Roto-Control for Bitwig Discussion

[RobKastler]

No luck here.. I'd also like to be able to use the RC page keys to flip between BW remote control pages

Don't know what you mean? - stepping thru Remote Control - pages with RC left/right keys works fine.

[iowastate89]

No luck here.. I'd also like to be able to use the RC page keys to flip between BW remote control pages

Don't know what you mean? - stepping thru Remote Control - pages with RC left/right keys works fine.

Oh interesting; it doesn't work for me when I define the pages initially, but closing the panel and reopening again makes it work ok

[icaria36]

New release! Tonight I'll get at it, trying the Linux installer again.

https://www.melbourneinstruments.com/roto

ROTO-CONTROL/ROTO-SETUP v2.1.0

New Features
• Unlimited tracks now supported in MIX Mode. Track count limitations have been removed.
Roto-Control can now control unlimited tracks in Ableton Live and Bitwig Studio sessions.
• New MIDI ROUTING and merge options added. MIDI ROUTING options have been added across MIDI and USB ports for greater flexibility when using Roto-Control with other MIDI compatible hardware and software. See notes below.
• Motorized knobs responsiveness improved. Fidelity and motor speed increased for smoother knob response.

Bug Fixes
• Touch sensitivity and reliability significantly improved.
Previous sensitivity menu is now redundant and has been removed.
• Fixed an issue where MIDI messages were lost when MIDI clock was received at the same time via the MIDI IN port.
Roto-Control responsiveness improved when synchronizing and controlling external devices in MIDI Mode, such as the Elektron Octatrack.
• Fixed an issue where customized labels per step with a stepped knob could not be saved.
CLEAN UP function added to the SYSTEM > CLEAN UP to correct stepped labels.

[Cyoon]

Oh wow, don't they send emails with update notifications?

[icaria36]

Does it support Linux?

I don't know whether there are alternative methods on Linux.

But there seems to be a Linux Roto setup app, setup guide etc. on their download page:
https://www.melbourneinstruments.com/roto

I'll try it again whenever there is a new firmware update.

So I tried. Maybe I did something wrong last time, but I just followed the Linux instructions and the app seems to work just fine. I have updated the firmware, and I have configured a button and a knob. All good! No windows involved.

About the rest of the update, the touch does feel good (but well, it felt already good to me before, I wouldn't be able to tell what are the improvements).

I haven't tested the MIDI routing features because I don't have a use case for them, but for the description in the release notes, it looks like the problems reported should be solved now?

[Cyoon]

I had some situations with wobbly knob response in Bitwig, but that seems be gone too now.

[joris.roling]

Hi all,

I recently got the limited-edition Bitwig Roto-Control, and overall, I’m really happy with it!

That said, I’ve run into a couple of small issues that I hope the devs (both @Bitwig and @Melbourne Instruments) might be able to address:
- When plug-ins have a large number of built-in Plug-in Pages (more than eight - looking at you, u-he Hive CLAP), it becomes impossible to access Custom Device Pages on the Roto-Control, since they appear after the Plug-in Pages. A potential solution would be to allow disabling Plug-in Pages in Bitwig.
- When using Remote Pages, if a plug-in parameter is bipolar (centered), the Roto-Control doesn’t have the indentation feedback, unlike Bitwig’s native device parameters, which do.

Hopefully both teams are following this thread - I’d love to see these small improvements addressed.

Cheers,
J*

[Cyoon]

Hopefully both teams are following this thread - I’d love to see these small improvements addressed.

better to send in a request then.

[joris.roling]

better to send in a request then.

Yes! (done)

[Cyoon]

So, when recording automation with the roto control and still having the device in focus afterwards, it seems the recorded automation doesn't get played, but instead the restore automation button is permanently active until I select another plugin. Is that the intended behaviour or a bug inthe beta?

[crossmod]

I got one of these yesterday, and experienced the following bugs within minutes. I've emailed support about it, but has anyone else had any of these? The feedback I've seen online has been pretty positive so I wonder if I've got a defective unit.

1. Switching to mix mode results in blank screens on the unit, cannot control any tracks
2. Switching to mix mode sets some faders to their minimum value
3. Switching to plugin mode results in blank screens on the unit, cannot control any parameters
4. Pressing <- and -> at the same time in plugin mode does not open or close the remote pages
5. Pressing <- and -> at the same time in plugin mode does open and close the remote pages, but no parameters are shown on the screens
6. Pressing <- and -> at the same time in plugin mode does open and close the remote pages, but the parameters are displayed even when the remote pages are closed
7. Switching to plugin mode displays the parameters of the device, but moving the knobs has no effect
8. The controller extension crashes with the message: "Range [34, 36) out of bounds for length 34" (no that is not a typo, there is both a square bracket and a round bracket in the error message)
9. The controller becomes unresponsive in Bitwig with the message "MIDI Output Eror, Roto-Control: Could not open target device". This is unrecoverable unless you power cycle the device.
10. In plugin mode, pressing func then selecting another track does not switch to that track. Switching to the track a second time often succeeds.

[icaria36]

I got one of these yesterday, and experienced the following bugs within minutes.

This is not normal. I would check whether the Roto is properly charged. Is the power cable properly plugged to the wall, and are you using the corresponding Roto cable? Is the USB data cable directly connected to your computer or to a USB host? (I'm using a USB host for the data cable just fine, but if you have problems it is something to check). Last but not least, make sure power and data cables are plugged in the correct ports.

If all this is correct, then is the Roto Bitwig extension placed in the correct folder?

[joris.roling]

Hi all,

I recently got the limited-edition Bitwig Roto-Control, and overall, I’m really happy with it!

That said, I’ve run into a couple of small issues that I hope the devs (both @Bitwig and @Melbourne Instruments) might be able to address:
- When plug-ins have a large number of built-in Plug-in Pages (more than eight - looking at you, u-he Hive CLAP), it becomes impossible to access Custom Device Pages on the Roto-Control, since they appear after the Plug-in Pages. A potential solution would be to allow disabling Plug-in Pages in Bitwig.
- When using Remote Pages, if a plug-in parameter is bipolar (centered), the Roto-Control doesn’t have the indentation feedback, unlike Bitwig’s native device parameters, which do.

Hopefully both teams are following this thread - I’d love to see these small improvements addressed.

Cheers,
J*

better to send in a request then.

After doing that correct suggestion, Bitwig replied:

We talked to Melbourne Instruments and they could reproduce the issue: it is caused by the latest firmware update which greatly improves touch behavior but as a side effect sends false touch information when the motors are doing rapid changes of direction. They are aware of the issue and will be working on a fix. If you need further information please contact Melbourne Instruments directly.
​

[crossmod]

I got one of these yesterday, and experienced the following bugs within minutes.

This is not normal. I would check whether the Roto is properly charged. Is the power cable properly plugged to the wall, and are you using the corresponding Roto cable? Is the USB data cable directly connected to your computer or to a USB host? (I'm using a USB host for the data cable just fine, but if you have problems it is something to check). Last but not least, make sure power and data cables are plugged in the correct ports.

If all this is correct, then is the Roto Bitwig extension placed in the correct folder?

Support got back to me really quickly and suggested it might be a USB hardware (port or cable) problem. Sure enough, when I switched port on the back of my computer it started working fine.

[don_looney]

I tried the new firmware and wanted to learn the drop down menu reverb mode from Valhalla Vintage Verb or Future Verb. Roto Control learns the list but does not step those values. Does anyone else have this problem?

It would also be nice if there was an option to always select/display the remotes from Bitwig devices. Now the remotes page of the plugin needs to be opened/visible to get Roto Control to show them. But I would like to hide them in the devices view to see more plugins in the chain.