Timing things?

J5k's picture

First post! I appologize for the unclear title, I can't think of a way to describe my issue in a short sentence. Maybe I can do it with a bunch of long ones :)

I want to create a qc comp that does the following. When I press a key on my midi keyboard, I'd like to create a firework effect.

I've broken it down into what I think I need conceptually but don't know how to even begin in qc. I'm a programmer but this stuff is just plain weird.

First, triggered by the incoming note on, I'd create a ball with maybe a practical trail that travels up from the bottom of the screen. At some random point, the ball and trail disappear and are replaced by a new particle system to simulate the explosion.

Basically, I don't understand how to sequence this and trigger it when the note comes in (trigger could be anything I guess, just that it starts off the animation).

I'm not looking for someone to build this for me, but any guidance would be very much appreciated!

Thanks! J5k

Achim Breidenbach's picture
Re: Timing things?

The trigger from your Midi keyboard will come in by the Midi patch. I would use a Stop Watch patch to have the timer trigger thing you need. The Stop Watch output could be connected to a Timeline patch (setup with "external timing"). The Timeline patch comes with a visual time line editor that allows you to create multiple outputs for x,y, z coordinates and e.g. a trigger for enabling the Particle System patch. Actually I would use a Particle System patch to create the trail too.

I think thats all you need :-)

J5k's picture
Re: Timing things?

Thank you! I didn't know about the stopwatch or the timeline patch, but they sound like exactly what I need. I'll give it a go later tonight.

Thanks again!

  • By J5k at 2014-06-03 12:55

jersmi's picture
Re: Timing things?

Timebase stuff in QC includes Patch Time, Stop Watch, Timeline, Interpolation, Wave Generator (LFO), Integrator. With some combination of these and math, you can stage the timing of your animations. If you right click on any time-based patch, you can set the timebase to External, which allows you to connect something like Stop Watch to it to start/stop it, control multiple with one timebase, etc.