Fl Studio + Dashboard + B-Control (bcr2000)

I

iszazial

New member
I have a midi controller connected to my computer. now theres no problems with the controller because it works fine with this dashboard i have for it.

my problem is that i cant make flstudio talk to my midi controller with out the dashboard... but i can make the dash board talk to the bcr2000 but have no way of link controls in fl studio to the dashboard plugin.
the over all problem here is that i can trigger flstudio knobs from the midi controler however, i can not trigger the midi controller from flstudio enless i use the dashboard.

Is it possible to link knobs in flstudio to the dashboard knobs so when i automate a knob in flstudio it only triggers the knob is the dash board then from the dash board triggers the midi controller (bcr2000)

bcr2000 by behringer
aka b-control rotary
 
i have the bcf and from what i understand they are built almost the same way which in case u could always run ur midi out on ur controller to ur bcr then that into ur dashboard to ur pc and it should all read off of one midi channel
 
nope, not possible yet.
since the knobs in FL don't send parameter feedback themselves.
i'm afraid you'll have to stick to the dashboard. (just like me. i'm on the same boat with my bcf. :) )
 
you mean you were looking for something flashy?

FFL%20Logo.JPG



what about one of those:

pacifier.gif


:D
 
oh, i see. you meant Flock to Fruity Loops. :p
 
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Sorry to bring up such an old thread, but it seemed more appropriate to post in a relevant thread than start a new one unnecessarily. Anyway, how do you get the dashboard to send midi information to the BCR. I just bought one and have been trying for the past few days to get it to recieve feedback from fl. I saw in a tutorial somewhere that the send master sync must be on (I don't really understand what that does), and the output port for the bcr must be set to 102. Another thing said that it doesn't matter what port you use, but that it has to be set the same on the instrument you are using. Now after reading this thread it is clear to me that I need to use a dashboard, so I am doing that. I am managing to use my bcr to control the dashboard which in turn is controlling other parameters, but when I move a dashboard knob with my mouse (or automation), the bcr is not responding. I tried setting both the dashboard and the midi settings for output to port 102, and I tried doing them seperately. I am stumped. Can anyone suggest what needs to be done? Oh, I am using USB.
 
Ive had this this for Years now and Flstudio fully supports it. there are no templates that come with flstudio for pre assigned keys or anything. first make sure all the drivers for the BCR are installed then it has to be ON before loading fl studio like any other midi to usb equipment.

In the options menu at the top click the "midi settings". after the midi preferences over all you need to do is Locate the Input box where you should probably see "BCR2000" or something. you need you HIGHLIGHT "BCR2000" then there is a button beneath it labeled "Enable". Check that so its lit and your dont setting it up.

as for configuring the bcr i believe you can do it from factory default as long as everything is set to CC or control change.

when your in flstudio all you need to do is left click any knob and click "LINK TO CONTROLLER". once you do that, then you just initiate any knob on the controller and viola. proceed to modify your controls and proceed to save the template.

As for controlling Vst's thats a whole other story. That controller was fun at the time but i dumped it for the akai MPD32 cuz seriously there is no real need for that many knobs lol. plus the mpd has drum pads and faders with multi banks like the bcr and bcf.

anyways hope this helps. Peace
 
btw dont worry about dashboard thats old school. However there is a little app called BCFEDIT.exe that i found that allows you to make all your changed to the bcr through an easier interface on the PC then upload those control commands to the bcr (this was a god send man). there is only a few reasons you would use it.

the main reason you would use it would be to set a knob or button to a CC # that FLstudio has preprogramed like the transport (with the play and stop buttons). and other features like JOG and so on.

also a long time ago i used a MIDI to HEX conversion calculator to set it up to work with protools. I found a spread sheet somewhere that gave me all the CC numbers i needed to operate my BCR in Protools. Unfortunatly the bcr is not very user friendly and this would litterly take weeks to program. :(
 
Iszazial, Are you saying that you can automate the controls of the bcr from within flstudio without using the dashboard and midi out? When you say flstudio "fully supports it", what do you mean? There is an option to select th bcF as an input device, but no such option for the bcR. In this same line of thinking, I was under the impression that bcfedit would only work with the bcf and not the bcr.

Oh, I just realised I hadn't posted here since I got it working, lol. What I am doing is using the dashboard to control both the synth/mixer knobs, and a midi out knob. The midi out sends data to the bcr to make the knobs move. So, are you saying that it should work without the dashboard and the midi out?

Anyway, I have it working, but it is a little tedious to use because I have to change the port number on the midi out every time I want to play around with the knobs, and then change it back when I want playback. Reason being that when it is on port 102 and I turn a knob, feedback causes it too move really slowly and in a jerky fashion. So I change it to port 101, and then it doesn't give feedback and I can move the knob smoothly. Still, it would be good to have feedback from all the knobs that I'm NOT tweaking, so that when I go to use them they are in the right place and don't jump.

I have the bcr mostly set up. The factory defaults didn't work because they use cc numbers that seem to screw with fl. Once I changed those it was okay. I have play and stop working. Not sure if there is a midi message for record, couldn't see anything that looked like record when going through the midi assignment for a button, although the names are abbreviated in the little window and I could've missed it. Anyway, bcfview will be great if it works with the bcr, but I have been managing without it.

So, just to reiterate, are you saying that you can get automation midi signals from fl to the bcr without use of the dashboard and midi out? If so, then can you think of a reason why I am not achieving this?

Thanks for the help. :)
 
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bcr

so anyways no thats not what i ment. I misunderstood becuase its been a while since the last time i programmed the bcr. I know understad what you mean and you want to take advantage for the lights on the bcr as reference to where you last left the knob.

Now I know what you mean and yea you do need the dashboard to send midi out to the bcr to specific knobs (which you already know). I ended up by using a template for the bcr i found on the internet somewhere and to start with and configure from there. Yea and also there was definatly some serious confusing programming with the bcr internals like the global preset and what not. BCFedit works for both so that what i used to simplify it all. In all reality you can connect the BCR to the BCF then even to the BCA and even more. they are all pretty much the same product with diffferent function thats why the program will work fine.

The big one for me that really pissed me off about the BCR. After putting all that effort into sending midi signals to dashboard then to the bcr, I was very agrovated that at that time for which ever reason the version of FL studio i had(first one to support midi if i remember) would not allow me to save my flp file with the midi on the dash.

Now what i mean is that if you work on a project and all your presets are showing on your bcr that you made (the lights around the knobs), then save the file and load a new file you notice that the lights are stupid around the knobs and dont actually change. Now if you make changess to these knobs in this so called new project and then discard or save the changes then thats where the delema is. so you try loading the project that you know you made some saved changed to the bcr and guess what... all that hard work was for nothing because when loading the project, flstudio wasn't smart enough at the time to send a midi signal to the BCR to tell it what the presets of that project were and there would be no way of knowing what they were unless you made a slight ajustment to every knob assosiated with that project. Obviously that would be extremely tedious and in some cases even if you were willing to make that sacrifice for some reason. some knob changes even the slightest can be the most detrimental.

So In conclusion here I would say that if flstudio still does not send midi presets to the controller to initiate all the knobs on project load then i would definatly reconsider all that hard work your about to get yourself into. Simply speaking i almost smashed mine when i found this out as the whole thing was programmed like you mentioned. I then dumped that idea and figured that the lights wern't that important and just did the standard knob initiation like i mentioned before. even though there is no midi feed back I put markers on the BCR to indicate what the knobs were and used a special template i configured. there is some obvious fall backs to not having midi feedback from fl but it is what it is right.
 
When you say you found a template, do you mean an flp file? If so, in what way was it configured to make it better for the bcr? I have made my own template which is set up for a preset that I have made on the bcr. I have the eight push encoders controlling the first eight mixer tracks, with the second encoder group for the next eight. I have some of the other encoders controlling some effects, and others controlling macros on massive. I have it all set up with the midi outs and everything, so that's easy.

The only thing that I would like to do is to create a specific dashboard that actually looks a bit like the bcr. At the moment I have a couple of the default ones controlling it, but I want one that looks the same so that when I label the controls on the dashboard, I can look at them and know exactly what I am controlling on the bcr. This way when I open up another flp, it will have the different labels and I will not get confused about what I have assigned to what. I know that dashboards can be edited, but this seems extremely time-consuming. There is no copy and paste or anything, and I must add each knob one at a time...among other tedious aspects. I've also looked at synthmaker, but it looks a little complicated for me to learn with the limited time I have at the moment.

Good to know that BCFedit works for it, I'll go download it now.

I'm not really sure exactly what you mean by fl not sending presets. FL doesn't send any presets, but I just use the same preset on the bcr for every project, so there is no need. I can open up an flp that I have previously saved, and all the midi in and out still works to the extent that it ever did.

One more question about midi that you may or may not know the answer to. If I put everything on channel 2, instead of channel 1, would that mean I could use the cc numbers that cause problems for me on channel 1 without the problems happening? I guess I can just go and try it.

Anyway, having all these knobs is great, it's really impoved my ability to create build-ups in my music, and it's enjoyable just making a few beats and basslines, leads etc. and then just sitting back and playing around with the knobs for an hour listening to what effects I get when I drop certain parts out or slowly raise the cuttoff of a filter on a synth, then unmute a drum fill and then mute the fill and unmute a kick at the same time. I feel much more like a musician now. I could actually do this live with a bit of practice. All this experimentation takes too long using the mouse and doesn't feel as organic, so I never quite get it as nice.

Anyway, thanks heaps for all your help.
 
bcr

Yea the presets in the FLP file will load fine of course. What i mean if that when you load the FLP file, flstudio will not Sync with the BCR's digital lighting around the knobs and ajust them accordingly to the way they were origionally saved for that FLP file. therefore once you reload a project what you see on the bcr is incorrect and false readings untill you initiate the knob by turning it slightly. or at least this use to be the big delemia.

Sorry man im not sure how to answer the question about the channel 1 and channel 2.

i bought this thing like 2 years after i started making music and it was fun as hell. I dumped it earlier this year for this though and you'll see why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE7GHgbmlP0&feature=related

I think that the MPD 32 is the ultimate replacement and has so much more features.
 
Hi,

I'm having trouble making the parameter feedback working aswell. I managed to control my BCR knobs with the midi out plugin. But how do i link the controls in FL Studio to the knobs in the midi out plugin (or isn't this the correct way doing it?) so that if i move a knob or a slider in FL Studio my BCR will receive the correct values (and vice versa).

I read the thread and saw people talking about a dashboard.. so i played arround with it but i don't understand how to get the midi out, dashboard and the BCR2000 to work together.

I hope somebody can help me with my problem.. i'm really getting frustrated here..
 
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