Controlling light using midi inputs - midi

Question

I currently am using Max/MSP to create an interactive system between lights and sound.
I am using Philips hue lighting which I have hooked up to Max/MSP and now I am wanting to trigger an increase in brightness/saturation on the input of a note from a Midi instrument. Does anyone have any ideas how this might be accomplished?

Answer 1

I have built this.
I used the shell object. And then feed an array of parameters into it via a javascipt file with the HUE API. There is a lag time of 1/6 of a second between commands.
Javascript file:
inlets=1;
outlets=1;
var bridge="192.168.0.100";
var hash="newdeveloper";
var bulb= 1;
var brt= 200;
var satn= 250;
var hcolor= 10000;
var bulb=1;
function list(bulb,hcolor,brt,satn,tran) {
execute('PUT','http://'+bridge+'/api/'+hash+'/lights/'+bulb+'/state', '"{\\\"on\\\":true,\\\"hue\\\":'+hcolor+', \\\"bri\\\":'+brt+',\\\"sat\\\":'+satn+',\\\"transitiontime\\\":'+tran+'}"');
}
function execute($method,$url,$message){
outlet(0,"curl --request",$method,"--data",$message,$url);
}

Answer 2

To control Philips Hue you need to issue calls to a restful http based api, like so: http://www.developers.meethue.com/documentation/core-concepts, using the [jweb] or [maxweb] objects: https://cycling74.com/forums/topic/making-rest-call-from-max-6-and-saving-the-return/
Generally however, to control lights you use DMX, the standard protocol for professional lighting control. Here is a somewhat lengthy post on the topic: https://cycling74.com/forums/topic/controlling-video-and-lighting-with-max/, scroll down to my post from APRIL 11, 2014 | 3:42 AM.

Answer 3

To change the bri/sat of your lights is explained in the following link (Registration/Login required)
http://www.developers.meethue.com/documentation/lights-api#16_set_light_state
You will need to know the IP Address of your hue hue bridge which is explained here: http://www.developers.meethue.com/documentation/getting-started and a valid username.
Also bear in mind the performance limitations. As a general rule you can send up to 10 lightstate commands per second. I would recommend having a 100ms gap between each one, to prevent flooding the bridge (and losing commands).

Answer 4

Are you interested in finding out details of who to map this data from a MIDI input to the phillips HUE lights within max? or are you already familiar with Max.
Using Tommy b's javascript (which you could put into a js object), You could for example scale the MIDI messages you want to use using midiin and borax objects and map them to the outputs you want using the scale object. Karlheinz Essl's RTC library is a good place to start with algorithmic composition if you want to transform the data at all http://www.essl.at/software.html

Answer 5

+1 for DMX light control via Max. There are lots of good max-to-dmx tutorials and USB-DMX hardware is getting pretty cheap. However, as someone who previously believed in dragging a bunch of computer equipment on stage just to control a light or two with an instrument, I'd recommend researching and purchasing a simple one channel "color organ" circuit kit (e.g., Velleman MK 110). Controlling a 120/240V light bulb via audio is easier than you might think; a computer for this type of application is usually overkill. Keep it simple and good luck!