Designing My First "Production" Eurorack Module for Visuals - Leaving The Laptop Episode 16
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- I am working on releasing a Eurorack module for visuals and this is a video where I go over all the steps of a boutique hardware/software release, as I imagine them, and show my progress so far. I'm using Arduino for sustainability as much as for ease of development and my product is intended to be open-source, repairable, upgradable and repurposable from the start. Icon in the top-right is UN Sustainability Goals #12 - "Responsible Consumption and Production".
Twitch: / michaelforrest
Patreon: / michaelforrest
Website: michaelforrestm...
Podcast: grandpodcast.com
Instagram: / michaelforrest
How To Live Forever: michaelforrestm...
![ออกพรรษาน้ำตาหล่น - แอน อรดี [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PFZtOcY9ONA/mqdefault.jpg)
yes you're crazy , and yes this is something i would use , i hate dragging the lap top around for visuals , also if i can see what is going on it'd be great . Do it man build it and they will come . Would also be great to be able to record these visuals as well while dong the set .thus having the total package good to go .
Currently I'm recording the visuals either using iOS's screen recording feature or I'm using OBS on my laptop. I guess if the app was going to make a self-contained recording it would probably need to also take a clean audio feed. I am thinking I should probably support this anyway, because it's another dimension for audio visualisation..!
You’re an absolute hero to consider shelf life and repairability on your first go at at build ❤️
I really think repairability is the next revolution in tech and I hope companies like Apple start to embrace it soon...
@@michaelforrest It would be a huge step towards sustainability if all tech was repairable. I’m sure there’s discussion of laws being introduced to that effect in the UK 🤞
@@shaunstevens2424 yes. This morning I'm halfway through Louis Rossmann's video of the Framework Laptop th-cam.com/video/vQLws5KfntE/w-d-xo.html - there are so many cool things you can do when repairability is a priority. Magnets!
Generating visuals using input from a modular is definitely an interesting area.
That said, I don’t think I would ever put that in my actual modular, but rather have a separate unit on the side, so I can choose to bring it or not.
Yeah I've ended up with a central core of "play my music" modules and my "novelty" stuff in a separate, optional rack too.
Hi Michael, I saw your Mutable Grids hacking video today and went to dive in to the rest of your content (after sending you 5 quid for being so generous of spirit and sharing your experience). I see you hit some obstacles with regards to this project and wanted to offer to share some of my experience with you as well. I have been building eurorack modules for years both my own designs as well as others shared and open source projects. I wanted to point out a few areas that I would recommend changes:
* I would use Easy EDA rather than eagle. It's FREE as well as MUCH simpler and utilizes a global user supplied part library, so you will usually be covered for any common eurorack component and won't have to deal with the headache of creating parts frequently. It's simplicity makes it dead simple to get started and it's plenty robust for eurorack designs.
It also allows the importing and resizing of images, which comes in extremely handy for making PCB front panels. You can load images to the copper signal area and they become embossed textures, then importing images to the soldermask layer exposes the copper to allow for metalic text, or pictures. You can also utilize the silk screen layer to provide contrasting text, highlighting graphics, etc. This is the method employed by Make Noise for many of their panels.
* I recommend using surface mount passive components, as it is just way more efficient to produce, you can still use headers for the MCU and if you like you can populate dip package chip holders for any chips you want to be easily replaceable, however I advise using SMD for all parts possible, as it really improves manufacturing efficiency and those parts are usually not going to fail. If you really want to ensure the longevity of your devices, 1) Add reverse polarity protection to your module in the form of 2 schottky diodes one each on the 12V and -12V rails from the power header. This will prevent the flow of electrons if a power header is put on backwards and will only cost about 1 diode drop of headroom on the rails 2) Tantalum caps instead of electrolytics will mean that your caps will never leak (maybe overkill as they're about $2-3 each for 22uF, but it fits in with your mission statement) look to the open source module Teletype by Monome for an example of implementation. 3) Keyed sockets for power header (although with the diodes this is not necessary, it is good practice) 4) add a fuse after the power diodes and caps, look to the 4.7 ohm 1206 resistors on the Mutable boards as an example, this resistor usually burns up faster than your chips if you have a short between your rail and ground. Resettable PTC fuses also exist and may be more in line with your goals as they don't burn up and need replacement, but become way less conductive as they heat up, and quickly cut off current flow when over-current occurs, then go back to conducting normally when cooled. Look at Polyfuse 1206L series from littlefuse.
* By using a small run PCB assembly house like JLC pcb, it is vastly more affordable to produce multiple small runs of designs (
First, thank you so much for your donation. It meant a lot! And then I see this comment... :-)
It's a lot to process so I'm going to have to make time to look at your suggestions properly, but this is gonna be a real treasure trove of information next time I pick up my visuals module (which might be quite soon as I start ramping up the production values on my Saturday live streams).
I don't suppose you know anything about stepper motors? I plugged in my mechanical sequencer module last week and smoke started coming out, and now I can't get it to work, even replacing most of the most important parts 😭.
I'll definitely have a play with Easy EDA today. Thanks!
@@michaelforrest Unfortunately I don't have much experience with steppers, but 9 times out of ten if a module smokes when being plugged in it's a short from rail to ground, or it got plugged in backwards. In the case of the former it's usually a Vreg that takes the hit if there aren't any fuses, but I've also burned out a trace on a board once. That was actually nice because I just had to jump the burned out bit with a wire to fix it :) Is it hand wired or printed (proto or PCB)?
@@flaminggarlic It's basically an Arduino Nano that controls the stepper motor via an L298N. The L298N provides power that's independent of the Arduino's power source as the stepper motor requires more current than the Eurorack rail can provide. I did try replacing the L298N but maybe there's some other problem on the board. I know the Arduino is working because I can feel the stepper motor straining when I give the Arduino its required clock input (so my code must be executing as expected). I probably just need to spend a bit more time troubleshooting, to be honest. It's helpful to hear it was probably a short somewhere though. I should definitely be more rigorous with my power rail diodes because I may have plugged in 20V backwards...
Great vid that - look forward to seeing how this progresses and do hope it takes off!
Thanks for the mention Michael! I think you have a good story here and with your video skills sounds like you could easily tell it and validate the business on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Not sure 100% how the visuals are supposed to be programmed but being able to mix in cool photos and videos should make the result more relatable. I like also the idea of being able to record the session so that this can also be recorded in studio and shared on social media, which is what you’ve done already. Probably a more common use case, unfortunately people leave home less and less.
Yeah I still have a lot of work to do on presets. An art form in itself. Would definitely like to find a way to let users point it at a folder of images and have the app do the rest. You have done a lot of this so maybe I'll hit you up for some advice some time soon!
@@michaelforrest any time!
I'd be interested!
It’s just a guess, but my hunch is that since you have the app already and the PCB is already designed, you don’t need any money to fund on Kickstarter!? You would instead be making use of it to get an idea or a feel for how much demand there’s going to be for your module. Sooooo IF you just give it a month and propose some deal for your customers, and in your description explain that this is a 100% fact to come in near future, because the app is written and the module is designed, you’ll get a pretty solid idea from the commitments just what type of demand to expect (maybe figure on selling another two or three fold modules more than how many get claimed on kickstarter?). Anyways, THANK YOU, for sharing all of this interesting info! I’ve found this to be very inspirational and entertaining. Mostly I’ve been very impressed with your honesty and by how you’ve really exposed yourself and shared with your experiences all along. I’m now interested in discovering about what sorts of ‘stock video clip libraries’ might be out there, and whether a lot of work needs to be done to get a bunch of neat ‘eye candy’ clips to sort of make use of in doing video DJ work?! I always like the edited videos out at gigs and I wonder about the work involved, so this is a bit informative. THANKS AGAIN and GOOD LUCK!!
Thanks for this! I should say that there is still a lot of work to do on the app and the hardware still has a couple of unsolved issues so this could easily end up being a lot of work but certainly as something to show Kickstarter it's probably ahead of the curve. But yeah, treating it as market research seems like a very good idea!
When at the Q&A after a performance some months ago I made the bold statement 'If I ever have to watch another performance with two people lingering behind two laptops I will puke'...the discussion immediately got way more...vivid?
OK - I also said how much I liked the musical part of it all...and both statements were honest.
So yes, I do believe there is a market for anything that enhances the - more often than not - dull visual part of otherwise quite inspiring performances.
Your brief scroll through the Kickstarter hp shows what - in my observation - seems to be the deciding foctor in monetary success.
Reputation.
Paul's products vs. that ridiculous acrylic case.
Hm. Nothing new here, right? Nope. Guess not.
Agreed! And I'm not sure visuals alone are what I'm looking for either. I saw someone do a talk about putting together live visuals who admitted that when they filmed a demo video, they just projected the visuals behind a table in an office and pushed dry wipe erasers around the table just below the camera's field of view. "Musiciansmanship irrelevant to marketability".
My theory (as yet not truly tested) is that some special magic will happen when the visuals are directly connected to the real live music performance that will make it newly and uniquely engaging.
@@michaelforrest "There be magic"... 😉
Indeed there is! When I got my E352 I thought the 'Lissajous Waves' display would be a gimmick. Not true. There's some kind of opto-visual feedback loop with the potential to take you in...a different direction.
The upcoming Polygogo takes that a step further and...guess what they (since they listened to people asking for it) incooperated into the design?
Right.
Drunk rant incoming: One important thing to keep in mind is that there is a pretty big chance that next year we will be hit with another global recession. On top of that, Behringer will soon flood the market with cheapo 50-99$ Moog/Roland 100 eurorack module clones. People might not have as much disposable income overall (though it is hard to gauge if those affected would be your usual euro-module enthusiasts to begin with) but the entire Eurorack marketplace will slowly grow and might shift towards the high volume / small profit margin model seen in every other business (especially if other big businesses like Yamaha / Roland follow Behringer's lead...funny sentence that one...). Your module seems tailor made for the llllllll.co community (Norns springs to mind) so maybe try to get some pointers from them regarding possible use-cases, buyer interest or a scripting implementation.
Hi, thanks for your comment! I wasn't aware of llllllll.co so I'll definitely have to get involved there. I spoke to someone else at the weekend who's released a lot of modules and it does seem like a saturation point is being reached that could drive prices down. I guess I'd better get a move on...