MIDI, OSC and ArtNet (DMX) are three of the most commonly used protocols in the audio, video and lighting communities for sending control information between instruments, computers and consoles.

Within VDMX, everywhere that can receive a data-source (eg. a slider, button, media bin) can both receive and send control information over these protocols. The setup for which instruments (MIDI), ports / IP addresses (OSC), and ArtNet Universes are in use, check the respective section in the preferences.

In this tutorial we'll focus on the most basic step of syncing an opacity slider to each of these options.

Also in this series - An introduction to receiving MIDI, OSC, and DMX (video tutorial + notes) and Setting up VDMX as a DMX controlled Media Server.

Materials: A 'controller' of some kind, one of the following,

A MIDI controller, or software capable of sending MIDI.
An OSC controller, or software that will be sending OSC.
An ArtNet to DMX adapter & DMX console, or software capable of sending DMX over ArtNet.

The UI inspector and its sub-inspectors display different settings for each type of receiver.

Selecting MIDI Detect from the slider contextual menu.

The Opacity Slider now receiving from MIDI ctrl 2 and the UI inspector with additional options.

Step 1: Right-click on any slider within VDMX (eg. 'Layer Opacity' slider). Choose the detect option for the protocol being sent.

Tip: When setting up lots of UI syncing at once use Hardware Learn Mode from the Workspace menu. Every item that can receive MIDI, OSC and DMX will light up and begin detecting when clicked on.

Step 2: Send some data for VDMX to detect from your controller.

Tip: The UI Inspector can be used to do additional setup and customization of how the incoming data is handled and manually entering the MIDI note / OSC address / DMX channel to listen for.