Mackie control LCD emulation brought out to a small LCD display?

[gemini86]

I have a couple BCF2000 control surfaces that I actually love to death... (we can talk about their shortcomings and noise all day long, but this thread isn't about that) Behringer has a little app called BCFview that emulated mackies LCB display on your monitor. It can be made to be on top of everything so you never lose it and makes using the BCF a lot easier with regards to button/knob functions and seeing what you're doing with the eq and send controls, but when your monitor isn't right above the control surface, it's easy to start turning knobs on the wrong track.

I've read in another forum that some german guy successfully built a little LCD display with a video driver, midi in out, etc to read the data that's coming to the BCF via midi. any advice on where to start to accomplish this? Arduino maybe?

 

[helterbelter]

I'm curious for this as well....

Have you got a link to the thread on the german forum ?

 

[gemini86]

I've done some more research and it appears that the Mackie control uses sysex commands to receive the LCD data. This can be captured over the midi cable with a midibox core module and an LCD module. I'll try to post some links later tonight. Anyone have any experience with the midi box projects?

 

[pyjaman]

Hi, I'm a regular lurker on the Midibox forum, and I can tell you that what you are looking for is actually very doable. as you said, the controler recieves sysex messages from the daw for LCD updating, and it can be read by a "midibox" solely dedicated to display in your midi chain. on the forum, or on the midibox site (ucapps.de), there is an example from a guy who added displays to a tascam US2400 . It's an old topic and he made it with the help of an outdated midibox version. For a way more powerful, flexible, yet very simplified solution, look for "Midibox NG" , witch is mostly developped for HUI oriented projects.
The main forum is in English, as is ucapps.de the site of Midibox's main developper.
http://ucapps.de/
http://midibox.org/forums/
It's a great DIY comunity, I'm actually starting a DIY midi controler with 24 moving faders, oled displays per channel etc... thanks to these guys.
Laurent.
EDIT: forgot to mention that for experience report, I already have a core working, with flawless display functionality.

 

[gemini86]

Awesome! So basically this should be almost plug and play once I burn midios to the core? In the future I would love to build a dedicated Mackie control with time code and everything, so it's great that I'm not venturing into foreign territory without guidance.

 

[pyjaman]

Well... plug and play, I don't think so, but if you dig in it, I'm sure you'll soon find what you need . I found myself the Midibox concept a bit obscure and geeky at first, but surprisingly powerful and manageable quite fast. I have to say I'm very newb at it but the learning curve is fast and you'll find there people ready to help if you know how to be polite.

 

[gemini86]

I think what I meant by "plug and play" was that the MidiOS (once uploaded to the core) would automoatically receive and decode the SysEx data for the display. From what I'm reading, that should be the case.

 

[pyjaman]

right . sorry.

 

[Preben Friis]

Yes, MIOS will be the way to go.

I once did a similar thing using the HUI protocol: LCD and time display.

http://midibox.org/forums/topic/7531-mackie-hui-for-protools-just-the-numeric-leds/?p=55771