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Old 09-03-2011, 11:20 AM   #1
Geoff Waddington
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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Default Reaper 4 MCU / C4 support

The latest is available in the stash:

https://stash.reaper.fm/v/11712/WaddMCUC4.zip

Thanks to "valley" there is now a Mac Dylib included.

As far as OS compatibility he says "32bit/64bit Intel. It's known to run on 10.6 and 10.8, but it should be good on anything from 10.5 (Leopard) onwards."

Disclaimer 1:
This is weekend hacking around and is not indicative of my production coding style.
The usual legal duck out about you losing projects / time, etc. if use use this -- hey it ain't my fault -- you know the drill.

Disclaimer 2:
Kind suggestions and questions welcomed -- some stuff might actually get included
Bullshit, bitchin' and moanin' -- not so much -- source code is in the stash -- git 'er done !

Disclaimer 3:
The newer MCU's seem to have a flakey MIDI driver (or sumpin') -- Just give the Jog wheel a few shakes if things get stuck (thanks Klinke for that tip).

Also the first couple of times things come up on the C4 the display can be flakey, but it soon settles down.

SWS extensions must be loaded for this to work.

You might need the C++ redistributable from Microsoft.

End legal crap



I'm an old large format console / 2" tape kind of guy, and am accustomed to that workflow.
Since I now program for my day job, I thought it might be fun to see what can be done with:
1 Mackie MCU
1 Mackie Extender
1 Mackie C4

There is now an overlay (pdf) included -- if you don't like the colors, just get inkscape and change them.






PLUG INS

On the C4:
The "Lock" button must be engaged ("lit") to show the plugins for that track
Press the "Marker" button to show/hide the plugin GUI.
Press the "Slot Up/Down" buttons to navigate the pages.
Don't forget to press the vPot switches -- they often do cool things.

On the MCU:
You must Select a track to show the plugins for that track




IMPORTANT NOTES FOR C4 Users

The mapping is now externalized

You MUST find the Reaper Resource location.

On my Win 7 box it is C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\REAPER, YMMV

On Macs it is something like /Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/REAPER/

Make a new folder named C4FX in the Reaper Resource location

On mine it would be C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\REAPER\C4FX

Place the C4FXParams.ini in this directory

Make a BACKUP of C4FXParams.ini BEFORE you start mapping a new plugin.

The file is "|" delimited

Some basic vPot types -- try them out for your mappings, use the provided C4FXParams.ini entries as examples

FP -- standard parameter
EQ -- EQ parameter-- LED ring looks like Boost/Cut
BW -- Bandwidth -- LED Ring does the fan thing

Others in C4FXParams.ini

Switches
S2 -- 2 position
S12 -- 12 position and last one folks, there is no 13 position switch

C2 - C12
Combo switch -- kind of a 2 for 1 Combo
Made for things like EQ
Pushing the button scrolls through frequencies
Rotating vPot adjusts Boost / Cut
In the C4FXParams.ini there are many examples
Note the |"| construct -- it is important to these guys

Q: How the heck do I find out the parameters of my favorite plug, so that I can map it?
A: Press "Function" on the C4 -- the indicator lights up.
Insert the plugin you want to map into SLOT 1 of a channel
Press Select for that channel
The data is output to a file named FXParams.txt to your equivalent of C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\REAPER\C4FX\FXParams .txt

Use this data to map the plugin

Basic Grammar

FP|WetMix|Mix|10

FP -- standard parameter
WetMix -- From the FXParams.txt file
Mix -- What shows on the C4
10 -- C4 slot number, it is 0 based so 10 is the 3rd one in on the second row








MCU for Reaper 4

PAN

Press "PAN" on the MCU
Press the vPot top to switch between Pan and Width

VIRTUAL PATCHBAY
The F1-F8 buttons on the MCU and the row below -- MIDITRACKS - USER represent the patchbay "jacks"
These 16 buttons function to assign I/O to 1-16 in mono
Press "STEREO" -- now assigment is stereo 1&2 - 31&32

If you press the +16 button and this option is enabled in the .ini file, the assignments now start at 17 / 32 and go to 33&34 / 63&64

SEND
Press "SEND" on the MCU, then select 1-16 from the virtual patchbay and the vPot controls the Send level for that Send (if it exists on the track)
When in Sends mode the Assignment LED display changes from Track Offset to Send Selected ( 1 – 16 ).

RECORD INPUTS
Press "INPUT" on the MCU
Select the Track of interest
Use the virtual patchbay to assign inputs
Press the vPot switches to cycle through the input monitoring modes.

INPUT TRIM
Press "INPUT" on the MCU
Check "Volume (Pre-FX)" in the automation section on track(s) and the Rotary becomes "InputTrim" -- the waveform resizes.

HARDWARE OUTPUTS (useful for headphone mix / hardware sends to outboard gear)
You must assign an output by the usual GUI first -- then this can be used to modify the output
For outputs, press "OUTPUT" on the MCU
Select the Track of interest
Use the virtual patchbay to assign outputs
Use the vPot to control output level

BYPASS ALL FX
FX - when engaged, and enabled in the .ini file the Select buttons become Track FX bypass buttons, very handy for mixing

Miscellaneous
THAW - Thaws previously frozen selected tracks
FREEZE -- freezes selected tracks
PEAK -- Clears Overs
MATRIX -- Routing Matrix
MEDIA -- Media Explorer
CPU -- Performance Meter
SET -- Sets a marker
<< >> -- Use RWD and FF jump to markers
INSERT TRACK -- you guessed it
METRONOME SETTNGS -- ditto
AUDIO DEVICE -- I find this shortcut right to the ASIO panel is handy for changing latency (buffer) settings in conjunction with FREEZE / THAW

New mappings
CANCEL -- Toggles Mixer
ENTER - Same as F7-F9 -- scrolls through Window Sets

Footswitch1 places a Track named TokBak (or tokbak, TOKBAK, etc.) into Record while pressed -- good for talkback.
Footswitch2 places any Selected Tracks into Record while pressed -- good for punching.
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To install you need the CSI Software and Support Files
For installation instructions and documentation see the Wiki
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Last edited by Geoff Waddington; 09-17-2012 at 05:05 AM.
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