BCF-2000 USB configuration setup using up to four units.

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BCF-2000 USB configuration setup using up to four units.

Postby shmick » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:53 pm

Note: This is a cut'n'paste from a post made by gdougherty on the old forum.


BCF-2000 USB configuration setup using up to four units.
You will first need to go to http://www.midiox.com and download midiox. Also go to http://www.maplemidi.com/Maple_driver.html and download the Maple Virtual Midi Cable, this one allows a donation and it should be considered.

Install midiox

turn them on one at a time and make sure on each one that it is in the USB 1 mode, then plug them one at a time into USB port or USB adapter. (You will for sure want to make note of which unit is plugged into which USB port and plug them up the same way every time.) Windows will automatically install a default driver, this is fine for now.
Now that you have all BCF plugged in and turned on with the windows default driver, run the bcf2000 driver setup, it will automatically install the driver for however many units you have connected and once completed it will indicate that it has successfully completed.

Open midiox and click view and open sysex, hit file and then send sysex file, browse to the SAC folder on your C drive and open the Configuration folder, if using more than one BCF you will need to turn them on one at a time and select the channel order configuration for each one such as; MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_8-Ch.mct – for ch 1-8 and so on, once the configuration has completed sending make sure you select a preset on the BCF and click the store button twice.

Once all of the configuration files have been completed close midiox. Change the mode of the first BCF 2000 which would be the one that has CH 1-8 configuration to USB 4 mode, for each of the remaining BCF change them to USB 3 mode.
Open midiox, go to view and open sysex, click on sysex at top and open configure, on the section Output Timing, change both of the buffer delays to 100. Click ok, close sysex and then close midiox.

Install maple virtual midi cable driver.
Once completed

open midiox go to options and open the midi devices window

at the bottom you will see a check box that says; automatically attach inputs to outputs during selection: UNCHECK the box.

In the input window select only these in this order
maple midi in: port 2
bcf2000(1)
bcf2000(2)
bcf2000(3)




In the output window select only these in this order
maple midi out: port 1
bcf2000(1)
bcf2000(2)
bcf2000(3)
Click ok to close the midi options device window.
They may have multiple names and you may need to go back to this to reselect later, we will get to that.



Monitor-Output should already be open in midiox by default it is a black screen that says Monitor-Output at the top.
Stretch the midiox window a little and click on the Green midi icon on the tool bar, if you mouse over it says Display Port activity monitor. Pull that down under the Monitor-Output screen so you can see both.
move a fader on BCF(1), watch the port monitor, it should be port 1 that lights up, and on the additional BCF moving a fader should light up their sequence that they are in such as; port 2,3,4. If they do not match you will need to move them into the order in which the ports show they are and go back and resend the required Configuration file via Sysex for that channel order.


In midiox on the menu, click view and open Port Routings.
Right click in the middle of the screen and select Disconnect All.

Now click and drag BCF 1 input to Maple Midi out 1 and for each additional unit.
Now click and drag BCF 1 output to Maple Midi in 2 and for each additional unit.
On the lines that connect BCF to Maple midi in’s and out’s, right click on the small dot in the middle of each line and select Properties. You will see a selection of 16 channels, at the bottom hit none; this will clear all channels, for BCF 1 select Chanel 1 only then click ok. Do this for all of the rest of the lines making note of which BCF unit make sure to select Chanel 2 for BCF unit 2 and channel 3 for BCF unit 3 and channel 4 for BCF unit 4. You will do this for input lines and output lines. Once completed click the X at the top right of the Midi port routing window.

Now watching the port monitor on the screen move the first BCF units fader, You should see port one light up and also see data moving in the Monitor output window.
Moving a fader on each of the additional units should light up the input for that unit and also have output data flowing in the Monitor-Output window.
Open SAC-Remote, in the menu select Options then open Midi device setup, select the Maple Midi In port 1 for input and Maple Midi Out port 2 for output. There may be more than one Maple output so there may be a need to come back to open this and change if moving a fader on SAC-Remote does not move the corresponding fader on the BCF 2000. Once ports have been assigned click ok.
In the menu select Smpte/Midi and select Midi-Control In Active and then reselect menu Smpte/Midi and select Midi-Control Out Active.
Go to menu and select File, the open Midi-Control Template File and click open, select the file “MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_8-Ch.mct “ or which one matches your fader count such as the 16,24,or 32, click open.
Go to menu and click File, click Preference file, click Save Default if you would like to have this setup every time you open SAC-Remote or you can click save and save as a name of your choice and this would require you to come back to Preference File and open the name you created in order to use the BCF 2000 faders.
Don’t forget to mark your BCF-2000, cables, USB ports so that you won’t need to go back and re-route all of the settings later.
Host: ASUS P5Q SE/R, Intel E8400 O/C'd to 3.8ghz, 3 x RME HDSP 9652, XP Pro
Gear: 9 x ADA8K, 4 x Audiorails, 1 x BCF2000
Config: FOH + 12 stereo IEM mixes
Misc: Dual Linkwitz-Riley plugin, Studio Levelizer, Studio Reverb, Frequency Analyzer, SAWStudioLite
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Re: BCF-2000 USB configuration setup using up to four units.

Postby gdougherty » Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:41 am

Feel I should note that process did not come from me. I had posted how to do the initial setup of 1-2 bcf's using USB and a midi chain. I shared that after somebody else dropped it in another thread. Can't take credit.
http://softwareaudioconsole.wikidot.com The start of a wiki. It's slow going and there's a ton of info that should be in there yet.
Biggest item is the Command Reference on how to do most actions within SAC. It's 90% of what you need for UI proficiency.

g is for George
gdougherty
 
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Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Westminster, CO

Re: BCF-2000 USB configuration setup using up to four units.

Postby gdougherty » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:36 pm

Well, I wished I could find it and thank goodness for Google Cache. Here's my simple very step-by-step guide for two units.

I'm not going to bother with the pure MIDI configuration on two units since I haven't gone there. This is for one unit via USB with a second chained to it or a single unit connected via USB or MIDI. Assuming you've got good units and they don't need replacing, the following should just work.

To start, you'll need MIDIOX. Download and install it.
http://www.midiox.com/

You'll need one or two BCF2000's and a pair of MIDI cables if you're connecting dual units. You shouldn't need any of the Behringer software, at least I didn't. I used the USB audio drivers that Windows automatically configured.

1) Connect your first BCF2000 via USB and wait for windows to load the drivers or connect a single controller via MIDI connections. For MIDI you'll connect the Output on an interface to IN on the BCF and OUT A on the BCF to Input on an interface.

2) Configure the device operation mode for the appropriate connection. To set that press Store while holding the Edit button. The display should read "EG". Push the top left rotary encoder to enter mode select and scroll it left or right to select a mode. If it's connected by USB select U-1, if it's connected by MIDI select S-4. Press the Exit button to store the operation mode.

3) Run MIDIOX and under Options->MIDI Devices select either your MIDI interface ports or the USB Audio Device which is a BCF via USB. The MIDIOX window should show the ports have been opened.

4) Now go to View->Sysex... which will open the Sysex View and Scratchpad window. Go to Sysex->Configure... and set the Delay between buffers to 100ms and the Delay after to 100ms.

5) Click OK to go back to the Sysex View and Scratchpad window. Next go to File->Send Sysex File... browse to the \SAC\Configuration folder and send "MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_Ch_1-8_Preset.syx". The display on the BCF will show a looping bar and MIDOX will show the data being sent with a progress meter.

6) Once the sysex has loaded, press the Store button on the BCF once to enter store mode and select a preset to store into. For the best flexibility I repeat this step and store the 1-8 config on both units as Preset 1 and the 9-16 config on both units as Preset 2. On my first unit I left it set to Preset 1, showing P-1 on the display as an additional indicator that this is unit 1. The second unit stays on Preset 2 showing P-2 as a default indicating it's unit 2.

7) Close the Sysex View and Scratchpad window, go back to your main window and go to View->Input Monitor... You should see lists of MIDI data being transfered as you manipulate the BCF.

8) To test in SAC close MIDIOX, open SAC and do the following:
Options->MIDI Device Setup select your In and Out devices. These should be the same devices as you selected in MIDIOX.

Under the Smpte/Midi menu select both Midi-Control In Active and Midi-Control Out Active

Go to File->Midi-Control Template File, browse to \SAC\Configuration and select either "MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_8-Ch.mct" or "MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_16-Ch.mct" depending on your final channel count. If you'll be using a 16-channel setup you can use the 16 channel template with only one device and only the appropriate channels will be controlled.

Save your Default preferences if you don't want to configure all this each time you start SAC.

You're ready to move faders, bank around, mute, solo etc. and make sure the BCF is properly controlling SAC.
If you're only configuring a single unit, you're done. If you want to configure dual units, there's obviously more work to go.

9) BCF 1 is configured and ready to roll, power it down, disconnect it and connect BCF 2 in its place. For the moment you can reuse all the same connections.

10) With BCF 2 follow steps 2-8 again. There are only a few changes.
You can skip step 4 since MIDIOX should retain that configuration even if you've closed it.

In step 5, send "MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_Ch_9-16_Preset.syx" instead of "MidiCtrl_Behringer_BCF2000_Ch_1-8_Preset.syx".

In step 6, I stored and left my second unit on preset 2 or displaying P-2 instead of preset 1.

11) You're now ready to put together and test the dual BCF configuration.
To start, disconnect BCF 2 and reconnect BCF 1 to the host by USB. Once powered up and connected, follow the instructions in step 2 to change BCF 1's operation mode to U-4 and BCF 2's operation mode to S-3. A single BCF can operate in either U-1 or U-4 mode, so go ahead and leave it in U-4. Presets unfortunately don't store the operation mode, so if you want to switch units between the primary and secondary controller, you'll need to remember the button combo to switch the operation mode. This may also be handy if you've got two units and the primary fails for whatever reason.

BCF 2 links to BCF 1 with the pair of MIDI cables. Connect BCF 1 OUT A to BCF 2's IN port. Connect BCF 2's OUT B/THRU back to BCF 1's IN port.

If you go back to SAC and have the USB Audio Device selected as your in and out Midi devices you should now be able to control a bank of 16 channels at once.
To configure a controller in SAC, select the BCF2000 as your input and output midi device under the Options menu. Second, on the SMPTE/MIDI menu set the Midi-Control In/Out Active options. On the File menu, open the MIDI-Control Template File for the number of channels of BCF2000 you have configured.

12) I labeled my rear panel Midi connections and the front of each unit with a little piece of board tape so I know what's what for easy configuration. Do what works for you.

Enjoy!
http://softwareaudioconsole.wikidot.com The start of a wiki. It's slow going and there's a ton of info that should be in there yet.
Biggest item is the Command Reference on how to do most actions within SAC. It's 90% of what you need for UI proficiency.

g is for George
gdougherty
 
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Westminster, CO


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