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trigger program/go with midi


mathias

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Hello!

 

Is it possible to trigger the program/go button via a midi command received through the input?

 

If not, is there a chance to realize this in an upcoming release? That'd be nice because if you control the whole show via midi you don't wanna miss the lighting desk...

 

In addition to this, i have a question concerning the allocation of faders and midi notes.

The manual says: "The first note of any octave will drive submaster 1, the second note of any octave

will drive submaster 2 and so on." -> So in fact, i can control only 12 Submasters via MIDI?

In this case, a "workaround" using submasters and not memories for sequentially call cue's via midi seems to be very limited.

Is the fader-midi allocation editable?

 

cheers

mathias

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The MIDI implementation on the Jester currently only allows you to use notes to trigger channels or submasters. You can't use it to press any button on the panel or to control the memory stack. We have however logged the idea for consideration in a future software upgrade:

 

JES-2462 - MIDI Show Control.

 

The description of MIDI in the Jester manual isn't as clear as it could be I'm afraid. The JesterML manual has a revised description which is clearer (the operation is much the same between the two desks). We will update this in the next revision of the manual - here is the text:

 

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MIDI Setup

The MIDI input can be configured in Super User. Select the <MIDI Setup> menu option and press ENTER. The LCD/Monitor display three settings:

 

Enabled/Disabled

This option specifies whether the MIDI input is enabled. Select this option using the cursor buttons, press ENTER, and use the up & down cursor buttons to enable or disable MIDI. Press ENTER when done. Note that due to internal resource limitations on the r2 hardware, a USB Keyboard cannot be used when MIDI is enabled.

 

Channel

This selects the MIDI channel which is received, 1-16. Select <Channel> using the cursor buttons, press ENTER, and use the up & down cursor buttons to set the MIDI channel number. Press ENTER when done. To set MIDI to receive on all channels, select <Channel> using the cursor buttons, hold down SHIFT and press ENTER, and <--> will be displayed as the MIDI channel number.

 

Note

This sets the MIDI note which corresponds to the first preset/submaster on the desk. To change this, select <Note> using the cursor buttons, press ENTER, and use the up & down cursor buttons to set the MIDI note number. Middle C is note 60. Press ENTER when done. To set MIDI to map octaves (which have 12 notes since they include both the black and white notes on a piano keyboard) to presets/submasters, select <Note> using the cursor buttons, hold down SHIFT and press ENTER, and <---> will be displayed as the MIDI note number.

 

For further information on what each parameter does, see the MIDI section of this manual. Select <OK> and press ENTER to return to the Super User menu.

 

Note Numbers

The MIDI standard assigns ‘Note Numbers’ to musical notes. Middle C is number 60. By default, octaves are mapped to the 12 presets/submasters (there are 12 notes in a MIDI octave since it includes both the black and white notes on a piano keyboard). However, this setting can be changed so that a specific MIDI Note is mapped to the first preset /submaster.

 

When MIDI is set to map octaves, the maximum number of presets / submasters that can be controlled is 12. When a MIDI note number is set, the maximum number of presets / submasters that can be controlled is limited by the desk size:

 

Jester12/24: 24 presets in Preset Mode or 12 submasters in Run Mode.

Jester24/48: 48 presets in Preset Mode or 24 submasters in Run Mode.

 

When controlling submasters in Run Mode, the action of MIDI is the same as raising the submaster fader on the desk, therefore you can only output submasters from the current page. Using MIDI does not increase the number of submasters; to control submasters from the other page, press the PAGE B button on the desk. The normal submaster Page Overlay rules apply - you must lower the submaster on one page before you can output the same submaster on the other page.

 

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Hope this helps,

 

Paul.

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Hello!

 

An additional question occurred while experimenting with jester and MIDI:

It seems that the crossfaderate you can control with the velocity value only uses a very small range (values 1-10 of velocity) rather than the full range (0-127). Therefore gradual fades are very complicated to realize, a value of 1 means a rather slow fade while a value of 6 is nearly snap-characteristic. (a little bit exaggerated, just to demonstrate). The granularity is imho much to imprecise.

 

Is this the way it is thought to be? A velocity value between 10 and 127 almost makes no difference at all?

 

Thanks!

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The Jester's response to MIDI notes is set up to give a natural feel when 'playing' lights from a velocity sensing MIDI keyboard (the attack/decay of the lights is similar to that of the musical note, at least on the keyboard we tested with). As you've found this probably doesn't give you enough accuracy of control if you're trying to run precisely timed fades from some other sort of MIDI controller.

 

Any improvements we make to the MIDI functionality in a future release are more likely to be in the area of implementing the MIDI Show Control protocol, rather than making the response to MIDI note velocities more configurable.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, It would be very nice. I'm trying to control my Jester via midi track off Logic Pro. If you adjust the velocity for the entire track (and not only for the note), you retrieve a part of the granularity of the velocity control, but for the moment I didn't find the way to control the fade down. While waiting the software upgrade which, I hope, will control the Go Button, do you have any idea for the Fade Down ?

Thank You and bravo for your Jester

 

Olivier Bonhomme

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