Frequently Asked Questions & Known Issues

 

MIDI Problems:

Q. I have a MA2 command wing, and I can't seem to get MA2onPC to receive or send MIDI with TimeLord?

A. MA2 Command Wing Users should turn the power on to the wing AFTER starting MA2onPC, otherwise the Command Wing MIDI ports will take over and be used by MA2onPC exclusively rather than the Windows MIDI devices.

Q. I can't seem to get LoopBE working properly, it says "Shortcut Detected", WTF?

A. Users of LoopBE should disable short cut detection by consulting the LoopBE manual. The normal behaviour of the MA2 MSC system and triggers this detection, though it is intentional and not a problem. You can use the free LoopBE1 if you don't intend to use MSC, only MIDI notes and time code.

Q. Why can't I get time code or MIDI control to work?

A. Be sure you have selected the MIDI INPUT device in MA2 which is the MIDI OUTPUT device of TimeLord and vice versa. It is a common mistake to patch the ports incorrectly. EG. OUTPUT "Midi Yoke 1" from TimeLord should connect as INPUT "MIDI Yoke 1" in MA2.

Q. MIDI Show Control seems to stop working after a while?

A. If MIDI Show Control works for a while, then stops, it's usually because your using a cheap MIDI USB device, and it's buffers have overflown and failed. You could try MSC over IP.  MIDI Show Control inputs and outputs should be configured in MA2 for "MSC Mode In" and "MSC Mode Out" set to "MIDI" or "ETHERNET", with "MSC In Exec" and "MSC Out Exec" set to "Exec Page" (not "Exec.Page"), and "MSC In Command" and "MSC Out Command" set to "All"

Time Code Synchronisation:

Ensure you have the same frame-rate throughout your TimeLord show and your MA2 Time code pool objects. MA2 Objects created by TimeLord should be set up correctly, though user created Time Code Pool object should be configured to use MIDI sync at the same frame-rate as TimeLord, and the Auto-Start option disabled and the Auto-Stop option enabled (optionally)
Seeking some media files can produce inaccuracies because the position is not absolute and rather it's calculated, using WAV files is recommended where practical, though typically most files should be okay.

MA2 Link Problems:

Q. I can't connect to MA, what could be the cause?

A. Ensure "Telnet Enable" is set in MA2 Setup/Console/Global.  Ensure you have a username and password for the show currently loaded in MA2.  Do not connect over WiFi to MA2, whilst this can work, it can also can cause your MA2 to freeze up and become unresponsive if the connection drops out.

General:

Q. TimeLord uses 100% of my CPU, and video glitches while the time code display slows down during playback?

A. Your computer may be under powered for the type of media you are playing, or even under powered to run the user interface (less likely). Possibly you have anti-virus or other software chewing up your CPU. Try another media file, and failing that start TimeLord with the "-slow" parameter which reduces the UI display frame-rate. Alternatively, fast PC's can use the "-fast" parameter if your confident your PC is powerful enough which refreshes the display twice as fast as the time code frame rate.

Q. The keyboard is not responding?

A. I've only seen this once, but if the keyboard seems to have stopped working in TimeLord, this can be due to Windows issues, possibly some other keyboard or HID device interfering, or another program "stealing" the keyboard from TimeLord. In most cases, rebooting the system will resolve this issue.

Q. My favourite Justin Bieber track won't play?

A. Possibly bad taste in music, but most likely a track with digital rights management (DRM) or in an unsupported format for which there is no CODEC available to play it. Best results can be had with WAV, FLAC, WMA & MPG files. There are so many media files around and so many encoders/decoders that not every one will provide good quality results or even be seekable.

Known Issues:

  • Do not let your workstation sleep, lock, or lock it manually with CTRL-ALT-DELETE. A bug in the compilers graphics library means that Windows will erase all the graphics from memory, and the application window will appear to be blank/grey – though the media engine and everything else operated remotely will still work. The only way to resume the user interface is to quit and restart.
     
  • MAC Book (Black) running Windows XP via bootcamp has been tested and found not to work. Note this is not a MAC Book Pro, and other Apple computers have not been tested.
     
  • Windows text size (as configured from Windows Control Panel) must be set at 100% or Windows will screws up the fonts displayed on screen. Simple fix is to set text size to 100%.
     
  • Network transactions with console may be slow (200ms per tx/rx)? No problem on loopback/onPC though, and the cause is unclear as I don't have a console to test with.
     
  • MSC of position, volume and video to/from console could be jumpy under heavy system load when using MIDI.
     
  • Some media files are not seek-able, or not seek-able to a "frame resolution", which could produce incorrect time code after a seek operation. (this should be detectable in future releases)
     
  • After importing media, the media engine might not play until it's 'loaded', load the player by pressing ← or jumping to the cue.
     
  • Show files are not currently forward-compatible, and might not load in near-future versions if more features are added before a previous version import routine is developed.
     
  • CD Audio support is undecided and disabled, and may be completely removed.
     
  • Some imported (basically corrupt or badly encoded) media files will report incorrect duration or even worse cause TimeLord to freeze or misbehave.