garageCube

[gmint]

I just posted a new suggestion to uservoice:

http://modul8.uservoice.com/forums/4888 ... ?ref=title

Basically, I'd love to see a Modul8 companion app for the iPad. OSC is interesting, but I think that treating the iPad as essentially a very configurable MIDI controller misses the real potential. There are so many awesome things that could be done with some real integration...

[gmint]

Just a quick follow up to my previous post. Check out the following link. Here's an example of the iPad being used as a companion tool. It's not really applicable to Modul8 directly other than the fact that it's video related. Still though, this is kind of the approach that I was suggesting:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/11/01/03/ ... fi.3g.vpn/

[The Midi Thief]

No one would be happier than me if it was possible to preview on the iPad but I have a hard time to see that it would work to stream previews live over wifi while sending and receiving OSC messages. But maybe it is possible or at least with small size previews? Another option would be to do this with a cable attached and that would work for me too.

But adding video previews to an iPad Modul8 app would be to complicate the app x 10.

But I would actually settle for a OSC module that could hook up with other modules, since I think TouchOSC works pretty sweet for controlling the main interface. I've been looking at that. I Just don't know when I would have time to create a finished module.

[gmint]

Two things: first, I think you missed my point. I'm not saying that I want exactly that for Modul8, only that they way they're using the iPad in that particular situation is an example of using the iPad in a way that makes it much more than a slick control surface. IMHO, the iPad is capable of being much more than a control surface (even if it makes a nice one) and that potential should be exploited.

Second, it seems to me that you don't own an iPad Playing back full screen, H.264 video streaming off of a server is no problem. As you probably know, it has a 1 GHz chip as well as hardware video decoders. There is no reason that it wouldn't be capable of playing back clips in Modul8 (if that's even what you wanted it to do). Putting OSC on top of that is just a few more KB. Obviously, there would be a layer of complexity added to Modul8, but I have full faith in the GarageCube team--what they've done already is nothing short of incredible.

Finally, my personal opinion is that while both MIDI and OSC are fine protocols, when you get in to the realm of hundreds of different controls, designing, mapping, and configuring a control surface becomes a pretty tedious experience. I'm not saying that I'm not capable of doing it, but as an example, I just got a Traktor Kontrol S4 and it sure is nice to have a controller that works exactly as you expect right when you plug it in.

[The Midi Thief]

I'm with you on #1. And I do own an iPad but I admit I haven't streamed my videos. Colleagues that has worked with creating streaming video apps on iPod/iPads says it has been very complex. It might be better since the last iOS update however. In the beginning the most limiting part was Apple not releasing parts of the video functionality to the developers.

I don't know about the latency of the streaming video but latency might be ok for clip preview. As for a preview of the live output (that would be REALLY cool) I'm less convinced it would work well over WiFi.

Sure plug and play would be nice. I'm however less interested of having the exact representation of the Modul8 interface on the iPad (I'm not sure you want that either). I want to lay it out my way and be able to control modules.

[gmint]

Yeah, I think that previewing the output would be difficult, but that really isn't a good use anyways. I mean, I thought of that as well but then I thought to myself, "well I could use my $600 iPad or I could get a cheap external monitor (and probably even a video card) to do that job for much less money.

I just want to reiterate that I don't have all the answers here by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to encourage some outside-the-box thinking. I think a great example of this is the Apple Remote app. It's much more functional that most of the "clone a hardware remote" apps that are out there because it really exploits what the iPhone/iPad can do. That's the direction I think GarageCube should take...

[The Midi Thief]

I'm with you. And true for the monitor part. However less gear is also nice, that's why I wanted it to double as a preview solution.

[gmint]

I'm with you. And true for the monitor part. However less gear is also nice, that's why I wanted it to double as a preview solution.

Oh believe me, I'm with you. I tried to use Air Display to do exactly that. Unfortunately there were issues with recognizing that as well as my DualHead2Go at the same time.

[The Midi Thief]

Air Display is working ok for me, just tested it. Thanks for pointing it out. The frame rate is not great and I'm testing it for latency. I will also test it with a Th2go connected to the TvOne 1t-c2-750 scaler/mixer. I think it will solve the problem. If you get Air Display to work you can have a module for previewing clips on the iPad screen. The cool thing with Air Display is that you can use the touch screen to navigate.
I will also test Air Display on my iPhone 3gs to see if the frame rate / latency is the same. I'll see if I can get hold of a 4g too and see if it differs.

[gmint]

Air Display is working ok for me, just tested it. Thanks for pointing it out. The frame rate is not great and I'm testing it for latency. I will also test it with a Th2go connected to the TvOne 1t-c2-750 scaler/mixer. I think it will solve the problem. If you get Air Display to work you can have a module for previewing clips on the iPad screen. The cool thing with Air Display is that you can use the touch screen to navigate.
I will also test Air Display on my iPhone 3gs to see if the frame rate / latency is the same. I'll see if I can get hold of a 4g too and see if it differs.

Just to clarify, you tried Air Display while the Th2Go was connected at the same time? IIRC, I tested this when Air Display first came out so perhaps there have been some updates that fixed this problem since then. If it does work, it'd be awesome to use it with the iPad or the iPhone. Did you notice any significant hit on Modul8 as far as performance goes?

[The Midi Thief]

Haven't tested with the Th2go yet because I have to create some videos to use for benchmarking. It's a fact that the performance gets worse when using advanced output in M8. I suspect that with a Th2go connected the performance would get pretty terrible.
I was thinking of making a video with a count and then film my screens to see if there is any lag. And then compare different setup for speed. I might get time to do this tonight. It's a shame that you can't drag the preview window off the main screen (or is there a way?). I noticed that you can only have one device connected at the time in Air Display. So no chance of using the iPad and the iPhone at the same time. But on the other hand, why would I need that? I was however thinking of using one as preview and the other for TouchOSC. Or if I'm doing an A/V set I could have the Ableton Live interface on the iPad.

[gmint]

I look forward to your test. Like I said, when I tried with both Air Display and the DH2go, I had issues. I didn't try extensively (I was at a gig), but IIRC, it looked like the computer didn't want to recognize the virtual display and the external display at the same time. Please post your results!

[The Midi Thief]

I've contacted the support because I need some advice in how to do proper benchmarking. I want to look at what's happening to the GPU and CPU too (if that is of relevance). But so far the numbers doesn't make sense to me. I actually get less CPU / GPU load when I'm outputting the screen than when I'm not.

[gmint]

Ha, that's interesting...

[leolodreamland]

my problem with the air display (on iphone 4) and modul8 is that you can't drag the preview off the screen. modules are ok...