Midi Plugin

    Hi - I'm upgrading from DMX control 2 to 3 after the recent windows upgrade problem.

    I'm currently creating new DDF's for all my light fixtures, and am now looking at learning the basics of the software in order to setup my first light show.


    I have tried installing the Midi plugin. With DMX control 2, I used a APC mini controller to control my lights.

    I have copied all of the (unzipped) files from the Midi plugin download to both the kernel/plugins and gui/plugins folders, but can't see any instance of the plugin on the DMX control GUI, or any way to enable it. Is there another file that I need in order for the plugin to work, or is there a specific place that I need to place the files / other option that I need to enable. I seen there was another post here on the forum about a file missing from the download - but the post was marked as resolved (with no replies).


    I haven't even started to program any of my light shows yet, but wanted to get the software functional before I went any further.


    Many thanks in advance.

  • JPK

    Approved the thread.

    Hi and welcome in our forum,

    because the Midi-Plugin is not build with our code signing certificate and because it is "from the internet" (as Microsoft say), you have to unblock all files individually. To do so, do a right click on every single file of the plugin and go into the property window. There is a "unblock" button. After clicking this button for every file, the plugin should appear in the plugin manager. However while using the plugin there could be in some corner cases a deadlock and the DMXControl 3 GUI crashes (the kernel keeps running). But after reconnecting to the kernel with another GUI, the midi plugin doesn't load correctly and you could not use it until you restart DMXControl 3 in total. In DMXControl 3.2 (which will hopefully be released in the next few weeks) the midi functionality is integrated in DMXControl 3 itself and the bug is fixed. So I would recommend you to start trying DMXControl 3 now with some cuelists and not to pay that much attention on the midi input and the Input Assignment. Especially the second one is replaced in total and you have to redo your connections anyway when updating from 3.1.3 to 3.2.

    JP

    Hi JP,

    many thanks for the reply :)


    I'm going to go ahead and setup some cuelists, and use the softdesk to control everything for now, and then have a look again at the midi controls one the new version is released.


    I think that I'm going to have some more questions, as there are a few things that I can't work out how to do yet (such as with DMXcontrol 2 you could assign chasers into groups, so only one chaser from within that group could run at a time).


    Thanks again,

    Gaz

    Quote from GazDJ

    I think that I'm going to have some more questions, as there are a few things that I can't work out how to do yet

    Feel free to ask them if they came up :)

    Quote from GazDJ

    (such as with DMXcontrol 2 you could assign chasers into groups, so only one chaser from within that group could run at a time).

    DMXControl 3 has a quite similar thing, called cuelist groups. To add a new cuelist group just go to the project explorer and open the "cuelist group" folder. Add a new group (e.g. via right click into the right part of the project explorer) and drag&drop the cuelists you want to group on the group entry in the tree. The last step is to go into the group settings via right click => Properties (if you have multiple groups you can select all of them and do the following changes for all at once). There you change the cuelist start behavior from "None" to "single list running". Now the cuelists in the group behave in the same way as in DMXControl 2.

    HI JP,

    Thanks for the info!


    I've added some cues for a light, and then grouped them together in a cuelist group.

    Using the softdesk, I've added some buttons to control the light, and have set the softdesk buttons to toggle.

    All the buttons have then been added to the cuelist via settings, (dragged over to the Go / Stop section of the cuelist).


    Everything works. When I press button 1, light cue 1 starts. When I press it again, light cue 1 stops.

    But, if I've pressed button 1 to start cue 1 - and then press button 2 to start cue 2, button 1 stays pressed, cue 1 stops and cue 2 starts.

    Is there anyway to also combine the buttons in softdesk so that only one button in a 'group' can be pressed?


    I'm also saving my project file to onedrive, which means I can work on my project from any location - and also have a current backup if a laptop should go down.

    Everything saves fine, apart from the settings (which includes my softdesk mapping). Is there a way to also save the settings along with the project?


    Best regards,

    Gareth.

    Hi JP, I've just installed 3.2 and am beginning to set everything up.

    I've a APC mini midi controller that I use to control my light show, and this worked great in ver 2. I'm having problems learning how to set this up in ver 3.2.


    I can go into MIDI manager, and from the device id in/0 select the create new rule set. I can then edit the new rule set and add a new rule. Pressing begin learn enables me to map the button, but I'm then lost from there as what all the other options mean / do.


    I can drag the new ruleset in midi (input assignment) over to a cue, and the cue will run when I press the midi button. However, I would like to be able to create a toggle button as with ver2 - if I press the mini button again, the cue will stop. It would also be great to be able to make the button light up (also happened with ver2) to show that the cue is running.


    Any help / guides for setting up and mapping midi input / output?


    Many thanks for all your help!!!



    EDIT - I've managed to be able to start and stop the cue now by adding a connection in the input assignment table (bypassed the binary switcher, and connected the new node to stop). Not sure if this is the correct way to do it, but it works for now :)

    I'm still trying to figure out how to write a message to the APC mini. I've got a table for all the midi commands values, both for input and output. Can I use the midi output to write these values back to the APC, and if so, how to I link this to the input - ie. once an input value is detected to start cue1, I can write a value to light button 1.


    Update... - I can now send a command to the APC, and light up the button by creating a new ruleset for midi out. However, this lights up the button straightaway with no user input. I need to find a way to tie this into the table, so I can link a midi out to run depending on the state of the cuelist. I tried this, but it brings up a dummy error message.

    Am I even going about this in the correct way?


    Gareth.

    Hi,

    yes, to use the binary switcher and use it to stop the cuelist if the button signal is not "true" is one (the) correct way to implement this :) Some advanced ideas could possibly be showed in one of our Did you know? posts in the special week ;) So stay tuned :)


    Feedback: The midi input itself already supports feedback, so you can change the intensity of the button light, if it is pressed by the input function itself. But the input assignment can not give a feedback to midi yet. One reason for that is, that there were so many other things to do in the IA and we had to make a cut in order to get the basic features done. The other thing is, that midi feedback is in some cases more complicated than a feedback to other input types (thats why we have already a feedback function for the new softdesk). The midi feedback should take motor fader feedback into account too. But motor faders have a mechanical delay, a transient change of the input value towards the target value and such a fader can be blocked (other than controls on the softdesk). So we think about integrating some advanced functions like a feedback loop detection or a blocking detection to protect controls on the midi devices to handle those challenges. Thats why it is not included yet.

    Regards

    JP

    Many thanks as always for getting back to me!

    So I can use the midi input to provide feedback. How does this work?


    I have assigned a new rule (midi manager), and 'learnt' the midi command by pressing the button on my midi desk, and the values have been auto populated.

    What values / options do I need to change in order to provide feedback to the button once it has been pressed?


    Best regards,

    Gareth

    The "Did you know special #7" was a great help with the input assignments, and I've been able to map my midi inputs along with a visual indicator on my soft desk to show which one is active. Many thanks for this!!


    I'm still trying to use the input assignment table to output to the midi desk. I would like to be able to light up a button on the midi desk when the corresponding cuelist is running.

    I can create an output rule in the midi manager that will make the button light up, and another that will turn it off. But when I add this to the tree in input assignment, no matter what type of signal I feed it (true, false, 1 or 0) the button activates. There doesn't seem to be a way of making the button light up (or off) by inputting a value.

    Is this a part that will be operational in a future update, or am I doing something wrong?

    Quote from GazDJ

    I'm still trying to use the input assignment table to output to the midi desk.

    I just asked this question two days ago:

    The current MIDI plugin is not able to support backtrack from the Input Assignment (it's the legacy plugin from 3.1).

    So you can't use the buttons as an indicator yet, but it is planned in a future update.

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