Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

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radio42
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Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by radio42 »

Since v3.0.8.65 ProppFrexx ONAIR fully supports the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol.

By using e.g. TouchOSC you might now turn your iPhone or iPad into a fully customizable remote controller.

OSC allows you to send and receive any OSC message from and to a remote OSC client - this enables full bi-directional communication.

Using OSC with your iPad:
By using the 'TouchOSC' app for iPhone/iPad you might now turn your iPad into a fully customizable remote controller.

Please download this ZIP-File: ProppFrexx_ONAIR_TouchOSCiPad.zip

This zip file contains all neccessary files to setup your iPad into a full remote controller using 'TouchOSC'.

Contained Files are:
  • "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.touchosc" : this file contains the TouchOSC layout definition
  • "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.osc" : this file contains the ProppFrexx OSC event mappings
  • "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.events" : this file contains the global events to be imported
Setup:
1) Download and install the 'TouchOSC' app from the iTunes store on your iPad (cost is around 3.99 Euro)!

2) Go to the TouchOSC web-site (http://hexler.net/software/touchosc)
Download and install the TouchOSC Editor software for Windows on your machine running ProppFrexx ONAIR.
This software is free, but required in order to upload the TouchOSC layout definition file to your iPad

3) Copy all files contained in the above zip file to your ProppFrexx ONAIR AppUserData directory.
E.g. "C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\radio42\ProppFrexx ONAIR\4.0"

4) Now launch the 'TouchOSC' app on your iPad:
Select 'Network' and setup your internet connection (a wireless LAN connection is required!)
a) Host: Type in the IP-Address of your machine running ProppFrexx ONAIR
b) Port (outgoing): Type in the port number of your ProppFrexx ONAIR OSC server (e.g. 9000)
c) Port (incoming): Type in the port number of your iPad client (e.g. 9001)
d) Local IP address: this is the IP-Address of your iPad!
Image
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5) Start the TouchOSC Editor (TouchOSCEditor.exe, see 2) on your ProppFrexx ONAIR machine.
Select 'Open' and navigate to your ProppFrexx ONAIR UserData directory (see 3).
Now open the file "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.touchosc".
The layout file will be loaded to the editor.
Now press the 'Sync' button and wait...

6) Switch to your iPad (the TouchOSC app) and go back to the main menu.
Select 'Layout' within the TouchOSC app and click on 'Add'.
Under 'Found Hosts' your machine name will appear - click on it.
The layout will now be synced from your local machine to your iPad.
When done press OK.
The iPad should now have the "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad" layout selected and loaded.
Click on the layout and you should be back in the main menu of TouchOSC.
Click on the 'Done' button to display the layout on your iPad.

You can now also close the TouchOSC Editor on your machine (see 5).
The layout is now transfered to your iPad you don't need the TouchOSC Editor anymore.

7) Finally it is time to start and configure ProppFrexx ONAIR.
Make sure you are running at least version 3.0.8.67 or above.
If note, "Check for Updates..."

8) After ProppFrexx ONAIR has been started go to the global settings dialog (eg. press F3).
Select the 'GPIO/Remoting' section and scroll down to the 'Open Sound Control (OSC)' group.
- Input: Type in the IP-Address of your machine and specifiy the same port number you have selected under 4b)
- Output: Type in the IP-Address of your iPad and specifiy the same port number you have selected under 4c)
- Tick the 'OSC Enabled' checkbox
- Transport: select 'UDP Unicast'
- Mapping: select "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad" from the combobox (this will reference the file "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.osc")

9) Now select the 'Events/Commands' section and click on 'Import Events...'.
Navigate to your ProppFrexx ONAIR UserData directory (see 3) and open the file "ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.events".
When done click 'OK' to close and save all global setting.

10) That's it.
You have now:
- transfered the TouchOSC layout from your machine to the iPad
- configured the iPad and ProppFrexx ONAIR to communicate via the specified IP addresses and port numbers
- enabled the OSC remote server within ProppFrexx ONAIR
- loaded/selected the OSC mapping file ("ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.osc") which translates all incomming OSC messages from the iPad into appropriate control-commands
- imported various global events ("ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad.events") which sends OSC messages back to the iPad to updates the TouchOSC user interface


Using TouchOSC:
After launching 'TouchOSC' on your iPad make your your Network and Layout settings are set as described above.
Also make sure to enable the following options:
- Stay connected: ON
- Double-tap lock: ON
Click the 'Done' button to switch to the ProppFrexx ONAIR iPad layout and start the remote controller.
The interface offers 5 different tabs:
1. MAIN
2. MIXER
3. CARDWALL 1
4. CARDWALL 2
5. MORE

MAIN:
When launching for the first time you might need to click on the 'Sync' button in order to synchronize the display with the currently running ProppFrexx ONAIR instance.
The MAIN page contains all major controls to remotely operate your playlist, players, main fader as well as two input channels.
Therefore the MAIN page might be used during live operations (live assist).
The buttons reflect the same functionality as provided by the regular ProppFrexx ONAIR user interface.
Image

MIXER:
This page allows you to control up to 6 output mixer channels as well as up to 4 input mixer channels.
Image

CARDWALL 1/2:
This page reflects your Cardwall I. You can switch between 4 shortcuts (cardwall libraries) as setup in ProppFrexx ONAIR.
The PFL, SELECT and LOOP buttons serve as multi-touch buttons.
In order to toggle the loop flag or to select individual cards press and hold the SELECT or LOOP button while clicking on the individual card(s).
Same with PFL: press and hold the PFL button while clicking in the card you want to pre-listen to.
All other buttons are single-touch buttons.
Image Each card provides 3 leds: Yellow=Selected, Green=Playing, Purple=Looped.

MORE:
This page was left blank by intention. It offers you space for any additional controls you might want to add using the TouchOSC Editor.


Two-Way Communication:
TouchOSC sends OSC messages to ProppFrexx ONAIR (to the OSC remote server within ProppFrexx ONAIR).
ProppFrexx ONAIR might now evaluate these incoming messages via the standard message mapping logic in order to translate those incoming OSC messages into control-commands.
On the other side ProppFrexx ONAIR might send OSC messages back to TouchOSC by using the EXEC_SEND_OSC control-command (see the user manual for more info).
This allows full bi-directional communication.
You might use the global event system of ProppFrexx ONAIR to trigger the sending of OSC messages to TouchOSC.

Have Fun...
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radio42
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by radio42 »

This 'TouchOSC' iPad thing might sound funny at the first glance - but we should remember, that a good external remote console (with motor faders etc.) is often 5 times more expensive than an iPad - and is actually not much better.
The 'TouchOSC' software is pretty responsive and has almost no latency (in my tests only about 1-3ms) - the only thing it doesn't have is real fader knobs - but that's it.
But if we look into the future I even guess, that physical knobs are going to disappear - so the iPad already gives you this StarTrek commander feeling today.
And playing with it here makes me feel no difference after a few minutes - so I am not missing the physical knobs right now ;-)

In addition: It is portable!
So it might also be used as a display for 'remote' moderators, guests in your studio etc.

So I guess ProppFrexx ONAIR is the first radio automation system which can be fully remote controlled from your iPad.

Beside that you might note, that you can also use your iPad/iPhone/iTouch together with any VNC app to fully monitor any of your radio machines - even when on the road using a fast mobile data connection like UMTS/GPRS/EDGE.
Farbo
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by Farbo »

I can not try it as I do not have iPad/iPhone/iTouch but one question I have. Can you connect only 1 iPad/iPhone/iTouch or even more of them in order to control PF?
Peter
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radio42
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by radio42 »

No, only one device can be connected at a time - this is a restriction of the current TouchOSC software, as you must provide a dedicated IP address and Port number for its bi-directional communication.
Farbo
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by Farbo »

And all this possible only with OS machines or also windows or even java enabled phones?
Peter
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radio42
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by radio42 »

Please read the above linked docs for TouchOSC resp. OSC.
The OSC interface is available for all OSC clients, as it is a standard.
The above implementation for TouchOSC is of course only available for the supported TouchOSC devices.
Farbo
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Joined: 11 Apr 2012 15:04
Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by Farbo »

Found usefull tutorials, although on Traktor software:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFEeRbKnoCc
Peter
grebda
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by grebda »

PLEASE CREATE ON THE ANDROID ! :-)
SORRY FOR MY VERY BAD ENGLISH !! :-( :-(
starstruck
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by starstruck »

It is already available on Android

http://hexler.net/software/touchosc-android

Kev
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radio42
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Re: Open Sound Control (OSC) with your iPhone/iPad

Post by radio42 »

As 'starstruck' already mentioned: TouchOSC is already available for Android.
The layout I created for the iPad might be used as a starting point - which of course would need some adjustment for your Android smartphone,as the screen resolution might be different - e.g. I also didn't create a iPhone layout yet, as the screen is simply pretty much limited.
But as TouchOSC comes with a complete layout editor, it should be easy to create your own layout with it.

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