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Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 03 April 2019, 08:24
by support
Sorry but not clear for us.
Regarding these 4 questions you will find in our first post
Can you please confirm you would like this ?
Could you please confirm you understand the technical limits of the software ?
Could you please confirm this solution would be acceptable for you ?
Could you please confirm you agree with us, so you do not ask for 2/1 and 4/1 for the Beat ?

Would it be possible to simply answer by "yes" or "no" ?
And then add a few comments to explain your choice, if necessary ?
But only short comments please.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 17 April 2019, 08:37
by Pitwipe
With regard to "Beat" settings:

Can you please confirm you would like this ?

Yes - 2/1 and 4/1 will improve functionality for me.
If this feature were to be implemented (https://thelightingcontroller.com/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=6127) I would not need 4/1, only 2/1. This would be ideal.

Could you please confirm you understand the technical limits of the software ?

Yes.

Could you please confirm this solution would be acceptable for you ?

Yes. For Beat - settings of 2/1 and 4/1 will improve functionality for me.

Could you please confirm you agree with us, so you do not ask for 2/1 and 4/1 for the Beat ?

No, I do not agree. Please refer to this reply https://thelightingcontroller.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=6129#p25009

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 17 April 2019, 15:32
by support
Thank you for your answer.
But,we still not understand with the "Beat".

In our software, the "Beat" function is:
With 1/1, the next step of the scene starts after one tap. Then the scene stops, waiting for the next tap.
With 1/2, the next step of the scene starts after two taps. Then the scene stops, waiting for two more taps.

Could you please explain (in one line if possible), what should happen with 2/1 ?
With 2/1, the next step of the scene starts after ...

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 17 April 2019, 22:44
by SeekLighting
Could you please explain (in one line if possible), what should happen with 2/1 ?
With 2/1, the next step of the scene starts after ...


I would start halfway between one tap and the next.

In music, this would be referred to as a "quaver" (or "8th note" for all the Americans out there)

So for example, let's say you were at 60BPM.

In 1/1, each step is triggered every 1 second.

In 2/1, each step is triggered every 0.5 seconds.

The same maths could be applied to calculate 4/1, 8/1, etc.

So at 60bpm and 4/1, each step would be triggered every 0.25 seconds. At 8/1, it would be triggered every 0.125 seconds, and so on.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 18 April 2019, 09:16
by support
Please keep in mind that we are talking of "Beat" and not "BPM".
("Beat" means the scene is in pause mode, waiting for the next tap)

So with 2/1, you would like that 2 steps are played (let's say with the same speed as with the previous tap), and then the scene pauses waiting for the next tap ?

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 18 April 2019, 15:47
by DeeStage
2/1 makes sense for me...

For instance you want to have a Dimmer Pulse every Beat on a Fixture
Step 1: Dimmer 100%
Step 2:Dimmer 0%

Actually it's not possible to set them on BPM Mode. it would be first Beat Dimmer OFF and second Beat Dimmer ON.
Is this feature so hard to program ?
You just have to devide the BPM time by 2 or 4.


Second request:

By tapping BPM you will never get the right value of milliseconds. So the track and the BPM Lightshow will be not syncronous after some seconds.
Is it possible to add a Feature where we can increase or decrease the stored BPM Time by 5ms? Maybe with 2 buttons next to the BPM Tap Button.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 18 April 2019, 16:10
by muscanto
2/1 and 4/1 do not make sense to me as features for the "Beat" trigger but they do make sense to me for the "BPM" trigger.

I do not understand why anyone would need 4/1, but 2/1 makes sense to me. 4/1 is a very fast step regardless of what tempo the song is at. You might as well just program a strobe.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 18 April 2019, 20:59
by support
We 100% agree with muscanto.

@ DeeStage: we think the problem is there is some musunderstanding between "Beat" and "BPM". We ask for the "Beat" and you answer for the "BPM". So we also agree with you regarding BPM.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 19 April 2019, 20:54
by Pitwipe
EXAMPLE:

Kick Drum (with MIDI trigger sending MIDI Note #36)
Time signature = 4/4
Drum pattern = Kick drum on each 1/4 note (1,2,3,4)

Desired lighting response = A light to go ON and OFF for each single MIDI note (execute 2 steps in a scene per single MIDI note)

I want a "Four on the floor" kick drum pattern and lights to go ON and then OFF for each hit of the kick drum.

This would be 2/1 with BEAT activated.

But in order for this to work you have to calculate the time between each step in the scene based on the current tempo. If the current tempo is 120 then:
1/4 note = 500 ms

Desired results:
A Single MIDI Note hit executes a scene containing 2 steps, each step is 250ms.
(Turn lights on [step1] then 250 ms later turn lights off [step2])

This will pulse the lights with the kick drum.

Re: Question regarding 'BPM speed' requirement

PostPosted: 20 April 2019, 01:12
by Pitwipe
As for 4/1, one reason this would work for me is the current limitation of only one MIDI note number can be sent to the BEAT trigger. Say you select the MIDI note associated with the kick drum and the drummer plays a straight kick/snare/kick/snare beat. Only beats 1 and 3 (1/2 notes) will trigger a scene but this at least opens up possibilities to try and solve some lighting problems or create work-around lighting effects. In my case many scenes will be driven by MIDI notes in order to stay in time with a drummer or whomever is sending MIDI data to ShowXpress. Using the BEAT trigger option (rather than BPM w/ a click) is more flexible and using 4/1 (and even 8/1 in some cases) could be useful. Yes, you'll go out of spec at higher tempos but it could be used where appropriate. If ShowXpress were to accept 4 different assignable MIDI notes (rather than just 1) and also coded to allow them to be enabled/disabled as needed per scene and it would also allow many more options.

Kick (MIDI NOTE #36)
Snare (MIDI NOTE #38)
Hi-Hat (MIDI NOTE #42)
Roland BT-1 (MIDI NOTE #120)

BEAT would now respond to any of these 4 MIDI notes (Not just #36)

Once assigned in preferences you could have a check box in each scene to choose which instruments (MIDI notes) are relevant for that scene/steps.