hahahaha... yes, that's our latest trick down here...
So... to answer your questions briefly:
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1. No, there is no documentation on the MIDI settings at the moment. This function was developed after our official release for Sunlite 2004, and was included in later releases of the software as a beta testing function, mainly because of its potential to help our customers.
It has been and is being modified still. The final shape for the MIDI functions in next year's release is still under work. We apologize for this inconvenience...
However, I believe that undocumented MIDI with good customer support trumps no MIDI... right?
anyway...
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2. As far as our software goes, there are two types of MIDI consoles: keyboards and faders/knobs.
a. KEYBOARDS
To trigger a button using a note from your keyboard, the easiest way is to do it just like you would with a regular key from your computer's keyboard:
Select your button, then go to BUTTON SETTINGS, click on the TRIGGER tab, and then check the MIDI NOTES box. Then simply select your CHANNEL and NOTE.
If you don't know what numbers you should select for these (they should be in your console's user manual), you can click on the ADVANCED button inside the Trigger tab, and then click on the left-most notes on your keyboard.
Notice how the COMMAND, CHANNEL, STATUS, and VELOCITY numbers at the bottom of the window vary. Actually, CHANNEL should not change at all, and STATUS corresponds with the note you are pressing on your keyboard.
Also, notice how the numbering in the notes is sequential, so once you know the note number for the first key, you can count up (12 notes per octave).
Once you figure out these numbers, click on CANCEL ("Annuler", actually... translation bugs), and simply select the appropriate CHANNEL and NOTE.
Then click OK and unselect your button. If we did everything right, everytime you click that particular note on your keyboard you should trigger that particular button. Of course, you can assign several buttons in different pages to the same note in your keyboard. This way you can trigger several switches and scenes with just one click.
so that's it for keyboards... give us a call if this doesn't work...
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b. FADERS/KNOBS
There are several ways to assign these, but I find that right now the simplest is to program it from the ADVANCED window in the TRIGGER tab from the BUTTON SETTINGS menu.
However, our next release will count with a visual console interface, where you will be able to see your console on the screen and just double-click on the sliders you want to assign. Much Much simpler...
But anyway... Make sure you select a button with a fader in it (preferrably a switch with a dimmer to follow my example), so you can see how you are controlling that fader from your console.
Then again, we need to go into BUTTON SETTINGS, TRIGGER tab, and finally ADVANCED button. If your console is connected properly, anything you move in it will change the output of the COMMAND, CHANNEL, STATUS, and VELOCITY, just like the keyboard.
At the top of the window, you will see a BUTTON root menu, then ACTIVATED, DIMMER, SPEED, and SIZE submenus, each with a Midi option inside.
So, say we are controlling a regular dimmer using a fader from our console. If the fader is in the zero position, the dimmer will be OFF, and as we rise the fader, the dimmer output should rise as well.
1. Click on the MIDI menu right under BUTTON ACTIVATED. Using the COMMAND pull-down menu, you want to change the NO COMMAND option to whatever number is displayed at the bottom of the window (command = ##), regardless of the description next to it.
2. Click on the word INACTIVE next to VALUE 1, and check the box that appears left to the word INACTIVE. you will move the slider to the position 1.
3. Open the MIDI menu under DIMMER. Do the same thing for COMMAND. For VALUE 1, you will move the slider to the position 1, and VALUE 2 all the way to the right to position 127.
Then click OK for the ADVANCED window, and also OK for the BUTTON SETTINGS. If you look at your selected button, you will see how you control the fader in it with your console. Furthermore, when you are in the zero position, your button is not activated (if you used a SWITCH button only, because SCENE buttons cannot be disactivated this way).
The same goes for the SPEED and SIZE options in the ADVANCED window. You can play around with this for a while. Doesn't take too long to get used to it. Before you know it, you'll be using your console all the time.
Let me know if this works or not... it should work, but you never know.
Have a nice weekend... bye