Rack Extensions: The Remote side of it... Part III


Q4: Is there a place where I can simply pick the Remote templates I need for the Rack Extensions that I own and edit it to work with my own controller ?

A4: Yes, here: Rack Extensions: Remote Map Scopes list 

A Propellerhead User Forum (aka PUF) A ReasonTalk thread mainly dedicated to keep an updated list of the correct Company and RE IDs to be used in the Scope lines in the .remotemap files.

As an added bonus, it's also slowly turning into a Remote Template repository for the released Rack Extensions (as much as I and any other volunteers are able to keep adding templates to it).



Q5: How do I use a "Remote template" ?

A5: Ok, try these steps:

1) Find the .remotemap file you're using for your MIDI controller by checking these paths on your system:


on Mac OSX:
Library:Application Support:Propellerhead Software:Remote:Maps

on Windows:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Propellerhead Software\Remote\Maps

which usually translates to:

on Windows Vista or Windows 7:
C:\ProgramData\Propellerhead Software\Remote\Maps

on Windows XP or 2000:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Propellerhead Software\Remote\Maps

2) In there, you should find a folder per controller brand. Open the folder for your controller brand.

3) In there, locate a .remotemap file related with the model of your controller.

4) Make a backup copy of that file (just in case anything goes wrong, you can simply replace it with that backup)

5) Edit the file with a text editor (don't delete anything inside!) and go to the end of that file. Be prepared to add some text at the end.

6) Now, go to the Forum thread mentioned above and look for the Remote Templates you're interested in (try this with just one and if it works, the rest uses the same process)

7) Copy all the text inside the "Code" blocks in the post and paste it in the Remote Map file you're already editing.

8) Now, one way to know the control names the Codec+Map developer gave to your Controller knobs, buttons, faders, etc. is to look to other existing Scopes. The "map" lines use this format:
Map [TAB] [Control Name] [TAB] [TAB] [Remoteable Name]
So, each of these lines say "Map my controllers knob/fader/button X to this rack extension remoteable Y"

Say you have a control named Knob 1 and you want to map it to a Rack Extension remoteable named Filter Cutoff, all you have to do is find the line on your recently pasted Remote Template that looks like this:
//Map [TAB] _control_ [TAB] [TAB] Filter Cutoff
And change it to:
Map [TAB] Knob 1 [TAB] [TAB] Filter Cutoff
Notice how I removed the initial "//" characters to make that line active (lines starting with // are comments) and changed the "_control_" to "Knob 1".

So this kind of editing for the rest of the controls of your controller that you notice are used in the other Scopes (other mapping blocks related with the other Reason devices).

Be extra careful not to remove any existing TAB character, respecting the format shown above.

9) When you're done, save that .remotemap file.

10) Start Reason and check if all this trouble worked :)

If you're already running Reason, then use this little trick to re-load that Remote Map:

Go to Edit, Preferences..., Control Surfaces and locate the controller you've been editing the map.
Uncheck the "Use with Reason" check mark and check it again. This will reload the recently edited map file.

You can keep using this trick while keeping the map file open in the file editor. Each time you save a change, do this uncheck/check thing and it'll get re-loaded into Reason.
If there's something wrong with the changes you did, Reason will "complain" with an error warning (a big red cross button) that you can press to see what's wrong.
Try to fix the issue, if you understand what you did wrong, save the file and try again the reload trick.
If you're unsure what's going on and you're getting nowhere with your edits, maybe you should close the editor, replace the file with the early backup (the original map file before your edits), use the reload trick to use that and... ask for help here :)


I'll soon add some snapshots and provide a more detailed explanation to this process, if needed (i.e. if anyone complains that this doesn't work or it's too confusing).

Good luck and... if you do your own Remote Templates, please check the existing list and if it's a new one, post it. This should be a community effort to try and "fix" something some (fortunately not all) RE Developers keep forgetting to add to their documentation: Their Rack Extension Remote Implementation list.



Comments

  1. MannequinRacesSeptember 3, 2015 at 9:09 PM

    This is probably a really dumb question but I want to make Liine Lemur templates for multiple rack extensions inside a combinator. Will the name I give the knob, button, or fader in my Lemur template be what I put in the _control_ field? Thanks for the help. I know this is an older article… but still relevant!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KoshdukaiSeptember 6, 2015 at 3:45 PM

      Hi!

      The best way to know what to use in the "_control_" when making or editing a Remote Maps is to check the respective Codec .lua file and see all the names used in the lines with {name="...a control name...", input="...the type of the control...", ...}

      If that's too complex, the alternative is to either check the names being used on other scopes if you're editing an existing Remote Map.

      The other option is to use Reason's own Remote Override's learn option to quickly check the proper name of a controller's control, since while in learn mode, the Override window form will show the name of each control as you tweak it on the controller.

      To reach that option, simply right-click on any rack device knob/fader and choose "Edit Remote Override Mapping...", make sure the "Learn from control surface input" has a checkmark and press a controller button or tweak a knob or fader and the field "Control:" will show its internal name, the one you should use in the Remote Maps i.e. the ones you're supposed to replace the "_control_" in the Templates :)

      Hope this helps! :)

      Delete
  2. JohanOctober 5, 2015 at 3:22 PM

    The avbve link for the templates doesn't work because the Propellerhead forum is closed. Does anybody know where the Rack Extensions automap templates are now? Thank you already for posting the link here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KoshdukaiOctober 5, 2015 at 4:08 PM

      Hi Johan,

      The link still works once you Log in in the PH forum, but you can also try Reasontalk.com, there's a backup copy there too :)

      Delete

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