step sequencer virgin - go easy on me

[magneticpitch]

what i'm trying to do: i've got a z rotation slider in a 3D effect that i want to hit values of 0,90,180,270,360 (not in order, i want to be able to, for example, program a sequence that would send values: 90,0,270,0,90,180,360,90) at regular intervals.

i thought with the step sequencer i could send one of those values to my z rotation slider. that would be direct and simple, but if that's possible i have no idea how.

what i tried was: 4 row, 8 step (column) sequencer. then with a number fx i wanted to multiply the possible column values (0,1,2,3,4) by 90 and send that value to the z rotation slider. but i could only figure out how to put the number fx on the slider itself (you can't apply number fx to the step sequencer?) it kind of works but, it'll hit 0 and 360 and 90, okay, but i get like 176.9 and 268.4 for the columns set to values 2 and 3. (i don't get that at all -- a bug??)

btw - i thought it would be very direct to use a multiply number fx - but the max. value is 5??? any reason i can't use 90..? i had to chain 4 multiply fx to get to the number 90, and that's just silly. like, how hard can it be to tell a computer to multiply a value by 90?

i'm sure there's a far easier way to do this (probably doesn't even involve a step sequencer) so i'd be grateful for any suggestions?? (i'd prefer this happen automatically, not by having to push buttons to trigger the value i want)

the x,y,z rotation sliders work on 0-360. can i/should i normalize that? so at .25 = 90 degrees, .5= 180 degrees, etc.?

if the step sequencer is the wrong way to go about this... hm, well i know if i set marks where i want them on the z rotation slider, then i could trigger them via buttons, and sync those buttons to the step sequencer, but is that really the most efficient way to accomplish this?? i thought the point of the step sequencer was to be able to send specific values to controls at regular intervals --- do i just need to set it to have 360 rows?

thanks much... this is my first time to get into automating effects moves. previously i've just mixed everything with a midi controller

PS - i suck at math, but you probably already knew that

[magneticpitch]

terrific. i managed to pop my cherry.

got it squared - i was making things more difficult than they really were - values from the sequencer were automatically scaled to the 0-360 of the z rotation slider.

then use a randomize and a snap # fx to - snap the z rotation slider to marks at 0,90,180,270

[dlublin]

Hey MP,

Glad to hear you worked it out-

I was having a little trouble understanding how you were trying to set that up; in the future it may help just to send us a simple project so we can get a clearer idea of what you're attempting, though i sounds like you were just going about it the wrong way.

- DL

[magneticpitch]

thanks Dave. as it turned out, LFOs were a much better match for what i was doing (smooth 3D rotations on all 3 planes). but it was good to get my feet wet on both the Step Sequencer and the LFO--definitely expanded my VDMX horizons. it's a good feeling to get a handle on stuff & to find more possibilities open up.

if you happen to see this: a question: there's a new demo video on the Vidvox Vimeo page, where a new guy(?) gives a hint about setting buttons to "straight edge triggering" so you can turn an FX fully off when an FX slider/knob is turned to minimum (to save GPU cycles, but mainly to get the cleanest/sharpest image). But i don't get how he's pulling up the menu that includes an option for "straight edge triggering"? it's not there when you right-click on a button or a slider.

i'd like to do this for some of the effects in my projects (especially for alpha / layer masks), because for some FX, you can see that they're still "muddying" up the image just a bit even when they're at their minimum setting. Also would free up a lot of buttons since i could use the knob itself to turn an FX off/on and control the mix (or parameter)

[dlublin]

Hey MP,

The setting for trigger on rising / falling edge (and straight sync) are in the sub-inspector for individual data-source receivers for buttons, check out the UI inspector window once you've clicked on a button.

A single button can receive from any number of MIDI / key / etc. sources simultaneously and this is a property the receivers themselves, not the buttons, so it is a bit specific for the right+click menu for buttons.

More info in the wiki here:
http://vidvox.net/wiki/index.php/Main_P ... :_On.2FOff

- DL

[magneticpitch]

awesome, thanks Dave. that's weird, though.. in that video it shows him choosing "straight edge triggering" from a (typical OSX white) drop-down menu. maybe it's an older version of VDMX?

hmm, i just looked at the official vidvox vimeo page--i guess i found the video on somebody's personal vimeo page (i guess his page has embedded links to all you guy's official demo vids) (the bookmark's on my other computer which is defragging at the moment, or i'd give you the URL)

[magneticpitch]

Dave, in the inspector, there's no longer anything labeled "straight edge triggering". i assume this would mean using a tolerance of .01, so only the minimal value received from a slider could be used to turn an FX on/off as well. ?

[dlublin]

Sorry, I meant to say "val from input" or "toggle on input"

With "val from input" it is on if above the threshold, off when below.

With "toggle on input" it switches the state of the button when the threshold is crossed on rise and/or fall.

Pretty straightforward if you try the permutations with a key press.