QLC+ OLA output/ola_trigger

[Kyle Smith]

Hi,

First, I'm brand new to everything related to DMX, lighting, etc., (although I have a programming background) but I was hoping to get some help with setting up QLC for a project I'm starting.

I've been able to play around with OLA and QLC separately (I'm on OSX and installed OLA through macports first, then found QLC), but was now hoping to get them to work together. From what I've gathered, I should be able to set QLC to output to OLA, but I don't see it as an option on the inputs/outputs screen (and there's no link to the OLA portion of the docs). Being new, I'm not sure if it should be available and it's not, or if the issue is between the chair and the keyboard :/ When I start QLC, I do see that olad starts running also because I can see OLA on localhost:9090. If I'm understanding things correctly though, and if QLC is set up to output to OLA by default (in which case the issue is me), the dmx universe I see in QLC should also show up in OLA, although I don't see any universes at all in OLA. I'm not sure how it is supposed to behave.

So, essentially, I'm not sure if QLC is already outputting to OLA, or if I need to set it up to do that (and how to do that if so). Again, I'm assuming it's me, not a bug, but wanted to check just in case! Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

The reason I'd like it to output to OLA is that I would like to use OLA Trigger so that I can use DMX channels/actions to fire off arbitrary bits of code in addition to eventually using real fixtures. If there's a way to do that in QLC though, let me know!

Hopefully I explained myself clearly!

Thanks,
Kyle

[Chris Laurie]

QLC+ does not talk directly to OLA. OLA implements several network protocols and therefore it listens on your network for packets of a specific protocol addressed to it. The easiest method to link QLC to OLA would be via the ArtNet protocol. In QLC+ go to the Inputs/Outputs tab. On the right tick the output checkbox on the ArtNet plugin.

If your OLA server is running, ArtNet shows up with an IP address and a universe number. Note that Universe 1 in QLC+ maps to Universe 0 in OLA.

That said, why would you run OLA and QLC+ on the same machine? OLA is a server that listens for dmx512 packets and then in turn, send them out accross a dmx line, typically via usb to dmx converter usb dongle/box etc connected to the server.

OLA is intended to run on a separate box away from your "desk". A LAN typically has much more bandwidth and it makes it simple to split up your dmx signals to different locations at the site. That way you do not need a special dmx cable chain that loops to all lights (sometimes via splitter boxes). With OLA you need a network connection, even wifi.

If you are going to use QLC+ to generate the dmx512 packets, it can send it out directly to dmx512 line using the same hardware you were going to connect to OLA. I'm not sure what happens when you plug in a USB to dmx12 thingy on a box where both QLC+ and OLA would like to send to it.

I have tested this:

PC with QLC+ -> output to ArtNet (192.168.1.200) -> lan router -> raspberry pi with ola -> dmxusb dongle -> lights.

By deploying multiple raspberry pi's (with wi-fi dongles) I can have a complicated distributed set up amongst multiple physical locations and universes at a single site.

[Massimo Callegari]

@Kyle, are you using QLC or QLC+ ? Which version ? Which OSX version ?
On QLC+ you should see an output panel like the one attached. If you don't see the OLA output it means that QLC+ can't find OLA in the default path. Since everyone on OSX install OLA through MacPorts it should definitely work.
Can you open a terminal and tell me the result of the command "which olad" ?
Sorry for the documentation, I need to find the time to update/improve it.

@Chris: Not true, QLC+ can perform direct communication with OLA on the same machine, even on OSX, as discussed here: https://sourceforge.net/p/qlcplus/discu ... /6ebb4394/
And the ArtNet universe indexes have been fixed on version 4.2.2, as the screenshot shows.

[Kyle Smith]

Thanks, guys - I appreciate the info!

@Chris - thanks for the info. I have a raspberry pi that I'll be using also (the device I want to use OLA Trigger on), so good to know I can get it running smoothly! I was able to figure out how to interface olad with QLC+ - I just had to set QLC+ to output to ArtNet and OLA's ArtNet for the input. The sliders in QLC+ were sending dmx to my custom OLA triggers which is what I needed. Thanks!

@Massimo - sorry, I started using just "QLC" instead of "QLC+" after a while. I'm running 4.2.2 on Mountain Lion. I don't see OLA as an output option like the pic you posted. I actually found the post you mentioned before I posted, and it looks like my OLA is in the same place as his was: "which olad" returns /opt/local/bin/olad. I installed it via macports just the other day so its the most up-to-date. Any ideas? Permissions maybe or something? Missing a lib?

Thanks for the help!

Kyle

[Massimo Callegari]

Kyle, I just checked and it's my fault. Recently I switched to a Mountain Lion box and when I compiled OLA (since MacPorts OLA build fails), it went on /usr/local instead of /opt/local. That's why you don't see it.
You have three options:
- use QLC+ version 4.2.1
- copy OLA libraries to /usr/local/lib
- wait for QLC+ version 4.3.0 that will be out quite soon

Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for spotting this out

[Kyle Smith]

Ahh no worries! Looking forward to QLC+ 4.3.0

Thanks, Massimo!

[Kyle Smith]

Wow! Wasn't expecting 4.3.0 to be out _that_ soon!

I removed the last version and just installed 4.3.0. I see OLA as an output option now! However, it keeps crashing as soon as I check the output box or try to configure it our anything like that (whether I've got olad already running or I check the box to do the standalone daemon). I never see the popup with configuration info like the docs say.

I can send you the problem report if you'd like.

Thanks!

Kyle

[Kyle Smith]

Just wanted to check in on this...

Thanks!

Kyle

[Massimo Callegari]

Kyle, Honetly I don't know how to help you.
This crash doesn't happen to me or to other OSX users with whom I checked.

On the other hand you can post the log, but since OSX is everything but a system for developers, I don't expect to be able to solve the problem.

[Kyle Smith]

Ahh bummer :/ Is there an e-mail I can send the log to?

fwiw, I think as long as I _only_ change the output and then stay off the i/o screen it works ok. I've noticed that if I highlight one of the OLA outputs, and click the config button for it, and then click "close" on the popup, the highlighted option jumps back to the first one in the i/o list (artnet for me). It always crashes for me after I have clicked the config button for OLA, and then "close" it.

From what I can gather from the crash report, qt is what's causing the crash. I'm not familiar with dev on osx though. I've pasted part of the crash report below - let me know if you'd like me to e-mail you the full report. I appreciate it!

[LOG CUT]

[Massimo Callegari]

First, you can link attachments here. Do not spam the forum with such long logs.
Or in case, ask before.
You can find my email everywhere. Website, sources, README, QLC+ itself.

Secondly, which version of OLA are you using ? I know version 0.8.28 has been released recently. I'm not even sure if it is supported by QLC+. I have 0.8.26 installed.

Question: why do you need to open the configuration panel ? It is just an information panel and I'm not even sure it does something (except for crashing the app in your case)

Also, do you have Quartz installed in your system ?

[Heiko Fanieng]

Hello Kyle,

i saw in your log, that you also use OS X 10.8.3. I have the same OS on a Mac Mini Mid 2011. Here QLC+ 4.30 works with OLA 0.8.26, i can't reproduce your crashs.

Heiko

[Kyle Smith]

Sorry for the log - was just being lazy. I've e-mailed the full crash report to you.

I'm running OLA 0.8.26 via macports - it looks like macports doesn't have the most recent version in their system yet.

I thought there were more config options in the config panel initially - I guess I really don't need to open it. The only reason would be to turn on/off the "run standalone OLA" option, but that's not really going to happen.

I have xquartz 11 on my system for use with gimp (is that what you mean? if not - let me know how to check for it). It looks like it was out of date, so I just updated it to the most recent version, but it still crashes. It only crashes after I try the OLA config - when I've tried other configs, it doesn't crash.

So when it comes down to it, I don't need the config. Please let me know if I can be of any help. I know it's not a pressing issue.

Thanks again, Heiko and Massimo!

Kyle

[Heiko Fanieng]

I think Massimo means Apples Quartz Composer. A free software i use for visuals und extend QLC+ via OSC with a Sound 2 Light function.

I got the same result when trying updating OLA to actual version 8.2.26. Maybe theres a little delay if its available over MacPorts.

[Massimo Callegari]

Ok, I think I've finally been able to see the crash.
It happens with all the plugins, not just with OLA.
Problem is, that on Linux and Windows (and note I said Windows...) the same code doesn't crash the program.
I getting more and more convinced that OSX is a bad bad operating system

Kyle, can you please test if the crash is present on version 4.2.1 or 4.2.0 ?
First, we could start isolating the problem. Then solving it is a totally different story...

[Kyle Smith]

Thanks, Massimo - again, I appreciate you looking into this!

I uninstalled 4.3.0 and downloaded/installed 4.2.1. Even though OLA wasn't an available output (I'm guessing due to the issue I first stated that you fixed in 4.3.0), after trying a few config screens, it crashed with the same stacktrace as before. Perhaps it's an issue with qt?

I can try 4.2.0 if you'd like as well. Let me know how I can help!

Kyle

[Kyle Smith]

I saw this:

https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/c ... 12467a9a2b

Looks like you got it much appreciated! looking forward to the next release!

Kyle

[Kyle Smith]

Works a treat now! Thank you Hopefully in the near future I will be able to contribute something!

Kyle