Media Madness brings a whole new dimension to Bars&Pipes Professional. It orchestrates multiple Tracks, each containing different media, alongside your musical Tracks. For example, one Media Madness Track might play an animation while another controls the Video Toaster and several more Tracks perform an accompanying MIDI score.
Media Madness integrates each media type by using a Tool designed for that particular media. A Toaster Tool (Toasty) controls Video Toaster transitions. An IFF Image Tool (The Last Slide Show) displays images. Another Tool, the G-LOCKenspiel Tool, controls the new GVP genlock.
Each Track can hold just one Media Madness Tool. Each Media Madness Tool determines what type of media the track represents and is always placed as the last Tool in the Track's PipeLine, the Output Tool.
Like all of Bars&Pipes Professional's Tools, each Media Madness Tool loads separately. As a result, new Tools representing new media can be added later. And, you only need to load the Tools you want for a particular configuration.
The Media Madness window integrates the Media Madness Tools into Bars&Pipes Professional. It displays each Track horizontally as a time line with vertical SMPTE or music time reference marks. It displays multi-media events by name in each Track's time line. To the right of the time line, it displays the Track's Media Madness, or Output, Tool.
In function, the Media Madness window is a cross between the main Tracks window and the individual Edit windows The Main menu set is available, along with various editing Tools to create, move, edit, and erase events.
You can access the Media Madness window either by selecting the Media Madness option in the Main menu's Windows menu, or double-clicking on the Media Madness window's icon.
We have also provided the Media Madness Player, so that you can play your multi-media compositions without running Bars&Pipes Professional. The Media Madness Player is freely distributable, so you can give copies of your multi-media creations to others.
Before editing Media Madness events in the Media Madness window, you must prepare the Track by placing a Media Madness Tool in it and configuring that Tool.
Drag a Media Madness Tool from the ToolBox and place it on the Output Tool to install the new Tool. This sets the Track to the new media. For example, placing a Toasty Tool in a Track sets the Track to play Toaster transitions.
Double-click on the Tool to open its Control window. Like all Control windows, you can keep its Control window open while you work in the Media Madness window. Most Media Madness Control windows set up specific media events for the Track. The Toasty Tool sets up a palette of Toaster transitions. The Last Slide Show Tool loads a set of IFF paintings. Please refer to the specific Tool in the next chapter, Multi-Media Tools, for more information.
Most Media Madness Tools of any complexity allow you to load and save their settings. Therefore, setting up a Tool involves both installing it and loading a previously prepared setup into it. You can also use ToolTrays to store, load and save Media Madness Tools.
In most cases, the Media Madness Tool's Control window assigns each event to a specific MIDI note. This is important to understand. Bars&Pipes Professional's Sequencer and PipeLines communicate in the language of MIDI. However, each new media thinks in terms all its own. A sound effect Tool deals with sampled sounds. An ARexx Tool works with text messages.
As such, we need to translate each Tool's language into the common language of Bars&Pipes Professional: music. Fortunately, this is remarkably simple and painless due to a new feature in Bars&Pipes Professional - Hit List Translation.
The Hit List Translation mechanism assigns a textual description to each note in the Track. For example, C5 might have the description "door slam" while D#4 has the description "dog bark." In the most obvious application of this, we might have a sampling synthesizer set up to respond to the note C5 with the sound of a door slam. So, if C5 really means "door slam," let's think of it that way, instead of as the musical note. Hit List Translation assigns "door slam" to C5.
Most Media Madness Tools also present obvious applications of Hit List Translation. Image files, sound effects, visual effects, etc., should all be described by name rather than MIDI note, even if MIDI notes determine the timing of each of these events.
Bars&Pipes Professional's List Editor supports the entry and use of Hit List Translations. You can define the textual equivalent of each note by directly typing it in. However, this is rarely necessary because the Media Madness Tools install Hit List Translations directly into the Track.
Each Media Madness Control window lets you assign a specific command to each note. The command might be a Toaster ARexx command, a particular IFF file, or a sound effect sample file, depending on the Tool. The Tool automatically installs textual equivalents for each command in the Track's Hit List Translation table. Please see the next chapter, Multi-Media Tools, for a complete description of each Tool's Control window.
Once you've used the Media Madness Tool's Control window to set up the effects you'd like to use, return to the Media Madness window. Because the Tool automatically installs the Hit List Translation, you can enter, edit, erase and drag media events by name, rather than MIDI note.
Use the Pencil to enter events. When you do so, the Media Madness window presents a scrolling menu of the events you've entered in the Tool's Control window. Use the Magic Wand to change the value of an event, the Hand to drag it to a different time, the ToolPad to alter the event, the Duplicator to copy and drag it, and the Eraser to remove it. These functions are fully explained in the sections below.
Of course, the standard system gadgets for sizing, closing, and bringing the window to the front and back are in place. The scroll bar on the right side allows you to scroll through the list of Tracks, while the bottom scroll bar allows you to scroll through the measures.
Let's take a closer tour of the Media Madness window:
The Sequence Display consumes takes up most of the Media Madness window. This feature is very much like the Sequence window's Sequencer section.
However, in the Media Madness window, Media Madness events display as hit names, rather than as notes. Selected events appear red. In the Sequence Display area, you can:
NOTE-> If the Graphic Edit window has previously been open for a given Track, then the Graphic Edit window opens. in this case, access the List Edit window by choosing List Editing from the Graphic Edit windows Prefs menu.
Above the Sequence Display sit the Song Position Flag and the two Edit Flags. These are the same Flags that are in the Tracks window.
When you drag one of these Flags in the Media Madness window, the Tracks window Flags also move. The Song Position and Edit Flags in the Media Madness window are in fact the same as the Flags in the Tracks window.
The Title bar of the Media Madness window displays two sets of numbers. These numbers represent the SMPTE time and music time of the most recently grabbed object. They update whenever a Flag or Event is dragged.
Like the Tracks window, the Media Madness window displays the Track Name for each Track to the left of the Sequence Display. Normally, the Track Name is white. If the Track is highlighted, the Track Name appears in red.
In the Track Name area, you can:
Like the Tracks window, the Thru/Play Only/Mute faucets line up vertically on the
right of the Sequence Display. Click on each faucet to toggle through the three options.
Notice that the status of the Thru/Play Only/Mute faucet on each Track is identical to the Tracks window.
The Output Tools display to the right of the Thru/Play Only/Mute selector. You
can:
The Magnifying Glass opens an Event window which displays information on the
highlighted event in the Sequencer Display. The Magnifying Glass can be used in conjunction with
all other mouse modes.
The following parameters can be edited in the Magnify window:
Event
Event displays either the event's Hit List name or, if there is no Hit List name for the note, the
event's note name. Editing this actually changes the note value of the event. Notice that the Note:
parameter changes whenever this changes, indicating which note the Hit is mapped onto.
Start
Start indicates the event's start time in measures, beats, and clocks.
HMSF
HMSF indicates the event's start time in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
End
End indicates the duration of the event time in measures, beats, and clocks.
HMSF
HMSF indicated the event's end time in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
Note
Note displays the event's Note value. Editing this changes the Hit name, since that also connects
to the Note value.
Velo:
Edit the event's Note velocity value. Most Media Madness Toolsvelocity.
NOTE-> Don't forget to press the return key to finalize the entry.
The Pencil creates new Tracks and Media Madness events.
The Pencil operates in two ways:
Use the Magic Wand to edit Track names or alter events. The Magic Wand operates in
two ways:
The Hand drags Tracks or events. The Hand operates in two ways:
NOTE-> If the event has a very short duration, you won't be able to grab the right edge. Either Zoom In to view it closer or use the Magnifying Glass to edit the duration.
The Duplicator duplicates Tracks or events. The Duplicator operates in two
ways:
The Eraser deletes Tracks or removes events. The Eraser operates in two ways:
NOTE-> Have caution when erasing an entire Track. The Undo menu option does not bring the Track back.
The ToolPad allows you to Toolize individual events.
Select the ToolPad to opens the ToolPad's pop-up menu. Choose the Tool you want to use. Hold down a shift key and click on the Tool in the ToolPad to open its Control window.
The mouse pointer turns into a Wrench. Hold down the mouse button and drag the Wrench over the events you want to Toolize. Remember, each Hit event is in fact a MIDI Note event, so Tool operations that change the note values may arbitrarily change the command.
Clicking on the Solo button isolates the highlighted Track by muting all remaining
Tracks. Clicking on the Solo button a second time mutes the selected Track and returns all
remaining Tracks to their original status. Clicking on the Solo button a third time returns the
Tracks to their original status.
The Media Madness Record button prepares Bars&Pipes Professional to record a
Media Madness file. Click once on the button to activate Media Madness recording. This installs MM
Recorder Tools in all Tracks and sets them to record. Then, the next time the Sequencer rolls, the
MM Recorder Tools record the performance, save it to disk, and deactivate the Media Madness Record
button. Please see the Media Madness Player section for details.
The Zoom In button is the large note button. Click on it to enlarge the display by one step. This gives you finer control, but shows fewer measures. Often, this is very helpful if Media Madness events overlap.
The Zoom Out button is the small note button. Click on it to reduce the display by one step. This allows more measures to be displayed, at the loss of fine editing control.
The SMPTE/Music Time button toggles the display between measure time and SMPTE
time. When in SMPTE time, the starting hours and minutes display over the Track names. The numbers
over the Sequence Display indicate the elapsed Seconds. When in Music Time, the measure numbers
display over the Sequence Display.
The Media Madness Player is freely distributable software that allows you to play back multi-media sequences created with Bars&Pipes Professional and the Media Madness Recorder Tool.
NOTE-> The Media Madness Player and Bars&Pipes Professionai cannot be run at the same time. This is because both programs use many of the same resources.
Once you've created your performance, save it as a Media Madness performance file. To save in the Media Madness format, click on the Media Madness Record button in the Media Madness window.
The Media Madness Record button does two things:
If you have the Tracks window open, notice that the MM Recorder Tools have been placed in every Track's Output PipeLine.
* TIP * Alternatively, you can install the MM Recorder Tools yourself from the Tracks window. And, you can activate Media Madness Record mode by opening the MM Recorder's Control window and clicking on the Record button. For more on the MM Recorder Tool, please see the next chapter, Multi-Media Tools.
Click on the Start button in the Transport Controls. The MM Recorder Tools record the performance as the events pass through it.
Click on the Transport Stop button after the end of the Song. A file requester opens. Enter a filename to save your Media Madness performance. The file requester automatically appends the extension .MMP to the filename.
A requester then appears asking if you would like to create a data directory. If you are creating a file to be played back on a system different than your own, select Yes. This creates a directory named Data that copies all support files, animations, etc. into itself. To playback the file with the Media Madness Player, you need to have only the file itself, and the data directory and files therein.
If you are playing the file back on your own system, and know that all support files, animations, etc. are available (for instance, on a hard drive partition), you don't need to create the data directory.
NOTE-> Although older Tools such as the AmigoPhone are recorded, their data is not copied into the data directory.
Once you've created a Media Madness file, exit Bars&Pipes Professional and run the Media Madness Player. The Media Madness Player does not run while Bars&Pipes Professional is still running, because both programs use the same resources.
Load in the .MMP files you want to perform. To do so, click on the Load button or press the "L" key on your keyboard. Doing so brings up the load requester. Only filenames with the extension .MMP are shown in the file requester. You can load in as many files as the memory in your computer allows.
NOTE-> The Media Madness Player is an AppWindow under Workbench 2.0. Workbench 2.0 users can load MMP files by dragging the .MMP flies icon, and dropping the icon into the Media Madness Player's window.
The Titles of the loaded files appear in the scrolling list on the right side of the window. The Title shown for a file is the Title defined with the Title/Author option in the Bars&Pipes Professional Song menu. If a Title isn't defined for a file, the filename is shown instead.
To play a .MMP file, click on the name of the file in the scrolling list. The name of the file appears in the box located beneath the scrolling list. Click on the Play button to play the file, the Stop button to stop the file if it is playing, or the Remove button to remove the file from memory.
Use the volume slider to adjust the overall volume of the piece. The volume slider works in conjunction with the volume commands (e.g. Mix Maestro) imbedded in the file, if any.
While a file is playing, its Title appears after the Now Playing: prompt, while the name of the Author, if any, appears after the Author: prompt. Please refer to the Appendix, Quick Reference, under the Song menu in the Main Menu for more information about the Title/Author option.
Activating the High Res button causes the Media Madness Player to play back with a resolution of 512 parts per second. Normally, the Media Madness Player uses a resolution of approximately 60 parts per second. This uses vertical blank interrupts to control the timing. In High Res mode, the Media Madness Player uses an audio interrupt to control the timing, at the expense of taking over one of the Amiga's internal audio channels.
NOTE-> If the Player is unable to reserve an audio channel, you cannot activate the High Res feature.
This section explains all of the buttons and fields in the Media Madness Player. Most of these have been explained in the previous section, and are repeated here for reference purposes.
Volume Slider
Slide the volume slider up and down to adjust the overall volume of a piece. The range is from 0
(no volume) to 127 (maximum volume).
Song Position Field
The Song Position field is to the right of the Volume: slider prompt. This field shows the present
location of a playing piece in hours, minutes, seconds, and SMPTE frames. The SMPTE frames
corresponds to the SMPTE format which was selected when you created the .MMP file.
Stop
Use the Stop button, or press the "F5" key on your keyboard, to stop a piece that is currently
playing.
Play
Use the Play button, or the "P" key, to play the currently selected piece.
Load
Use the Load button, or the "L" key, to load in a piece from disk.
Remove
Use the Remove button, or the "R" key, to remove a piece from memory.
High Res
Activate the High Res button to play back at 512 parts per second, as opposed to the Media Madness
Player's standard resolution of approximately 60 parts per second. This option takes over one of
the Amiga's internal audio channels. If all audio channels have been taken by other applications,
this option is not allowed.
Song List
The scrolling list on the right side of the window displays the currently loaded files. Click on a
file in this list to make it the active piece for playing, stopping, and removing.
Active Song
The Title of the active file is displayed in the area beneath the scrolling list. Click on a file
in the scrolling list to make it the active file.
Now Playing
The Title of the file which is currently playing displays in the Now Playing: field. The Title is
defined in Bars&Pipes Professional using the Main menu's Song menu option, Title/Author. If a
file does not have a Title defined for it, the filename is displayed instead.
Author
The Author of the file currently playing displays in the Author: field. The Author is defined in
Bars&Pipes Professional using the Main menu's Song menu option, Title/Author. This field is
blank if no Author has been defined.
The Media Madness Files contain everything needed to recreate a complete Media Madness performance. All of the Media Madness events, whether they are musical notes or special Media Madness events are stored with their absolute times in SMPTE time.
And, the Media Madness Tools themselves are also stored in the file. These tell the Player how to perform each type of event. As a result, as new Media Madness Tools become available, you'll be able to incorporate them into your performances without requiring an upgrade of the Media Madness Player.