NMG2 Open Source Editor

brunov · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:19 am Post subject:

That choice was made a long time ago when I startet working. At school in the mid 90' we learned programming with turbo pascal.

Later on I had to do some projects with c, and I spend hours and hours hunting for memory leaks and trying understand someone else code with al the operator overloading and shorthand code.

Then delphi came along and as far as i know it was the first developement tool with visual components so it was far more easy to build nice looking applications, and build on/reuse the code from someone else.

And Delphi has kept up with all the new developements, there really isn't anything that can't be build with Delphi. So there hasn't been any reason for me to switch to another developement tool.

Also there's a big user base and a vast amount of code examples to be found on internet.

So that's the reason

But nowadays all developement tools are starting to look similar, so for someone starting out today, Delphi might be a less obvious choice that it was for me all those years ago.

ZeeByeZon · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:23 am Post subject:

Maybe Java would be the better alternative for a cross platform user interface now...

blue hell · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:35 am Post subject:

For cross platfrom Delphi may not be too bad either, as there is FreePascal and Lazarus that are modelled after Delphi and those are available for Linux/Windows/OSX. It'll probably need a bit of reworking for that, but when it doesnt lean too much on Delphi specific components it should be doable.

brunov · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 7:50 am Post subject:

I've been able to speed up the creation of modules, thanks to Doremifasol's suggestion. There's only a bit of a performance problem now, because of the cables. My laptop is huffing and puffing when I move a module with a lot of cables attached. I think the cables look nice, but maybe there not very practical.

Anyone happen to know what font is used on the modules in the clava software?

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Moody33 · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:55 am Post subject:

Nice !

BobTheDog · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:08 am Post subject:

BobTheDog · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:08 am Post subject:

Dougster · Joined: Sep 20, 2005 Posts: 272 Location: Tucson, AZ, USA

brunov · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:26 am Post subject:

Hey Bob, i work for a fruit and vegetables exporter: tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, doing the logistics it. We have to work quick otherwise it all just rots away!

About the developement tool discussion. If i would have to write this in Java it would take very much longer, just because i'm not familiar with it. I think it may be more efficient that i just go on in Delphi and that a Java specialist ports it to Java, if necessary. I don't think this is going to be a lot of source code.

The graphic's part turns out to be the most difficult, because of the layers ( a layer modules the a layer controls and then the cables on top) and the large amount of controls and it all has to perform reasonably quickly of course.

And also because i wanted to put in rack rails in the background. Cool

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dorremifasol · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:32 am Post subject:

ZeeByeZon · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:50 am Post subject:

What are the 3 checkboxes for ? (Perf mode / Online / Design mode)

brunov · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:09 am Post subject:

"Perf" is the same as in the clavia software, to switch between performance mode or not.

"Online" indicates if the usb connection is active. So i can test things offline ( displaying, changing patches) without the actual G2 connected.

"Designmode" i put in when i thought i had to design all the modules, with this you can add or move controles on the modules. But now that i can generate the modules from file this is not necessary anymore.

matrix · Joined: Aug 28, 2005 Posts: 81 Location: USA

That is pretty amazing. How difficult would it be to port it to the iPad? Don't throw rocks please. Smile

Just curious.

BobTheDog · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:12 pm Post subject:

brunov · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:55 pm Post subject:

Here is a screenshot of the last incarnation of the g2 usb demo. I've put the sequencer leds and the mini-uv's in. I really had a big problem at first with these leds because the cpu usage went through the roof. Turned out that when a led in the left bottom corner went on and also one in the other end of the screen, the whole screen was repainted at 150Bpm's! So had to rethink the graphics rendering. Now it's around 20%, i think that's ok for the moment.

I also think dradpap's idea was very good, to put the volume and variations on top of the screen so you can change these in another slot without leaving the patch you're working on. I used to work only in one slot but now I'm more inclined to use the others and mix them in. Maybe you already did that, but I'm learning all sorts of new things! I still have to put the mute buttons on there also.

There's a bit of usb trouble now and then, mostly when I switch between the clavia software and the demo, it sometimes happens that the messaging goes out of sync, so bit more testing to do there, and also about a 100000000 other little things to do....

Hopefully I can upload a new version of the source next weekend, I guess you guys can't wait to port it to ipad linux etc etc etc
Wink

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Antimon · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:05 pm Post subject:

I wasn't expecting this kind of progress actually. Smile

Makes me want to check out Delphi... Keep it up!

ZeeByeZon · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 4:42 am Post subject:

Great job. Congratulations.

Do you think you would be able to make a VST version ? The idea would be to have the patch stored with the song... And to have nice automation possibilities without assigning numerous MIDI controllers.

brunov · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:18 am Post subject:

Thanx!

I found 2 sdk's for developing VST plugins with Delphi. Don't know yet if it's possible to make the usb connection, but I'll give it a try.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/delphiasiovst/
http://www.tobybear.de/d_template.html

Goof · Joined: Mar 02, 2011 Posts: 29 Location: Netherlands

Wow, moving fast. It's looking better and better!

brunov · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:48 pm Post subject:

Looks like it's possible to make a vst out of it. I put together a little experimental vst based on the template from tobybear and put it in ableton. Seems to work ok. Very Happy

But how would you store a patch in a song? Sysex probably, but that's not possible in ableton yet, also don't know if sysex is in Tobybears template...

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memoryshell · Joined: Aug 02, 2008 Posts: 31 Location: india

Amazing stuff! and real quick too .. Laughing

ZeeByeZon · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:33 am Post subject:

The VST plugins has parameters declared in its interface. Those parameters are accessible for the host application and I think that only the value of these parameter are stored with the song or project.

This is OK for parameter values (like slider position...) but I do not know how this could be done for modules. I think NI Reaktor runs as a VST plugin. I don't know how it works...

May be I can have a look on the VST SDK to propose solutions.

iPassenger · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:31 am Post subject:

Amazing work, really coming on and taking shape. Smile

wouter · Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:59 am Post subject:

brunov · Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:49 am Post subject:

That looks promissing, if I undestand it correctly the chunks are used to load/save presets and banks of a vst via the host from and to file as fxp/fxb files.

Do you know if they are automatically loaded into the vst if you load a project?

I've been thinking about the parameters also. Maybe the most logical thing to do is to expose the parameters to the host that are mapped in de parameter pages of the clavia software. Then you always have a fixed number of parameters.