Why does Motion Engine Layout (hack) continue to run in Design Mode?

Question

The Enhanced Motion engine layout is a continuation of an earlier Question I raised regarding a PAN function and Answered by jkhiser. It will continue to run if not stopped in Design Mode. Actually, why does it even run at all? I think of the basic function as an oscillator (metronome) that can cycle forever. But is it stable? Notice the behavior of Start when first tapped. It remains lit for one cycle and goes out at the start of the second cycle. This modifies the up/down behavior of the Driver. The Snap Sub to Value is essential for the Halt and Stop. I use 10 ms. If not set properly, it may appear to freeze MDP.

Downloads: 437
Enhanced Motion Engine (PAN) layout - Layout includes jkhiser's original page plus my modification with description.
Downloads: 437

Images

Enhanced Motion Engine (PAN)

Comments

Will need Dan to check if the "snap to value" continuing to execute in design mode is a bug or not.  Just sort of is.

I understand the Start and Stop button behavior, but the Halt button looks like it might rely on a bug I thought was stamped out previously.  When a subcontrol has more than one super, it is not supposed to feedback.  But in this case, the Halt button appears to be getting feedback from the Driver, and when pressed, sending that same value back to the Driver.  So if there is a bug, seems that it is useful in this case.

And that same feedback seems to be at play with the start button.  At the end of the first cycle, the start button goes off, then stays off for remaining cycles.

As far as freezing MDP, we are sort of outside design conditions here.  MDP2 was designed to prevent feedback, but you have found a way around that, in a useful way.  But you can force crashes - try setting the start cycle time below 500 msec, and it will lock up.  But I think this LFO behavior is useful, so we want to keep it, just gotta use it carefully.

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I'll read up on the whole issue and discuss with JK offline and then circle back. Hang tight, thanks everybody.

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As mentioned elsewhere, this is an exploit of a bug in MD, and stalls and crashes are expected. We might fix the bug with any release which would compromise the whole project. I'm not trying to discourage, just ensure that we're clear on expectations for the Motion Engine Hack. Thanks, keep on!

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As JK mention in comments on the answer, this is fixed in Beta, waiting to get to Production this week.

Answer 1

2.250 beta just released to stop control motion on entering design mode.

Comments

It's a first attempt, I tried based on some scant details I had. Let me know if it works, please!

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Thanks for the quick response/fix. It definitely stops cycling when entering Design Mode. But there is a limitation to the number of Midi Messages that can be generated in a given period of time. Setting the Snap Sub to Value about 100 ms makes it stop cycling at times. The log shows thousands of messages, hard to evaluate. I will continue beta testing to determine limitations and add a few improvements I have in mind.

I have an updated layout I will publish today.

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At the bottom of the right page notes in the sample layout, I had already dentified that any time less than 500 msec (in the four output case) causes a lockup.  This is not a MDP problem, but a coding & design problem.  I included four separate pan controls with differing phase for an example, but you cannot drive them too fast, or you swamp MDP2.  

You have to design around this.  Reduce the number of controls, thin out the number of values, etc.  For any specific instantiation, trial and error to get the shortest cycle time.

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2.250 Build 210713 stops the motion on entering design mode - tested on several layouts.

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Thanks that's perfect, we'll leave this as OPEN until the fix releases to Prod.

Answer 2

2.250 beta just released to stop control motion on entering design mode.