BPM to Generator

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BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 28 September 2018, 03:16

I am seeing the new DMX program sound switch and the dimmer pulse on the beat is very attractive. Is there any way to simulate this in showXpress? I can get the effect in the generator with a straight line dimmer but cannot pulse the generator run time to any bpm somehow? Just making a speed slider in live and trying to get it close kinda works but not really.

Here is the effect in one of their videos. https://youtu.be/XR_jLU2wUGE
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Re: Generator to BPM?

Postby support » 28 September 2018, 07:24

Generator scenes are complexes scenes with different curves for each channel, and with fan between fixtures.
Who do not see how it could be possible to trigger something in such scene via BPM.

The Steps scenes can work with BPM, because they are made of basic steps, and it is easy to forward steps with BPM.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 28 September 2018, 15:39

I understand generator is more complex and operates at a higher frequency rate of change. However there is also a repeat time in the parameters to adjust when you set up the generator. In live mode you can adjust this somewhat with a speed slider. So why not at least a BPM slider or have it calculate the repeat time based on the manual/auto bpm present ?

For example: 120 bpm is 60 s / 120 = 0.5s so why can't you set the Generator to 0.5s Could even set whole note, half note, quarter note settings?

[request] BPM to generator repeat time

thanks
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby support » 28 September 2018, 16:40

This is still obscure for us.
Please send a real example.

Create a lightshow with 8 moving heads for instance.
Create a Generator scene with:
- for pan/tilt channels - circle curve - fan = 10% - duration = 20s
- for color channel - one color chasing - fan = 25% - duration = 3s
- iris channel - sinus curve - fan = 0% - duration = 8s

And then tell us how you wish to forward in it with the BPM.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 01 October 2018, 03:40

I understand better what you mean now. My original interest was only to get a pulsing dimmer line similar to that in the sound switch demos that I have seen. So I was talking about only one channel.

But to have a multiple channel generator program a BPM sync would lock everything into multiples or divisions of the BPM. This would even be better and enhance a more musical lighting performance. Also possibly with division or multiples of the BPM such that it would make sense to the function of each channel. For instance I would not want a pan/tilt to be repeating to the quarter note of a typical pop song (90-120 bpm) but I might want the dimmer to.

Following your example a BPM lock (or sync in other words) for 120 BPM would be something like.....
Create a Generator scene with:
- for pan/tilt channels - circle curve - fan = 10% - duration = 4s (15bpm, 2 whole notes in 4/4 time, 2 measure repeat)
- for color channel - one color chasing - fan = 25% - duration = .5s (120bpm, quarter notes in 4/4 time, every beat)
- iris channel - sinus curve - fan = 0% - duration = 1s (60bpm, half notes in 4/4 time, half a measure)

The fan % would still work the same way.

The period calculation is simple enough. Ver 8 only gives integer input options for the period input of the generators. More decimals places (bit length) would be needed to accommodate a more accurate time divisions for a BPM sync. My example worked out easily but say change that to 119bpm and you would need 0.504 seconds per beat. Ideally you would only be programming the coefficients in the generator periods and then the BPM in live menu will determine the actual timing that are needed so they line up with the tempo.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 01 October 2018, 03:44

Does this make sense?
I was using the word period instead of duration in certain places.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby support » 02 October 2018, 14:04

Thank you for the explaination.

Whatever is the decimal place, a drift for the calculation of the durations will arrive. Sometimes after 2 loops, and sometimes after 100 loops, but it will arrive.
So we are indeed not warm to enter in such problematic.
Sorry for that.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 03 October 2018, 12:25

I would accept the drift over the lack of this functionality. The stepped scenes also drift. A 32bit word could handle 7 decimals places.

ok good luck
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby thorehl » 14 October 2018, 20:36

seantosz wrote:I am seeing the new DMX program sound switch and the dimmer pulse on the beat is very attractive. Is there any way to simulate this in showXpress?

seantosz: Instead of using Generator to make a dimmer pulse, create everything you need in Generator apart from dimming. Then create a Steps-file with your dimmer channel, and activate it a all using a macro button.
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Re: BPM to Generator

Postby seantosz » 19 October 2018, 17:34

I thought of that but it seems you can only sync steps scene to the exact BPM or quarter notes? So setting a full on dimmer on one step and full off dimmer on the second step with the fade selected will only give a dimmer pulse of a half the BPM. I am at least trying to get quarter notes. I was looking for the generator to sync and repeat to the bpm so that you can utilize the more precise curves to program performances that can sync to the eighth note and off beats without programming a static sequence in timeline.

Thanks for your input I will try to do something like what you are saying.
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