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Old 05-03-2006, 05:58 PM   #1
chip mcdonald
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Default Hey, uhm... Logitech pedals as controllers?

Ok, I really know I'm pushing it, but.. I see there's a page for "controllers" under preferences...?

See, I'm a big F1 racing fan, and I've got one of these silly Logitech Momo racing wheel/pedal combination controllers, and...

...One day I thought, "well, you know things have really been taken to the limit - we've got mice, and full-fader control surfaces... is there anything *simple* left to be done?"..

..and I thought, man: it would be super cool if I could use this USB accellerator/brake pedal to do stuff in Cool Edit!

Which I couldn't figure out to do.


BUT...

If I could, it would rule if I could step on the accellerator pedal and have the window/timeline scroll right, press on the brake pedal and have it scroll left... that way I could keep my hand on the mouse, hover it over where I know I'm going to end up need it (*envelope editing*), instead of having to frantically click/tug-pull, click/tug-pull>envelope edit, or click the resize buttons, move the cursor>envelope edit, etc...

OR.....

Maybe even better, have the accellerator being the "Foward Jog" and the brake pedal the "Backwards Jog"...


Uhg, that wasn't a good explanation... but I'm sure a fair amount of people have some variation of these pedal setups, and if it was useful enough I could see it becoming a normal thing since you can get them some places for less than what a fancy mouse costs.

/ thought
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Old 05-04-2006, 08:22 AM   #2
BoxOfSnoo
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Default I don't have an answer, but

All I'm going to say is, "GO, BUTTON!"
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Old 05-04-2006, 11:44 AM   #3
chip mcdonald
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxOfSnoo
All I'm going to say is, "GO, BUTTON!"
A Honda fan, are you? <g> Might have more luck since the FIA axed Ide...


Regardless, it'd be great to be able to jog forward/back by pressing the pedals...
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Old 05-04-2006, 05:41 PM   #4
BoxOfSnoo
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Default Another idea

I would appreciate more having triggers for something like toggle play/toggle record (I play guitar), but I wonder if this is more of a plugin API thing to come after v1.0. I think it's more likely we get external MIDI control (Eagerly awaiting my FCB1010, and hoping I can control Reaper with it, somehow)

(Honda, not any more than the others. Happy they're not blowing up all the time this year. I just like the underdog and Button is really eager to get his first win...)
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Old 05-04-2006, 05:48 PM   #5
chip mcdonald
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxOfSnoo
I would appreciate more having triggers for something like toggle play/toggle record (I play guitar),
Yeah, I'd prefer something other than shift-R... I'm playing guitar too, and there's something about having to reach over and do a two-key move before you've got to play.

BUT - the new "explode to tracks" feature means you may as well just hit record with the mouse and let it run - worry about which takes to save later. That's very, very convenient IMO.

Quote:
but I wonder if this is more of a plugin API thing to come after v1.0. I think it's more likely we get external MIDI control (Eagerly awaiting my FCB1010, and hoping I can control Reaper with it, somehow)
That's the Roland channel switcher?

Yeah, I've got an ART X15; while I wouldn't want to think about tap-dancing on it to do stuff, it *does* have two CC pedals on it... and using a couple of the buttons would be very handy, if for nothing other than PLAY/STOP.


/ undecided about Jenson, although I'd like Rubens to do well...
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Old 05-04-2006, 06:59 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chip mcdonald
Yeah, I'd prefer something other than shift-R...

BUT - the new "explode to tracks" feature means you may as well just hit record with the mouse and let it run - worry about which takes to save later. That's very, very convenient IMO.
I hear ya. A great addition!

Quote:
Originally Posted by chip mcdonald
That's the Roland channel switcher?
Behringer. Price/performance for that thing is outstanding!

Actually, what kind of interface is your wheel/pedals? Does it show up as a joystick up/down motion? It might be easier than I think to make a little helper app.
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Old 05-04-2006, 07:10 PM   #7
petramar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chip mcdonald
..and I thought, man: it would be super cool if I could use this USB accellerator/brake pedal to do stuff in Cool Edit!
Now that you mention it... I'd love to use one of those Grand Prix steering wheels to head some stubborn bass lines in the right direction...
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Old 05-04-2006, 07:24 PM   #8
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Default Quick and easy solution

... I already had the app running on my system! Check out AutoHotkey at http://www.autohotkey.com/

Grab this script:

Code:
#Persistent  ; Keep this script running until the user explicitly exits it.
SetTimer, WatchAxis, 5
return

WatchAxis:
GetKeyState, JoyY, JoyY  ; Get position of Y axis.
KeyToHoldDownPrev = %KeyToHoldDown%  ; Prev now holds the key that was down before (if any).

if JoyY > 70
	KeyToHoldDown = Left
else if JoyY < 30
	KeyToHoldDown = Right
else
	KeyToHoldDown =

if KeyToHoldDown = %KeyToHoldDownPrev%  ; The correct key is already down.
	return  ; Do nothing.

; Otherwise, release the previous key and press down the new key:
SetKeyDelay -1  ; Avoid delays between keystrokes.
if KeyToHoldDownPrev   ; There is a previous key to release.
	Send, {%KeyToHoldDownPrev% up}  ; Release it.
if KeyToHoldDown   ; There is a key to press down.
	Send, {%KeyToHoldDown% down}  ; Press it down.
return
Paste that in notepad, save it as joystick.ahk (or whatever) and double-click on it. You will see an extra little green "H" in your tray. Try the pedals in REAPER now.

The script will send the cursor keys to any app, you could put a condition in there, but I don't see that it is really necessary. I copied this almost verbatim out of the help file, I just trimmed out the X axis and changed "Up" and "Down" to "Right" and "Left".

I have no idea if this is CPU hungry or not, yet. I didn't test it too extensively. Maybe tomorrow I can get it toggling start/stop too!
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Old 05-05-2006, 11:58 AM   #9
BoxOfSnoo
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Default TaDaaaa!

Man, this is great...

I hooked up my cheezy Laing PS1 wheel controller through a USB adapter and my pedals matched Buttons 4 (brake) and 3 (accelerator).

I got it running fairly quickly, the trick was sending the keystrokes to the right control - i.e. if the FX window was open - it would fail unless I did that. Here's my results!

Code:
SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ; Look for the string anywhere in window title
; Set the accelerator to "Record"
Joy3::
IfWinExist REAPER
{
; We need to send Ctrl-R very deliberately... otherwise it seems
; to send them one at a time.
ControlSend, REAPERTrackListWindow1, {Ctrl down}r{Ctrl up}
}
; Set the brake to "Play/Pause"
Joy4::
IfWinExist REAPER
{
ControlSend, REAPERTrackListWindow1, {Space}
}
You can tweak the functions by sending different keys. This has great potential, I think, with the variety of game controllers out there! Imagine what you could do with a DDR pad!

Hope this helps someone else too.
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Old 05-05-2006, 04:14 PM   #10
chip mcdonald
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How big is the memory usage on that Hotkey utility? I'm not too enthused about running a TSR type program, but if it works that would be neat to get it to scroll left/right...
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Old 05-05-2006, 04:30 PM   #11
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I like this idea so much its retarded. I got a pedal wheel setup for playing the now deceased MCO and it would be great to get it going musically. Left right scroll with my feets would be AWESOME!!!!
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Old 05-05-2006, 05:06 PM   #12
BoxOfSnoo
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As far as memory, it's reading 3MB working set in Process Explorer, with my "button watching" script. Right next to MSN messenger in the list. Not sure what the other one would be like, it polls the joystick as well, so it would behave differently as far as CPU goes.

"TSR"? Heh another old-timer!
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Old 05-05-2006, 06:51 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxOfSnoo
This has great potential, I think, with the variety of game controllers out there! Imagine what you could do with a DDR pad!
I'm looking forward to the First-Person-Shooter VSTi plug-in Justin is coding. The speed of the bullets are locked to Tempo. The number of Tracks determines the number of Players, and the Sample Rate determines the Screen Refresh. Multiplayer support is via Ninjam. Coming soon - REAPER-STRIKE!

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Old 05-06-2006, 02:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxOfSnoo
As far as memory, it's reading 3MB working set in Process Explorer, with my "button watching" script. Right next to MSN messenger in the list. Not sure what the other one would be like, it polls the joystick as well, so it would behave differently as far as CPU goes.
Hmm. Well, I've yet to thoroughly examine Reaper, so I'll have to wait on trying that out - I'm in the middle of a solo project I need to make sure doesn't get anymore sidetracked than it is.

Quote:
"TSR"? Heh another old-timer!
<g> Well, there *was* a time when I only wanted Norton Commander as my "desktop"... but I used to dabble in programming for fun and still consider anything that you can Terminate and it still Stays Resident to be a "TSR" instead of a "process"... <g>
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Old 05-06-2006, 09:01 AM   #15
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Well, what a totally cool toy! I have an old gamepad lying around in the closet I can use as a controller now!

Thanks for posting the autohotkey stuff!
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Old 05-06-2006, 01:27 PM   #16
chip mcdonald
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxOfSnoo
I hooked up my cheezy Laing PS1 wheel controller through a USB adapter and my pedals matched Buttons 4 (brake) and 3 (accelerator).
Have you tried it for scroll L/R...?
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Old 05-06-2006, 02:25 PM   #17
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Yep, the first script maps "up" and "down" (most PC wheels) to keyboard left and right cursor keys. It was pretty slow (i.e. fine control), I suppose it would be better to do Ctrl+arrows to move faster, or alt to change the view. Maybe you can use the keyboard in conjunction with the pedals to modify your movement.
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Old 07-18-2006, 12:13 PM   #18
Gerry G
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Default This is truly wonderful tech begun as a bit of a joke

I am putting together some serious hardware controllers in my spare time. These are nothing like brakes and accellerators but using completely new forms of control for music.

Any of you coders interested in collabbing on something that could be really big in coming decades?

Gerry G.
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