Is this possible?

[Blarg]

I like watching youtube videos while I play games on the computer but I have to put both in a windowed mode so I can see them. Is it possible to have the game full screen and put the video on top of/in front of the game while still being able to control my character? (Hope that makes sense) If it is possible is there like an addon that can make firefox/the video go transparent so I can still see the video while also seeing a bit of what is behind it in the game.

[Kohan]

If something is "true full screen"--as in, you'd have to Alt+Tab out of it and that'll temporarily make your screen go black while it's minimized--then there isn't a way that I'm aware of, unless you're using a device that supports Picture In Picture.

However, you could run your games in pseudo-full screen--having them the same resolution as your desktop--and use a little program to make Firefox always on top. Here's one such free application:

The Wonderful Icon - FAQ

Just have Firefox running, click on the flag icon in your tray, and select "Always-on-top toggle (your application)."

EDIT: As for transparency: http://www.abstractpath.com/powermenu/

[Blarg]

The always on top seems to work with firefox but it doesn't want to work with programs like WMP classic. It gives me the option to always on top that program but there is no check mark by it saying its working like it does with firefox. Do you know if its possible to make it work with other programs?

I also can't get the powermenu program to open up or do anything.

[Kohan]

Okay, let me fiddle around with them a bit. If I can't get them to serve that purpose, I'll try to get it to happen with another.

EDIT: I should've asked this sooner, but what OS are you on?

[Kohan]

Okay, here's what PowerMenu looks like for me (in Firefox, at least):

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4...wermenueh6.jpg

You don't actually use the little PowerMenu icon in the tray to do this, you just click on the upper-left area of your window to see the additional options. Does that work for you?

I'll now try messing with the other app some more.

[Blarg]

Ok, ya the powermenu thing works. I was trying to click the icon , kinda surprised it works with FF without restarting it first.

I am on windows XP.

[Kohan]

All right, I have good news and bad news (and you can skip both of these paragraphs if you want, they're not really necessary reading).

The good news is: what you want to do is theoretically possible. It has been done before, people have written applications which do it (sort of), and it is something that we are capable of doing at this point in time.

The bad is: no applications have built-in support for it, and by default, Windows is configured to do everything possible to prevent this from working. Additionally, just as applications don't have built-in support, graphic card drivers and configuration software doesn't either. They're also not optimized to do it well. Also, shit is complicated.

This does not mean it isn't possible, but depending upon how powerful your machine is and how your graphics card reacts to the solution, it may not work (e.g., the video may flicker incessantly once you have this going). These problems really only occur if you have transparency set, however. If you're willing to run a video over your games without changing their opacity, you can probably get it to work without flickering (if your machine is powerful enough).

With all that explanation out of the way, we'll get to how to actually do this, but please read the bottom area of this post first -- you might decide it's not worth the trouble going for transparency and may just want the video on top instead.

1. Open Windows Media Player, and right-click either the top of right area of the application to open this sub-menu:

File >
View >
Play >
Tools >
Help >
Show Classic Menus

2. Select "Show Classic Menus," then in the top bar, click "Tools," "Options," and "Performance."

3. Click "Advanced," then under Video Acceleration, make sure "Use Overlays" is unchecked.

4. Hit OK, then when you're returned to the previous window, hit Apply, then OK again until you're back in Windows Media Player.

5. If you have PowerMenu running, now click the upper-left corner of WMP, and you should see the PowerMenu options underneath the normal ones. Select "Always on Top." (If PowerMenu's AOT option doesn't work for you--it doesn't for me--then use the Wonderful Icon for the same thing.)

6. Now, re-open the PowerMenu for WMP, select "Transparency," then pick the opacity setting you want. (If PowerMenu's transparency setting still doesn't work for you, try this application: VanMiddlesworth.Org - Vitrite )

7. Set WMP wherever you want it to be, start playing your video, then start playing your game underneath it.

End result: hopefully, it works for you. It constantly flickers for me, but I have an early 8800GTS, and that's surely partially responsible. I'm also on a 64-bit OS using 32-bit applications to do all of this, and that is potentially complicating things further. I should really try it in old school XP, but that's something I'll do another time.

Now, if you don't bother with the transparency thing, here's how we can at least get your window on top:

1. Open Windows Media Player, make sure it's your primary window, then left-click the Wonderful Icon in the task bar (and hit OK if a window appears complaining about a DLL).

2. Select "Always-on-top toggle 'Windows Media Player,'" then resize the window and put it where you want it to stay. (You mentioned this wasn't working for you, but maybe it will now -- I'm doing this with WMP11, if that makes a difference.)

3. Open your gaming application and it should turn out like this:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2...ndvideolq7.jpg

[Blarg]

I guess which video player you use matters for having the always on top option work. WMP classic wont work but regular WMP will so it's good enough. My computer is at least 4-5 years old (9800pro graphics card I think) so the transparency probably isn't a good idea to try for me, it's not really too big a deal but it would have been nice.

Thanks for all your help.

[Kohan]

For sure. Yeah, the transparency probably won't work for you. It's a bummer, and as you said, it would be nice. Technology is at the point where this is possible (without jumping through so many hoops), but for some reason people are assbags and aren't actually implementing it.

Sorry it didn't work for you, but I hope this was at least of some help. At least you got some nifty new applications out of the deal.