MIDITrail Ver.1.1.0 beta User Manual
Copyright (c) 2010, WADA Masashi All rights reserved.
Web: http://sourceforge.jp/projects/miditrail/
Mail: 
0. Contents
1. Introduction
2. System requirement
3. How to install and execute
4. Usage
5. Restriction
6. FAQ
7. How to customize
8. Copyright and license
9. Appendix
10. History
1. Introduction
"MIDITrail" is a MIDI player for Windows, which provides 3D visualization of MIDI datasets using DirectX.
You can enjoy not only listening but also viewing.
MIDITrail supports SMF format 0/1, and multiple MIDI ports.
In ver.1.1.0 beta, the new view mode "Piano Roll Rain" was added.
However the user manual has not been updated yet.
Screenshot
Playing "C:\Windows\Media\flourish.mid".
2. System requirement
OS: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
VIDEO: Support for DirectX 9.0c graphics
It is recommended that PC has high performance graphics for smooth animation.
If the MIDI datasets contains a lot of notes, the software needs more performance graphics.
As long as the performance of your PC allows, please enjoy MIDITrail with large window.
3. How to install and execute
(1) How to install
Extract "MIDITrail-Ver.x.x.x.zip" file, and execute "MIDITrai.exe".
NOTICE:
If you are using Windows 2000, you must move "msvc*.dll" files
to the folder "MIDITrail.exe" exists from "Microsoft.VC90.CRT" folder, before executing "MIDITrail.exe".
If you are using Windows XP / Vista / 7, do not move DLL files.
(2) First setup
At first, you must setup MIDI OUT port.
Select "MIDI OUT..." from "Option" menu, then "MIDI OUT configuration" dialog will appear.
At least, you must select MIDI OUT device of "port A".
Ordinary MIDI datasets is sent to "Port A".
If you want to play the MIDI datasets which uses multiple ports,
you must select MIDI OUT device of port B, C, and so on.
NOTICE: To play the MIDI datasets which uses multiple ports,
it is necessary to prepare MIDI interface and MIDI module which supports multiple ports.
(3) How to uninstall
Delete "MIDITrail" folder which contains "MIDITrail.exe". MIDITrail doesn't use registry.
(4) How to open Recomposer data files
Recomposer is an old popular MIDI sequence software in Japan.
MIDITrail can open Recomposer data files(*.rcp *.r36 *.g36)
using RCPCV.DLL(Recomposer File Converter) which Mr. Fummy releases.
If you want to open Recomposer data files,
please download RCPCV.DLL and copy it to the folder "MIDITrail.exe" exists.
RCPCV.DLL http://www.vector.co.jp/soft/win95/art/se114143.html
4. Usage
(1) How to open MIDI file
Select "Open..." from "File" menu, the Open File dialog will appear. And choose Standard MIDI File (*.mid).
Or you can drag and drop a MIDI file into the window of MIDITrail.
If you prepared RCPCV.DLL, MIDITrail can open the Recomposer data files(*.rcp *.r36 *.g36). Please refer to "3.(4) How to open Recomposer data files" for details.
(2) How to play/pause/resume/stop
Push SPACE key to play/pause/resume.
Push ESC key to stop.
Push F2 key to double speed playback.
(3) How to move viewpoint in 3D space
You can move freely in 3D space, and look at MIDI datasets from all directions
by operation of keyboard and mouse, like FPS(First Person Shooter) game.
Although there is sense of incongruity in the beginning,
it will be very comfortable as experience is gained.
Mouse operation
When you click the window, it will become the view control mode by the mouse,
and mouse cursor will disappear.
The direction of view synchronizes movement of your mouse.
If you click once again, view control mode will be canceled.
And you can rotate piano roll using mouse wheel.
Keyboard operation
Put your index finger on D, middle finger on W, third finger on A.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| W / S | It moves forward and backward. |
| A / D | It moves left and right. |
| Q / E | It goes up and down. |
| Z / C | It moves along the direction of MIDI datasets. |
| SHIFT | When you push move key with SHIFT key, you can move at high speed. |
For a left-handed person
You can also use cursor key. If you use mouse with your left hand, this one may be convenience.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ↑ / ↓ | It moves forward and backward. |
| ← / → | It moves left and right. |
| PgUp / PgDn | It goes up and down. |
| , / . | It moves along the direction of MIDI datasets. |
| SHIFT | When you push move key with SHIFT key, you can move at high speed. |
(4) Preservation of the viewpoint
When you do the following operation, your viewpoint returns to the default position.
- When you open a MIDI file.
- When you select stop menu.
- When you select play menu again, after end of playing.
At first, the default position is the viewpoint which looks at MIDI datasets from just beside.
If you want to change the default position, move to your favorite position,
and select "Save viewpoint" from "View" menu.
If you want to restore default position which looks at MIDI datasets from just beside,
select "Reset viewpoint".
(5) Change of window size
Select "Window size..." from "View" menu, the Window size configuration dialog will appear.
Select your favorite window size, and push the OK button.
You can not change window size while playing or pausing.
The window size you can select is depends on your PC.
If you want to customize window size, please check FAQ.
(6) Display counters
| Counter | Details |
|---|---|
| FPS | Frame Per Second. |
| TITLE | Title of music. |
| TIME | Elapsed time. |
| BPM | Tempo (Beats Per Minute). |
| BEAT | Time signature. |
| BAR | Number of bars. |
| NOTES | Number os notes. |
(7) Structure of 3D piano roll visualization
The structure of 3D piano roll visualization is shown in the following figure.
When MIDITrail open the MIDI datasets uses multiple ports, unused port will be not displayed.
For example, if the MIDI datasets uses port A, C and E,
MIDITrail displays port A, C and E side by side, and omits port B and D.
(8) View mode select
You can select the view mode from "View" menu. You can not change the view mode while playing or pausing.
(9) Display/Effect switch
You can switch the display/effect at "View" menu.
The piano roll bar will move up and down with change of pith bend.
Some MIDI animation works are using pitch bend to shift the piano roll bars without change keys.
If MIDI animation is not displayed correctly, please disable the pitch bend effect to fix the piano roll bars.
(10) MIDITrail command line interface
If you want to start MIDITrail by command line, you can use following arguments.
MIDITrail.exe [-p] [-q] ["path\to\file"]
| argument | detail |
|---|---|
| -p | Play MIDI file after startup of MIDITrail. If you did not specify "path\to\file", this option will be ignored. |
| -q | End MIDITrail after end of playback. If option "-p" was not specified, this option will be ignored. |
| path\to\file | MIDI file path. When you specify a path including a space character, please surround with a double quotation mark. |
If you drop a MIDI file to the shortcut of MIDITrail, MIDITrail open the file on startup.
5. Restriction
(1) Synchronization of MIDI sound and display
If you use the MIDI module which delays sound (such as software sound modules), the MIDI sound and display may not synchronize.
(2) Performance of graphics
MIDITrail renders all notes of the MIDI file in real time.
Therefore if MIDI file has a large number of notes, the load of rendering becomes high.
In order to enjoy MIDI file which contains tens of thousands of notes comfortably,
you have to use PC which has high performance graphics.
(3) Multiple ports
In specification of SMF(Standard MIDI File), a method to select port is not defined.
However there is the unofficial method(*1) to select port.
MIDITrail supports that method, but may be unable to play the MIDI file.
It depends on the MIDI file.
(*1) Meta event (FF 21 01 pp) is the command to select port.
(4) Time format of standard MIDI file
MIDITrail can't open the MIDI file whose delta time represents actual time.
6. FAQ
(1) Q. I got "d3dx9_**.dll was not found" error. I can't start MIDITrail.
The error occurs when the version of DirectX in your PC is old. Please install the latest version of "DirectX End-User Runtime".
Microsoft DirectX
http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/aboutGFW/pages/directx.aspx
(2) Q. The animation is not smooth.
Please try to change window size to small, then the load of rendering becomes low.
Check FPS value in window title.
If the FPS value is under 60, the performance of graphics is insufficient.
When MIDI file has a large number of notes, the load of rendering becomes high.
To confirm the performance of your PC, please try to open MIDI file which contains few notes.
If the animation does not improve, please use PC which has high performance graphics.
(3) Q. When I play the music, my viewpoint returns to just beside each time.
Move your viewpoint to your favorite position, and select "Save viewpoint" from "View" menu. Then your current viewpoint will be saved.
(4) Q. I want to customize the window size.
You can customize the window size. Please open following file by text editor, and edit "Width" and "Height".
Windows 2000 / XP C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\Application Data\yknk\MIDITrail\View.ini Windows Vista / 7 C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\yknk\MIDITrail\View.ini
[WindowSize] Width=800 Height=600
(5) Q. I want to display in full screen.
In present version, MIDITrail can not display in full screen. It may support in the future.
(6) Q. When I display the menu, the animation stops.
Sorry, it is a specification.
(7) Q. I got "The application failed to initialize properly." error on Windows 2000. I can't start MIDITrail.
If you are using Windows 2000, you must move "msvc*.dll" files to the folder "MIDITrail.exe" exists from "Microsoft.VC90.CRT" folder, before executing "MIDITrail.exe".
(8) Q. I got "DirectX API error. / FUNC: DXRenderer::Initialize / INFO: 8876086A" error.
If your PC does not support Direct3D, this error occurs.
Please execute "DirectX Diagnostic Tool"(dxdiag.exe), and select "Display" tab.
Is the "Direct3D Acceleration" enabled?
If you can't change "Direct3D Acceleration" to "Enabled", your PC does not support Direct3D.
Please use the PC which supports DirectX 9.0c graphics.
(9) Q. I want to change the ripple more showily.
You can change size of the ripple by editing configuration file.
Please Check "7. Customize - (2) Piano roll".
Change the value of "RippleHeight" and "RippleWidth" larger.
7. How to customize
You can customize MIDITrail as your like, by editing the file "PianoRoll3D.ini" or "PianoRoll2D.ini" which is in "conf" folder.
(1) Moving speed of viewpoint
Edit [FirstPersonCam] section.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| VelocityFB | Velocity of forward and backward. (m/s) |
| VelocityLR | Velocity of left and right. (m/s) |
| VelocityUD | Velocity of up and down. (m/s) |
| VelocityPT | Angular velocity of look. (degree/s) |
| AcceleRate | The rate of acceleration when push SHIFT key. (n times) |
| VelocityAutoRoll | Angular velocity of auto rotation of piano roll (degree/s) |
| VelocityManualRoll | Angular velocity of manual rotation of piano roll (degree/s) |
(2) Display of piano roll
Edit [Scale] section.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| QuarterNoteLength | Length of quarter note (m) |
| NoteBoxHeight | Height of note box (m) |
| NoteBoxWidth | Width of note box (m) |
| NoteStep | Interval length of notes in a channel (m) |
| ChStep | Interval length of channels (m) |
| RippleHeight | Height of ripple (m) |
| RippleWidth | Width of ripple (m) |
| PictBoardRelativePos | The relative position which crosses perpendicularly the board and the playback section. 0.0 - The left edge of board crosses playback section 0.5 - The center of board crosses playback section 1.0 - The right edge of board crosses playback section |
If you set small value to QuarterNoteLength, you can enjoy MIDI datasets like miniature garden.
(3) Color
Edit [Color] section. "A" of "RGBA" means alpha value.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Ch-01-NoteRGBA Ch-02-NoteRGBA : Ch-16-NoteRGBA | Color of the piano roll bar at each channel.(RGBA) |
| GridLineRGBA | Color of the grid line and bar line. (RGBA) |
| PlaybackSectionRGBA | Color of the playback section. (RGBA) |
(4) Active note effect
Edit [ActiveNote] section.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Duration | Duration of active note flash.(msec) |
| WhiteRate | White rate at "NOTE ON". 0.0 Same color as piano roll bar. It means no flash. 0.5 Neutral color of piano roll bar and white. 1.0 White. |
| EmissiveRGBA | Emissive color of active note. (RGBA) This value will be ignored on PianoRoll2D. |
(5) Ripple
Edit [Ripple] section.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Duration | Duration of a ripple.(msec) |
(6) Stars
Edit [Stars] section.
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| NumberOfStars | The number of stars to draw. |
(7) Bitmap
Edit [Bitmap] section.
Place your bitmap file to "data" folder which exists under the MIDITrail folder.
And write the bitmap file name to INI file.
The format of bitmap file must be 24 bit.
If the height or width of bitmap is too big, your PC may be unable to draw the bitmap.
| Name | Details | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Bitmap file name of the picture board. ex. "data\Board.bmp" |
Instead of piano keyboard, you can display your favorite wallpaper.
The aspect ratio of bitmap is arbitrary. To adjust the relative position which crosses perpendicularly the board and the playback section, please edit "[Scale] / PictBoardRelativePos". |
| Ripple | Bitmap file name of the ripple. ex. "data\Ripple.bmp" |
You can change ripple which is displayed on "NOTE ON".
The aspect ratio of bitmap is arbitrary. To adjust ripple display size, please edit "[Scale] / RippleHeight, RippleWidth". |
8. Copyright and license
WADA Masashi holds the copyright of MIDITrail.
MIDITrail is released under the BSD license.
Copyright (c) 2010, WADA Masashi <
9. Appendix
(1) Story of development
I was enjoying "MIDI ANIMATION" videos which were made by artisans of NICO NICO DOUGA community.
(NICO NICO DOUGA is the video hosting service in Japan.)
Then I got the image that I am walking through the trail, there are many floating piano roll bars.
In order to actualize this image, I started development of MIDITrail.
However, after a few days, I found the demo video of "MIDIPlayer" which supports 3D piano roll at NICO NICO DOUGA.
It dejected me a little, but I continued development to actualize my image.
(2) Aapplication software witch supports 3D visualization of MIDI datasets
In Google and Youtube, you can find many videos which converted MIDI datasets into 3D CG animation.
But there is few software which synchronize MIDI sound and display with 3D visualization.
The software I found are shown below.
3D MiDi / Author: Marc Cardle / 1998-2000
"3D MiDi" is a MIDI player for Windows using OpenGL.
Cubes and balls move about with MIDI sound.
Now, it has been hard to get the software.
MADO NO MORI: "3D MiDi" Alpha 0.1, synchronizes MIDI sound and 3D animation. http://www.forest.impress.co.jp/article/1999/11/18/threedmidi.html
comp-i (Comprehensible MIDI Player-Interactive) / Author: Reiko Miyazaki, Issei Fujishiro, Rumi Hiraga / 2002-2004
"comp-i" is the software which provides 3D visualization of MIDI datasets.
Its target is intuitive editing of MIDI datasets.
comp-i has been trying to visualize not only a pitch but various parameters of MIDI datasets.
This software is explained in the paper which tackled 3D visualization of MIDI datasets.
Reiko Miyazaki, Issei Fujishiro: "3D Visualization of MIDI Datasets" July, 2002. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110002935789 Reiko Miyazaki, Issei Fujishiro, Rumi Hiraga: "A System for Visual Exploration of MIDI Datasets" March, 2004. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110002712125
You can get some related papers by searching web.
comp-i seems to a software for Windows, using World-ToolKit.
It is not opened to the public. I want to see it someday...
MIDIJam / Author: Scott Haag / 2005?-2007
"MIDIJam" is a MIDI player for Windows using OpenGL.
This software displays the 3D musical instruments which are performing in real time.
MIDIJam supports 92 different instruments in the latest version.
MIDIJam http://www.gamesbyscott.com/midijam.htm
MIDIPlayer / Author: rz / 2010-
"MIDIPlayer" is a MIDI player for Java environment using OpenGL.
MIDIPlayer has rendering plug-ins, and one of them supports 3D piano roll.
It can display 3D piano roll which received from MIDI keyboard in real time.
MIDIPlayer http://sourceforge.jp/projects/midiplayer/
10. History
| Date | Version | Changelog |
|---|---|---|
| 2010/03/08 | Ver.0.0.0 | Development start. |
| 2010/05/18 | Ver.1.0.0 beta | Beta release. |
| 2010/06/02 | Ver.1.0.0 | First formal release. |
| 2010/06/05 | Ver.1.0.1 |
#22102 Fixed bug. (execution fails by missing Visual C++ runtime library) #22106 Fixed bug. (size of about dialog is big on Windows English version) |
| 2010/06/20 | Ver.1.0.2 |
#22218 Added English manual. #22108 Fixed bug. (crash when opening the MIDI file exported from VOCALOID) #22217 Fixed bug. (overlapped ripples flicker) |
| 2010/07/11 | Ver.1.0.3 |
#22319 Added color effect to active piano roll bar. #22412 Added pitch bend effect to piano roll bar. #22425 Added view mode of piano roll 2D. #22442 Added switch interface of display and effect. #22413 Fixed bug. (rendering performance has declined by specular effect) #22414 Fixed bug. (total count of notes is incorrect) #22424 Fixed bug. (duration of a ripple is not constant) |
| 2010/07/25 | Ver.1.0.4 |
#22320 Added application icon. #22522 Added support for Recomposer data file. #22523 Added command line interface. #22582 Added double speed playback mode. #22585 Added function of piano roll rotation by a mouse wheel. #22566 Fixed bug. (Playback time was slightly short) #22506 Fixed bug. (Note may continue sounding after the end of playback) |
| 2010/08/06 | Ver.1.0.5 |
#22633 Fixed bug. (Piano roll rotation status is not saved by "Save viewpoint") #22652 Fixed bug. (Parse error when opening 55MCMDL1.MID "WATANABE Michiaki MEDLEY") #22709 Fixed bug. (MIDITrail sends redundant "F7" to MIDI-OUT with multi-packet system exclusive message) #22710 Fixed bug. (Auto rotation speed of piano roll is not constant) |
| 2010/08/29 | Ver.1.1.0 beta | Beta release.(Added "Piano Roll Rain") |