garageCube

[ansonfogel]

I am using the most recent MM 3.7 (and tried Beta 4) on a 2017 iMac Pro 3.2Ghz 10 core -Radeon Pro Vega. OSX Catalina. I am feeding 3 ea 1920 projectors vis USB-C to HMDI, and 1 LED pixel mapped wall with 4 LED bars total of 164 LED's (not very many LED's) via DMX on an Enttec USB Pro. Everything works great in this installation. This is a complex media install with lasers, lots of DMX lights - on separate machines and controls. It all is synched via Midi TimeCode coming from CuBase. The Madmapper Mac is also the same machine running Cubase. Cubase plays and Madmapper runs all this fine. Until I turn on MIDI input in MadMapper to trigger cues. It triggers, but as soon as MM gets the Midi Timecode stream, it stutters playback on all surfaces including the LED's. The playback stutters even for low res generators on the LED's. It stutters or stops playback altogether on all surfaces regardless of media type. If I turn off the Midi input to MM, it works perfectly fine. I have tried feeding it Midi from a USB controller - same result. Fed it Midi TC from the internal MM Midi In. Same problem. Fed it MTC from a scarlett USB board. Same problem. Downloaded MadRouter but could not figure out how to feed it that way. But no matter what I try - in both MM 4 beta and the current full release, it hangs or stutters output on all outputs when it receives a MIDI TC signal. HELP!!!!!

[mad-matt]

Weird issue. We'll check that asap. Could you please sample the process following those steps: reproduce the issue, while MM is lagging, open activity monitor, double click MadMapper process and press the "sample" button art the top left. Then just paste the sample result here. We should figure it out shortly. Thanks !

[mad-matt]

One more question: does it happens if you just start MadMapper with no project loaded, and play a material or another visual ?

[ansonfogel]

Here is the snapshot file from the activity monitor - as requested, during heavy stuttering/locked playback while getting Midi Timecode:

[ansonfogel]

Matt - I opened a clean new project and enabled midi tc in, threw in various surfaces....it does NOT have the same problem. Interesting. I did not add the DMX output to the LED's - so that is a variable. I'll try that too...but now I wonder if there is some aspect of my project that is interacting with the MTC input that is causing it? Again, though., the project runs fine when not getting midi timecode in.

[ansonfogel]

Matt - no go even in a new Beta 4 project from scratch. Just rebuilt and rerouted - does the exact same thing, even with very little going on in the clean new test. Still locks up output when getting Midi TC. As soon as TC stops (Cubase stops playing) it plays fine.

[mad-matt]

I just tested MTC with Ableton Live and Vezér without issue.
I then installed Cubase LE AI Elements trial (a nightmare to install, need Steinberg Downloader, then download 6 GB, then it crashed when trying to authorize, then I had to update the licenser application, then...)
Anyway, I activated MIDI Time Code to MM and it's working fine, I can even use it to control a movie position without problem... I even created a 10 hours long project to see if high values could cause issues, but it doesn't...
And anyway you can choose to send MIDI TimeCode or Clock to specific MIDI outputs, so I don't see why MTC would interfere with MadMapper if you haven't activated MTC to "MadMapper In". Could you send a screenshot of MadMapper Preferences / MIDI dialog ?

[ansonfogel]

Screenshot attached. Still having major problems. Whenever Cubase is playing and MadMapper IN or any other Midi Timecode comes in, it hangs output in MM. Reliably unreliable. On generators, movie files, anything. I Removed all the projector but jsut the DMX LED's and one projector. Created a totally new project. Stripped out everything. Still does the same thing. I tried, again, using different Midi sources. Same problem on any of them.

I tired using the Midi Clock instead of MTC. Same issue. I'm really frustrated. I have a huge show to program and am spending hours and hours and trying new computer with the same problems...can you call me USA +1 970-948-2040 or text me there or whats app?

Attached find the screenshot of settings as well as the new log files.

[mad-matt]

Could you send a minimal Cubase Project and MadMapper project to reproduce ?
Which version of Cubase are you using ?
I just tested drawing a few controller lanes in Cubase, assign it to movie play head and materials settings and I still have 60 FPS.
The problem might be somewhere else.

Please help solving also following: "Could you please sample the process following those steps: reproduce the issue, while MM is lagging, open activity monitor, double click MadMapper process and press the "sample" button art the top left. Then just paste the sample result here"

[ansonfogel]

I think now I can be more specific. First, I changed to an entirely new computer - an older Mac Pro with nothing installed on it but MM. I then created a fresh project with just the LED's and a couple surfaces in it feeding to one HD projector. So, one DMX output, and one HDMI output. Midi is coming in via a simple USB Midi device. Surfaces basically still hang on Midi TC input but now I can repeat it, and it increasingly seems like I am doing something wrong in terms of my own programming in MM.

I think the hanging has to do with me not using the controller/cue's correctly. So here is the issue and question - I set up a simple surface (quad) with a short, HD H264 video file. I create a cue (not a scene) for that surface/video. I set the loop to the section I want to play in the inspector. When I manually trigger the cue, fine, it all works.

Then I add a MIDI in control to that cue on the grid. I choose Midi, Timecode. It then asks for a SOURCE RANGE. 0 to 86,400 is the possible range in the window in MM. I want to trigger it at 40 seconds. I set the source range to 40 on the value on the left, and 41 as the value on the right. IT triggers at 40 seconds, when playing cubase and feeding it TC. BUT: While it is playing/getting TC, the POSITION bar shows a value and it toggles +/- a few tenths of a second, and essentially stays/pauses the video. When I stop Cubase, ending TC input via Midi, the video then plays.

If I set the source range in the CONTROLS Midi input section to start at 40 on the left and 39 on the right - and play/send it TC, it turns on the surface and again, pauses the video, even at 0 seconds - continuing to pause the video and output it paused until 40 seconds, then it does in fact play.

However, any OTHER cue also gets paused/locked. So, any controls that are programmed to a source range pause/lock output of the surface EXCEPT for the cue with the latest / last source range.

What the heck am I doing wrong here? I have tried changing the source ranges to any variety of combinations - and no matter what I do, it pauses output on any and all surfaces on TC input until the last programmed cue in the time range, which also only works if I set the range backwards as described above.

I have searched the internet, forums, manuals...cannot find anything?

[mad-matt]

Okay, thanks for giving good feedback on this.
Well, indeed it's weird. We're not much working with MTC at the moment. It should be easy to handle that properly.
The issue is that since the "control" to trigger the cue is activated each time the "control" input value changes (over zero), when the Time Code reaches the "source range" minimum value you set (ie 40 seconds), it will trigger the cue on each frame, so it will restart the media.
This is desired with some controllers inputs, but not with a MIDI Time Code, or with a sensor. We'll try to handle that in the next coming beta. We'll let you know.

But why do you use MTC to trigger cues in fact ? If you use a MIDI note (ie with a MIDI track dedicated to MadMapper control in cubase), you can position it the events graphically in cubase, instead of editing the control range in MadMapper. The MTC is more meant to synchronize a movie playback.