ETC EOS MSC

[J Pearce]

Has anyone managed to get an ETC Eos desk to transmit valid midi show control data?

 

I've been trying on an Ion, running latest stable release and all I can get is empty MSC packets with F0 start bits and F7 stop bits, no actual data in the packet despite whatever settings I adjust. I'm also having trouble getting the desk to output Midi Raw strings.

 

I've been testing the received midi with Midi OX's monitor (and sysex monitor, as MSC is sysex), which previously has always reliably shown me the exact hex data being received, and the Ion has failed to trigger any software I have tested, so I am fairly sure the desk is at fault, rather than the receiving end.

[IRW]

Has anyone managed to get an ETC Eos desk to transmit valid midi show control data?

 

I've been trying on an Ion, running latest stable release and all I can get is empty MSC packets with F0 start bits and F7 stop bits, no actual data in the packet despite whatever settings I adjust. I'm also having trouble getting the desk to output Midi Raw strings.

 

I've been testing the received midi with Midi OX's monitor (and sysex monitor, as MSC is sysex), which previously has always reliably shown me the exact hex data being received, and the Ion has failed to trigger any software I have tested, so I am fairly sure the desk is at fault, rather than the receiving end.

 

Can't say I've played much with MIDI on EOS consoles, but out of interest, what is it you are trying to trigger? There may be an alternative way to achieve what you are after!

[J Pearce]

Trying to trigger either screen monkey or SCS (or possibly qlab), either from the main cuestack or from a second cuestack on the fader wing.

 

At the moment any sort of midi trigger would do, as I can remap at the receiving end, but proper MSC with embedded cue numbers would be the ideal as it saves a lot of resyncing and faffing with midi raw.

[IRW]

When you say embedded cue numbers, do you want the cue number from the console to be sent, or the cue number for SM/SCS/Qlab?

 

I've got a bit of an idea formulating in my head if you're open to non-midi options, as I've recently been experimenting (somewhat successfully) with artnet control of powerpoint.

[gareth]

I've done it the other way around (QLab triggering an Eos via MSC) with no problems at all - but I guess that's not really much help! I'm about to embark upon what's probably going to turn into a very quiet tech week, so if I get really bored I'll have a play with triggering QLab from Eos and see what happens.

[J Pearce]

I could cope with either, Ian. One possible plan is to set a second cue list with empty cues for the AV, define that as the midi cue list and map it onto the wing. At the moment getting any useful data out would work.

Artnet could work, though at the moment I'm looking to control things a little more sophisticated than powerpoint without having to shell out for licenses for screenmonkey or arkaos yet.

[alistermorton]

Trying to trigger either screen monkey or SCS (or possibly qlab), either from the main cuestack or from a second cuestack on the fader wing.

 

We're doing exactly that on the current show. I'll ask the guy who programmed it what he had to do if you don't get an answer quickly, but I'm not sure I'll see him before the end of the week.

 

The Ion sends a MSC message which has the currently executing cue number in it every time you hit "go".

 

We've also done it the other way, where SCS sends an MSC to the Ion.

[J Pearce]

That is exactly what I am trying to get working, but our Ion isn't sending the cue number or Go data. Just the start and stop bits for a sysex message.

[alistermorton]

I suspect the answer I'll get is "I just followed the manual" - we've only had it for a month so at the moment we refer to the friendly manual quite a lot.

[Joe Bleasdale]

The normal Eos manual offers little in the way of guidance when it comes to this sort of thing... However... This document is more helpful...

 

http://www.etcconnect.com/docs/docs_downloads/manuals/Eos_Family_Show_Control_User_Guide_RevA.pdf

 

Thanks.

[alistermorton]

Very true. I think we just set a MIDI id for Tx and Rx, enabled transmit and receive, and presto hey it worked.

[Tomo]

There's two sets "IDs" for the MIDI - the ACN TX/RX MIDI IDs and the MIDI ID.

 

ACN TX/RX MIDI ID is a physical port ID.

It must match the ID of the physical MIDI port(s) that will send/recieve the MIDI - either rear MIDI ports (set in Settings > Local IO) or a Show Control Gateway on the network somewhere.

 

The defaults match the default settings for the Ion's local rear MIDI ports, but yours may have been changed so check!

 

The MIDI ID is the MSC Device ID. It needs to match the controlled (or controlling) MSC device ID.

- Zero is not a valid number, it must be 1-16. That sounds like it could be your issue!

[J Pearce]

I've set the ACN IDs and I'm getting some midi out which then disappears if I change the ID so I presume I've got that bit right.

 

I will check MSC ID tomorrow, but fairly sure I have tried a few options including 1, 15 and 127 (which according to the manual should send an all call).

 

I want to try controlling the Ion from the laptop to prove the midi system and will also try MSC to our jester to see there's anything odd with the midi interface I'm using.