Virtual Midi Foot Controller EDIT: official website launched

klassiker

klassiker

Member
Is there anybody who knows a simple virtual midi foot controller with more than 8 switches which I can use to switch the presets on the Axe-FX using the computer keyboard or the mouse?

I know that Midi-OX has a Midi control panel, but I would prefer a much simpler application with a simple GUI that shows which preset is currently active.

Thanks,
Uwe

EDIT:
I meanwhile launched the official web site and removed the old directory on our server. The application and the documentation can be found here:
http://www.uwe-steigmann.de/vmfc
 
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Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

You can do that with Lars' editor. Just load the bank you have on your Axe-Fx into the editor and there you have it.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

www.Fo.com said:
You can do that with Lars' editor. Just load the bank you have on your Axe-Fx into the editor and there you have it.
Click to expand...

Yes, but loading of the Bank takes several minutes and switching frrom preset 1 to preset 10 with a single click or by pressing a single key on the keyboard is not possible, right?
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Just save the bank you loaded from the Axe-Fx on your computer and use that file instead. Then loading the bank takes just a second (The editor even automatically recalls the last bank used). You can definitely go from preset 1 to 10 with a single click with the editor. There is a page where all presets in a given bank are listed. All you have to do is click on them.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

I too would like to know of a virtual foot controller for PC or mac OSX... not necessarily just for the afx, but for... anything.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

As I couldn't find any virtual Midi Foot Controller for simple preset switching, I decided to write one on my own.

Here are the results:
You need Java 1.5 or later (same constraints as valid for the Axe-FX Editor, see http://www.axechange.net/editor.aspx). As you can imagine, the software is beta, freeware and without any warranty (see disclaimer below).

The application creates a file named "virtual_foot_controller.properties" which is used to memorize the last set Midi output device and the last set Midi channel. The directory where this file is created can be provided as first command line parameter. If nothing is specified, the directory where the virtualmidifootcontroller.jar resides is used.

http://www.overload-live.de/vmfc/virtua ... roller.jar

DISCLAIMER:
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

woow, very cool app! :shock:

Thanks!
If you even think about expanding the app, a row with CC's would be very usefull.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

The axess electronics fx-1 editor is a great virtual pedalboard. Free download on their site. Even as IA switches and works with single mouse clicks.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

I added a row for CCs as new feature as requested by voes. Thank to voes for the hint!

The row consists of 5 buttons which can be assigned with any controller number between 0 and 127. If value 127 (on) is sent to the controller number, the red light will be on. If value 0 (off) is sent, the red light will be off. Please note that the lights of the Control Change button row do not reflect the state of the preset after a program change.

Other features added/changed:
1.) Program Changes can be done via keyboard using number block 1-9
2.) Program Changes +10/-10 can be done via page-up/page-down keys
3.) Control Changes con be done via F1-F5 keys

Download location is still the same as described above:
http://www.overload-live.de/vmfc/virtua ... roller.jar
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

hey, this thing's pretty cool!
thanks, klassiker!

for the CC's, could you do something to make their on/off state a little more graphically noticeable?
on my screen (1920x1200 res), the red light isn't very obvious (although it does look cool, being like a real LED)
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Sounds like very cool app for home use if you don't have your real controller available. Screenshots?
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Exactly that was also my use case. Here's a screenshot of the latest Version (including a 5-button row for CCs)
 

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Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Nice GUI. I'll be definitely using this one at home. Thanks.
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

shauniak said:
The axess electronics fx-1 editor is a great virtual pedalboard. Free download on their site. Even as IA switches and works with single mouse clicks.
Click to expand...

shauniak,

I think the FX 1 editor is only great if you actually have a FX 1, because otherwise the virtual pedal board is disabled? At least it is when I try it.


klassiker,

This is great, many thanks! I can get program changes to work fine, but the CC toggles aren't doing anything. Perhaps I'm using them wrong? Should I be setting the CC number in the text box above the switch, and then click the switch to toggle the value from 0/127? If so, this is not working for me. Also, any chance you might add a couple of 0..127 sliders in addition to the CC toggles, to simulate expression pedal values as well? At a bare minimum, I can use a CC assigned to the same controller number to simulate full-heel/full-toe, but being able to specify a value somewhere in-between would be cool as well. Again, thanks!


[UPDATE]
shauniak, never mind, my bad -- realized that I need to put it in Master mode to use the pedal board interactively. It's a little intimidating in its size/complexity...

klassiker, also please disregard my "not working" post above -- I hadn't pressed the Enter button after typing the CC # into the text field above the CC pedals. Once I do that, everything works perfectly. Duh!

So, I guess the only enhancement I would love to see is expression pedal value support other than 0/127. Also, the expression pedals would ideally retain their value upon patch change (i.e., re-send the CC/value for exp pedals upon patch change). Even if you don't add this feature, I'll still use it, because it saves me having to connect a piece of hardware for simple tinkering.

-Steve
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Hi Steve,

no problem... here you go ;-)

I actually need some beta tester for a new version which includes two sliders for CC values 0..127 and the possibility to send any number of CCs (different or same controller) with any value between 0 and 127.

The jar for testing can be downloaded here:
http://www.overload-live.de/vmfc/virtua ... roller.jar

The syntax for sending more than one CC per CC-button is:
on:CC<controller number>=<value>,CC<controller number>=<value>,...off:CC<controller number>=<value>,CC<controller number>=<value>,...

Example:
on:CC27=50,CC50=0off:CC27=0,CC50=2

As the text field is very limited, I set the entered value as tool tip for the text field.

Still you can also just enter a simple number between 0 and 127 to get the old behavior (value 127 for on and value 0 for off to the controller number defined in the text field).

Please note that the entered text is only taken if
1.) enter is pressed after entering or pasting the text into the text field
2.) in case it is not a number between 0 and 127 the entered text must be compliant to the syntax mentioned above

For both sliders only controller numbers between 0 and 127 can be entered. The current value of the slider will then be sent to the controller number entered in the text field when the slider is moved.

Please put your feedback here, or send me a pm.

If no bugs are found, or I fixed them I will replace the current version with this one.

Regards,
Uwe

P.S. if anybody is interrested in the source code, you can download it as a zipped eclipse project from here: http://www.overload-live.de/vmfc/VMFC_src.zip
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Uwe,

This is exactly what I had in mind! :D It seems to work perfectly for the simple case of single CC assignment. I'll have to spend more time testing the advanced CC assignment this weekend.

Just one other feature I think would be cool/useful -- a setting to allow you to preserve all the CC toggles state on patch change, or reset them (i.e. turn them to "off" state) on patch change. If setting is enabled, the lights for any enabled CC toggles should stay on after patch change, to prevent confusion where an effect may be enabled but the light doesn't show it as such.

Again, many thanks!

-Steve
 
Re: Virtual Midi Foot Controller

Steve,

I created another test version which preserves the CCs toggles and sliders on patch change by resending them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please delete the configuration file virtual_foot_controller.properties before the first start of this version to ensure that unused CC switches and sliders are getting the new correct default value "-" which stands for not in use. Otherwise for each CC switch which has controller number 0 will trigger a CC0000 (controller nummber 0 with value 0 for switched off) on each preset switch.

http://www.overload-live.de/vmfc/virtua ... roller.jar

Regards,
Uwe
 
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