Hi - I use a sequencer with USB MIDI interfaces for live work. I already use a MIDI dimmer, (made by MediaMation)... it uses continuous controller and note-on/off information to run lights, programmed into my MIDI tracks.

If I get MyDMX, can I run it simultaneously with my sequencer (on the same laptop) and send MIDI out from the sequencer to MyDMX, and then be able to run some of the new LED par cans and other DMX stuff with it?

Thanks,

Dave Zag

hello and welcome to the forums! From what i understand you can use an external midi controller hooked up to your computer and assign midi notes to the scenes or steps you have programmed into MY DMX and use the midi controller to trigger the scenes in MY DMX. and i have had a buddy of mine run a test and this is what he had to say,
"Well tonight I had my normal desktop running along with Skype and my DMX. My CPU usage was between 4 and 10% which isn't too bad really (this computer is an old one at that). I think this can probably co-exist just fine with most DJ mixing programs on the same machine" Quoted from Brian S. Redd from you tube. here is a link to his my dmx video. he doesn't mention much as it is the first of a few videos he is doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1KMq4Gl43Y
let me know if this has answered your question. as MIDI is not really my thing. lol!
sincerely,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jingles,

Well, then the issue is what is the interface between the MIDI sequencer and MyDMX? There has to be a mechanism either inside or outside the box to get signals from one software package to another.

Now, I know ProTools, where you have to do your sequence mostly externally, and then you import the sequence into ProTools for playback. Works better than having say ProTools be responsible for generating MMC(MIDI Machine Control) and MTC(MIDI Time Control) for running the sequencing software o the same machine.

I suppose if you have some sort of software bridge and MyDMX has a MIDI interface, it should be as simple as assigning a patch.

I don't have any current MIDI sequencing packages, I use an older Mac with 4 MIDI interfaces on it, but I am sure I could come up with something to test myself. CPU utilization is fairly low for MIDI, and I can't see MyDMX being a CPU hog either outside of the visualizer.

no there is no midi output on the MY DMX dongle. just the usb and DMX out. BUT you hook your midi controller to the computer via usb or whatever it uses and u can assign scenes in my dmx to the midi controls on the midi hardware. im not too sure about a midi software to my dmx link. ill look into this. sincerely,

Thank you for the replies! I did view the video link that you posted, and look forward to more of that.

Jingles said:

quote:

not too sure about a midi software to my dmx link

Yes! This is exactly what I need.

I use Cakewalk Sonar, and Ableton Live. Both of these applications can "see" each other simultaneously, and they can both access the MIDI interface through the USB port.

If I connect my POD XT guitar effects rig to a seperate USB port, both of these programs can also see and access the POD.

So, if I can also have MyDMX running, and have Sonar control MyDMX, which would then send its information to the DMX dongle via another USB port, then I would be in business, and be very happy to buy it!

I hope I'm making sense...

Thanks again!

Makes perfect sense.

There is a software interface that let's them both share the buss, and therefore MyDMX is basically like a virtual synth, except instead of hogging CPU creating waveforms and synthesis, it's just spitting out DMX signals as instructed.

Since both are not CPU intenstive(unless you're running 512 MIDI channels....), there's plenty of bandwidth on a USB 1.2 port for this.

If running off a laptop, you want to ensure that your devices are receiving ample voltage from the USB buss, or you may need to get an external USB hub that is powered. You may have to fumble about with which USB ports you're going to use in the end before you find out if you need to buy a powered USB hub. Trial and error is the way to go. Document, notate and make decisions accordingly. This isn't a MyDMX slam, this is merely a common laptop issue that many people need to be aware of.

Well like i said midi is not my thing. i may learn it one day but not anytime soon. so i will try to have an answer for you on monday. sincerely,

Hello!

Just wondering if there is any new info about using MyDMX with sequencer control? I downloaded the software, and have been playing around with it a little, but I have to admit that I don't really "get" it. Yet.

I can see how to make a scene, but I don't understand how to make multiple scenes, or switch/fade into different ones.

-Dave Zag

Oh!! I just watched the second video from briansredd! It helped me to understand. Now I just want to know if this thing can be running in the background while my sequencer controls it!

Zag

hello no i still dont have any new info on the midi thing. ill ask tommorrow. promise!
as far as making new scenes you need to adjust how many loops you want the first one to play for and then hit the new scene button. a new scene will appear. going back to your previous scene if u look to the far right of the pic you will see a fade and wait time box. make sure you check the check box in the middle of the page just after "next" and before "trigger" this will turn on the fade and wait functions for that scene. here is the screen shot. let me know if this answers your question ok? sincerely, james.

also this program is not too task intensive so it may be able to. if you know how give it a try. if you read some of the comments from the first video brian did he ysays he ran my dmx with another program and it used only around 4-10% of his cpu usage. again sincerely,

quote:

no i still dont have any new info on the midi thing. ill ask tommorrow. promise!

Um... Jingles? I don't want to be a pain, but I need to know if Sonar can run MyDMX in the same machine... I need to be ready for gigs starting in June, so I'm running out of time - if not MyDMX, then I have to find something else.

Any suggestions on how to program a light show that will sync to midi files that will be controlled by Sonar?

Thank you

Dave Zag

Zag i gave you the answer in the other thread you responded to for chris. hope all goes well. sincerely,

I'm currently running Sonar and MyDMX on the same machine at these same time. They aren't talking yet, but that's not the issue I'm working on. But due to a hardware issue, this ain't gonna work out for me for testing(Sonar hates my crappy internal audio for this laptop).

I am hoping a top of the line Mac Book Pro and apps running under Bootcamp and XP Pro will still function as I intend.

Since MyDMX is looking for a MIDI event trigger to LEARN, I'm sure it's not going to be that hard of a thing to do. Only limitation is 128 scenes, but that should be fine, i would thing. You could load another universe and set of scenes for each song if you wanted. Then assign a MIDI channel and use note values(easy way to go) to trigger scenes via MIDI.

Just an idea. I'm currently angry that Sonar doesn't like my laptop, but that's OK, I don't like it either(the laptop). It does exceed all of it's requirements.

I am ordering that MacBook Pro next week. I hope Best buy sends a coupon!! I need to save whatever money I can.

Chris,

Thank you for the reply! I'm looking forward to playing with these lights.

As far as Sonar not liking your laptop... I have never seen that happen, except when I tried to run Sonar 6 on a new laptop that had Windows XP MEDIA edition. Sonar and windows wouldn't cooperate with the audio hardware, and I'm told that they never will. So I wiped the drive, and found that Sonar will happily run with either XP Home edition, or XP Pro, but Media Edition out of the question.

A new copy of Windows Home edition is a LOT cheaper than a new laptop!

Hoping that I made sense, and that it helped.

Zag

Guys -

I am am having difficulty trigging scenes via an external midi connection. MyDMX appears to recognize a MIDI signal (the waiting for Midi box disappears as I hit a key on my MIDI keyboard), however, it doesn't trigger (the scene does not start when I hit the same key on my MIDI keyboard). Does anyone have any experience in troubleshooting this problem?

Dave

Dave, you're going to need to wait a bit.

Let me put it this way:

Using Sonar Home Studio 6 and my choice of 2 MIDI interfaces(not both at once), and MyDMX all running on the same machine, I have been able to get this to work. But there is more to it than just plug and play. You have to be paying attention to what you're doing, as far as signal routing and input/output active. You also have to ensure you're in the right active window.

Also, keep in mind that despite the bugs that outnumber the individual head count in a super colony of ants(like the ones living under and constantly invading my house one opportunity at a time!) in Vista, Microsoft has foolishly chosen to cut off XP as of June 30, 2008, leaving the entertainment world in a world of hurt because Vista has NOT been well received.

Imagine: Intel gives s speed. Microsoft loads us up with crap we don't want to take some of that speed back from us. No offense, but the speed lost thanks to VISTA could cause a company to lose MILLIONS of dollars in lost income because of wasted CPU cycles. Thanks MS!

XP Home, I got it, I'm not liking it. I need features in XP Pro. Avoid MediaCenter edition at all costs, your PC is not a TV.

Hi: did you ever get mydmx working with your midi sequencer as i am looking at using the same sort of setup using midi notes to trigger scenes Thanks For Any :Help Mike harrison

If you read previous postings(and I know that by now you'd have to dig to find them), you'd have your answer.

However, let me save you the problem:

1: I got it working on one laptop.
2: DO NOT DO THIS!!!

If you want to do sequencing, use 1 laptop for that. Use another for lighting. Use 2 MIDI interfaces to hook them together(you must use MIDI) and you're good to go.

Anything else is "live performance suicide".

On one computer, you'd have to start your MIDI sequence, then hopefully you've got some blank measures so you can switch to MyDMX as your foreground application. If your routing is OFF in the least, you're going to crash and burn. Chances are, you'll crash and burn anyways.

Even with 2 MIDI interfaces to avoid routing issues, it's just flat NOT WISE to do this all in one box. It is safer this way, but it's still not super stable. The reasons are tied to MyDMX requiring it be the foreground application or it won't hear any MIDI instructions. And based on how it works, it MUST see the instructions come IN via the MIDI IN port.

2 cheap netbooks can get the job done. For less than $700(extra software and MyDMX and MIDI interfaces sold sepparately), you can get this done.

All is not lost. I've been discussing wiht others about using footpedals to trigger scenes, and one guy has a really good layout. It shows how one needs to be organized to do the jo right, which will get no argument from me.

It just really depends on what you want to do. But, regardless, sequencing and/or multi-track playback and MyDMX on the same laptop at the same time is just a foolish thing to do. I'm not saying all the software can't live on there. I have MyDMX, ProTools, some version of Sony Audio something(I hardly use it), Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 and DVD Architech 5, Sonar Home and MyDMX all on the same laptop, but I only use them one at a time.