Goose v0.1 - Windows based 788T Control Software

[jawharp]

Hey Everyone,

 

Here is a super rough version of Goose, my 788T control software.  Please keep in mind this is VERY ROUGH and I'm posting it to get a feel of what sort of glitches/bugs I need to work out.  But feel free to download it and try it.  I'm curious to hear any problems/crashes you might have so I can fix them.

 

SCREENSHOT GALLERY: https://imgur.com/a/MdfATSF

 

Here is a list of some of the stuff you can do with it:

FEATURES
- Fully control the 788T's transport REC/STOP/PLAY
- Edit scene/take info easily for the last recorded and next take
- One-button "lettering up" to the next scene letter (haven't implemented a numerical European system yet)
- One-button false take
- "Track View" - view track meters, edit track labels, arm/disarm tracks
- "Output View" - view output meters, adjust output attenuation, set output routing sources
- "Input View" - view input meters, adjust input settings such as source, phantom power, phase flip, pan, rolloff, delay, and (soon) EQ
- View and edit file metadata in a take list that shows previously recorded takes

- Unit temperature readout to see how spicy she's getting

 

REQUIRMENTS:
Ensure you are using a USB 2.0 or greater cable to connect your 788 to your Windows PC(the plastic inside the connector should be black or blue, NOT WHITE)
You will also need to make sure you have the latest Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime installed (8.0.4 as of this post).  You can get it here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0  

 

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. To use the software, connect your 788T to your windows computer via its USB port.
2. On the 788T, set your connection mode to "Wave Agent"
3. Open the windows Device Manager and look under Ports (COM/LPT).  You should see your 788t listed with its COM port.  Mine comes up as "Silicon Labs CP210X USB to UART Bridge."  I honestly don't know if SD ever changed from using the CP210X, so yours may look different.  It should be fairly obvious.  You can double check by unplugging and replugging it into your PC and see what comes up.  Take note of the COM port listed with it.
4. Start the software, then select the COM port with your 788 on it and click CONNECT.
5. To Disconnect/Exit, just click the power button next to the Play button.

 

The controls are pretty self explanatory.  Click the view button with the eye on it to change between track/output/input views.

 

 

FUTURE UPDATES:

There is a lot I want to do that I haven't done yet.  Here's a list of what I plan to add in the future: 
Remote control of multiple 7 Series recorders via a USB to C. Link adapter

Better visual feedback to know when the software is busy and when its ready for user input.  I got pretty lazy about this and will try to make it clearer.

 

Permanent user settings that hold after each launch like remembering COM port, hiding welcome screen, temperature C/F, Meter Type, Date/Time, etc.

 

Headphone monitor mode list customization: I ideally want an easy to understand visual list where you could easily customize the available headphone monitor modes, favorite mode, etc. 

 

I personally want a toggle button that makes it easy to mute/unmute the output I use for public Comteks.  Once muted, it would disable the record button so you can't record until you unmute the Comtek feed.  This way, I can talk shit with my boom op and not forget to unmute afterwards (we've all been there).

 

Keyboard macro's: I haven't looked into it too much yet, but it looks like there might be a way to send ascii keycodes through C. Link commands.  If that were the case, you could theoretically automate different operations on the 788 that would normally be achieved through physical button/keyboard input.  

 

 

 

KNOWN ISSUES:

 

Depending on the DPI and UI scaling of your display, the GUI might get all wonky.  I'm planning on completely redoing it and making it DPI independent, but for now if it looks all messed up, try playing with the UI scaling in windows.  150% should do it.

Meter colors are completely arbitrary at the moment. Hoping to make them accurate in next update.  Meter refresh rate also leaves a lot to be desired.  Not sure I can improve that given how C. Link works.

 

Multiple units not supported yet.  Connecting multiple units via C. Link can produce unexpected behavior/crashes.

 

Some 788's seem to have trouble making a successful connection at first.  I had to manually change the  baud rate on one of mine in device manager to get it to connect.  Now it connects no problem.  If it looks like it's starting to connect then crashing, try right clicking the COM port in Device Manager and manually set the baud rate to 115200.  And make sure you're using at least a USB 2.0 cable.  USB 1 cables will not work.

 

When multiple 788's are connected via C. Link cable, set the slave machine's connection mode to Wave Agent.  Having it set to anything else causes a crash because the master machine won't return a correct timecode value.  I'm trying to sort this out.

 

 

 

 

That's pretty much it.  Please keep in mind, this is SUPER ROUGH, will probably be buggy, and has only ever been tested on my 788's until now.  I would appreciate any feedback you may have and welcome bug reporting in this thread so I can update it.  

Thanks!

Goose v0.1.zip

[JesseF]

This is very cool.  I'm so happy to see user support for what is still a power house recorder.  Thanks for your time and effort.

[ramallo]

Cool 😊

[IronFilm]

This is truly amazing what you've coded! You're making me very badly tempted now to buy a 788T just for the hell of it to try this out, especially as they're so cheap these days. 

[Patrick Tresch]

Great! Could it work in the future with other recorders like the Sonosax-SX R4+?

 

Thanks

Patrick