Take screenshot with directX?

Hi, I am trying to take a screenshot using directX.
I have tried to compile some samples and read some articles but I can´t get it to work.

The problem is the 2 functions that saves the surface to a file, SurfaceLoader.Save() and D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile().

When I try to use surfaceloader.save I get the error: “error: `SurfaceLoader' undeclared (first use this function)”.

And then the function D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile that almost all uses in there examples and articles, when I try to use it I get the error: “main.cpp: undefined reference to `D3DXSaveSurfaceToFileA@20'”

I hope that someone can tell me how to get one of the functions to work, or how to work around the problem. like saving the surface to a GDI's BITMAP and then save it.

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream.h>
#include <dx9/d3d9.h>
#include <dx9/d3dx9.h>
#include <dx9/D3dx9tex.h>

IDirect3DDevice9*        g_pd3dDevice=NULL;
IDirect3DSurface9*        g_pSurface=NULL;

using namespace std;

int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hThisInstance,
                    HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                    LPSTR lpszArgument,
                    int nFunsterStil)

{
    g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(200, 300, D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &g_pSurface, NULL);
    g_pd3dDevice->GetFrontBufferData(0, g_pSurface);
    //this
    SurfaceLoader.Save("Screenshot.bmp", 0, g_pSurface);
    //or???
    D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile("Screenshot.bmp",D3DXIFF_BMP,g_pSurface,NULL,NULL);
   
    g_pSurface->Release();
    return 0;
}

---

EDIT:
I use: DEV-C++, C++, dxsdk_aug2005

SurfaceLoader is not defined anywhere.
You can't use something of which you haven't created. That simple.
That is why you get that compile error.

I think he has XNA and DX mixed up in the same code. D3DXSaveTextureToFile() will work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elysia

SurfaceLoader is not defined anywhere.
You can't use something of which you haven't created. That simple.
That is why you get that compile error.

---

But SurfaceLoader is a class/function in dx?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...30(VS.85).aspx
So, how do I define in?

I don't know how it works (where it's located and if it's managed or whatever). But Bubba did point out that D3DXSaveTextureToFile will work, so use that instead then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bubba

I think he has XNA and DX mixed up in the same code. D3DXSaveTextureToFile() will work.

---

I get the same error :/
"undefined reference to `D3DXSaveTextureToFileA@16'"

Did you link against the correct lib?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elysia

Did you link against the correct lib?

---

Yes
I tried to add all the libs to my project and i even tried to use the "unicode version", but I get the same error.

This is one of the articles: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dialog/screencap.aspx

From what I understand, you must link with d3dx9.lib. Make sure you do that and that it's the correct version.

Now I have installed the directX Dev-pack for dev-c++, and the samples works fine and my program compiles as it should.
But, when I try to start my program it crashes.

When I debug it I get the error: "An access volation (Segmentation Fault) raised in your program" and highlights the row “g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(“
When I comment out all the "->" rows the program works fine, I think is something whit "g_pd3dDevice->".

I find the code in a other forum, and it seems to work for all the outers
I am probably doing something wrong, so if someone can take a last look =)

Code:

---

#include <d3d9.h>
#include <d3dx9.h>
//#include <D3dx9tex.h>
#include <windows.h>
//#pragma comment(lib,"d3d9.lib")
//#pragma comment(lib,"d3dx9.lib")

IDirect3DDevice9*        g_pd3dDevice=NULL;
IDirect3DSurface9*        g_pSurface=NULL;

bool SaveScreenShot( char *fileName, _D3DXIMAGE_FILEFORMAT ImgFormat);

INT WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int nCmdShow )
{
   
    SaveScreenShot("test.bmp",D3DXIFF_BMP);
    //g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(200, 300, D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &g_pSurface, NULL);
    //g_pd3dDevice->GetFrontBufferData(0, g_pSurface);
    //g_pd3dDevice->CreateTexture(200,300,0,0,D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8,D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &g_pTexture,NULL);
    //this
    //SurfaceLoader.Save("Screenshot.bmp", 0, g_pSurface);
    //or???
    //D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile("Screenshot.bmp",D3DXIFF_BMP,g_pSurface,NULL,NULL);
    //g_pSurface->Release();
    return 0;
}

bool SaveScreenShot( char *fileName, _D3DXIMAGE_FILEFORMAT ImgFormat)
{
        HRESULT hr;       
       
        //The front buffer used to get the screenshot       
        LPDIRECT3DSURFACE9 buffer = NULL;
       
       
        // Create a surface for the screenshot to be rendered to       
        if( FAILED( hr = g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(
                1024,
                768,       
                D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &buffer, NULL ) ) )               
                return false;       
       
        // Write the front buffer to the surface       
        if( FAILED( hr = g_pd3dDevice->GetFrontBufferData( 0, buffer ) ) )
                {                       
                        //mGCLog.Error("Cannot Acquire front buffer...");                       
                        buffer->Release();                       
                       
                        return false;               
                }       
                               
        D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile( fileName, ImgFormat, buffer, NULL, NULL );       
       
        // Cleanup       
        buffer->Release();               
        return true;
}

---

Not sure if you should be releasing the buffer if it failed? I could be wrong ;)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...88(VS.85).aspx

Take a look and read.

Yes, you probably have right, but I don´t think it is something to do with bad code. or?
because I can start a program that looks like this:

Code:

---

#include <d3d9.h>
#include <d3dx9.h>
#include <windows.h>

IDirect3DDevice9*        g_pd3dDevice=NULL;
IDirect3DSurface9*        g_pSurface=NULL;

INT WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int nCmdShow )
{
    return 0;
}

---

But when I try to start this it crashes:

Code:

---

#include <d3d9.h>
#include <d3dx9.h>
#include <windows.h>

IDirect3DDevice9*        g_pd3dDevice=NULL;
IDirect3DSurface9*        g_pSurface=NULL;

INT WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE, LPSTR, int nCmdShow )
{
    g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(200, 300, D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &g_pSurface, NULL);
    g_pSurface->Release();
    return 0;
}

---

I probably need to turn to a devc++ forum now? If someone can´t find anything.

But you haven't created any devices yet!
You haven't assigned any valid pointers to g_pd3dDevice and g_pSurface!

Thanks for pointing me on the right way, now it´s working like a glove =)

But I have 3 miner issues I hopped if someone can point me to a solution:

I am trying to take sceenshots in a game that uses dx. In fullscreen the screenshots only gets black, but in windowmode it´s working fine, why?

When I running a game that using dx, I can´t start my program.
It fails on:

Code:

---

if(FAILED(g_pD3D->CreateDevice(D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT,D3DDEVTYPE_HAL,hwnd,D3DCREATE_SOFTWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING ,&d3dpp,&g_pd3dDevice)))
        {
                MessageBox(NULL, "Unable to Create Device", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
                return E_FAIL;
        }

---

If I start my program first then starts the game, it´s working fine, but if I shutdown my program and try to start I again it fails? If o shutdown the game then my program works again.

And last up.
I read that getfrontbufferdata is very slow, and it´s. The pictures get all messed up if it´s something moving on the screen. Is there a better way to do it? Or maybe a faster way to get a whole frame?

I don't think it's a very good idea to use software processing of any kind. But I don't know if DX requires exclusive access either...
Every card today supports hardware processing which is like 1000x times faster.

You are specifying the HAL yet you then say you want software T&L. This is a big mistake and will seriously impact your performance.

Incidentally in regards to GetFrontBufferData()

Quote:

---

This method is the only way to capture an antialiased screen shot.

---

There are other ways to get to the front buffer pixel data if you don't require the data to appear exactly as you see it on screen.

The code look like this now:

Code:

---

HRESULT        InitD3D(HWND hwnd)
{
    g_pD3D = Direct3DCreate9( D3D_SDK_VERSION );

    if( g_pD3D == NULL ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "failure of Direct3DCreate9", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);// TO DO: Respond to failure of Direct3DCreate8
        return E_FAIL;
    }
   
    int nMode = 0;
    D3DDISPLAYMODE d3ddm;
    bool bDesiredAdaptorModeFound = false;
    int nMaxAdaptorModes = g_pD3D->GetAdapterModeCount( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8 );

    for( nMode = 0; nMode < nMaxAdaptorModes; ++nMode ) {
        if( FAILED( g_pD3D->EnumAdapterModes( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8, nMode, &d3ddm ) ) ) {
            MessageBox(NULL, "Respond to failure of EnumAdapterModes", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
            return E_FAIL;
        }
        if( d3ddm.Width != 640 || d3ddm.Height != 480 ) { continue; }// Does this adaptor mode support a mode of 640 x 480?
        if( d3ddm.Format != D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8 ) { continue; }// Does this adaptor mode support a 32-bit RGB pixel format?
        if( d3ddm.RefreshRate != 75 ) { continue; }// Does this adaptor mode support a refresh rate of 75 Hz?
        bDesiredAdaptorModeFound = true; // We found a match...
        break;
    }

    if( bDesiredAdaptorModeFound == false ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "lack of support for desired adaptor mode", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return E_FAIL;
    }
   
    if( FAILED( g_pD3D->CheckDeviceType( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DDEVTYPE_HAL, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8, FALSE ) ) ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "lack of support for a 32-bit back buffer", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return E_FAIL;
    }

    if( FAILED( g_pD3D->CheckDeviceFormat( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DDEVTYPE_HAL, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8,  D3DUSAGE_DEPTHSTENCIL, D3DRTYPE_SURFACE, D3DFMT_D16 ) ) ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "lack of support for a 16-bit z-buffer", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return E_FAIL;
    }

    D3DCAPS9 d3dCaps;
    if( FAILED( g_pD3D->GetDeviceCaps( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DDEVTYPE_HAL, &d3dCaps ) ) ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "Respond to failure of GetDeviceCaps", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return E_FAIL;
    }

    DWORD dwBehaviorFlags = 0;
    if( d3dCaps.VertexProcessingCaps != 0 ) {dwBehaviorFlags |= D3DCREATE_HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING; }
    else { dwBehaviorFlags |= D3DCREATE_SOFTWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING; }

    D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS d3dpp;
    memset(&d3dpp, 0, sizeof(d3dpp));

    d3dpp.Windowed                    = TRUE;
    d3dpp.EnableAutoDepthStencil      = TRUE;
    d3dpp.AutoDepthStencilFormat      = D3DFMT_D32;
    d3dpp.SwapEffect                  = D3DSWAPEFFECT_COPY;
    d3dpp.BackBufferWidth              = 1024;
    d3dpp.BackBufferHeight            = 768;
    d3dpp.BackBufferFormat            = D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8;
        d3dpp.BackBufferCount              = 1;
    d3dpp.Flags                        = D3DPRESENTFLAG_LOCKABLE_BACKBUFFER;
        d3dpp.PresentationInterval        = D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT;
        d3dpp.FullScreen_RefreshRateInHz  = D3DPRESENT_RATE_DEFAULT;
   
    if( FAILED( g_pD3D->CreateDevice( D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, D3DDEVTYPE_REF, hwnd, dwBehaviorFlags, &d3dpp, &g_pd3dDevice ) ) ) {
        MessageBox(NULL, "Respond to failure of CreateDevice", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return E_FAIL;
    }
    return S_OK;
}

void Cleanup()
{
    if( g_pd3dDevice != NULL ) g_pd3dDevice->Release();
    if( g_pD3D != NULL ) g_pD3D->Release();
    if( g_buffer!= NULL ) g_buffer->Release();
}

bool SaveScreenShot( char *fileName, _D3DXIMAGE_FILEFORMAT ImgFormat)
{
    if( g_buffer!= NULL ) g_buffer->Release();
        HRESULT hr;       
               
        if( FAILED( hr = g_pd3dDevice->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(1024,768,D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, D3DPOOL_SCRATCH, &g_buffer, NULL ) ) ) {
                MessageBox(NULL, "asd", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return false;
    }       
       
        if( FAILED( hr = g_pd3dDevice->GetFrontBufferData( 0, g_buffer ) ) ) {               
                MessageBox(NULL, "asd2", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
        return false;               
        }
       
        D3DXSaveSurfaceToFile( fileName, ImgFormat, g_buffer, NULL, NULL );
    return true;
}

---

The starting problem is fixed now.

But I still have the problem that the screens gets messed up if something is moving on the screen, for example a game (coping is to slow).
Can you tell me some other way to do that I want? Or maybe how to speedup getfrontbufferdata?

I read something about getbackbuffer and swapchain/effect? But I didn’t find anyone that explains how to use them correctly, I tried some ways but I din´t get it to work, only gets black screens.

Aside from using a mix of tabs and spaces for indentation, I don't see anything immediately to improve - but I will be the first to say that I don't know much about D3D either. Oh, and try to cut down those really long lines into two or more lines - that stops the posts themselves being "out of whack" too.

Certainly, I can't really see how you would improve the saving of the frame-buffer- GetFrontBufferData is the way you do that, and once it's been saved, the time it takes to store the file is irrelevant.

--
Mats

Thanks for the tip =P

So, I can´t take a whole “one frame” of a running game using dx?

The only way to do that is to “lock” the game, and then screen it?
And that is not possible on a game that I don’t control?
But even if it´s possible it´s not a nice thing to do for the player that is playing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dampy

Thanks for the tip =P

So, I can´t take a whole “one frame” of a running game using dx?

The only way to do that is to “lock” the game, and then screen it?
And that is not possible on a game that I don’t control?
But even if it´s possible it´s not a nice thing to do for the player that is playing.

---

Which brings the question of what you are actually trying to achieve.

One idea is that if you raise the priority of your task, it will steal enough CPU time to make your task finish first without much notice to the other task.

--
Mats

It´s very straight forward, I am trying to take a screenshot of a running game using DX :P

Yes, I have already achieved that, but the problem is that the functions are to slow so the screens get all messed up.
My new goal is the same but I want a whole frame, a complete frame of the running game, like using print screen.

A picture of a game running (halflife), as you see the copping is to slow.
H-L PIC, DX PRINT

Is that possible whit DX?
If not, is there any other method than GDI (bitblt) or OpenGL to take the a screenshot?
I tried to raise the priority but it didn’t work :(