The Main Window shows all the channels contained in the MIDI file. The "MIDI Channel" column shows the channel number and the "Instruments" column shows the list of instruments used in each channel. A MIDI file can simultaneously use up to 16 channels.
The MIDI Channel is divided up into different channels and each line (channel) represents a different instrument. For percussion channels, each percussion instrument is given its own line and when converted, it is given its own track in the Timeline.
Instrument channels are displayed in black (grey if not selected) and percussion channels in blue (black if not selected).
Before converting the MIDI file, the user can preview the result of the conversion by clicking Play.
This column indicates whether to convert the associated channel.
Check the checkbox to convert the channel, otherwise leave it unchecked.
This column is only available when a particular channel is selected for conversion.
When selected, all Launch Events in the Timeline effect will use Duration Overrides that correspond to the length of the Note On/Off pairs in the MIDI file. When de-selected, the Timeline effect will not use Duration Override for any Note On/Off pairs. The default duration of the basis effect will always apply.
This column is only available when a particular channel is selected for conversion.
When selected, all Launch Events in the Timeline effect will use Magnitude Overrides that will correspond to the Velocity value in every Note On event in the MIDI file. When de-selected, the Timeline effect will not use Magnitude Override for any MIDI Note On events. The default Magnitude of the basis effect will apply.
This column is only available when a particular instrument channel is selected for conversion.
When selected, all Launch Events in the Timeline effect will use Period Overrides that will be related to the Note Number (pitch) of the notes in the MIDI file. The relationship between MIDI Note Number and period of vibration is determined by the Period Map (see next section) for a particular channel. When de-selected, the Launch Events in the Timeline effect will not use Period overrides. The default period of the basis effect value will apply.
This column is only available when a particular instrument channel is selected for conversion.
Click on the button to open the Period Map dialog and edit the pitch/period mapping that will be used when the "Note to Period" option is selected.
This option specifies if the basis effects converted from MIDI events use default parameters or custom parameters. Default parameters are stored in the default IVS reference file (\ref.ivs). The default IVS reference file can be a starting point to build a custom IVS reference file. If using custom parameters, the user must provide its own IVS reference file.
Select "Use General MIDI - IVS reference file located here:" option to use custom basis effect parameters and click Browse to choose a custom IVS reference file.
Before converting a MIDI file to a Timeline, the user can preview how the MIDI file will "feel." Click Play to preview the selected MIDI channels. Click Stop to stop the preview. The preview will play both sound and haptic effects.
If the Duration Overide option is checked for a MIDI channel, the resulting Launch Events could have durations shorter than what a device can play. To limit the duration to a minimum time, select this option and set the minimum acceptable duration to be used for the conversion of the MIDI file.
Some MIDI files may contain a significant amount of blank space (silence) at the beginning of the file. This can lead to synchronization problems when the files are converted into Timelines. As a result, when the Timeline effect is created using the MIDI file, it will also contain a blank space.
When the MIDI file and the Timeline effect are loaded into a handset, if both files contain blank space, the blank space on the MIDI file is usually clipped by the handset MIDI player, but the blank space on the Timeline effect is not. This can be problematic since the audio will be heard before the Timeline effect is felt, and as a result, the multimedia synchronization is lost. This means that on an incoming call, the handset will ring before the Timeline effect (vibration) occurs.
The Skip Leading Silence feature, which is selected by default, automatically removes the leading blank space in the generated effects when converting the MIDI file. When the Skip Leading Silence option is selected, the blank space in the MIDI file is not visible in the Timeline View and both the MIDI file and the Timeline effect will play without the blank space. When the two files are then loaded into the handset, the blank space in the MIDI file will be clipped by the handset MIDI player and the blank space in the Timeline effect has already been removed, so the two files will be synchronized when MIDI and effect playback is launched simultaneously.
Note: The blank space is not physically removed from the MIDI file. To edit the MIDI file, a MIDI editing application needs to be used. When the Timeline View displays the MIDI file, the blank space is not visible and the play position starts at the first note.
There may be instances when you want to keep the delay in the effects file. For example, if the handset does not automatically remove the leading silence from the MIDI file, then you may want keep the blank space in the effects file so the two files will be synchronized.
To maintain the empty space at the beginning of the effects file, do not select the Skip Leading Silence option by removing the check from the checkbox.
For more information on synchronization in MIDI files, refer to MIDI Tips & Tricks
The Align IVS duration to MIDI duration option matches the duration of the Timeline effect with the duration of the MIDI file. When the durations are matched, synchronization during looped playback may be improved.
For example, if the MIDI file is 30s long but the last note is played at 28s, there is a blank space for the last 2s of the MIDI file. The Timeline effect created by the MIDI Converter normally ends when the last Periodic or MagSweep effect is played. In this case, the Timeline effect ends at 28s.
This is problematic when synchronization between MIDI and Timeline effect playback is desired in a looped playback context. When the Align IVS duration to MIDI duration option is not selected, and the files are loaded into a handset, both files are launched for simultaneous playback, however, the MIDI file will play for the entire 30s and then loop, but the Timeline effect will loop at 28s. This prevents the two files from synchronizing correctly over several loops.
The Align IVS duration to MIDI duration option, which is selected by default, adds a Padding effect at the last effect in the Timeline. The Padding effect starts after the last effect and stops at the same time as the end of the MIDI file. As in the previous example, the MIDI file stopped at 28s and there was a 2s blank space before the end of the MIDI file. Since the effect stops at the last note in the MIDI file, it also stops at 28s, but there is no blank space at the end. The Padding effect adds 2s to the Timeline effect so it matches the MIDI file in duration.
If the Align IVS duration to MIDI duration option is not selected, the Padding effect is not added to the end of the last effect in the Timeline.
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