Knobroom and Korg nanoKontrol

Sean McCormack has created a video of Knobroom used with a Korg nanoKontrol. It has non-motorized slides and knobs, so when adjusting a new picture, you first have to slide to old value, then the slider will start controlling the new value. (I think that is what I saw on the video. That’s how world operated before the motorized faders came affordable 🙂

http://lightroom-blog.com/2010/10/korg-nanokontrol-with-knobroom-midi-control-of-lightroom.html

Thanks for the effort, Sean!

I do have a Akai LPD-8 controller in the closet, I probably should investigate how it works with the current version. Akai has 8 velocity sensitive buttons (think of it as a small drum pad) and 8 rotary knobs.

I’m also working on the 0.2 release, which has been taking a bit longer than I had hoped. One of the excuses is that I’m replacing the control assignment display. It was already a bit slow to initialize, and there will be many more options in the future releases, so it also needs some kind of grouping.

ps. I was fully aware of the double meaning when I named the software – I hope it’s at least very hard to forget the name once you realize it… 🙂

Comments

comments

34 thoughts on “Knobroom and Korg nanoKontrol

  1. Thanks to Knobroom, Sean’s video (and his helpful responses to my questions), I just ordered a Behringer BCR2000. I suspect that the additional controls of the BCR2000 will be useful. I can’t wait to try it out!

    Best,
    Adam

  2. WOW – a fantastic idea! I currently use quikeys (xkeys w/proprietary software) but I am really intrigued by this midi controller thing. Though I am very unsure as I have never used nor even knew about the existence of midi controllers. Still the potential here is worth sticking around- Keep up the good work!

  3. By the way, I am using an iPhone to control LR!!!

    I installed OSC on iPhone and OSCulator on Mac to map the controllers and it works as a MIDI device.

    Works like a charm! And you can design the iPhone screens and controllers.

    Congrats for your good job!

  4. Hi Guys,

    I just got my Korg nanoKontrol. Its very useful with Knobroom.

    Actually I am using also the OSCulator to translate the MIDI comands. Let me explain: With Osculator is possible convert any MIDI event into to a Keyboard Stroke, so I programmed nanoKontrol push buttons, like this:

    <> – key RIGHT (next image)
    REC Button – key X (reject)
    the push buttons 1 to 9, I mapped to keys 1 to 9.

    Its possible program any keystroke, like cmd+Z (undo) on any push button, so you can have all Shortcuts in one place!

    Its possible also with OSCulator convert a MIDI event into mouse movements, call Applescritps, etc… my nanoKontrol will become powerfull!!!

    There is also a small program, called midistroke (http://www.charlie-roberts.com/midiStroke/) wich can capture MIDI events and convert it into keystrokes.

    I just would like how if its possible apply any PRESET to an image without using the mouse. I really would like to use your The Faders plugin with nanoKontrol.. 🙂

    Any suggestion?

    1. I’m so glad someone finally tried mapping buttons to keystrokes outside of the plugin! I’ve been wondering about this, but I don’t have a controller to test it- now I know that it’s possible, I can justify getting a controller! 🙂

  5. hi Jarnoh,

    I haven’t found an email address on your website, so I’ll try to contact you via this form. After seeing the video preview on http://www.knobroom.com/video-preview/ I was convinced this plugin could really change my processing experience. I bought a second hand BCF2000, downloaded the latest version of the plugin, but I’m having the same problem as alistair posted in the comments on the http://www.knobroom.com/video-preview/ post.

    The plugin starts says opening midi port for a few seconds then goes back to lightroom. When I choose File > plug-in extras > knobroom > settings nothing happens.

    I must say I have no experience with MIDI whatsoever, so if I need to check things, please let me know. The controller is connected via USB.

    Regards,
    Mike

      1. The path does not contain any spaces, already read that in the known issues 🙂 …I’ve the idea that the plug-in does not see the BCF2000 or something like that, maybe the thing isn’t configured right, standing in a wrong mode, midi port not correct or open?

        Problem is, I have no idea what to do about that to troubleshoot it.

  6. Hi Jarnoh,

    The combination of my nanoKontrol unit with Lightroom and Knobroom is a match made in heaven – thank you so much!

    I have a few questions though.

    1. When I first edit an image the controls seem to first “default” each setting before adjusting it. For example when I adjust the fill light, it first jumps to 50 and then reacts to my adjustment. Oddly, if select a new image and then I come back to re-edit a previously edit image, then the faders seem to react the way I assume they should (without first jumping to default).
    Is my setup incorrect perhaps?

    2. Can the nanoKontrol buttons be programmed?

    I look forward to answers to my questions, and to the full release of your fine plugin.

    Kind regards,

    Scott.

    1. Hi Scott,

      I have some delay ragarding adjusting an image with nanoKontrol. When I jump to the next image, Lightroom loads all parameters in Develop mode, and it takes sometime. If I move the faders during this time, image will not change.

      Another situation is when I change an image with Exposure +1 for example and move to the next, the fader still is in +1 position, and the current image is Exposure 0. When I move the fader, lets say, a little down, the exopsure jumps to +0,9. This is not intuitive, because I moved down and Exposure goes up on the image… This is because the faders position are not updated on nanoKontrol. On BCF2000 the motorized faders are updated to reflect current image parameters, so is more intuitive.

      Regarding to program the push buttons on nanoKontrol, its very easy using OSCulator or midistroke (please check my comment above).

      May be Jarnoh will include these feature on future versions, but I am very happy using OSCulator, ease to configure and remap the MIDI comands.

      I can control the limits of each fader, and its became easer to use the faders. OSCulator change the range of values of the faders, changing the maximum and the minimum value sent to Knobroom, so I can adjust Exposure fader to -2 to +2 for example, and the response of the fader is more acurated. The same with White balance, Clarity, etc.

      Hi Jarnoh, if you don’t mind, I can link here my OSCulator config file for nanoKontrol.

  7. Hi Jarnoh,

    I have the BCF2000 but am having difficulty with creating presets. It is really strange as some of the sliders will work but not others. The sliders that don’t work, can send changes to lightroom but when I change photo, they don’t map to the photo’s settings. I am not sure if I have just got a broken BCF2000 as I bought it second-hand. Can anyone share their preset file?

    Thanks for creating the plugin, looking forward to seeing it develop.

    Ian

    1. Sounds like your BCF2000 has some user made presets, either the fader controller ids are changed or the motors are disabled. Try resetting by holding EDIT and then pressing EXIT, if I remember correctly.

      You might want also to read the manual, its on Behringer site, it has the magical key combinations – plus there’s software to program the controller numbers.

        1. I bought a BCF2000 from a friend of mine that wasn’t using it anymore. He had some weird presets that disabled and/or limited some various controls that stuck around even after I reset it and loaded the factory presets onto it. At his suggestion (he’s an Ableton Live guru) I downloaded the “B-CONTROL EDIT” software from Behringer and figured it all out, now it works like a charm. Just a note- the edit software won’t find the controller on OSX 10.6 – it needs an older version of Java. I used an old Windows XP laptop that I still have.

          Jarnoh- is there a way to keep the plugin from listening to all incoming MIDI channels? I’ve been using MidiStroke to program the buttons for keyboard shortcuts, and it would be so much easier if I could just send them on a channel that Knobroom isn’t listening to.

  8. hey ya!
    i discover a new world with ur knobroom application!
    thank you so much!
    i use an i-controls midi controller from iCon (http://www.icon-global.com/ShowPro.aspx?ID=19) and it’s working great.
    i got just a bit problem to assign a control to the keys…
    if i set something (like the label color) the key takes the color till i get my finger on, once i got my finger off, the color disappear…
    i don’t know if the same problem still with other midi controller…
    i’d like to get a b&w slider, amd more options to set on the button, like undo, add preset, stars…
    but it’s just a small things…
    cheers!
    S,

        1. I suggest you try to see what MIDI messages the controller is actually sending (e.g. http://www.snoize.com/MIDIMonitor/ is good for that – and you probably want to set decimal controller numbers visible from preferences!)

          Knobroom expects to see MIDI CC events (control change). You can specify the controller number, and Knobroom currently ignores the channel number.

          1. Korg defaults should be ok, because the sliders are sending out control messages already.

            Do you see Korg in the device selection dialog when starting Lightroom?

  9. Nope, the device selection didn’t appear, same thing when I choose File>Plug-in Extras>Settings, no window whatsoever appears.

    1. Ok, that means that the plugin’ s server (which does the MIDI communication) is probably not starting correctly. Do you have spaces in the installation path, that is one known issue…?

      Also, there might be some debug log in Console’s system.log which give a clue what’s going on.

      1. This is great I re-installed it for the 3rd time and everything works fine. I’m now using Lightroom together with Logitech G13 on my Mac OSX. The combination just works brilliant.

        Thank you so much for your help. Appreciate it.

  10. Has anyone experience the problem where you close the MBP without shutting it down, after using Knobroom for Lightroom, left it in the bag and it went very very hot (as hot as human hand not able to touch).

    I could be wrong but I suspect knobroom is still running even i close MBP, I had to bootup my MBP and let the fan run at its highest speed for4-5 min to eventually cool down the machine.

    I did a small test where I close my MBP without using knobroom everything’s fine.

    1. Sounds like the MIDI isn’t sleeping as it should. Knobroom should exit when you close Lightroom (actually, there is few seconds of lag when closing Lightroom, it is caused by Knobroom) After that, the process is closed and MIDI connection does not exist. If you close the lid when Lightroom is running, then is the MIDI drivers responsibility to allow computer to sleep.

      You could try running this command in Terminal window, it shows you the power management events: pmset -g pslog also you can see if the syslog command contains power management information.

      When you see the white LED fading in and out, the computer is in sleep and nothing should be running. If that does not happen, it is probably the MIDI driver that is causing the problem.

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