Reaper-->loopMIDI-->DMX via QLC+

[MainePatriot]

Hello Gang,

I have a MIDI track in Reaper that triggers a light show in QLC+. It sends the MIDI to QLC via a loopMIDI port, and it works great with backing tracks.

My issue is that the MIDI sheet has gotten VERY tall (as I keep adding lights), and I've used up all 128 "notes" in the file.

So, I created a 2nd MIDI track, and sent it to a 2nd loopMIDI port. I configured a 2nd Universe in QLC+ and everything went great till I tried to send the 2nd Universe to the same DMX output. This seems to not be allowed, even though I have plenty of address space left on the USB/DMX device.

I then tried to add the 2nd loopMIDI input to Universe 1, and it seems that this is also not allowed.

I get that I can buy an 2nd USB-DMX controller for the new light, but I'm hoping there's a solution to this, especially since I envision adding more lights and the USB outputs on my computer are limited.

It seems there should be a way to have multiple input streams per universe, or for two universes to send to the same output, but I've been researching and experimenting all afternoon to no avail.

Any ideas?

Peace,
Bud

[MainePatriot]

UPDATE:
Well, I kept sloggin' away at it after my previous post, and have things kinda working now, though it's a bit touchy. A clue came from another tangentially related post I found in the forums. Apparently inputs and outputs don't need to be (or perhaps shouldn't be?) in the same Universe. I think the word "universe" was throwing me off, too. Anyway, here's the current setup:

Universe 1: input loopMIDI #1 (no output)
Universe 2: input loopMIDI #2 (no output)
Universe 3: USB/DMX output (no input)

I had to restart things a few times to get rid of some odd behavior, but the last couple times I tried it, it worked.

I think a separate issue has to do with paging in the Virtual Console, which requires a great deal of futzing around before I can get all functions on all pages to be recognized. I can't seem to find a startup pattern that works. I just mess with it till it works, hoping to find a consistent pattern of behavior, but I've yet to find one. That said, it consistently works after 2-5 restarts, with flipping thru pages in between till all pages fire. Hope that makes sense.

I'd still love to hear any input y'all have.

Peace.

[GGGss]

Hold your horses.
One by one now please.

If you have 2 inputs for the same output, you will have to decide which one will get priority.
But what does a midi value of f.i. 54 mean for you?
Last time I checked, Midi has 16 channels holding a 7bit value. So till you deplete these possibilities, we are talking about 2032 'things'.
What you want to do with these is up to you.

What is the story about pages being not recognized? Where? What?
A startup pattern? Huh? QLC+ does not have a pattern...
"Flipping thru pages till all pages fire?" I've lost you there completely.

[MainePatriot]

Thanks for the reply.

>>Last time I checked, Midi has 16 channels holding a 7bit value.

In the case of MIDI to DMX, I think the MIDI just works in "on and off" (one bit) mode. I may be wrong about this, but when I first started testing things, I was unable to transfer the MIDI's "value" to DMX. It either triggered the DMX address or it didn't. I wish I *could* transfer a MIDI value (such as "volume" or "intensity") to the DMX channels, then I could more easily do fades, etc, but this doesn't seem like an option. If you know how to do it, it would sure save me a lot of trouble. I'm open to your ideas here.

As far as the "paging" issue, I'll start another topic for that, as I'm pretty sure it's a completely separate issue. When I start that topic, I'll try to describe the situation more eloquently.

I like your tag line by the way -- "when the smoke escapes, it stops working" -- funny!

Peace,
Bud

[GGGss]

Ok, so you 'misuse' MIDI for DMX to work? The internal translation QLC+ does with midi inputs is multiply them by 2. 7b -> 8b.

Did you ever consider splitting your project? Create scenes, chasers, ... inside QLC+ and have your midi inputs trigger the light effects created?
This way of working is defacto standard in big productions. One is master, all slaves react to commands from the master. Follow spots, lasers, video, pixel control, and even time code are independent working islands. Once the show part is composed together, the master sends info to the islands and hence you create an impossible complex light show.

Splitting your project will give you way more power in the end. Reaper as a master clock, QLC+ as the workhorse for DMX.

[MainePatriot]

>>Ok, so you 'misuse' MIDI for DMX to work?
I'm not sure what this means.

>>The internal translation QLC+ does with midi inputs is multiply them by 2. 7b -> 8b.
Not sure what this means, either

>>Did you ever consider splitting your project?
What do you mean by "splitting"?

>>Create scenes, chasers, ... inside QLC+ and have your midi inputs trigger the light effects created?
This is what I am doing. Reaper sends MIDI to QLC+. The function is triggered and output via DMX to the lights.

It seems to be working the way I expected it to. I'm sure there are other (better?) ways . . .

Thanks for all the feedback,
Bud

[GGGss]

My issue is that the MIDI sheet has gotten VERY tall (as I keep adding lights), and I've used up all 128 "notes" in the file.

Then I don't understand this statement ... If one note now reflects one fixture, you have 128 fixtures? Or are you talking about 128 functions which are getting addressed in QLC+ through midi?
And why did you state that you needed a 2nd universe and a 2nd DMX interface?
This doesn't make sense...

[arizonajill]

Could you possibly create a post explaining how you set this up? The part I'm stuck on is how to set up MIDI in Reaper to my click track.

I've got loopb MIDI out configured in Reaper and MIDI in set to loopb in QLC, so the interface is probably ok. I've also set up my fixtures in QLC+ and they're all working.

I think that once I figure out how to assign MIDI in my click track in Reaper everything will work?

[arizonajill]

I got it figured out finally. On to the next challenge.