mamsc

MIDI Schow Control over Ethernet for MA lighting

This is an implementation of the MIDI Show Control protocol used by MA lighting. While initially developed for the dot2 lineup it also works for grandMA2 with some slight differences which are documented below.

IMPORTANT Companion V3.0 UPDATE!

If you use variables from this module in an earlier version of Companion, you will need to update them.

The deprecated exec:x.x variable for fader position has been replaced with 'exec_x.x_fader. Prior to V3.0, module variables could contain spaces and :` without any issues. In order to use these variables in more situations (such as triggers and actions), the characters available to name variables needed to be restricted to those allowed in the underlying programming. Unfortunately, these can not be converted on importing/upgrading and need to be fixed manually.

Console/onPC configuration

You are required to set the MIDI Show Control mode to Ethernet, exec to Exec.Page and the command format to All. The rest of the configuration depends on your needs. In and out ports need to be between 6000 and 6100 as per the MA documentation and shouldn't be the same to prevent loops. MIDI channels are ignored when mode is set to Ethernet.

Companion configuration

Option	Description
Transmitter Address	Destination IP address.<br>Defaults to the brodcast address 255.255.255.255.
Transmitter Port	Destination port (needs to be between 6000 and 6100).<br>This should be the same as the one set under MSC In ⇒ Ethernet Port on the console.
Transmitter Device ID	Set this to a value between 0 and 111 to restrict messages to a device and set Send To to Device
Transmitter Group ID	Set this to a value between 1 and 15 to restrict messages to a group and set Send To to Group
Transmitter Send To	If you want to restrict who should react on messages send you can set this to<br> either Device and set the Device ID or Group and set the Group ID accordingly.<br>By default it is set to All so everyone will react on messages.
Receiver Address	Address to listen for incoming messages on.<br>Defaults to the all interface address 0.0.0.0.
Receiver Port	Port to listen for incoming messages on (needs to be between 6000 and 6100).<br>This should be the same as the one set under MSC Out ⇒ Ethernet Port
Receiver Device ID	Set this to a value between 0 and 111 to only listen for messages received for this Device ID.<br>We'll still react on messages send to everyone.
Receiver Group ID	Set this to a value between 1 and 15 to only listen for messages received for this Group ID.<br>We'll still react on messages send to everyone.
Receiver Enabled	Check this to enable the Receiver.<br>Keep it disabled if you just want to execute actions but don't need feedback or dynamic variables.
Receiver Executor List	This is a list of executors in the format: [page.]exec, comma separated.<br>It's used to create dynamic variables containing the fader position of the listed executors.
Console/onPC Type	Type of Console/onPC you want to communicate with.

Limitations

Generally executor numbers can be between 0 and 127. This is a protocol limitation. All executor numbers can be used now with one exception: When using fader/intensity actions the executor numbers are still limited between 0 and 127. The console does send and receive fader/intensity information for higher executor numbers but wraps around above 127. So it is adviced to either stick to executors below 128 or to not use nor rely on fader/intensity actions/information when using higher executors. Also note that while it works it is documented otherwise and might be subject to change even though unlikely. If you don't define an executor or use 0 then the main executor is assumed on a dot2 or the first executor on a grandMA2. The grand master can't be controlled through MSC. By default page 1 is assumed for all executors. The dot2 only supports control of page 1 via MSC while the grandMA2 does support different pages. Note that the main executor is technically not on a page so when the executor is set to 0 and the console type is set to dot2, the page setting isn't used. Some actions support an optional fade time in seconds which can be between 0 and 3600. Macro numbers can be between 1 and 255. Be aware that feedbacks are dependent on MSC messages comming from the console and that fader positions or executor states are only known once they've been received. Also incrementation and decrementation of a fader position can only be done once the current position of the fader has been received.

Actions

Action	Parameters
Goto a specific cue	Cue Number, [Executor Number], [Page Number], [Fade Time]
Pause an executor	[Executor Number], [Page Number]
Resume an executor	[Executor Number], [Page Number]
Move a fader	Percent, Action, [Executor Number], [Page Number], [Fade Time]
Fire a macro	Macro Number
Switch an executor off	[Executor Number], [Page Number]

Feedbacks

Feedback	Parameters
Executor active state feedback	Executor Number, [Page Number], Active
Executor paused state feedback	Executor Number, [Page Number], Paused
Cue list feedback	Cue Number, Executor Number, [Page Number]
Fader position feedback	Percent, Operator, Executor Number, [Page Number]

Variables

Variable	Description
exec_x.x_fader	Position of fader on executor x.x
exec_x.x_cue	Current Cue on executor x.x
exec_x.x_active	true if executor x.x is Active
exec_x.x_paused	true if executor x.x is paused

Replace x.x with appropriate Page and Executor numbers

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© 2023 Christian Volmering <christian@volmering.name>