New Release of MIDIBuddy and FAQ's

Florian agreed to let me post information on my latest release of MIDIBuddy here. Thanks Florian!

MIDIBuddy Frequenlty Asked Questions (FAQ)

What you can do with MIDIBuddy that you can't do with Bome MT Pro by itself?

1. You can capture the mouse position when you move your real mouse so that if you are using a separate MIDI controller for mouse movement also, the position of the mouse is always known and the mouse does not “jump around”.
2. You can use mouse buttons to send MIDI messages (left, right, middle, X1 X2 and scroll wheel). Your mouse is now a mini MIDI controller. MT Pro by itself does not monitor for these events. MIDIBuddy translates these events and sends them to MT Pro which DOES monitor for MIDI events. At that point MT Pro can process them as normal.
3. You can use the Windows clipboard to send a numerical value to MT Pro. MT Pro can then use this and translate it as desired and send to any MIDI enabled device or application. A good example is to send a tempo change to Ableton Live. Simply clip the numerical value to the clipboard. MIDIBuddy and MT Pro then will handle the rest.
4. You can freeze your mouse movement so that your mouse movement does not interrupt the flow that you are doing with a MIDI controller that is also using the mouse. The mouse movement of any “real” mice are frozen, but the MIDI mouse wheel movement still occurs.
5. Using the mouse freeze/unfreeze function, you can coordinate events between your real mouse and any MIDI controller also controlling your mouse. MIDIBuddy sends a message every time the real mouse is frozen or unfrozen. MT Pro can monitor and react to these events.

How do install/deinstall MIDIBuddy?

Simply unzip the executable and put it in a folder of your choice. Note that the folder needs to have write user privledges to this folder to store an maintain the configuration file. There is no install/deinstall script.

On first open or changes to your existing MIDI ports, it will prompt you for an output port. Select the input port you wish to monitor with MT Pro as defined in your MT Pro project

After that, MIDIBuddy will sit in your system tray and you can right click on the MIDIBuddy icon to reconfigure ports, change other settings, etc. You can also quit from here our use the defined shortcuts as indicated in the supplied Readme file.

What messages does MIDIBuddy send?

MIDIBuddy sends special MIDI System Exclusive (SysEx) message. We do this to not conflict with any other pre-defined MIDI standards. Of course, you can convert these messages to anything MIDI messages you would like with Bome MT Pro. The format of all supported output messages are available in the “Readme” file supplied with the software. We also supply a Bome MT Pro template that contains the possible incoming messages. You can use this template to customize the rules and actions you want to take when receiving MIDI events from MIDIBuddy.

How to I get support on MIDIBuddy?

If the question or issue is with the functioning of MIDIBuddy, please email bome@sniz.biz. As the user base grows, we may have a web site/forum to handle increased volume of questions.

Many of the questions we have had so far are less about MIDIBuddy and more about how to set up MT Pro project files to handle MIDIBuddy input. If the question is more of a “how to I get MT Pro” to do X when I get MIDIBuddy event Y, these questions are best handled by going the bome support site (just like any other MIDI product out there). This site can be found at:

http://www.bomeloft.com/support

Does MIDIBuddy Work on Macintosh or Linux?

No, right now it is Windows only. Depending on the user interest in this product, we may decide to implement on on the platforms but right now, we only support Windows. It is only tested on Windows 10, however it may work on previous versions.

Can I get an evaluation copy of MIDIBuddy befor I purchase it?

We offer 10 day evaluations of fully functioning copies of MIDIBuddy. You will still need to sign our licensing terms. Simply make a request to bome@sniz.biz

We currently do not have a download web site but may in the future depending on the interest level?

How Much does MIDIBuddy cost? What are payment options?

MIDIBuddy is currently $40 USD. Payment is via PayPal only. Pricing is subject to change at anytime. Once you purchase, however, you are fully licensed and your license will not be revoked unless you do not comply with our licensing terms.

Can I get a customized copy of MIDIBuddy? I want it to send message X instead of message Y. I want Z functionality added ...

Yes, I will consider custom builds of MIDIBuddy, this requires special pricing. Simply send email to bome@sniz.biz. If your are prospect or existing customer and want a new feature, I will also entertain adding the new feature to a later version of MIDIBuddy.

 

Hi Steve,
I, for one, would love to be able to use two or more mice or trackballs with MIDIBuddy as I mentioned in the other MIDIBuddy thread. From what you said, this is more of a Windows question than a MIDIBuddy one, but perhaps for your next release, you’d consider doing some of the groundwork for making this possible?
Regards,
Gabriel

Hi Gabriel. Looking into it.

Hi Gabriel,

I just sent you the download link that has the new feature you requested. Enjoy!

 

Gabriel,

Here is a MT Pro test file for the new functionality.

It is important to note that the first mouse you move (whether real or injected MIDI) will be mouse 1 the next mouse will be mouse 2 etc.

 

Hi Steve,

Two mice, or more precisely, a mouse and a trackball are working nicely, with one hitch.  When mapping controllers to Live faders and pots, as you know, it’s necessary to select the mode of control – absolute, 14 bit absolute, various incremental modes, etc.  What I typically do is to click on the midi mapping button to put Live into learn mode, select a fader , and then move the controller I want to map to the fader.  I then click on the menu for selecting modes.  That’s when the “hitch” shows up.

In order to select a mode, I need to click on one of the modes that pop up.  However, when I move the mouse up to select one of the modes, the menu disappears.  There’s a workaround, but it’s clumsy.  Live has some sense of the type of MIDI message that MIDIBuddy is sending it.  If I move the mouse horizontally, only 3 modes (I believe) show up in the field that tells what mode is being selected.  One of the modes is Relative (BinOffset).  Which is what I want.  I can then fiddle around, positioning the cursor just to the right of the MIDI learn button, and then move it over that button.  More fiddling…. finally I’m over the learn button and at the same time, Relative (BinOffset) is showing in the mode field.  I can then click to turn off MIDI learn.

Pretty clumsy.  Freezing the cursor doesn’t help, because the MIDI mode keeps changing (ignoring the freeze).  Pause doesn’t help either.

In addition, I really want to choose Relative (lin BinOffset).  That mode never appears as a choice as I move the mouse horizontally.

Regards,

Gabriel

Hi Gabriel,
What I did for Ableton setup is use a real MIDI controller for learn mode instead of the mouse. I know it is a bit clumsy and really is a workaround. Maybe I should create a hotkey to disable MIDI mouse output so it is easier to set up MIDI learn?

For this, we could hold down a hotkey (Maybe “L”) and while it is held down suppress all mouse move messages?
If that would work for you, I will target something like this for a future release.

Hi Gabriel,

 

Pause function is now fixed. Here is how you set up Ableton Live to learn mouse movements so that mouse movements don’t interfere with controller type setting.

1) Put Ableton Live in Learn mode Cntl-M

2) click the control you want to use (Ableton will set to your mouse movement)

3) Press Cntl-Alt-P to pause MIDI mouse move messages

4) Set up controller type in Ableton

For mouse movement relative choose Relative(BinOffset)

For absolute movement choose Absolute

5) Come out ouf Learn Mode in Ableton Cntl-M

6) Press Cntl-Alt-P to unpause mouse move messages