Alphatrack control surface plugin

[NandyC]

Hi RuairiAU,

The last version works perfectly now - thank you!

Best wishes,
Nandy

[bblue]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

@Bill
Tapping the slider aint supported yet
Shift in /out does work - I've just tried it.
The Fwd/Rew is a mystery to me. It seems jump seems random when clicking.
The marker button does work

I have a feeling you've not set this up correctly.

If by correctly, you mean *the right drivers*, then no it wasn't. Egads. When I posted that I had the original drivers installed. What a bozo.

Anyway, with .27 installed I've also had several crashes, one was right after dropping a track from the explorer onto an empty track:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: reaper.exe
Application Version: 3.7.1.1
Application Timestamp: 4ca7f8a2
Fault Module Name: reaper_alphatrack.dll
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ca93be1
Exception Offset: 00002eb3
Exception Code: c0000409
Exception Data: 00000000
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 90e2
Additional Information 2: 90e2038e8bc74d6ce33d675fff2fcb34
Additional Information 3: acba
Additional Information 4: acba9908dff25a2e92ead7aaf5e8cd73

and another right after pushing the marker button:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: reaper.exe
Application Version: 3.7.1.1
Application Timestamp: 4ca7f8a2
Fault Module Name: reaper_alphatrack.dll
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ca93be1
Exception Offset: 00002eb3
Exception Code: c0000409
Exception Data: 00000000
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 6436
Additional Information 2: 64368c0f76a941578ddb04df21420e56
Additional Information 3: d5aa
Additional Information 4: d5aafff1fb192538457d201c52ffeca0

Also, I noticed that if your loop button is active/on (alphatrack), and you quit Reaper, it doesn't turn off with the other led's.

My in/out still isn't setting correctly, or maybe I'm not using it correctly. If I set the play cursor to bar 4, hit IN, then move the play cursor to bar 6, hit OUT, the selected area is from session 0 to bar 6. Shouldn't it be from bar 4 to bar 6?

--Bill

[RuairiAU]

ver:0.30
Fixed a graphical issue where the Pan displayed on the wrong screens and did not update in real time.
Did some refactoring to make it easier to know what screen the Alphatrack is currently on.
Fixed Loop and Flip lights not turning off on shutdown.


@Bill
By not set up correctly I meant you either have not installed the plugin correctly or you have some preferences in Reaper set incorrectly. BTW, this is not a driver, its a plugin; drivers are much lower level.
The error messages mean nothing to me; I need repeatable steps. If you come across crashes, just try repeat the steps you took and if it crashes again, post them on here.
As for the In/out loop markers, I have no idea whats going on. It works fine for me (exactly how you descibed how you expect it to work); my in marker does not reset to zero. There could be an option hidden away somewhere. Could someone else please comment if the In/Out markers work or not just so we can see if this is specific to Bill's setup.
Lastly, make sure you are running the latest version of the AlphaTrack plugin; I've been updating it every few hours these last few days, I'm fairly sure the crashes you were getting were the same posted by Nandy .

[bblue]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

@Bill
By not set up correctly I meant you either have not installed the plugin correctly or you have some preferences in Reaper set incorrectly. BTW, this is not a driver, its a plugin; drivers are much lower level.

Of course. I was generalizing. I'm not sure how you'd go about installing this plug-in incorrectly, it's pretty straightforward.

The error messages mean nothing to me; I need repeatable steps. If you come across crashes, just try repeat the steps you took and if it crashes again, post them on here.

I did, but they were never reproducible by the same sequences.

Lastly, make sure you are running the latest version of the AlphaTrack plugin; I've been updating it every few hours these last few days, I'm fairly sure the crashes you were getting were the same posted by Nandy .

Right. So far I've found that .29 and .30 have not been crashing -- at least not so far.

.30 seems to have taken care of the led problems.

Is Flip supposed to do anything at this point? Nothing happens here, and the led doesn't come on either.

What actions are you using for IN and OUT? I can try checking those natively on this system to see if anything I might have set affects the time selection error.

Do you have anything in mind for Shift-Push-Marker? If not, it might be nice to allow a marker set whether or not shift is enabled.

Thanks again.

--Bill

[RuairiAU]

@bblue
Flip mode only works for sends at the moment. I've had a go at trying to get it working for plug-in paramters, but I failed miserably. I dont know how to translate various number ranges both linear and logarithmic to the linear slider. There's probably a method for it somewhere in the SDK, but I can't find it.


The actions used for the In/Out markers are 40222 and 40223. See https://stash.reaper.fm/oldsb/155869/...dentifiers.txt

Pushing 'add marker' while the shift button is enabled will add a region for the current selection (command 40174).

[RuairiAU]

Ver:0.31
Added bar graph for volume.


Notes:
I used to use the AlphaTrack on Sonar and I love the bar graphs that would display. So I wrote a bit of code to translate values into a graph. When I get time, and where applicable, I'll add in bar graph support for other parameters.
Also, I figured out my problem with translating logarithmic values to linear (which is what helps this graph work), so that means I can (hopefully) enable parameter flipping for the plugins.

[bblue]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

@bblue
Flip mode only works for sends at the moment. I've had a go at trying to get it working for plug-in paramters, but I failed miserably. I dont know how to translate various number ranges both linear and logarithmic to the linear slider. There's probably a method for it somewhere in the SDK, but I can't find it.

Ok, that's handy. But it really doesn't flip fader for send (like fader for pan flip would) it adds the fader to the send control. That seems fine, though. Why would you need a traditional fader function with the knob at that point in time.

The actions used for the In/Out markers are 40222 and 40223. See https://stash.reaper.fm/oldsb/155869/...dentifiers.txt

I found the problem.

I have the option Link loop points to time selection enabled so whether I select set start/end points for loop only (40222,40223) or time only (40625,40626), the behavior is that the in point is set to session 0:0 like I was describing. If I unlink the two, then setting loop points via Alphatrack or my keyboard equivalents works like it should, but setting time points misbehaves.

I think this is a recent bug in Reaper because I know when I set my keyboard keys for start/end of time selection it used to work correctly. Makes no sense to always consider the start at 0.

Can any devs verify this or should I bug it?

Pushing 'add marker' while the shift button is enabled will add a region for the current selection (command 40174).

So it does, nice!

--Bill

[musicbynumbers]

Hi RuairiAU,

Just tried your version over the version PadrePC did and my only problem so far has been I couldn't get touching the fader to activate writing volume and pan automation (whilst in touch mode) like you can in the original version. This is great because as soon as you let go of the fader it stops recording and jumps back to the original next value.

Apart from this it's been pretty great so far! thanks

oh and congrats on the little one!

[lawrs]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

so that means I can (hopefully) enable parameter flipping for the plugins.

This would make so many people buy the alphatrack and Reaper! Awesome!

[RuairiAU]

@musicbynumbers
Thanks for the feedback, I don't use automation much so I don't know what to expect. Anyway, I tried out the original plugin to see what each automation mode does, but I have no idea yet what is causing the issue. But I'll try figure it out.

[RuairiAU]

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...7&postcount=50

Just read this post by a guy who wrote the BCR2000 plugin. He ran into the same problem as me, where there seems to be no way of getting normalised values for FX parameters. Worse still is that some plugins report incorrect min and max values. That makes it nearly impossible for me to translate parameters to the slider. If anyone has any ideas or knows of any source code where it works, feel free to speak up.

[musicbynumbers]

Not sure if it will help but a user called "klinke" got around this for the mackies and the bcf2000 but maybe that was because he did it in mcu mackie emulation mode and created his own editor, search for his name for more details.

As for automation, the original plug in allows you to set say volume automation to touch mode and then once you actually touch the fader the automation for how you then move the faders is recorded but unlike normal controllers that are not touch sensitive, as soon as you let go of the faders it stops recording the automation.

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...7&postcount=50

Just read this post by a guy who wrote the BCR2000 plugin. He ran into the same problem as me, where there seems to be no way of getting normalised values for FX parameters. Worse still is that some plugins report incorrect min and max values. That makes it nearly impossible for me to translate parameters to the slider. If anyone has any ideas or knows of any source code where it works, feel free to speak up.

[RuairiAU]

Originally Posted by musicbynumbers

As for automation, the original plug in allows you to set say volume automation to touch mode and then once you actually touch the fader the automation for how you then move the faders is recorded but unlike normal controllers that are not touch sensitive, as soon as you let go of the faders it stops recording the automation.

The problem seems to be that the fader aint reading the envelope as it plays, and thus the envelope gets overdubbed with the current position of the fader. I can't imagine it will be too hard to fix, I'll have a look tonight when I get back from work. I'll compare the source code of the original to this version and look for differences. Hopefully I'll get some free time.

[awagner08]

Thanks to everyone who has worked on this. I pulled my AlphaTrack out from under my desk at work, and voila - it's much more functional now.
THANK YOU!

[lawrs]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

The problem seems to be that the fader aint reading the envelope as it plays, and thus the envelope gets overdubbed with the current position of the fader. I can't imagine it will be too hard to fix, I'll have a look tonight when I get back from work. I'll compare the source code of the original to this version and look for differences. Hopefully I'll get some free time.

Just wanna drop a thank you too for putting time , even with work and a baby in hand. You're a saint.

[RuairiAU]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by musicbynumbers

Not sure if it will help but a user called "klinke" got around this for the mackies and the bcf2000 but maybe that was because he did it in mcu mackie emulation mode and created his own editor, search for his name for more details.

Thank you very much, just read something he posted:
double min, max;
double value = TrackFX_GetParam(m_pPlugTrack, m_iSlot, id, &min, &max);
double normed = (value - min) / (max - min);

This shows me how to normalise numbers. As long as the Min/Max is correct (which occasionaly it is not). I'm at work at the moment, so I cant test this, so I threw together this chart in excel to crunch some numbers and show me where the fader would move to.

The fader is controlled by a 14bit Integer; that means you feed it a number between 0 and 16383(the max of a 14bit number). 0 will move the fader to the bottom, 16383 will move it to the top.
The problem is that parameters use all different scales, some dB scales are from -150 to 24, some hz scales are 20hz to 24000hz yadda yadda yadda, you get the idea.
The trick is to 'normalize' these numbers and the (normed = (value - min) / (max - min)) equation does that - I'm no mathematician, so I didn't know this. This gives me a number between 0 and 1. I then multiply that number by 16383 to get the 14bit Integer for where my fader is. Easy huh? I'll find out tonight if it works.
In the mean time, enjoy the pretty graph.

[RuairiAU]

ver 0.32:
Touch Automation fixed.
FX parameter (plugin) flipping (This allows you to use the fader to control the selected parameter)

Notes:
Automation also works with the FX parameter flipping. Make sure you have flip mode enabled and select the parameter you want to automate and go nuts with the fader. The Plugin will also play back the automation for the selected parameter while in flip mode.

Enjoy.

[musicbynumbers]

Looking forward to trying this in a sec, thanks!

You may be too modest but if you have a PayPal account, post it. I'll donate a bit (soon as I get my PayPal sorted again) as I'm sure others will too!

[musicbynumbers]

Just tried it and so far the volume automation is working really well and is sensing the touch sensitive fader cap. There are a few things that I have found so far that would be great, will leave it to you to decide which are ones are worth doing (and some might just be impossible)

1- When in plug in mode, would it be possible to have say f1 and f2 jump from one fx to another, at the moment it seems like I have to scroll through all of one plugin's parameters to get to the next unless I'm missing something)

2- Is there a way to also enable this touch sensitive mode for the actual 3 control knobs as well to allow touching the knob to "arm" the envelope ready for recording (in the same way volume automation works).

3- When flipping an fx parameter on to the main fader, is there anyway (when in touch mode) that this can also work in the same way as volume automation, i.e. can it stop being armed when you let go of the fader? At the moment it continues to overwrite automation even when not touched. Perhaps this is something that needs implementing by cockos.

4- when in the flipped fx mode I am finding that the volume fader seems to "jiggle" a little, you can't really physically see this but you can hear the fader's motor going. I think I only noticed this after recording a fx parameter in flip mode (using the fader). Could this be to do with the rounding?

Think that's it for now but thanks so much for making our alphatracks even better!

[RuairiAU]

@musicbynumbers
Thanks for the feedback; there's no need to donate. I appreciate the offer, but I'm enjoying doing this for the meantime.
Anyway, on to your points:

1)I actually want to change the left rotor to cycle FX (click to enable/disable). And change the middle to cycle parameters.

2) In theory yes. I need to fix number 3 first.

3)It's supposed to, but for some reason touch mode aint being disabled. This could be a bug in Reaper.

4) Yeah, I fixed that. I'll put it out with the next release.

[lawrs]

Thank you for the effort RuairiAU. The fader flip for FX Parameter works beautifully. I can ditch my Yamaha O2R now, forget about getting Novation Remote SL , and do every automation needs on my Alphatrack.

The ability to write automation with a fader gets results so much faster. But then I'm sure it varies for different people.
I was fortunate enough to have worked in a professional studio that had Yamaha O2R, and with Pro Tools' 3 finger modifier + click on FX parameter, I found how well faders work for writing FX automations as compared to using rotary knobs.

I love how you implemented the "AUTO" button, and using the rotary knob to scroll the different automation modes. Genius.

I don't how else to thank you other than to offer donation too. Once again, amazing work. You're a good man! Btw, I hope the baby girl is well and healthy!

[bblue]

Originally Posted by musicbynumbers

1- When in plug in mode, would it be possible to have say f1 and f2 jump from one fx to another, at the moment it seems like I have to scroll through all of one plugin's parameters to get to the next unless I'm missing something

IIRC the old plug-in (csurf) allowed you to push-turn the fx encoder button to jump to the next plug-in, rather than to step through all the parameters. That may still be a good solution -- or perhaps the opposite action might be desirable, coarse without pushing, push for individual parameters.

--Bill

[RuairiAU]

@lawrs
Thanks. I'd like to get these issues logged by #musicbynumbers fixed (if possible). I've never used touch automation and had no idea what it did, but now that I see how it could work, I can see me having a use for it.

Also, I'd like to to flesh out the Automation section. I'd like one of the rotors to cycle through these envelope commands, then click to activate:

Show all Active
Hide all
Arm all visible
Disarm all
Show in lanes
Show in track

Lastly, I'd like to put back in Pan/volume flipping. The code is there to do it, it's just been broken.

Any other ideas are welcome.

@bblue
I'm not infront of my source code right now (because I'm at work), but I may have stuffed up the code for switching FX with my fine/coarse addition. I'll fix it up later.

[RuairiAU]

I'd really appreciate it if someone could have a look at the documentation for AlphaTrack and Reaper and update it to reflect what this plugin does now. Ideally, I'd like to give the source code back to Cockos for distribution with Reaper and replace the current AlphaTrack implementation - that would be pretty cool.
So, if you're good at that kinda thing (and you feel guilty for getting all this free awesome software), please have a look at the links below. Have a look at other manuals (like the Sonar one) to get an idea of how it's supposed to be done, then cut/paste/fudge it together.

Guide:
http://frontierdesign.com/download/p...AlphaTrack.pdf

Layout:
http://frontierdesign.com/download/p...PER_Layout.pdf


Other documentation:
http://frontierdesign.com/Support/Downloads

[NandyC]

Hi RuairiAU,

I used to be quite good at doing layouts... I worked as a graphic designer for a while. I would like to have a go at putting something together (if I can still remember how to do it!).

I'll start on it this afternoon, unless somebody else has already started it, and give you a shout as soon as I have something for you to look at.

If I do it in a format that can be easily edited, I can drop in any new features that you add, then publish a pdf when it's in it's final form.

Thanks again for the plugin and all the features - I am using this all the time now!

Hope your little girl is doing well.

All the best,
Nandy.

[musicbynumbers]

I love you guys!

community defines this forum!

[RuairiAU]

Ver:0.33
Vol/pan flipping - doesn't really flip, just allows you to use the fader for each.

Touch automation improved: parameters now work, and so do the rotors for EQ and Plugins (pan rotor is a bit iffy).

FX can now be cycled through by pushing down the left rotor and turning.

Fader motor now stops jiggling when in plugin mode.



As usual guys, please provide feedback. I dont get much time to code, and even less time to test; so I have to rely on your feedback.

[musicbynumbers]

Testing now thanks!

The probs are had are now fix here's what else I have found so far..

1- When controlling a fx parameter using the fader (in flip mode), as I touch the fader and move it the alphatrack's screen jumps rapidly between the correct value for the current parameter and the pan display (but it only shows the pan and doesn't change it), the fx parameter still moves fine, it is only the alphatrack display that is a little "funky" .

2- When automating an fx parameter using the fader (touch automation with alphatrack in flip mode), I'm finding that if I also have a volume envelope visible on that track (that's "armed" to record) then move the alphatrack fader I find that it sends my mackie control/bcf2000 hardware volume fader (for the same track as the alphatrack is controlling) a bit mad, it doesn't actually record anything that it shouldn't though. This could be related to the same flicking pan thing in my bug 1 above.

That's it for now, really getting there though!

[RuairiAU]

@musicbynumbers
1) I know what's causing this, I'll fix it when I get back from work.

2) I have no idea what's going on here. I have a virtual mackie controller on my iPad, I'll see if I can replicate it on that.

@nandyc
Thanks very much for that. And my little girl, Ayla is her name; she's doing just fine.

@everyone
Keep up the testing. I'll add some of those features I mentioned this weekend, so keep an eye out for updates.

[RuairiAU]

While searching the forums today for people looking for AlphaTrack support and directing them here, I came across this post by #Lawrs:
http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...97&postcount=9

The problem he's getting is a maths translation problem; Decibels are measured in a logarithmic scale (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel) and the fader on your AlphaTrack is linear. This translation helps map the fader relative to what you see on screen and also with the little scale printed beside. Dont worry, 2 weeks ago I didn't know any of this stuff either. Basically, as you approach zero, intervals get smaller and thus, when using automation, you get a lot more envelope points around zero. It creates a kind of sticky effect as you sweep the fader.

Anyway, enough of my jibber jabber, technically this is correct; this is exactly how it should work. However, it may not be how you want to control your envelope and I think I can fix this. So I'm thinking of adding this:

When in Pan mode:
Event: Click Shift + Flip (Toggle)
-- Action: Toggle volume Scale Mode
-- Confirmation: "Volume:Linear"/"Volume:Logarithmic"

The volume slider will probably shift a little when changing mode and the Linear scale wont match up with the scale printed beside the fader. Also note, that this could also be applied to any of the stuff that support the fader, e.g. the plugins. The plugin parameters are all linear at the moment, but I could add this to allow you to get the reverse effect. For example, controlling the gain on a parameter.

Let me know what you guys think.

[musicbynumbers]

It sounds like an useful addition that doesn't get in the way of what's there so I say it sounds good

[barbaroja]

hi RuairiAU, thanks for putting work into this.

Can you check this post I made some time ago? I have not checked if the plug is still like that, probably over two weeks wont be able to check it either...

best

post is here:
http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...8&postcount=90

[RuairiAU]

@barbaroja
The first issue about the visual update lag has been fixed.

I'm at work now so I can't test the precision with the AlphaTrack. I can't think of a reason why it would be different, because this plugin was based off the default plugin; it's just been expanded apon. I'll have a look at it later.

[barbaroja]

Originally Posted by RuairiAU

I'll have a look at it later.

This issue had me working with the original version of csurf.

Great! Please take care in reaper prefs about setting the fader to linear so the difference is constant.

Best

[RuairiAU]

@barbaroja
I just had a look at the source code and I see the problem. It looks like a simple fix, I'll be home in 4-5 hours and I'll patch it up.

Originally Posted by barbaroja

Great! Please take care in reaper prefs about setting the fader to linear so the difference is constant.
Best

Im not going to alter your preferences in Reaper. There's methods in the SDK for 'logarithmic'-ifying the volume as it goes to and from the slider; I'm just gonna toggle using them.

[barbaroja]

Two words: You rock. Thanks!

On my way to see Jamiroquai in concert wohoooo... be back in one and a half weeks to enjoy the plug. Best!

[RuairiAU]

Ver:0.34
Some graphical glitches removed.

(see signature for download)

[musicbynumbers]

Was just about to try the latest version and got "stashbox down for maintenance" nooooo!

will try back later..

[RuairiAU]

ver:0.35
Syncs with track selection in Reaper
Track names update automatically
Plugin section rewritten to increase performance
Fixed bug with plugin automation affecting pan.
Added simple track envelope commands

I'll update reaper stash when it comes back online.

[wallace]

Awesome.
Dude you rock.