Slaving Auricle to Logic Pro
February 7th, 2007 by Jerome
Ever wondered how to slave your Auricle system to Logic Pro without using Pro Tools? If you have, you probably know that the MIDI interface connected to your Auricle computer needs an LTC (Longitudinal Time Code) stream to lock to SMPTE. However, Logic’s built-in LTC generator, which requires an old eMagic Unitor8 to work, is only useful to stripe an analog tape – in other words, Logic generates LTC continuously, without referencing the SMPTE in your current cue or taking into account if the cue is playing back or not. This is of course useless for Auricle.
Generating LTC from Logic through a Unitor8 is only useful for stripping tapes
The solution is to use a MOTU MIDI TimePiece AV as an LTC generator. This $500 MIDI interface with SMPTE and video sync features will be triggered by Logic via MMC (Midi Message Control), and in turn will send MTC (Midi Time Code) back to Logic (so that Logic knows when and where to play) and LTC to Auricle. This is the most reliable and simplest way to get Auricle in sync with Logic without using Pro Tools.
Setting Up the MIDI TimePiece AV
First, let’s set up the MIDI TimePiece. It should show up like this in your Audio Midi Setup.
Double-clicking on it will open MOTU’s synchronization software called Clockworks. It is important to change the Sync menu to “Internal” and the frame rate to the one you are using with your video (in the current case, 29.97 non drop).
Setting Up Logic to Send MMC and Receive MTC
Then, you need to set up Logic so that it sends out MMC (Midi Message Control). In the Song > Synchronization window, under the MIDI tab, make sure the “Transmit MMC” option is checked.
You also need to set up Logic to sync to an incoming external sync. Make sure the option “Auto enable external sync” is on, as well as the option “Auto detect format of MTC.” Keep the option “Validate MTC” on “Always”.
If needed, check Logic’s MTC and MMC settings under the Sync Preferences pane.
Once this is done, and you hit play in Logic, it should go into “Sync” mode (the timeline ruler’s color changes to blue); Clockworks should start rolling; and Auricle should automatically follows.
Troubleshooting
If ithis doesn’t work, there are a few ways to troubleshoot it.
First, go to Clockworks, and click on the “play” icon. If nothing happens, that indicates there is no communication between the MIDI TimePiece and the computer. Reset the MTP (Power cycle while holding down the Panic button) and try again.
If this is working, but nothing happens when you hit Play in Logic, then make sure Logic is set up properly to transmit MMC (in the Song Settings > Synchronization > MIDI window). If it is, you should see the MIDI TimePiece LEDs blink when you hit Play in Logic.
If Logic is sending MMC to the MIDI TimePiece when you press Play, but the Song Locator still doesn’t move, then Logic’s Sync is probably not set up properly. Check the settings in the Song Settings > Synchronization > General window and in the Sync Preferences, and make sure they are correct. It is especially important to make sure that the MTC Pickup Delay option is set at 0 (zero) frames.
As a reference, your cabling should look similar to the following diagram. (It doesn’t matter what kind of video interface you are using; the ADVC-100, a Firewire video interface from Canopus, is only shown here as a guide).
Diagram of a simple Logic / Auricle system (click to enlarge)
If you are still experiencing problems, please feel free to leave your questions or comments below. I will try to answer them as accurately as possible.
N.B. This article would not have been written without the generous help of Dave Roberts from MOTU‘s tech support and Richard Grant, co-creator of Auricle.
breast movies bigugly movie coyotefree creampie surprise moviesmovies free gay teenporn free movies streamingmovie lesbian kissingmartial movies artscelebrities nude movies Map
2 Responses to “Slaving Auricle to Logic Pro”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hello, I wonder if you could help me with the following set up. We have recently installed Logic 8, so this is a new venture for us and perhaps we are a little ignorant. Let me give you our set up. We have a separate editor in additon to Logic 8. This is where we do the bulk of our recording and editing. Now this editor, along with our Amek desk, pumps out time-code. What we are trying to do is get Logic 8 to slave to either the time code output of the desk or the editor. We are using a very old MOTU midi timepiece. I think it’s the AV version. Sadly, we no longer have the manual to these units and the only one I have found on the internet is in German. Now, we have hooked this up and the MOTU is seeing the time code from our editor and is nicely locked, all the green lights come on when we are running tc. The red taco light also flashes. As you are aware, this unit is serial and not usb, so we have put and Edirol midi to usb converter in place. So, to the back of the MOTU we have the smpte time code input connected to the time code output of our editor. We then have the Edirol connections connected to Channel one input and output respectively from the MOTU. We feel we have done everything correctly as far as Logic 8 is concerned, but when play is pushed on our editor and sync selected on Logic 8, Logic 8 is just stationary and does not chase or give any indication of doing so. Your help would be much appreciated. Perhaps you could confirm the settings we should have on the MOTU. We do not have any software in place for the MOTU on the Imac. The discs are on floppy and will not run with the new system, at least, I imagine that to be the case. Many thanks. Rob.
Hi Rob,
unfortunately I am not experience with the hardware you are using, and not being able to actually “see” what is going on makes it even harder.
My advice to you is to go through different troubleshooting tests – the first one would be to get a different midi interface, if possible a USB one, to see if the problem comes here. I wouldn’t be surprised if the problem came from the connection between the MTP and the computer running Logic. You said you are using an Edirol MIDI interface to convert midi to USB – not sure if this can work for the specific requirements you have though. The problem might very well come from there!
Best,
Jerome