continuous blend

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continuous blend

Postby cyto on Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:21 am

Here's a little thingy that some might find useful.

Basically, it's a blend control knob. But instead of only blending between two values, you can add as many as you could possibly want and it has endless 360 degree rotation! The curves are Gaussian functions and you can set the steepness of them to get that perfect ratio between values. I put a little demo graph in the osm as well as a simple example of how you could possibly use this to "morph" between oscillators. Look in the properties panel to make any changes to the behavior, and if you want to add more values, all you have to do is copy and paste one module (there are instructions in the first module). It has all of the appropriate preset handling stuff in it. There still may be some kinks, and if you find any, let me know. Also, unless you've gotten your hands dirty with building your own GUI controls, it may be hard to figure out how to change the graphics. If anyone wants me to explain, I will, but I'm just too tired right now!

continuousBlend.osm
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Re: continuous blend

Postby Warmonger on Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:50 am

Great stuff!

I can't find a purpose of it right now, but nonetheless it looks great.
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Re: continuous blend

Postby martinvicanek on Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:26 am

Nice work, Cyto, as always! Suggestion: you could add a normalization option that makes the sum of all outputs equal to 1.
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Re: continuous blend

Postby cyto on Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:00 am

Thanks, guys!

Martin, it is funny you should mention the "normalize to 1" feature because I really wanted to add that. Right now I just can't seem to work out the "correct" way to calculate it. I have found, though, that a "mid value" of about .7115 generally gets you pretty close to having a perfectly normalized sum (using either "to peaks" or "to midpoints"). That value should only give you an error of about +/-.001 through the travel. I arrived at this through trial-and-error and I'm sure there is a much better solution, but I have a suspicion that even if we were able to calculate it more precisely, the compounded rounding error of the float math would still yield about the same error as just using this "cheat" number.

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Re: continuous blend

Postby martinvicanek on Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:36 am

normalize.png
normalize.png (27.01 KiB) Viewed 2003 times
:)
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Re: continuous blend

Postby cyto on Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:51 pm

Well, that certainly works! :)
Simple and Brilliant!

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Re: continuous blend

Postby CoreStyler on Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:25 am

A really good thing. ;)
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Re: continuous blend

Postby billv on Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:42 am

Yeh, this things a keeper. Thanks "cyto"
Here it is controlling a "Step Osc". Rough example.
Step Blend Osc.osm
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Re: continuous blend

Postby Warmonger on Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:30 am

I tried to use to blend only 3 oscillators, but always one of them has a value set to 0. Is there a possibility to make the curve wider, so it could cover all 3 outputs?
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Re: continuous blend

Postby cyto on Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:38 am

Warmonger wrote:I tried to use to blend only 3 oscillators, but always one of them has a value set to 0. Is there a possibility to make the curve wider, so it could cover all 3 outputs?


Are you asking about the module "in general" or specifically about billv's osc? If it's billv's then I can't help you (I love his work but am baffled by his methods!). If you are just speaking in general terms, I can help. I think I have a tendency to be a little "cryptic" in some of the explanations I put up with my examples. I think this is just a result of having stared at the details of these things for too long while working and focusing in on them instead of the general "big picture" of the project. So here is a step by step little guide to implement this thing:

1. Figure out how many outputs you need.

2. Go into the module and make sure there is one of the modules called "first" there. Then add as many of the "add-on" modules as you will need to have a total of desired outputs. (So, if you need three outputs, you'll want one "first" and two "add-on"s).

3. Once you have chained together all of the modules (as in the example), go to the front panel of the main module and hit the little "P" button.

4. You will see an input box called "number of entries". Enter the total amount of modules there. (3 in our example).

5. Right below that, there is an input box called "mid value". This sets the "width" of the curves. The number you enter here represents the value where the curves "overlap". This must be less than 1 and greater than 0. Higher values result in "wider" curves and lower values result in "narrower" curves.

6. Now because you can vary the width, the sum of the individual curves will not always be equal. Depending on the width, the sum will either max out at the exact peaks of the curves (if the width is narrow) or at the exact midpoints (if the width is wide). You have the option of "normalizing" the gain of the curve to either of these points. From the drop down list labeled "normalize", chose either "to peaks" or "to midpoints". If you just want each curve to peak at one, then select "none" and there will be no gain adjustment.

7. Okay, now you have the shape and gain of the curves set. So you must click the "create" button. This builds the curves.

8. The last two options "start angle" and "sensitivity" just configure the GUI of the knob and should be pretty self explanatory.

I hope that helps out. If you need me to clarify anything just ask (you can PM me if you want).

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Re: continuous blend

Postby Warmonger on Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:52 am

Thanks for help.

I figured out it actually works, but the meters I use have too little resolution so low values always resulted in 0.
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Re: continuous blend

Postby billv on Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:43 pm

This things great Cyto. I knew it would fit in well my X series stuff.
Here is the Osm again, but with 2 things different.
1. Attached a Modulator. Good results fiddling with the mod controls,
2. Step Seq attached thats using the blend as well. It's mad. You can Blend/Sample Mod/and Phase mod all at once.
Some tips inside.
Step Blend Osc.osm
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Re: continuous blend

Postby cyto on Mon Apr 23, 2012 4:43 am

Awesome, billv!

I can't wait to see the next creation! I truly am amazed at what you accomplish in SM.

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Re: continuous blend

Postby billv on Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:42 am

cyto wrote:Awesome

Thanks man, but it's all your fault-you started it.ha ha ha..... :)
I shut down SM about 3/4 weeks ago(needed a break from it)
I also hit a dead end with the X12FL- I couldn't think of any serious way to make it any better. I was thinking
that the X series development was over.
Your blend thing changes all that. Looks like there might be a X13.
I havn't begun to explore your blend module properly. That Osm was a real quick "mock up" just to see how the blend
effects a modulated output. So much potential in it.
What about The Step lfo with blend, the wave multi lfo, Pitch module, gate blah blah blah........
Could easily build a whole new synth just around that blend module of yours. 3:)
Looking forward to spending more time with it. Probably take me a month to get to the bottom of it.
Busy at the moment. Be patient with me.
Thanks again man. Cheers.
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Re: continuous blend

Postby philter5 on Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:48 pm

great stuff guys, reminds me of some great projects
that some of the SM gurus made years ago , but never finished because of the (still existing) green timer issue... ;)
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