YAVM - (not) Yet Another VCI-100 Mapping (extensive 4D Layout for TPro)

Hi Guys!

After pulling my hair out and loosing a lot of time during the last weeks, I finally managed to get a decent VCI Mapping up and running. If I knew what efforts I had to undertake, maybe this would never have seen the light of day .....

Anyway ... so I thought I'd share my work, maybe someone likes this, too ;)

And the efforts weren't for nothing because I did manage to squeeze a lot out of Traktor Pros very limited Midi Setup capabilites. I did this by using the modifiers as 1-bit switches, thus giving me much more states to work with. Unfortunately, this led to a LOT of additional commands needed and I really wished Traktor would give me more features like bitwise operation and more conditions, modifers, macros etc. So I ended up with 1100 commands, controlling about 250 Parameters .... ouch!

Basically, this Layout is a bit more "traditional" than some others and more or less tries to follow the original VCI Layout, but dramatically extends the controls by adding a SHIFT key and 3 distinct modes which also can be used together. Another goal was to enable seamless 4D integration and there are some experiments with UI Feedback etc. Also, this mapping has a very flexible FX Layout IMHO.

And here are the main features:

1) Seamless 4D Integration, all Decks have identical control configuration
2) Works with any FX Setup, controls both chained & advanced FX
3) FX Mode with simultaneous control of both FX Units via Jog & Faders
4) Special Loop Mode for working with Loops, works together with FX Mode
5) Beatjump & Hotcue Support
6) Setup Mode for configuring things
7) synchronized Traktor UI Feedback with Loop Mode, Setup Mode and Deck Modes
8) Use Jogwheels for List & Tree Scrolling

and last but not least ....

9) a Reset / Panic Button in case anything goes wrong :confused:

More detailed information and an overview of all Midi commands can be found inside the zip file, also the .tsi of course.

BEWARE: this is BETA! I have tested this for a while, and so far it's running nicely, but I didn't do any live performance using this mapping. So there might be still some bugs lingering around.

Sooooo .... let me know what you think! Would also be thankful for bug reports, if any.

Thanks,
Frank

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DOWNLOAD HERE
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beta2 is out with the following changes:

• Improved Setup Mode, you can now also set BPM and use Monitor Cue
• When switching Decks, now Focus is set to the appropriate deck to give better visual feedback
• some minor .tsi cleanup
• updated documentation

The DL Link is the same as above

For the release, I am now thinking of implementing a "SHIFT-Lock" key and redo the play buttons a bit so you get 4 hotcue buttons. The "SHIFT-Lock" Mode will then basically work like "Juggle Mode" in the SE Layout. I also will tweak the FX Mode a bit.

Suggestions, feedback etc still welcome ;)

I loaded v1 of YAVM and started to work with it yesterday. I like that is uses og layout for us that don't have the overlays. I have 1.3 firmware and so far this works just fine. Will try new version today.

Documentation was very helpful too.

thanks for feedback! btw if I get my hands on 1.3 or higher firmware (I will order an upgrade kit as soon as they are availabe again) there will be also a version for 1.3, and if it's only to get by that damn double FX button bug :mad: I hope also to be able to improve LED Feedback somehow and even consider building a BOME setup for consistent 4 Deck LED States.

next beta will be up soon, with the new features mentioned above, so a few controls might change until the final release (SHIFT-Lock rocks! just another mode with beat juggle now, as well as "browse mode" for the jogs)

Sweet work on the tsi file man, Im liking it alot. Its everything I wanted to put into a tsi file but wasnt exactly sure how. Looking forward to the next version.

So here is the next update to YAVM, now in beta3. The following is new/has changed:

• Shift-Lock Mode: now you can permanently enable the SHIFT key. This is useful for browsing and enables something like a "Juggle Mode" with direct access to the hotcue buttons
• one more hotcue, now a total of 4 per deck
• Due to these changes, I had to move some controls, namely "Setup Mode" and "Set Hotcues"
• Revamped FX Mode, with better controls (I think at least). Left the X-Fader alone so it is actually the only control with any mode and added the Volume Faders instead
• Also, FX Mode is now used without SHIFT key, since I think it should be more accessible than "Reset LFO"
• Quite some Bugfixes and overall cleanup
• Updated Documentation and Midimaps

So I think we are nearing the "final" Release and there are all features inside I can dream of, but there are still some points where I am not 100% sure what to do, so they are still open for discussion:

• I am not 100% content with Beatjuggling. While you can access the controls now without pressing a modifier, it is not a dedicated mode bc other functions are changed, too. So you obivously can't juggle and scratch at the same time. While this is not too important for me, I am still thinking of adding a dedicated "Juggle Mode" instead of SHIFT Lock, replacing the SHIFT Functions of the lower Deck controls, but altering nothing else. As a consequence of that, one would loose "hands-free browse mode" since I would replace SHIFT Lock with this mode. Soooo I am therefore still unsure what's better: SHIFT Lock with multiple additional - but sometimes unintended - functions or dedicated Mode?
• The pitch faders are relative atm. Not sure if I like absolute mode better. (with soft takeover)
• Also not sure if the FX should default to Advanced or Chained Mode when resetting or starting up.
• Last but nor least, there is still Room for expanding both FX and Setup Mode. What else would make sense? Maybe X-Fade Assignment in Setup Mode?

Also, let me know if you have additional ideas. Also let me know if you still find any bugs (I hope not ;) )

Have fun with playing around,
Frank

PS: Download Link is the same as in my first post.

Will try this evening

I am having an issue with deck A/C cue. I must press twice to activate and deactivate. Is this by design. Other cue works with single click

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Originally Posted by mtvstinks

I am having an issue with deck A/C cue. I must press twice to activate and deactivate. Is this by design. Other cue works with single click

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Just checked and Cue seems to work fine on my end. (I assume with "cue" you mean "headphone cue") Just try with the new version and if the bug persists, please tell me what exactly you did so I can reproduce the bug. Sometimes it also helps to press "Reset" to clear up a situation. If that indeed helps, this could point to a bug with my modifiers. In this beta, I have cleared some bugs, but they were located somewhere else. (to be specific: one bug that prevented FX selection of one FX in chained mode and another where one state was not correctly restored when leaving FX mode.)

changes:

• fixed a bug where Loop Panel mode was not updated correctly under certain circumstances
• Tempo Faders are now absolute again
• BOME MTP Support for 4D Mode
• Updated Docs and Mappings File

The BOME Support means that there is an additional Setup File for use with Bome's Midi Translator Pro. With this File, LED Feedback should now be consistent in 4D Mode so that the LEDs are always updated correctly when switching Decks!

This is done by letting MTP capture the LED output from TPro and save these states. When switching decks, MTP restores these values accordingly to the selected decks and lits the LEDs correctly. The setup is wired in a way so MTP does not interfere with VCI and Traktor communication so if MTP should ever crash, you will be able to continue as if nothing happened. (extended LED feedback of course doesn't work anymore in this case until you restart MTP)

PS: DL Link same as in first Post

Have fun!
Frank

PS: anybody still interested in this project???

Dude this is awesome, I havent had to time fully run through it yet, but so far its sweet.

Okay, apart from the points above I am thinking about another new feature:

How about throwing the 2 remaining "preview" functions out and replace them with "deck copy" commands? Deck Copy would go from "L" to "R" and vice versa, depending on which decks you have selected. So you could go from "A" to "B" as well as from "A" to "D" etc.

A least for me, the preview function is not too useful anyway, starting with the fact that it does not even allow volume control Oo. So this might be one of the last features before finally going final - for firmware 1.2 at least. But still thinking about a more dedicated beat juggling mode, too.

Does anyone of you actually use preview?

I think thats a good idea, I never use the preview function, its just not very practical, at least for me, when playing live. I also like the beat juggling idea, in reality thats the only thing this is missing. Sweet shit man.

Yeah, after further investigating on how to implement these new features, I think I am unfortunately hitting a wall or getting close to it.

Especially the deck copy command is not possible to implement how I'd like it with only 2 Modifier conditions to work with. Man, this is really mad. I don't know how many ways I've tried to overcome these limitations and suddenly there is another brickwall coming up, presented to you by Native Instruments :eek: If I only could manage to combine Deck select and the SHIFT key, but it seems that this is not possible atm.

So here is what I could do:

a) Yes, dedicated Juggle Mode would be possible, but add a lot more commands by using the last bit of my modes modifier .... but you have at least a "non dedicated" Juggle Mode right now by using SHIFT Lock. The only thing you can't do there that is relevant is juggling and scratching at the same time, since the jogs do scrolling in this mode (which is also nice I think ^^) So you can't have everything, that becomes pretty clear. Not with this controller, I feel it is getting close to be maxed out now.

b) Deck copy would only be possible from A/C to "Focus" and from B/D to "Focus". By this way, it would get a bit complicated and unreliable IMHO. The reason for this is that I only have 2 modifier conditions to work with, and I cannot combine the SHIFT mod. with anything else. Would be really happy to learn how you can trick Trakor into setting back a Modifier to it's last value and not "0" when using a "Hold" control (the SHIFT key in this case).

So I have decided to wait for TPro 1.1, which is around the corner and might bring some improvements with MIDI (but I think not with my case ... :( )

We'll see ... meanwhile I will try to get out all remaining bugs, if any, so if you stumble around some, pls report. I am especially interested if BOME support is going okay for you windows guys, since I did and only tried this with the OS X beta.

The only way to overcome those limitations is to use Bomes instead of modifiers within the Traktor - this will fill in all your multi conditional desires and let you do heaps of things you can do with just Traktor alone.

Also ill be able to convert your bomes pro file into a translator that anyone can use with Bomes Midi Player if you want :) Just hit me up a email with the file you want to work with Bomes Midi Player and ill use Bomes Midi Author to save it into a format anyone can use.

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Also ill be able to convert your bomes pro file into a translator that anyone can use with Bomes Midi Player if you want

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Sounds like a good idea! If you want, you can always use the BOME File from the download package, but maybe wait for the next update, as there will be some bigger changes around.

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The only way to overcome those limitations is to use Bomes instead of modifiers within the Traktor - this will fill in all your multi conditional desires and let you do heaps of things you can do with just Traktor alone.

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Yes, I know, but I don't wan't a mapping that relies on BOME and does not function without. If it is only an augmentation like with my 4D LED stuff, it is okay of course - but I don't want another component in my setup which kills my set if it fails.

But there is another solution: stubbornness :D

This coupled with the realization that you actually can walk around some brickwalls :rolleyes: led me to a way to realise all of this stuff.

This should be doable with sacrificing another Modifier (which didn't do much anyway) and using it as a second storage of information which deck is active. Also, another "lockbit" is introduced so that I have 2 locking mechanisms and therefore can lock the Jogs independently from the rest. The locking technique is very important for me since it is a nice way to work around the limit of only having 2 mod. conditions per command.

But yes, this would result in even more work, so I am not sure if I should ruin my weekend. But I know my desire for perection, so .... we will see :) But nice to know that it is doable.

I also attached a sneak preview of the new mapping, this is how it should look like in version b5. Will still be beta though, because there will be a _lot_ of changes under the hood to realise this and therefore, new bugs could appear.

But I really like this mapping now, and I hope you do too! Everything seems to have the best possible logical place now, and I think this mapping does have almost everything inside that is doable / makes sense to use with this controller in TPro. If you don't think so, let me know and I'll look what I can do ;) Well, a huge price had to be paid for this, but I hope the effort was worth it.

The only thing I am not still 100% sure is if I should place the new "Juggle Mode" Button under the Deck Mode Buttons or leave it above them like it was the case with SHIFT Lock. What do you think is more logical?

Okay, another question is if I should actually swap Balance and Key controls, since I actually use keying more often and surely will even more after the next update. Do you guys use keying or balance at all? I mean keying is so nice to match tracks which don't harmonize in their original pitches.

I also think it does not make sense to cram much more stuff in to this controller before things get too complicated and unintuitive, but there are still some things left you could do in FX or Setup mode without adding too much additional complexity, and of course I will look what I can do to improve things with the firmware kit. One thing I'd really like to make better is LED Feedback, maybe 1.4 brings some improvements in this area. So, most new stuff will likely only support upgraded firmware versions after this one is going final. Bring on these kits back again, please! ;)

Also still some time left for feedback and wishes - if you have another idea, let me know, but the window is closing now. Of course, always open for bug reports.

have fun!
Frank

Great work Mr

Loving the beat jumps and loop mode this is excellent. Really simple, but i also love the effects on and off where my cue used to be. I am going to try and add some of this to my very gradually building Me TSI.

But thanks a lot for some really cool features on here. Very excited, I just wish I understood more under the hood.

Keep up the good work Michael

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But thanks a lot for some really cool features on here. Very excited, I just wish I understood more under the hood.

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thanks :) Well, actually "getting under the hood" is not the exact strength of YAVM. The mapping has gotten really huge and complex now, but about 80% or even more of that would be avoidable if there were better possibilities in Traktor Pro.

One example: to test if a Modifier is smaller than 4 you have to do the following 4 commands:

M1=0 ...
M1=1 ...
M1=2 ...
M1=3 ...

each doing the same thing. Imagine you could do the following:

M1<4 ...

So therefore, many of the commands are just workarounds to limitations of TPro. Another reason for the bloat is that I tried to maximise the Modifier flexibility by seeing them as binary switches. But since I only have their decimal representations to work with (that's 0-7 which is also exactly 3 bits), I have to use a lot of commands to test the Modifiers for single bits. But even then, YAVM b5 will use _all_ available bits of the Modifiers :eek: I also use other techniques like deck locking to cram even more functionality in some controls and so on. Last but not least, a lot of commands are there to make sure nothing gets messed up when combining all of these modes. If somebody really is interested, I could maybe write a bit more about how I did it. Btw: at least the Modifier use is described on the last page of the manual.

Other than that, I have implemented everything I have posted in my preview, so stay tuned for a few days while I do some testing and update my docs etc. But for now everything looks just fine ;)

Hi

Been using this all day and its excellent. The 4 deck control is genious, i love it. I cant figure out how to use the effects yet but i am sure it will come.

Well done

Can't wait for your next version. After lokking at the tsi file setup i dont think i will be changing anything.

Cheers Michael

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I cant figure out how to use the effects yet but i am sure it will come.

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Where are you having problems with FX? Maybe I can help.

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After lokking at the tsi file setup i dont think i will be changing anything.

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haha, that's what I also thought last time I opened it.

But no fear - b5 is just around the corner, just testing if everything is still OK with TPro 1.1.1

So, I have a new Version for you :) Unfortunately still beta, because the edits under the hood were rather huge. New features & changes:

• SHIFT-Lock is out. Found it somewhat useful, but also distracting and a bit "hacky" so i replaced it with something more useful:
• dedicated Juggle Mode! This is on the same control as the former "SHIFT Lock". Dedicated means that unlike with SHIFT Lock, all controls except the hotcue buttons behave normally. You can also combine Juggle Mode with any other mode, but if you have Juggle Mode and Loop Mode enabled at the same time, Juggle commands take precedence. In contrast to Loop Mode, Juggle Mode works globally for all decks.
• Deck duplicate! Now you can perform a variety of "Copy" commands, depending on which decks are active at the moment. Deck duplicate does only work with an already running deck if you have allowed this in your settings (I do not)
• Instead of that, the preview functions are out! Nobody will miss them, I think ;)
• improved Setup Mode switching
• as a last minute change, I had to relocate the RESET command, because it didn't work right any more with TPro 1.1.1
• ... but well, at least one bug with Midi commands was fixed in TPro 1.1.1, so now you always have correct deck sizes when switching from 2D to 4D Mode. So it is no longer necessary to switch layouts manually when going from 2D to 4D.
• In Setup Mode, you now also can change X-Fader assigment from Left<>Right to Up<>Down
• YAVM only includes GUI and Midi Settings now, since the mapping actually does not care about FX or pitch range settings etc. Just make sure you have a 3 Band EQ selected and that both FX slots are set to "advanced" at startup (the latter also achieved by just pressing RESET)
• increased keying range a bit
• Some other minor bug fixes
• Updated and corrected docs, visual map improved a bit

Okay, so we are nearing release I think. No new features will be implemented before declaring YAVM "final", just bug fixes, if any. I still have some ideas for future features, like a Juggle Mode per individual deck - like with Loop Mode - but not for this release :p

As soon as I get my hands on an upgrade kit, there will be some future development, maybe for firmware 1.4 only as I don't see many - at least major - remaining features anyway that make sense to be implemented. So, I will see how I can improve YAVM using the new firmware. Maybe I can improve LED feedback or use some other nice suprice this might bring. Have fun meanwhile!

PS: Bento, I'd like to accept your offer with the BOME File :D so if you want to convert it, just grab it from the ZIP and sent it to me / post it here, so I can include it in the download. Thanks a lot!

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DOWNLOAD HERE

Everything about effects to be honest. I have got as far as selecting them effect and Cue buttons. After that ,selecting them and controlling them i am a bit lost.

Cheers Michael

P.s. I like the sound of the new bits above. Especially the cross fader idea.

Keep up the good work its much appreciated

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Originally Posted by mrmlbell

Everything about effects to be honest. I have got as far as selecting them effect and Cue buttons. After that ,selecting them and controlling them i am a bit lost.

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Hmmm, still don't know where your exact problem lies, but I think it's not a bug, more of a usage problem. So I'll give you a little rundown about to use FX.

First of all, make sure that you startup YAVM with both FX Slots set to "Advanced" in TPro or press "Reset" before using it! You can change the type of FX later on, but YAVM needs to keep track which is selected.

To use FX, do the following:

1) Press "Insert 1" on a Deck of your choice to activate FX Slot 1 for this Deck. (and/or "Insert 2" for FX Slot 2)
2) To start controlling FX Slot 1, press "FX Select" so that it is set to "A" (Original Label on the VCI-100, upper LED glows) A Setting of "B" will control FX Slot "2" while a setting of "mas" (startup setting) will allow you to configure FX Type and select FX with the knobs. Think of it as three different banks.
3) Now, use the 4 knobs and 3 Buttons in the FX Section to manipulate FX. YAVM does set params according to your FX type selection.
4) You can also use FX Mode to control FX in both slots simultaneously by using Jog Wheels and Faders

The reason you only have 3 buttons in the mapping, but often 4 in Traktor is because on the VCI-100 with original firmware, the 4th button is hardlinked to another button. So, to use the "reset FX" Command, you have to press SHIFT with the 2nd FX Button. So this is a bit weird, but I cannot solve this until a version for firmware 1.3+ is ready.

So, that's about all. If you are still having problems, please describe exactly what is causing them.

There is no problems, with the file

Just me not knowing how to use it. And you explained it perfectly for me.

Thanks Very much and i will keep my eye out for your next installment.

Cheers Michael

This looks pretty nice. So when I switch from deck a to b, how does the volume slider work? Relative?

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This looks pretty nice. So when I switch from deck a to b, how does the volume slider work? Relative?

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No, most of the knobs and faders have direct mode with soft takeover. Don't like this too much, but I tried some time ago with relative controls and it was even worse for me.

very nice work! Seems like someone finally managed to create a tsi, which is very intuitive to use.
I will try it out this weekend and get back to you with my feedback

Hey Frankiee,

so I was excited about using this tsi as it has just the layout and functionality I was looking for.

However, after I loaded it into traktor, whenever I play a track or use the jog wheels, the audio keeps on jumping and stuttering. You can see this happen with the track on screen too. This makes it completely unusable for me.

Also the LED lights on my vci flicker constantly.

I know it works ok for other folks. Any ideas what could be causing the problems for me?

Cheers

Hi JonChase,

regarding the constant flickering: look at the upper left corner of your VCI and check if the 4 little red LEDs are pulsating. If this is the case you have actually hit the peak limit. The reason why the other LEDs are also flickering is presumably a bug in the VCI's firmware, so there's nothing I can do about it.

But in this case, the flickering is actually a good thing because yes, it shall annoy me, because when it flickers, I am TOO LOUD :eek: ;) So this also helps me keeping disciplined with volume, which I - like most DJs - tend to crank up more and more over time (psychological effect where esp. high volume of sound seems to decrease over time when getting used to it). Even if you have your limiter on, you should not drive levels over the peak limit. I also recommend this article on DJTT, a very good reading about mixing and volume in general.

About the stuttering: hmmmm don't know why you have this problem. Maybe it has nothing to do with my mapping like overall latency, which I don't think will be affected by a midi mapping or it is some other TPro setting. I also had problems with keylock range at the beginning, setting it to 30% helped. Don't know if my mapping will affect performance since it is (unfortunately) way more complex than most others, so a lot of things can happen when you press certain keys. But I don't think it will really tax your CPU, so your problem might be somewhere else.

Hope this helps!
regards,
Frank

Cool stuff!
Have you checked out TP 1.2 yet? Would love to hear your POV.
I have summarized my thoughts here:
http://ifnotwhynot.me/traktor-pro-12...a-world-of-fun

Unfortunately it seems NI is content with what they have done .. which is unfortunate.

Hey man, I just got a hold of one of your mappings... Been playing with it all night... Way to go, I never thought my VCI would be so powerful...
Thanks!

Great work. Have some troubbles - FX, but I still figure out if this is only my way of using it.
Wondering if in 4D version crossfader might better work as control for Focus Deck and leave volumes only on Faders. I really like softtakeover and direct mode.
Wonder if this mapping would work on 1,4FW. I will not update less I am sure this works on 1,4.
Thanks man.

Well, after a long long time, here is another update of my mapping!

What's new:

• Supports Firmware 1.3 and now also 1.4
• 1st Traktor Pro 2 compatible Version (mainly GUI Adaption)
• All Versions in one package
• Version 1.2.x only: Pitch bend disabled for Seek Mode ("emergency solution" in case you have problems with feedback, vibrations etc.)
• Version 1.2.x only: In Setup Mode, you can use Pitch Bend to finetune your Beatgrid placement (Vinyl Mode only)

Still does not support 4 FX Decks and also no Sample Decks, but I am at least thinking of a way to implement these. But no guarantees this will happen, as this will be HUGE work. If anybody is actually using my mappings, I will consider posting further updates. Feedback, suggestions etc are always welcome!

Download is HERE, as always.

Have fun!