop v2! That important bit of missing support is "pixel shaders v2" I believe. MilkDrop was originally written for DirectX 9 (a Microsoft API that obviously only runs in Windows).
They claim that by using the nvidea CG libraries they have managed to add the required support for MDv2 presets.
One of the things I learned (I believe on the nvidia forum?) is that the Mac version of those libraries doesn't even support the shaders they claim it supports- because that support is actually provided through DX9!
Now, I can not personally guarantee the accuracy of that claim, but I recall doing a bit of "background/history checking" of the member who posted this information which revealed numerous posts which were received with many thanks. I was able to satisfy my doubts and to trust the validity of the information.
Furthermore, this is also certainly reflected by my experience with this project, both on Mac and Android... I've NEVER seen projectM properly render ANY of my favorite MDv2 presets (all of which rely heavily on those shaders)
All of this, BTW, if after a very arduous and complicated ordeal of trying to get projectM successfully compiled/built from sources... I can't say how many hours I spent on it, but it was a matter of months before I was able to get the help I needed (from various forums) to get it built with all the proper supports included so that it would actually run (there are flat-out errors in the code, as well as sections which must be patched depending on certain things). That's when I ran into the missing shader support and texture loading problems.
I still keep hoping that the code will be updated at some point; but it's pretty clear that the developers are not releasing any of the new code used to generate the iOS and Android apps.
Although, it really doesn't matter because I know that even the Android app doesn't support the MDv2 presets either.
In fact, I bought the app because they specifically said in an email query I made before purchasing that the Android version had full support for MDv2 presets including the pixel shaders. But it doesn't!
And then, just add insult to injury, a few months later... when they updated the app...
Instead of actually updating it, they created a new one- leaving all those who had previously purchased the app high & dry—having to pay full price for the new upgrade! Fortunately, I learned from a poor sucker who bought the upgrade that it was essentially the same, and whatever new feature they added didn't work correctly and really had nothing to do with the rendering of the actual presets.
THE ONLY time I've ever gotten anything out of the developers regarding this project was when they LIED to me so that I would purchase their app.
As much as I want this to work, it just doesn't; and I doubt it ever will! In fact, from what I understand, there is no way that it ever can work on a Mac (except through some form of emulation/virtualization).
And that is why I say that this project is CRAP!
I would LOVE nothing more than to be proven wrong here! So, if you (whoever you may be) have information that makes me look like an ass and explains how to get this working with the pixel shaders and textures... PLEASE! By all means, make me look like an ass and share the information- or better yet: a link to a fully-working binary for MacOS!
BTW-thank you amoe, your information sounds promising! Haven't tried it, but thank you! (I see no point in wasting anymore time on loading textures or anything with this project until there is some viable evidence that pixel shaders v2 are (or can be) supported since all my favorite MDv2 presets depend on that support.)
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Just dug up an ancient document that I wrote while investigating this from my hard disk. I claimed that the textures do indeed live under /usr/local/share/projectM/textures and they need to be 256x256 or less TGA files. Each preset specifies the texture to load using the syntax "shapecode_0_ImageURL=test.tga" within the .milk file, increasing the value of 0 for each texture. The textures directory path can also be changed by your local ~/.projectM.inp file, I seem to remember. As long as these conditions are fulfilled, then the texture should load.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
every time i see anyone post the output of projectM when they load it, it starts off with
If I am not mistaken, textures are needed for compatibility with quite a few milkdrop2 presets, including one of the presets you have posted on your main page: http://projectm.sourceforge.net/images2/ratings5.png.jpg
Looking at most posts about projectM, there is no information or documentation that I have found about loading textures, and an install of projectM does not even include the /usr/local/share/projectM/textures directory. In an attempt to get some kind of texture loading I installed winamp in a virtual machine and copied the textures folder out of milkdrop, and put it in the directory where projectM says its looking for a textures folder. I noticed that in that folder, there is a texture called "cells" which happens to be the very texture loaded in the screenshot I mentioned above. I can see from your screenshots that it is indeed possible to load textures in projectM, but I have found no documentation on the subject and am lost as to how to get to that point. I have tried asking for help in the projectM irc and after about 20 hours i gave up when i recieved no response from anyone in there. I have built projectM with cg support and have all the dependencies installed, why is it still not possible to load textures?
@trademark91 (not that this is still on your radar; but for anyone who may stumble upon this, in response to your query...)
First of all, regarding the "screenshots" you mentioned. I've come to the conclusion that they are screenshots of MilkDrop running in WinAmp, (some of) which they have modified by overlaying their logo or something.
Basically, this project is crap! I've devoted multiple days trying to get this working as the developers claim it does, but without success... (this is a number of years ago-so pardon me if some details have slipped from memory; but I clearly remember the important stuff; and BTW, there have been NO updates to the code since then)
Eventually, by asking questions on other forums I learned some interesting information. Most importantly: that MilkDrop v2 presets—while technically supported—are only partially "rendered", and the part that doesn't render is BY FAR the MOST important aspect of MilkDrop v2! That important bit of missing support is "pixel shaders v2" I believe. MilkDrop was originally written for DirectX 9 (a Microsoft API that obviously only runs in Windows).
They claim that by using the nvidea CG libraries they have managed to add the required support for MDv2 presets.
One of the things I learned (I believe on the nvidia forum?) is that the Mac version of those libraries doesn't even support the shaders they claim it supports- because that support is actually provided through DX9!
Now, I can not personally guarantee the accuracy of that claim, but I recall doing a bit of "background/history checking" of the member who posted this information which revealed numerous posts which were received with many thanks. I was able to satisfy my doubts and to trust the validity of the information.
Furthermore, this is also certainly reflected by my experience with this project, both on Mac and Android... I've NEVER seen projectM properly render ANY of my favorite MDv2 presets (all of which rely heavily on those shaders)
All of this, BTW, if after a very arduous and complicated ordeal of trying to get projectM successfully compiled/built from sources... I can't say how many hours I spent on it, but it was a matter of months before I was able to get the help I needed (from various forums) to get it built with all the proper supports included so that it would actually run (there are flat-out errors in the code, as well as sections which must be patched depending on certain things). That's when I ran into the missing shader support and texture loading problems.
I still keep hoping that the code will be updated at some point; but it's pretty clear that the developers are not releasing any of the new code used to generate the iOS and Android apps.
Although, it really doesn't matter because I know that even the Android app doesn't support the MDv2 presets either.
In fact, I bought the app because they specifically said in an email query I made before purchasing that the Android version had full support for MDv2 presets including the pixel shaders. But it doesn't!
And then, just add insult to injury, a few months later... when they updated the app...
Instead of actually updating it, they created a new one- leaving all those who had previously purchased the app high & dry—having to pay full price for the new upgrade! Fortunately, I learned from a poor sucker who bought the upgrade that it was essentially the same, and whatever new feature they added didn't work correctly and really had nothing to do with the rendering of the actual presets.
THE ONLY time I've ever gotten anything out of the developers regarding this project was when they LIED to me so that I would purchase their app.
As much as I want this to work, it just doesn't; and I doubt it ever will! In fact, from what I understand, there is no way that it ever can work on a Mac (except through some form of emulation/virtualization).
And that is why I say that this project is CRAP!
I would LOVE nothing more than to be proven wrong here! So, if you (whoever you may be) have information that makes me look like an ass and explains how to get this working with the pixel shaders and textures... PLEASE! By all means, make me look like an ass and share the information- or better yet: a link to a fully-working binary for MacOS!
BTW-thank you amoe, your information sounds promising! Haven't tried it, but thank you! (I see no point in wasting anymore time on loading textures or anything with this project until there is some viable evidence that pixel shaders v2 are (or can be) supported since all my favorite MDv2 presets depend on that support.)
Just to say that I face the same problem.
Come on guys and girls, shed some light on this topic, please!
Just dug up an ancient document that I wrote while investigating this from my hard disk. I claimed that the textures do indeed live under /usr/local/share/projectM/textures and they need to be 256x256 or less TGA files. Each preset specifies the texture to load using the syntax "shapecode_0_ImageURL=test.tga" within the .milk file, increasing the value of 0 for each texture. The textures directory path can also be changed by your local ~/.projectM.inp file, I seem to remember. As long as these conditions are fulfilled, then the texture should load.
I also claimed that textures could also be put directly into the presets directory, /usr/local/share/projectM/presets.