Free "Matrixbrute Patch Viewer" software (beta) now available

[Brutefactor]

Hi

Based on the excellent work of decoding the MCC data format by mkoch in this thread https://forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=102201.msg174918#msg174918 I have now decoded most of the missing parts (including the sequencer) and made a Java application for viewing all (or most!) details of a preset on your computer. 

More details can be found on github: https://github.com/MatrixbrutePatchViewer/MBPV including a short manual describing how to install & use it, and the program itself.
Please enter git with the link above for addition info or older version. The links below always points to the latest version.

The manual (view it online, or click on link then download): https://github.com/MatrixbrutePatchViewer/MBPV/blob/main/MatrixbrutePatchViewer_manual.pdf
Program (click on link, then download): https://github.com/MatrixbrutePatchViewer/MBPV/blob/main/mbpv.zip

I have worked on and off on this one for a long time, and it's not 100% finished yet - but it's fully usable.
I therefore decided to release it "as is" as a beta, in case it's useful for others. My aim is to finish it, and also release the source code, but I have no time frame for that (needs the combination of free time and inspiration...)

Feedback is always welcome, f.ex features that could be implemented or changed for the better. Some info about my ideas on the last page of the manual, so please read that first.

This is only a viewer, it's not possible to edit or save anything. It also contain a simple patch-diff utility to see the difference between multiple patches (up to all 256)
It works on Matrixbrute files exported from Arturia Midi Control Center (MCC) - a whole project of 256, one bank of 16 or just one patch.
Can of course also be used to view the details of the presets uploaded in the other threads in "presets & media" here, f.ex the notes used in the sequences.

Some screenshots attached, all the different screens are shown in the manual, with description.
The B&W (+red) panel design is on purpose - to be as readable as possible from a distance, as the MB and the PC is not necessarily beside each other.

Developed and tested on windows for java 11 (or higher), should also work on mac (as it's 100% java) but I do not have one and have not tested that.

Edit: fixed minor issue, re-uploaded new zip/manual and changed name/link of them to a link that will always contain the latest release.

[DrJustice]

Excellent! 

Thank you very much!

[rcmusic]

excellent!!

[joeman]

Thank you!

[jsueirob@yahoo.com]

You did what Arturia had to do long, long ago (I still have an open request for this !). Shame on them, kudos to you. THANK YOU!!

[Brutefactor]

Your welcome 

Hope it's useful (if something is missing or wanted, please give some info here and I see what I can do!)
Yep, too bad they didn't finish the MB project by providing a VST or app like this - should be industry standard by now, but for sure I'm happy to write this myself if the alternative was Arturia using resources on this app instead of finishing the MB with firmware version 2!

I'm in the process of starting work on v.2, to include more features and fix some missing things (this is really just a prototype) - so watch this space (or github) for updates.
Can't promise any date, as it depends on free time and inspiration (for coding instead of actually using the MB  )

[jsueirob@yahoo.com]

Good to "hear" it! May I ask you a new tip?
I find useful to have a way to get automatically ALL the images generated from a given FULL mbprojz project (256 Panel, 256 Sequencer, 256 Matrix, 256 LFO).
I'm doing it manually and it's a bit prone to error (and repeating the mistaken image process) and very slow.
My route is: I start your java jar, I take a Panel window printscreen (with windows "utility" SnippingTool.exe), I save it with a unique composite name generated and listed in an Excel sheet, then I switch to Sequencer, then Matrix, then LFO, next Preset Panel, and start it over...256 times! . You see, it's a bit cumbersome, slow and prone to error, as previously stated. I'm attaching a preview of my hard job as a printscreening man!

Thank you!!

[Brutefactor]

Something like that is one feature I have though of but not yet looked into. I look into it at once, so hold the horse on the manual work for a while (this sound like work for machines, not humans  ) and I see what I can do as a first version now, before starting the rewrite to mbpv v. 2
Will probably be something simple at first, like selecting a output folder, and what to export and it will create a sub folder with all images named in a reasonable way. Export to PDF is a thought also but files are probably less hassle at first (possibly with a html beside for viewing them together in a better way).
I still miss some info I would like in a patch sheet, so that will have to wait.
I post here when sth to test is available!

Update: I have now first attempt running, generats 1024 png's (256x4 pics) in about 1 minute, 54MB total. Named them like in the pic, using slot and patch name (stripped for special chars). For exporting a list of patches/ranges can be entered, together which images to export (panel / mod matrix / sequence / LFOs)

[pgoergen]

Hi,
thanks for your great work, this is fantastic!!! I am running it on an iMac, works great.
Is it possible to download this latest version, I only found the version from december.

[Brutefactor]

The new version is now uploaded to git: https://github.com/MatrixbrutePatchViewer/MBPV
I also updated the manual with description of the exporting, and the new switch for setting the folder you want to export to when starting the program (-DexportPath)
The newest version is alway mbpv.zip and MatrixbrutePatchViewer_manual.pdf, previous versions also stay in case it's some problems with the new.

I also added some HTML-files for easier navigation in the exported images, including one html containing everything that might be used for creating a PDF of it. Might need some fine-tuning of the image sizes (set zoom level in panel and matrix window) and paper size to get the page breaks in the pdf to make sense.
Everything exported will always be saved into a new folder inside the folder you choose as destination, this way it is kept together, and the folder is named with the time it was exported also.

I see now that all those buttons for export maybe should have been replaced by one button and a dialog-box, it's getting long that menu bar, and its also restricting the window when zoom <100%. Will fix it in the next version - so you might want to keep the previous version also, and just use this new one for exports (which is the only difference). 

Note that the app is unresponsive while the export runs, and for a full set it might take a minute or so (depending on your hardware probably). You should be able to see files being added to the output folder for monitoring progress.

Nice to hear it also works on mac pgoergen, with no extra effort on my side

Thanks for the tip,  jsueirob - great for a Friday night coding session 

[Brutefactor]

Uploaded new version to git, only fix is that the menu bar is split in two rows allowing the window to be smaller than 100%

[STM]

Thank you for your efforts!

[pgoergen]

Hi, the patch viewer is working fine on my iMac but I have tried the new export function, and this does not seem to work, nothing is saved on my computer. Maybe someone else can try this and confirm this problem.

[Brutefactor]

Try entering something in the export field (like A1 or A1-A5 ), and be sure some of the checkboxes are set.
I do not have a mac here so it's hard to debug, but can you try the following and report back what happens?

1) Are you able to browse for a folder, and select save (press "go")?
 1b) A subfolder should be created inside the folder you select, is the folder created at all? (name should contain the date & time right now)

2) Can you close the matrix-window and just keep the panel open. Be sure to check "M" (to export matrix also).
 2b) When clicking save: does the Matrix window appear or not? If not sth fails when selecting the folder, the matrix window should not be shown.

3) Can you try to select a folder on a external drive (if you have)?

4) Can you run the program from a command line and see if you get any output to the teminal?
Ex: if I run it like this and give it a input file that does not exists, i get this (note: I use java not javaw here):
C:\mbpv>C:\mbpv\jdk-11\bin\java -Dpath="c:/mbpv" -Dfile="My MB.mbrojz" -jar C:\mbpv\MBPatchViewer.jar
ERROR: readZip failed: c:\mbpv\My MB.mbrojz (The system cannot find the file specified)
ERROR: Could not load file. Sorry.

If might be the one or more of methods I use to open folder, or create folder does not work as expected on mac (googling indicates that it might be small differences). If nothing of this works, and you are willing to do a small test, I can create a small test program to try to figure out whats wrong. Its probably some small detail that differs on mac and win.

[pgoergen]

Hi,
this is what I tried, I can browse and create a Folder in your dialog but when I try to save I get the following error message:

ERROR: Could not create subdirectory /Volumes/LaCie/aTest/aTest/FLM_SETUP_full_072018.mbprojz_20220318-153442

I have tried both internal and external drives.
I always run the program from a command line with the following command:

java -jar MBPatchViewer.jar

( I don't know how to run it in another way, I tried that but got an error message))

Hope this helps. You are probably right it surely is a small difference. I can test it if you want.