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Topic: vdj into unreal engine

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locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
this isn't my doing, user: deosi gave me a PM [or six] about sending vdj midi [via a virtual midi cable] into the unreal engine.
I know nowt about how unreal deals with midi,[former gaming addict, had to put the pad down] deosi didn't know much about vdj_script, nor definition creating.
so 24 hours after I realised he wasn't going to go away unless I helped, [and a dozen messages later] he sent me this video


nothing extravagant, but pretty tight on latency considering.
boiling it down; it's video dmx

I've bumped him a few ideas on how to catch a beat or a 32crash. I'll leave him to poke the unreal end of things.
is it just a nerdy pass time or could it be a thing?, IDK but it's interesting [sort of]
 
Posted Thu 17 Dec 20 @ 11:16 pm
I'm pretty sure it's possible to create a virtual MIDI device that can then recieve all the jogwheel, fader and knob states from VDJ.
I think that would be super awesome. We can already show these things on-screen with some control through the Video Skins in VDJ, but no 3D capabilities of course.
There are a few apps and tools out there for Virtual Reality DJing, and i think they are neat but not really useful for a lot other than showcasing.
If however someone were to add a virtual setup in VR chat or something and it's controller by an actual DJ software then suddenly it becomes an extension of professional, serious DJing.
I don't know when the pandemic is over but maybe people are looking more into virtual parties and then this would be a really cool thing to be able to do.
 
Posted Sat 19 Dec 20 @ 4:39 pm
Beatport are doing this right now on Twitch:
 
Posted Mon 21 Dec 20 @ 9:44 am
FunctionDJ, I think you get it! I'm running into issues because i'm an idiot as locodog alluded to, but I've got my platters, crossfader, filter and eq knobs, and a 4 beat counter setup in unreal. I'm out of channels in my custom device mapper, so I have to either figure out how to get unreal working smoothly with different cc's, or just understand midi better in general. heh. groovindj, tribe is cool, and super well done!, but different than this. While this could be experienced in vr, its more for playing with real hardware and representing your actions in unreal. Thanks for the feedback guys. Here's a youtube video of me practicing badly in the unreal space for like 20 minutes.
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 6:51 am
deosi wrote :
I'm out of channels in my custom device mapper, so I have to either figure out how to get unreal working smoothly with different cc's, or just understand midi better in general

A MIDI device (virtual or real) can have up to 16 MIDI channels, and up to 255 CC's per channel. It can also have up to 255 notes per channel at the same time.
This means up to 4080 cc messages, and up to 4080 notes.
These two combined, are 8160 messages (there are more messages in MIDI protocol of course)
I'm pretty sure it's not easy to run out of space on a custom MIDI device definition!

I guess you have read the SDK WiKi ? https://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/ControllerDefinitionMIDIv8.html
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 11:49 am
I agree that I don't think i'm actually out of channels. more that I don't really understand what I'm doing! haha. Each knob is on its own 'channel' at this point, and I think what i should have done is have them all on the same channel with different notes? I'm literally brand new to the technical aspects of midi. I've dealt with Midi keyboards and with Midi data in a DAW but I've never had to parse the specifics of it. I don't really have any background or education in any of this, I'm just a big hobbyist.
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 2:31 pm
If you provide data for both sides (VirtualDJ and Unreal) Just use the same MIDI channel and increase the CC or Note number instead.
Just remember that most apps prefer these kind of data on HEX format (eg decimal 10 is hexadecimal 0X0A and decimal 16 is hexadecimal 0x10_
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 4:58 pm
NicotuxHome userMember since 2014
And a common error when starting with MIDI is wrong channel mapping :
Channels names are 1..16 but channels "internal" values to be used in map are minus 1 (values are 0x00..0x0F or 0..15)
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 5:16 pm
Thanks for the tips guys. Yeah its looking like the first way of getting midi into unreal was giving me a channel and velocity and me being unfamiliar with midi didn't realize there was a note value in between. This opens things alot, and creates so much more work! haha. I was glancing through documentation and seeing that text for track info can be embedded in midi. I know the code for 14 bit midi is pretty straight forward, but its still a medium to long term goal. If anyone is good at scripting and wants to help feel free to message me. Locodog has already put up with a lot of beginner non-sense from me.
 
Posted Tue 22 Dec 20 @ 5:57 pm


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