Screenshot Tool for ED - anything out there? any interests in one?

Balmung

Balmung
I want to ask if there is already a Screenshot Tool for Elite Dangerous?

The reason: Elite Dangerous saves all screenshots as uncompressed Bitmap (BMP) files. A 1080p shot needs every time 5,93MB on your hdd/ssd and a high resolution screenshot based on a 1080p game resolution already needs 94,9MB (when I didn't calculate wrong) per shot(!), 11 hires shots and you are already over 1GB.

And that all because of that uncompressed Bitmap format. The PNG format is much better for shots and it is as lossless format, you didn't lose any picture information. Depending on the content of the picture you could save 90% and more, but minimum 50%.


For me it is much more worse, because I play in 4K, so one single hires screenshot needs 379MB. 3 shots and I'm already lost 1,1GB on my hdd/ssd. With PNG the smallest hires shot is only 2,84MB the biggest 142MB and still far away from 379MB. That are all pictures with a size from 15360x8640 (4x 2160p). Another example: I made 127 hires shots in the last week, that needs 4,32GB on my ssd as PNG files, as BMP I would need 47(!)GB.

Because of this little save size problem, when I start for an exploring tour 1 1/2 weeks ago, where you want to make more hires shots, I start to wrote me a little tool. This tool monitors the ED screenshots folder and searching for any BMP files with the correct filesize, if it finds one it plays a "photo shot" sound and convert it automatically to the PNG format and delete the BMP file, when the PNG file was correctly written.

I already start to build that tool out for me, but also with the thinking to release it on the web for the ED community, but at the moment it is not ready for a release. That is also one reason why I ask here if there is already a Tool that ED players use, than I can safe much work for me and us the tool only for me.

What my tool do so far:
- Converting a ED Screenshot BMP to a PNG file and delete the BMP
- Plays a "photo shot" sound when it find a BMP with the right filesize
- Plays a "photo working" loop sound when the player hits alt+F10. For a sound feedback that ED is working on the hires shot
- rename normal F10 screenshot to the same format as hires screenshots. (Example: "Screenshot_2016-02-03_14-23-25.png")
- PNG converting process runs with lower priority
- reads the game resolution out of "DisplaySettings.xml" to calculate the right BMP size. (w*h*3)+54 byte (header etc.)
- settings window with a resize option for hires pictures / play sounds on/off / activate on app start on/off
- settings are saved into a ini text file at the exe path

What I want to do:
- setting up a other save path (actually the PNGs are saved into the same path where the BMP are)
- a sound volume slider in the settings

Possible later:
- saves pictures from one play season in a separated folder
- saves pictures from one day in a single separated folder
- ftp upload

Not sooo possible:
- automatically upload to a picture hoster

What I need to do to release it:
- overwork the GUI
- optimizing some stuff to make the tool more user friendly
- build in some of the "want" features
- use other sounds because: copyright


So the big Question is now:
Is the interest in such a tool high enough here?


P.S. sorry for my english, it's not my native language.
 
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Rikk

R
I shall answer, I venture out of the exploration forums occasionally.

I know EDDiscovery already does the conversion - although personally I don't use it.

I run at 1920x1200 so am OK with the highres shots at the moment - I prefer to take all the data and convert/resize them myself. I understand PNG is supposed to be lossless although I never quite trust that having seen some PNG output. But each to there own there. For me, hard drive space is cheap.

Fact is, you tool sounds like a great idea, as long as there are configurable options for sounds etc. Maybe package a version so folks can have a go?
 

FiddenUK

FiddenUK
You can do batch conversions in various programs such as Photoshop, but also in freeware such as fotosizer.
 

Balmung

Balmung
Didn't know about EDDiscovery. Seams to be more useful to have the system name in the file name. Sure, after I know about the verbose mode I could easily built that into the tool too.
But that is more work and after EDDiscovery already exist it needs more interest for such a tool so that the work on my tool make a sense.

But we will see, don't know how much I build out the tool for myself, could be that I build that staff even for myself into my tool so that I can release it "as it is", but that could take than a bit longer.


@FiddenUK: that is for me only a cheap workaround. I like my tool much more because every screenshot is converted instantly and give you some other features. I could also use the verbose mode to name the shots after the system where it was made (but first I must look what infos the verbose mode gives me that I can work with).

For what did we have such a free Computer system like PCs when we didn't use apps that are specially made for a specified task and make so a better job?


To show a older tool from me: SESkyBoxTool
 
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t3l3c0n

t3l3c0n
ED Toolbox has a screenshot facility where it renames them and puts them in folders named for the systems. There is also the SceenShotChanger tool which does something similar. I've used both at various times and they work a treat
 

Balmung

Balmung
Ok, thanks. Than there are more tools out than I expected and the last one goes exactly in the direction of my tool. ED Toolbox do more, so when it was only that tool I could say my tool is for users that only want a screenshot tool, but for that there is Screen Shot Changer and it is still in development.

So it makes not much sense that I also release such a tool with near similar features.
 

Balmung

Balmung
And you do this after every screenshot you take? ;)

This Tool convert the BMP instantly in the background for you to PNG and give you a sound feedback so you know the shot is really done. I often have the situation that I'm not sure if the game really did a shot, because there is no feedback when you press F10 and on alt + F10, what need some seconds, you often can only recognize it on the FPS drop, that is not every time good to seen when you take one and than also not good to seen when the game is finished to make the hires shot. Thats why I take a sound feedback directly into my tool and is one of the main feature and with the right sounds it matches really good into the game. So you can be every time sure the shot is really taken and correctly saved.
 
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Terry Bruge-Hiplo

Terry Bruge-Hiplo
If you use post processing fx addons like ReShade, you can take screenshots in PNG format by pressing print screen (prtscn key). They get saved in the same folder as EliteDangerous.exe. The only downside of that is that when a game update is released, the whole folder is wiped, and if you don't back up the screenshots, they're deleted.

Another option is to run the game via Steam. F12 saves a JPEG - presumably at 100% quality. One thing that I don't like about that method is, if you're using post processing shaders, they won't be included in the screenshot. I guess something to do with the Steam overlay API accessing the video buffer before ReShade does.
 
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