On Stage Setup

[Ruckman65]

Hi guys. All the best for the new year.

Here is what I would like to be able to set up on stage but I am not sure of the best way to do it. I would like to keep the setup as simple as possible.

I want to use Setlist Maker to run our lights and videos in sync with each song. The videos are in .h264 format and reside on one of my two iPads. All recordings are on my other iPad. The lights are currently run through a simple DMX controller. Unfortunately, I cannot get the DMX controller to run using midi in or out commands because the user manual includes almost no midi information. 

For me, the most important part is syncing our songs with the videos. Having the lights run with the same setup would be a bonus. Arlo mentioned he was looking at including video out in a future Setlist Maker update. If that comes through, most of my problems would be solved. If it doesn't happen, I will need to find another way of doing it.

I can also rope in a laptop to take on some of the tasks and understand I can use the laptop to do it all but I would much prefer to just use my iPads.

Any and all help gratefully accepted.

[arlo]

For the videos, you can look for apps that can play videos and can be controlled with MIDI song selection and start/stop messages. I don't know if any exist. I am tentatively planning to add video playback in version 4.2, but I don't know exactly how it will work or when it will be available.

For the lighting, you could specify what system you have and maybe someone else will know how it works. Otherwise I recommend looking for resources specific to that model, either from the manufacturer or from a forum that is more focused on lighting systems.

[Christoph]

For the video part have a look at TouchVIZ, this would do the job. I have been using this app for many gigs and are very satisfied. More info about it in this discussion.

Concerning the light show and DMX: I would recommend to invest in a better DMX controller with a stable MIDI implementation. Here in Europe these are starting at around 300 EUR (360 USD). There are also PC programs if you want to run it on your laptop with a DMX interface and even iOS apps for that if you have a device to spare.

Happy New Year!

[Ruckman65]

Hello Christoph. Thank you for the reply and happy New Year to you. I have spent a few hours investigating Touchviz and it does look promising.
Can you import your own videos into Touchviz?
Would it be possible to run Setlist Maker and Touchviz on the same iPad, having Setlist Maker send midi commands to Touchviz running in the background?
In your setup, how do your iPads communicate with each other?

[Christoph]

Can you import your own videos into Touchviz?

Yes. Please have a look on their website for import options and formats. It even supports live video input from the iPad camera - very cool!

Would it be possible to run Setlist Maker and Touchviz on the same iPad, having Setlist Maker send midi commands to Touchviz running in the background?

No, TouchViz will not run in the background and requires a dedicated device. I think this is because the app needs to output video, either via a HDMI or VGA connection or wirelessly via AirPlay to an AppleTV.

In your setup, how do your iPads communicate with each other?

They communicate via MIDI. I use an iConnectMIDI2+ interface that is rugged and also charges the iPad (the video fx are quite resource hungry, therefore it is not a good idea to rely on battery life only for several-hour shows). MIDI output comes from an Alesis iO dock. I have also experimented with wireless MIDI: Both the iPad running Set List Maker and the one running TouchViz have to be in the same WiFi network. But I still have problems to reliably establish and maintain the MIDI-RTP connection between iOS devices, from my experience you still need an additional background app (e.g. NetMIDI or MidiBridge) on the receiving iPad.

[Ruckman65]

Hello Christoph. Thank you for the detailed description of your setup. That sounds like the way to go. If I run into any hassles, I will let you know.

[Christoph]

After writing the post above, I have made some additional tests with RTP-MIDI and found a quite reliable solution. I have posted my experiences in this discussion in MIDI help.