[gmpi] Re: GMPI reqs draft 1 (part 2) for review, paragraph 4.10

  • From: Crudesoft <crudesoft@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: gmpi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 03:36:50 -0800 (PST)

> There _IS_ an optimal solution - send exactly as
> much data as you need to
> exactly represent a change.  No more. No less. 

You're right, that's the optimal solution on paper.
Now go and implement it for a randomly changing signal
up to audio rate.


> Show me where we have exceptions?  We've tried very
> hard to make GMPI
> consistent, so far.  There is even an argument to
> *only* have ramp events,
> and get rid of point events (a point is a ramp with
> duration 0).

Ramp events are the exception. How do you implement
ramp events for more or less randomly changing knobs?
For me it is simply not a natural approach. Events may
be ok for linear and predictable movements, but not
for more or less random changes. Streaming controls
can handle all cases with the same complexity and
precision. To me specifying a mechanism to handle only
specific types of parameter changes is an exception. 

Events may look good on paper but I think they will be
a pain to implement. IMHO control signals are like
normal signals and should be treated that way.
Although control signals are often rather low
frequency signals this is not necessarily always true
and their bandwidth should not be limited by
specification. Audio rate events? I don't think so.

The specification should address ways of
interconnecting audio (video? other?) modules in a
robust and flexible way. The more stuff you add to a
standard, the less robust it will be. More stuff may
look more flexible, but it will give room to
interpretation with non- or badly communicating
modules as a result. Efficiency issues of today should
not be part of a standard that wants to be a standard
of tomorrow. 

Let me put it this way:
Knobs are signals, period. Treat them that way.
Buttons are events. Use buttons to make a consumer
ramp automatically in a predictable way if you like
(the consumer provides the option, not the standard),
but not knobs. Use knobs for more complicated control
signals that can go up to (and why not beyond?) audio
rate. Do not divide knobs in ramp knobs and other
knobs.

Crudesoft


                
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
All your favorites on one personal page ? Try My Yahoo!
http://my.yahoo.com 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Generalized Music Plugin Interface (GMPI) public discussion list
Participation in this list is contingent upon your abiding by the
following rules:  Please stay on topic.  You are responsible for your own
words.  Please respect your fellow subscribers.  Please do not
redistribute anyone else's words without their permission.

Archive: //www.freelists.org/archives/gmpi
Email gmpi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx w/ subject "unsubscribe" to unsubscribe

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. gmpi
  3. Archive
  4. 01-2005