Cubase 12 MIDI Remote Implementation - BETA

[PointReyes]

Just encountered an issue that started today for some reason: MIDI in and out are flashing constantly in Cubase and many regular functions in Cubase stop working such as arming a track to record. As soon as I delete the Selected Tracks script everything is fine again.

Not sure why this wasn't happening before -- nothing changed on my PC since Friday when it was all working great.

[Przemek]

That's weird indeed. Can you replicate it, if you add the Selected Track script? And do you have external MIDI monitor to see what's going on? Can you please send us the screenshot of the external MIDI monitor data?

[samphony]

Hi Guys,

Finally, we can start the public beta phase of our MIDI Remote implementation for MetaGrid Pro. Things are not set in stone yet and the MIDI support file, file names and their structure can change. Your feedback will be very valuable for us.

For starters we want to test the two files:

1. MetaSystem_MetaGrid_Commands.midiremote
This file is the equivalent of metasystem1.xml and metasystem2.xml files. The port assignment: MetaServer - Cubase IN/Out

2. MetaSystem_MetaGrid_SelectedTrack.midiremote
This file is the equivalent of metasystem3.xml file. The port assignment: MetaServer - Cubase IN/Out

We are still working on transferring your metasystem_macros.xml and metasystem_macros2.xml files.

Here is the procedure in Cubase:

1. Remove metasystem1.xml, metasystem2.xml and metasystem3.xml Generic Remote devices from Cubase.
2. In Cubase go to Studio > MIDI Remote Manager
3. Click the Import Script button and select Metasystem_metagridCommands.midiremote
4. Click Open to add the MIDI Controller.
4. Repeat the 2-4 steps for MetaSystem_MetaGrid_SelectedTrack.midiremote


The MIDI ports should be set automatically to MetaSystem - Cubase for MetaSystem_MetaGrid_Commands.midiremote and Metasystem - MIDI for MetaSystem_MetaGrid_SelectedTrack.midiremote.

Please check if your Cubase grids work as expected (they should - we have tested the preset grids for Cubase and everything works OK).

Good luck and we are waiting for your feedback.

Hey Przemek,

does this work for Nuendo as well or do I need to adjust something? some buttons already work others do not??? It seems random.

For example I've added one button and assigned "Show/Hide Plugins" from the list. If I trigger this button it will zoom-in in the waveform.

Best,
Sam

[PointReyes]

That's weird indeed. Can you replicate it, if you add the Selected Track script? And do you have external MIDI monitor to see what's going on? Can you please send us the screenshot of the external MIDI monitor data?

Hi Przemek, sorry for the wait, was out of town. Attached are two screenshots of my MIDI monitor. It's a constant stream of MIDI coming from Metagrid, very rapid -- these are just two little snapshots. I can replicate it as soon as add the Selected Track script after deleting it, yes.

[Joss]

Hi, I am very new to this, but I am not new to Cubsase Pro.

I am having trouble setting this up on Windows. I went through your procedure and it didn't automatically choose the two ports I set up in Loop Midi. I tried manually, and I had bits of functionality.

By the way, do I have to set up FOUR midi ports on Loop Midi - ins and outs? It didn't say in your PDF.

But my midi meter is going a little nutty. I assume that the instructions above are for Mac, going by the screen shots.

I have deleted the scripts from Cubase for the moment so my poor installation doesn't get a headache! ?

I will start again once you tell me where I am going wrong.

Looking forward to lots of playing. And on Davinci Resolve too.

Thanks!

Joss

[Przemek]

Hi Joss, nice to meet you :-).

You need two MIDI ports with dedicated In/Outs:

1. MetaSystem_MetaGrid_Commands.midiremote
This file is the equivalent of metasystem1.xml and metasystem2.xml files. The port assignment: MetaServer - Cubase IN/Out

2. MetaSystem_MetaGrid_SelectedTrack.midiremote
This file is the equivalent of metasystem3.xml file. The port assignment: MetaServer - Cubase IN/Out

[Joss]

Thanks Przemek.

That's what I did first time around.

I had another go and this time it created a blank surface for Selected track and no surface for commands. And the one for selected surface said it was disconnected.

So I deleted that surface and created two surfaces manually.

The play button and the fader is now working on Cubase: Selected Channel.

The fader is very jerky. I am on wi-fi, by the way. I am not sure how to change it to USB to see if that works better.

Other controls are a bit strange. I tried to use the cue sends, but they got stuck on bypass. Then didn't. It won't let me turn on a send directly on Cubase - the switch flickers on and off if I do. Then the fader stopped working.

However, it appears (like my first attempt) to be sending a constant stream of midi information to Cubase - the midi monitor is dancing around right at the limit.

It is doing that even now that I am typing here so am not focused on Cubase.

This carries on even with Metaserver shut down, but will stop if I disable the Selected script.

So, there is something it doesn't like.

Does that help you at all?

Joss

[Przemek]

Joss Can you remove the MIDI Remote devices and import the Generic Remote xmls and see if you can replicate constant incoming MIDI. Let me know - we can't replicate this on our test systems.

[Joss]

I will try this afternoon

[Joss]

Okay, I had a few minutes so I tried. They seem to work fine. I didn't try every button on the Selected Channel and the Sample Grid which I just loaded, but there didn't appear to be any problems and the midi meter is behaving.

What I will try now is to delete those three generics and try the new method again.

[Joss]

Right. I deleted those three and tried with the new scripts. The same problem: Midi meter is going nuts.

I also noticed that the QC section of the info line (when you look at the remote in the lower zone) is flickering in time with the meter. So perhaps that is the specific problem.

What version of Cubase 12 are you using?

[Przemek]

Joss I am on Cubase 12.0.4. Can you remove the Selected Channel device and see if you are still experiencing the flickering?

[Joss]

The current public version of Cubase is 12.0.52

If I disable the Selected Channel remote script then it stops immediately. If I enable it again, and then create a Surface (it loses the surface when I disable it) the flickering comes back immediately.

This is the case whether or not Metaserver is running.

[Joss]

Przemek - could the problems be something to do with LoopMidi? For instance, could this be a midi loop/feedback of some kind.

As an experiment, I created a new grid on Metagrid with just one button. I then created a new surface on Cubase and set the midi ports as MidiServer - Cubase for the input and MidiServer - Midi for the output - the two I have set up on LoopMidi.

That worked perfectly. But it does have two different ports for the in and out.

I don't know enough about how Metagrid/MetaServer relates to LoopMidi and onwards to Cubase, so I am guessing wildly here.


Joss

[Przemek]

Josh - thanks for the info - we are investigating the issue right now.

[Joss]

I have been playing a little more trying to create a custom remote (so not using these scripts) using the CB12 Midi Remote system. I have very little time at the moment, so this is dipping my toe in.

I am running into problems where I simply am not sure how to implement something outside of using your older generic scripts. For instance, how I get a latching button to work, or how I can press and hold a button for something like shuttle-play forward and reverse.

Are there any notes that could help me? This is not as logical as adding a hardware controller. Or, it doesn't feel as logical! Probably because it is far more versatile.

[zvenx]

Hi, only found this thread today..
On mac it works perfectly fine, without issue.
Having issues on PC.
1) even set up like your screen shot I can't get it to work.
2) everytime I close Cubendo, the script stays in midi remote but the controller is not saved..

rsp

[Balazs]

It also doesn't work for me with Win 11 / Cubase 12.

When will there finally be a working solution for this, where we can use the MIDI Remote API to use all our own macros etc. in Metagrid Pro without errors?

Please test Metagrid better under Windows 11 as well, bugs are almost constant there.

[dragsquares]

So I didn't make the leap to this because it's a beta - but is there any further movement here in the development of replacing Generic Remotes? Is there a non-beta version of the Cubase remotes and macros yet? I ask because - and I really hate to be a complainer because I know what work goes into this stuff - lots of functionality that was promised when I bought this software has not materialized yet. The interface stuff is cool and everything - don't get me wrong, I'd love to be using it, but what I was told was we'd have grid recall via track names and harp objects, to name two things - and the harp thing would be very nice, but the track name thing is something that's been done on other platforms. I'm not entirely optimistic about a response, given that I have a month-plus-old support request that went partially answered before going silent. I really like this product a lot - it's fun working with it. I want it to succeed, not least because I've invested time and effort in it, but also because the company seems like it's cool, smart people who want to make cool things. A little feedback from Przemek would be great.

[Przemek]

dragsquares The harp object will happen this year in v1.5 and we will go back to Cubase development as soon as Metagrid Pro 1.4 is released.

[dragsquares]

That’s good to hear. Do you know if anyone has had time to look at the backup file I sent to support a long time ago? And can you tell me, if you have two iPads, if the backups they make are discrete from each other?