ProcyonEditorSoftwareUser'sGuide

Introduction
ThisdocumentdescribeshowtousetheProcyonEditorsoftware.TheProcyon Editorisafreesoftwareapplicationthatallowsyoutocreateyourownsessions.You canalsoeditexistingsessionssuchasthefactorysessionsthatcamepreinstalledon yourmachine.ThelatestversionoftheProcyonEditorsoftwareandfactorysessions areavailableforfreedownloadathttp://www.mindplacesupport.com. WhattheProcyondoesespeciallywellistosynthesizeawiderangeofcolorsand patterns.Theeditorprovidesawaytoaccessalloftheparameterstocontrolthe movement,intensity,andplaybackacrosstimeoftheLEDsontheProcyon.The softwareincludesagraphicaleditorinadditiontothetextbasededitor;thiscan provehelpfulsincetherearesomanyprogrammablefunctionsforeachsession segment.Wealsointroduceavaluablenewfeaturewiththissoftware:looping.This allowstheconstructionofverycomplexsessionswithoutconsumingexcessive systemmemory. TheProcyonincludesaUSBport.TousetheEditoryouwillneedtohookacable betweentheProcyonUSBconnectorandanopenportonyourcomputer.

Installation
First,downloadtheProcyonEditoranddriverfromtheProcyonsoftwaresectionof http://www.mindplacesupport.com.InstallthedriverFIRST,andthentheEditor. DuringtheEditorinstallation,followanyinstructionsyouseeonscreen(answering yestoanydialogbox).Onceyou'vecompletedinstallation,connectyourProcyon viaUSBandstarttheProcyonEditorsoftware;thiscompletesinstallationoftheUSB driver. Note:ThissoftwareisforWindowsPCsonly;itrunonXP,Vista,andWindows7.If youarerunningaMacitispossibletoruntheProcyonEditorusingaPCemulation programorWindowsOSonMacviaBootCamp,ParallelsorVMWareFusion.(requires separateinstallsandconfigurationnotcoveredinthisdocument). Thesecondhalfofthisguide,HowtocreateaProcyonsessiondescribesindetail howsessionsarestructured,andwhattheparametersareforandwhattheycando. Sessionsarecomprisedofoneormoresegments,eachofwhichcanhaveitsown

uniquesettings.Lightandsoundattributescaneitherbecontinuous(i.e.,12Hz throughoutthesegment),orcanramp(startat12Hzandendat4Hzforexample).

Menuitems
ThissectiondescribesthefunctionsofthevariousmenuitemsintheProcyonEditor program.Someofthemenufunctionscanbeaccessedbyfunctionkeyorkey combinationshortcuts;theseshortcutsareshowninparenthesisfollowingthemenu itemsbelow. WhenyoufirstopentheProcyonEditor,youwillseethefollowingwindow:

Thisisthedefaulttexteditorscreen.UponinitializationtheEditorshowsonlya singlesegmentinthiscase,segment1(asshowninthe"currentsegmentnumber" boxonthelowerrightsideofthewindow).We'lldescribethevariousparameters shownonthisscreeninthefollowingsection;fornow,let'sreviewthemenu functions. File/NewSession Thiscommandclosesanysessionyouarecurrentlyworkingon(afterofferingyouthe chancetosaveit),thenopensanewonesegmentsessioncalled"scratch.PRw". File/OpenSessionFile ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 Opensasessionfile.Procyonsessionsusethesuffix.PRw. File/SaveSession Savesthecurrentsessionwiththefilenamewhichshowsonthebaratthetopofthe window;the"scratchpad"filewhichloadswhenyoulaunchtheprogramiscalled "scratch.PRw",soyoullwanttochangethis.Besttousethiscommandforworksin progresswhichhavealreadybeennamed,andSaveSessionAsfornewwork. File/SaveSessionAs Savesthecurrentsessionwithanameotherthantheoneshownonthewindow's topbar.Thisisusefulforcreatingmultipleversionsofasessionaswellaschanging thenameofthecurrentsession. File/CloseSession ClosesthesessioncurrentlydisplayedintheEditor.Noticethatclosingasession (preventingfurtherchangestoit)doesnotcausethesessioninformationbeing displayedtochange;inordertostartanewsession,youneedtochooseNewSession fromtheFilemenuorexitandreopentheEditor. File/CancelCommand(F2) ThiscommandisonlyusedifforsomereasontheUSBlinktotheProcyonfailsduring alargefiletransfer,suchasanalbumorOSupgrade.Inthiswayit'ssimilartothe "escape"keyonyourcomputer.Itsunlikelythatyoullneedtousethiscommand. File/Exit TerminatestheProcyonEditor. Edit/InsertSegment(F3) Insertsanewsegmentafterthecurrentsegmentnumber.Ifyouinsertasegment betweentwoothers,thentheendingvaluesoftheprevioussegmentwillbecome thedefaultstartvaluesfortheinsertedsegment,andthestartingvaluesofthe segmentwhichfollowstheinsertedonewillbecometheendvaluesfortheinserted segment.Inotherwords,theinsertedsegmentvalueswillbesetupasaramp betweenthetwosegmentsbetweenwhichitwasinserted.Ofcourseyoucan changethesevaluestowhateveryouwish;wechosethisapproachbecauseit seemedmostlikelytofacilitaterapidsessioncreation. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 Edit/DeleteSegment(Shift+F3) Deletesthecurrentlyselectedsegment,whichisshowninthe"currentsegment number"box. Edit/LoopControl(CtrlL) Bringsuptheloopcontrollistscreen,asshownintheimagebelow.Loopingwillbe describedinmoredetaillaterinthisguide.

Edit/Undo(CtrlZ) Undoesthelastthingthatyoudid. Edit/Redo(CtrlY) ReversestheeffectofUndo. SessionTools/UploadalbumofsessionstoProcyon ThiscommandallowsyoutouploadanalbumofsessionstoyourProcyon.Analbum isacollectionofindividualsessionsorganizedintoasequenceofyourchoice(see ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide

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"Howtocreateanalbum"laterinthisGuide).Whenaddinganalbum,youhave severalchoices: Appendifpossibleifenoughsystemmemoryremainstoholdthealbum,thenitwill additattheendofthecurrentalbumlist.Forexample,ifyouaddanalbumof10 sessionstothefactoryalbum(sessions049),thenthesessionsinyournewalbum willbenumbered5059. OverwriteSessionTableThiswillreplaceanycurrentcontentsoftheProcyon's memorywithyournewalbum.Ifyouchoosethis,anewdialogboxwillopen offeringthechoiceofbackingupthesessionsyouareabouttoeraseontoyourPC. Youcanalwaysrestoretheselater. Therearealsoinformationboxesindicatingwherethestartofthenextsessionisin memory,andtheamountofmemoryremaining. Youalsohavetheoptionofcancellingthealbumtransfer.Albumshavethefilename suffix*.PRb.

SessionTools/UploadSessiontoProcyon Thiscommandbringsupthesamedialogboxas"uploadalbumofsessionsto Procyon",butinthiscaseallowsyoutoselectindividualsessions(whichhavethe suffix*.PRw),andyoucaneitherappendthesessiontotheendofthecurrently storedsessionbank,orerasethatbankandreplaceitwiththeselectedsession. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide

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SessionTools/ArchiveProcyonSessions YoucanbackuptheentirecurrentcontentsofyourProcyonasasinglealbumwith thiscommand(thesearestoredwiththesuffix*.PRk).Selectingthiscommand bringsupthefollowingdialogbox,whichallowsyoutoselectwhatdirectorytostore thefileinaswellasnamingthefile:

SessionTools/RestoreArchivedSessions UsethiscommandtoreplacethecurrentcontentsofyourProcyonwithanother album.Whenyouselectityou'llseeadialogboxwarningyouthatthecurrentbank willbereplaced,andgivingyoutheoptionforbackingitup:

SessionTools/GetSessionHeader SessionHeadersareblocksoftextwhichcanbeassociatedwithasession,which includesvariousinformationaboutthesession.Theyareintendedmainlyforuse whencreatingSynchroMuseaudiosynchronizedsessions. If: 1) Procyonisconnectedtoyourcomputer, 2) Theserialportisopen, 3) ProcyonisinSESmodeandasessionselected 4) Thecurrentsessionhassavedheaderinformation, ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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ThentheHeaderfortheselectedsessionisretrievedanddisplayedonthescreen. Ifyouareworkingonasession,thentheHeaderfileforthatsessioncanbeauthored oreditedbyclickingtheEditSessionHeaderbuttononthemiddlerightsideofthe applicationwindow. Inbothcasesyouwillseethisscreen:

Thisisareadonlydisplay,youcannoteditthesessionheaderforsessionsstoredin theProcyon,unlessyouopenthatsessiondirectlyintheProcyonEditor. TheMakeIDrawfileisusedtocreateaveryshortaudioidentifierfile,necessaryif youarecreatingaSynchroMusesession.SeetheSynchroMuseTutorialinthe Procyonsectionofwww.mindplacesupport.comfordetails. TheeightcharacterSessionIDentryiswhatDAS(DigitalAudioSynchronization)uses toaccessandplaySynchroMusesessionsthathavebeenstoredintheProcyon. The"SizeofHeader"boxindicateshowmanybytesofmemoryareusedbythe sessionheader. Note:remember,addingsessionheaderstoyoursessionsdoesconsumesystem memoryandwillreducetheamountofmemoryavailableforothersessions. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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SerialCommunication/SetCOMport Afteryou'veconnectedyourProcyontoyourPCandandturnedbothon,usethis commandtoviewavailableCOMports;thosewhicharenotavailableare"ghosted". Forexample,intheimagebelow,theavailableportsareCOM1,COM3andCOM5.If oneoftheseisautomaticallyselectedyoucanproceedtoopentheport;oftenyou willfindthatyoudon'tneedto"set"aportsinceWindowswillusuallyhandlethisfor you.Oncetheportisopen,thecommandchangesto"CloseCOMport".Ifnecessary, usetheSerialCommunication/OpenCOMportcommandtoopenthisport.

Utilities/RunSegments Thisallowsyoutotestyoursessionswhileyou'redevelopingthem.Touseit,you firstclickinthe"CurrentSegmentNumber"boxandusethesliderwhichappearsto selectthefirstsegmentinthesequenceyouwanttotest,anddothesameinthe "RuntoSegmentNumber"boxtoselectthelastsegmentforthesequence.Then selectthiscommandtorunthesegmentsyou'veselected. Note:thisisidenticaltotheRunSegmentsbuttonontherightsideoftheProcyon Editorwindow. AshortcutforrunningallthesessionsegmentsregardlessofthesettingsinCurrent SegmentNumberandRuntoSegmentNumberistorightclicktheRun Segmentsbuttonwiththemouse. Utilities/RunentireSession Thisrunstheentiresession,overridinganyothersegmentselectionsyoumighthave made. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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Utilities/Pauseandgetstatus Supposeyouarerunningasegmentwithmultiplecolorramps,andsuddenlya particularcoloremergeswhichyouespeciallylike,andyouwouldliketopreserveit. ThiscommandallowsyoutoviewtheexactdataintheProcyonbeingusedatthe momentthecommandistriggered.Thedatalookslikethis:

Noticethatinformationisorganizedaccordingtocolor,andeachoneincludesthe currentfrequency,amplitude,DCoffset,dutycycle,phaseshift,andwaveform. Wecreatedthiscommandfordevelopmentpurposes,andtoallowyoutofindexact settingsforparticularlyinterestingvisualeffectswhiletestingasession.Thebest waytosavethisinformationisasfollows: a.Rightclickinthetextarea,andchooseSelectAll,whichwillhighlightallof thestatustext,andthenselectCopy. b.OpenaNotepadwindowandpastethetextintoit.(Rclick/Paste). Utilities/StopSession Stopsthecurrentlyrunningsession. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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Utilities/SwapColorParameters Thisswapsalltheinformationinonecolorchannelwithanotherone;thisis particularlyusefulifyouareconvertingProteussessionstoProcyonsessionsusing ourconversionsoftwareapplet,"Proteus_Procyon1_1.exe",availablefromthe Procyonsectionofwww.mindplacesupport.com. It'salsoaveryhelpfultoolforquicklyevaluatinghowvariousparameterchangescan affectthevisualeffects.Intheexamplebelow,ontheleftsidethecurrentlyselected segmentusesjustredandgreenlight(notetheblueparametersare"ghosted");I thenswappedtheblueandgreenchannelstoproducetheimageontheright.The choicesare:swapredandgreen,redandblue,andgreenandblue. Utilities/SendHighlightedInformation Thiscommand,whichcanalsobeaccessedviathe"SenddatatoProcyon"buttonon thetoprightsideoftheEditorwindow,allowsyoutoupdatetheProcyoninreal time. Whenyouclickononeofthedataboxesthebackgroundishighlighted.Fromthere youcantypeinnewvaluesordragthescrollbartothedesiredvalue.Onceavalue hasbeensetyouhavetoclickontheSenddatatoProcyoncommandbutton(or menuitem)toupdatethevalueintheProcyonunit. NoteifyouclickonthecoloredRedStartFinishlabelallthestartingvaluesare highlighted.ClickingontheSenddatatoProcyonbuttonwillupdatealloftheRed colorsparameters.ThisworksfortheGreenandBluecolumnstoo.

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TheLFactivecheckboxesatthebottomofthecolorchannelsandtheSound activecheckboxintheorangeaudiosectioninthelowerleftsideoftheEditoronly haveaneffectwhenrunningsegments.Whenuncheckedthecorresponding parametersaregrayedoutandcannotbeadjustedorsent.Youmuststartandstop thesessionagainwiththenewsettingsfortheseadjustedvaluestohaveaneffect. Utilities/UpdateProcyonOS ThiscommandallowsyoutoupdatetheProcyon'sinternaloperatingsystem(OS) whennewversionsareavailable.Thefilesuffixusedforcodeupdatesis*.PR2. Whenyou'veselectedtheOSfiletotransfer,a"progress"dialogboxopens:

Wedon'trecommendcancellingthetransferonceitisunderway,aspartofthe originalOSwillhavebeenoverwrittenanddoingsomayleaveyourProcyoninan unstableorinoperativestate. Utilities/SetAudiostrobecolorsandbalance ThisisaconvenientwaytocustomizeyourAudioStrobeexperience.Whenselected thiswindowappears:

Youcanchooseanycolorcombinationforleftandrightaudiochannels.Inthis example,greenismappedontotheleftchannelandredontotheright,sothe ProcyonwillactlikeaProteuswhendecodingASsignals.Youmightwishtoaddblue toeachchannel,orwhatevercombinationyoufindyouprefer.TheGainslidersset ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide

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overallbrightnessforeachchannelsoforexampleyoumightsetthishigherfor greenandblueandlowerforred,.ThetestbuttonemulatesanAudioStrobesource, andSaveasdefaultstoresthesesettingsinyourProcyon.UsetheSetAnalog NoiseFloorslidertoadjusttheoverallresponseoftheProcyonwhileplayingan AudioStrobefilethroughit,andwhileinAnalogAudioStrobemode(shownasAS_in thedisplayseetheProcyonManual). NotethattheleftandrightAudioStrobechannelsarealwaysmixedthesamewaythat thethreecolorchannelsare:equally,tobotheyes. Utilities/ViewStatusBar Weincludedthisfortestinganddebuggingpurposes;younormallywon'tneedto accessthisfunction.Whenselected,messagesassociatedwithcommunicationsor othererrorswillbeshowninabaratthebottomoftheEditorwindow. Display/UseGraphicsEditor Thiscommandopensthegraphicaleditorscreen,whichisdescribedindetailina latersection;onceopen,themenuchoiceschangeasfollows: Display/UseTextEditor Changesthedisplaybacktotexteditmode. Display/Displaybycolor Showsinformationforasingleparameteratatimeforeachcolorchannel. Display/Displaybyfunction Allparametersaredisplayedforasinglecolorchannelatatime. Display/DisplaySoundValues Thisallowsyoutoadjusttheaudiopitchandvolumegraphically. Display/AdjustBorder Allowsyoutotweaktheappearanceofthegraphicaleditorscreen. Help/About ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 Opensthefollowingwindow,whichdisplaysthecurrentProcyonEditorversion,OS version,Core(nonreprogrammable)version,andserialnumberoftheunit:

Help/OpenLogFile Thiswasdevelopedforinternaldebugginguseandinmostcasesyouwillnotneedto useit.Thefilecreatedbythiscommandiscalled"Procyon_LOG.PRL"andislocated intheProcyondirectory. Help/RevisionDocumentation YoucanviewchangesmadetoboththeProcyonEditorandOShere. Currently,theProcyonEditordoesnotincludeonlinehelpbeyondthis.Thereference thatyouwillrefertowhenhelpisnecessaryisthedocumentyouarecurrently reading,ortheProcyonManual.

HowtocreateaProcyonsession
Thissectiondescribestheprogrammablefunctions(parameters)thatareavailablein theProcyon,howtousethetextandgraphicaleditors,howtocreatealbums,and howtotransferyourfinishedworktotheProcyon.

I.Sessionstructureanddescriptionofparameters.
Asessionismadeupofanumberofanumberofsegments. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 Segmentsmayvaryinlengthfrom0.5secondsto10.0minutes,intenthofasecond increments. Foreachsegment,youchooseastartvalueandafinishvalueforeachprogrammable parameter;thosevaluesthenchangeinalinearmannerfromsegmentstarttofinish.

Theillustrationaboveshowsthefirsttwosegmentsofasession;onlybrightnessand frequencyfromasinglecolorchannelaredisplayedforthesakeofclarity.Frequency startsinsegmentoneatabout15Hz 1 andendsatabout35Hz,whilebrightnessstarts atabout110andendsat255(themaximumsetting). Themainsegmenteditscreenlookslikethis:

Hz or Hertz is equivalent to pulses per second. So, 15 Hz = 15 pulses per second.

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 Thistextdisplayshowsalltheprogrammableparametersforasinglesegment.To viewothersegments(ifpresent),clickinthe"currentSegmentNumber"boxonthe lowerrightsideanddragtheslidertothesegmentnumberyouwishtoedit.Ifyou havejustlaunchedtheEditor,onlyasinglesegmentispresentuntilyouinsert additionalsegments. Thereisnoparticularlimittothenumberofsegmentsinyoursession,otherthan howmuchmemoryremainsinyourProcyon;themaximumnumberofsegments thatcanfitintomemoryisabout1,500;thisnumberisactuallyavariableanddepends onhowcomplexeachsegmentis.Thereisalimitof250sessionsthatcanfitinto memoryatanyonetime. Programmableparametersforvisualeffectsincludethefollowingitems,whichmay besetindependentlyforeachofthefourcolorchannels: FrequencyTherateatwhichlightsareflickering.Thismayrangefrom0.1to75.0 Hz,in0.01Hzincrements. AmplitudeThissetsthebrightnesslevel,andrangesfrom0(off)to255(maximum). DCOffsetUsedtosetthelevelofshimmerinalightchannel.Inpracticethis movesthebaselineofthewaveformupordownalongtheYaxisaccordingtothe setting,essentiallyflatteningthewaveform. Thedefaultsettingis127,whichwouldmodulatenormallybetweenonandoff asdeterminedbytheselectedwaveform.Thisproducestheunalteredwaveform ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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shape.Asettingof250forexamplewillbarelybeflickeringasthebottomofthe waveform(lowestbrightnesspartofthecycle)ismovedtowardsthetop(brightest part)ofitscycle.Settingthistoavaluebelow127willcausethewaveformtoclipat topandbottom,whichcangenerateadditionalinterestingvisualeffects. Whenthenumberissettoavalueabove127,thelightsneverturnallthewayoff,so intherange128255,youaremixingunflickeringlightwithflickeringlight,andthe flickerportionshrinkstowardszeroasthenumbersincrease. Torecap,fortheDCoffsetfunction,127isthemidpoint.Lowervaluescanclipthe bottomofthewaveform.0willshutthecoloroff.Highervaluescanclipthetopof thewaveform.Asettingof255willresultinafulloncolorwithnoflickeratall otherfunctionswonthaveanyeffecttheoutput.Tryexperimentingwithvaluesin therange200250. DutyCycleThisdeterminestheratioofontoofftimefortheSquarewaveform. Rangesfrom0(offalways)to254(onalmostalways).Typically,themostinteresting visualeffectsareintherangeofroughly50to90,butthiscanvarywithfrequency. Thedefaultsettingof127correspondstoatruesquarewave,whichsomerefertoas isochronous.Strictlyspeaking,changingthisvalueresultsinapulsewaveform,and forthetechnicallyinclined,apulsewidthwhichchangesovertimeiscalledpulse widthmodulation. FortheSineandTrianglewaveshapes,theDutyCyclesettingshiftsthepeakofthe wavecloserorfurtherawayfromthebeginningofthesegment.Forinstancewitha TrianglewaveandaDutyCyclesettingof0,thewavewithturnonquicklyatthe beginningaccordingtotheamplitudesettingandthenfadeslowlytotheminimum.If theDutyCyclewas255onaTrianglethenthewavewouldfadeupslowlyto maximumbrightnessandthenabruptlydroptotheminimum.TheSinewavehas similarcharacteristicsbutissomewhatmorecomplexduethethecurvatureofthe shape. Sinewavesproducenoharmonics,whileotherwaveformsincludeharmonics mathematicallyrelatedtothewaveshape. PhaseDetermineswhenawaveformstarts,relativetothestartofasegmentand theothercolorchannels.Ifthisissetto0foreachcolorchannel,allcolorswouldbe aligned,turningonandoffatexactlythesametime.However,veryinteresting effectsareobtained(especiallyatverylowfrequencies)byoffsettingthephasesof thevariouscolors.SeeColorChannelAdvancedConcepts,below. WavetableUsethispopdownmenutoselectsine,square,triangleoruser waveforms.Eachoftheselightwaveformshasadifferentapparenteffect;sine ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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wavesarethe"softest",square(pulse)waveformshavethemostintenseshiftsin brightnessandtendtocreatethebestvisualeffects,andtrianglewavesarein between. TheProcyon'ssoundcanbemodulatedbyoneormoreofthelightchannels,andthis willaffectthesoundoutput;square/pulsewaveformsproducea"thumpier"sound, whilesineproducesthesmoothest.Forthisreason,nearlyallofthefactorysessions usesinewavemodulatedaudio.Again,squarewavemodulationiscalledbysome isochronous.Asofthiswriting,thewaveformbeingmodulatedisalwaysasine wave. Noticealsothattherearecheckboxesbeloweachcolorchannelwhichallowyouto turnachannelonoroffforeachsegment. Buildingasession:addingsegments Whenyouvefinishededitingthesegment,youcaninsertanotherafteritusingthe F3key(or:SessionTools/InsertSegment).Atthispoint,asliderbarappearsinthe lowerrightportionoftheeditwindow,whichlookslikethis:

Usethisslidertotogglebetweenthesegmentsyouareediting.Besurethatthe CurrentSeg.#boxispurple(active)inthiscase,ratherthantheRunToSeg.#box. Youcanalsousetheslidecontroltochoosewhichsegmentstopreviewfromthe currentsession.Forexample,supposeyoursessionincludes8segments,andyou wishtopreviewnumbers3to8.FirstclickintheCurrentSeg#boxandadjustthe sliderto3.ThenclickintheRuntoSeg#boxandadjustthesliderto8.The resultswilllooklikethis:

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 Wheninsertingsegments(whichmaybedoneatanyplacewithinasessionexcept beforethefirstsegment),the"start"valuesdisplayedinthenewlyinsertedsegment willbeidenticaltothoseofthesegmentprecedingit,andthe"finish"valueswillbe thesameasthe"start"valuesforthesegmentwhichfollowsit.Thisisintendedto maketheprocessofsessioncreationfasterandeasier,sincethenewlyinserted segmentremembersforyouwhattheadjacentsegmentsettingswere. Testingsegmentsandsessions Youcantestanindividualsegmentoragroupofsegments(includingtheentire sessionyouareediting)bydoingthefollowing: ClickyourmousepointerintheCurrentSeg.#box;itwillconfirmselectionby turningpurple. Usetheslidertoselectthefirstsegmentyouwishtotest. ClickyourmousepointerintheRunToSeg.#box,and usetheslidertoselectthelastsegment. ClicktheRunSegmentsbuttonontherightsideofthescreen. Sometimesyoumayfind,whilerunningasegment,thatacertainspecialcoloror visualpatternemergeswhichyouwouldliketocaptureandreproduceforalonger period.Todoso,clickthePauseandGetStatusbutton,whichwillproducealistof currentparametersinapopuponthescreen. Topreservethisinformation: RightclickonthetextareaandchooseSelectAll. RightclickonitagainandchooseCopy. OpenNotepadorWordpad[Start/Accessories/]andpastethetextintoit forfuturereference. Manuallyenterthevaluesinanewsegment. NoticethatthedisplayontheProcyonconsolewillshow2flashingdotstoindicate thatthesessionispaused.Also,theLEDswillcontinueflashingatthecurrentpaused settinguntilthePauseandGetStatusbuttonispressedagain. Alsonote: Thereareadditionalsessions,tutorialsandinformationintheProcyonsectionof www.mindplacesupport.com,anduserprovidedsessionsandfurtherdiscussionon ourForums(atthesupportsite). ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 Colorchanneladvancedconcepts. Inthissectionwelldiscussthecolorchannelprogrammingoptionsinmoredetail. Thefollowingimageillustratestheeffectofshiftingthephaseofthered,greenand bluelightsrelativetooneanother.Inthiscase,asinewaveisbeingused.

Onefullcycleofawaveformoccursover360degrees,andifthereisnophaseshift,it startsat0degrees,risesandfallsinahalfcircle,intersectstheXaxisat180degrees, andcompletesthelower(negative)halfcircleat360degrees.Intheexampleabove, thisisillustratedbythecolorred.Noticethatblueisexactlytheoppositeofredand sotheyare180degreesoutofphasewithoneanother. Thismeansthatwhenredisatmaximumbrightness,blueisoffandviceversa. Greenisshiftedbyaboutaquarterofafullwavetotheright,a90degreephaseshift. Soitstartstoturnonjustasredreachesitsmaximumbrightness,andreachesits maximumbrightnessasredisjustturningoff.Sotheredandgreenarechanging brightnessrelativetooneanother,producingarangeofintermediatecolors. Greenreachesitsmaximumbrightnesslevelasblueisstartingtoturnon,soalthough redandbluearenotonatthesametime,theybothareonwhilegreenisonandmix withit. Noticethatyoucanspecifyphaseintherange0255,whichcorrespondsto0360 degrees.Soa90degreephaseshiftrequiresavalueofabout64,and180degreesa valueofabout127.

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Inthenextexample,wellexaminetheeffectofvaryingthepulsewidth,usingthe squarewaveform. Thesquarewaveformismoreaccuratelyapulsewaveformsinceitswidthmaybe varied.Itswitchesfromofftomaximumbrightness(andviceversa)almost immediately.Thepulsecanhaveavariablewidth;ifitis50%,thenitisatruesquare wave.Intheexamplebelow,bothblueandgreenhaveawidthofabout40%,while theredisnarrow,about10%.

Alsoillustratedistheeffectofphaseshiftonthemixingofpulsewidthmodulated colors.Noticethatblueandredturnontogether,startingat0phase.Thecolor wouldbepurpleuntilredturnsoff,thenblueuntilgreenturnedon,thenbluegreen. Thiscombinationofpulsewidthmodulationandphaseshiftingcancreate spectacularvisualeffectsallowingyoutopresententiresectionsofarainbow withineachpulseperiod. Pulsewidthissetbyanintegervaluerangingfrom0(notonatall)to255(onallthe time);thesearetheequivalentof0%to100%.Apulsewidthof127,then,wouldbe about50%asquarewave.

Exampleapproximatepulsewidth settings Pulse width% 10 20 30 40 50 Setting 25 51 76 102 127 Pulse width% 60 70 80 90 100 Setting 153 178 203 229 255

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Noticethatafundamentaldifferencebetweenthepulse,sineandtriangle waveformsisthat,whilethepulsewaveformsturnonandoffinstantly,sineand trianglewaveformsincreasefromminimumtomaximuminasmoothmanner. Tryexperimentingwiththesineandtrianglewaveformswhenthepulseratesarelow, especiallyinthe1to8hzrange,andpulsewaveformswhenthepulseratesarein higherranges(8+hz). Howphaseshiftaffectscolormixing Sofarwehaveconsideredonlythecasesofstaticpulsewidthandphaseshift. However,youcanalsochoosetovaryeitherorbothacrossasegment.Whenthe phaseofonecolorischangingatadifferentratethananother,theresultingcolors areconstantlychanging.Wecallthisdynamicphaseshift,illustratedintheexample shownbelow.

Forsimplicity,onlythefirstandlastpulsesfromasegmentareshown.Thephase shiftisprogrammedasfollows: Color Startphaseshift Finishphaseshift Red 0(degrees) 90 Green 90 0 Inotherwords,thephaseoftheredsinewaveismovingslowlyforward,whilethe phaseofthegreensinewaveisslowlymovingbackwards.Thiscausestheamountof eachcolortomixslightlydifferentlyineachcycle,producingarangeofyellow/gold colorsaswellasgreenandred.Usingthiseffectwithlowfrequenciescanproduce someespeciallyinterestingcolormixingeffects.

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ThereisanExcelspreadsheettoolavailableonoursupportsite,calledtheVisual SegmentDeveloper,whichprovidesanexcellentmeansforvisualizingtheeffectsof allvisualparametersoncolormixing:

Soundcontrol ThesoundproducedbytheProcyoniscontrolledviatheorangeboxonthebottom leftsideoftheEditorwindow:

Noticethatyoucancontroltheleftandrightchannelsindependently.Functions include: SoundActivecheckbox:Usethistoturnsoundonoroffforeachsegment.

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Pitch:Thefrequencyoftheinternallysynthesizedsound.Rangesfrom60to 600Hz,in1Hzincrements.Noticethatthepitchcanchangeovertime,ramping upwardsordownwardsoverthecourseofthesegment. Volume:Howloudthesoundis.Rangesfrom0(off)to255(maximum). SoundModulation:determineswhichcolorchannelmodulatesanaudio channel.ChoicesareNone,Red,GreenandBlue.Ifyouwishtocreatebinauralbeats, usethe"None"option. Phase:Determineswhetherthesoundispulsingtogetherwiththelights(0 phase)orinbetweenlightflashes(180degrees).Clickinginthephaseboxestoggles betweenthesetwooptions. TheProcyonsynthesizessinewaveswhicharepure,cleantonesasitsoutput. Segmentcontrol Thissectiononthelowerrightsideofthedisplaylookslikethis:

CurrentSegmentNumber:Leftclickinthisboxanddragtheslidertothesegment youwishtoview/edit,ortosetthefirstsegmentinasequenceyouwishtoruninreal time.Turnspurplewhenactive. RuntoSegmentNumber:Worksasabove,anddeterminesthelastsegmentinthe sequenceyouwishtorun. SegmentTime.Determinesthelengthofthesegmentduration.Whenyouleftclick inthisbox,anewbarappearswhichshowsthecurrentsegmenttime;youcandrag thebartowardsthetimeyouwishtouse,and/orusetheleft/rightarrowkeystofine tunethetime.OryoucantypethelengthoftimeintotheSegmentTimebox.

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Theformatdisplayedis:minutes:seconds:tenthsofasecond.Themaximumtime allowedis10minutesandtheminimumallowedin0.5seconds. Ifyourightclickonthesegmenttimesliderbar,youwillseeachoiceoffouravailable times:30seconds,oneminute,fiveminutes,andtenminutes. Totaltime.Thiskeepsarunningtallyofthelengthofallthesegmentsinyoursession, includinganyloopedsegmentsequences.

II.Createasession.
Thebasicstepsforcreatingasessionareasfollows: a.ConnectyourProcyontoyourPCandturniton. b.OpentheProcyonEditorsoftware. c.OpenaCOMport. d.Createasessionwithyourchosenvaluesandnumberofsegmentsincludingloops. e.Testyoursession. f.Saveit,andtransferittoyourProcyon. Thissectiondescribestheprocessindetail.We'llusethedefaultTextEditorthistime around. Gettingstarted Oneimportantpointtobearinmindwhencreatingasessionis:whatisyourgoal? Thisdetermineswhichfrequenciesyouuse,whethersegmentschangequicklyor slowlyandramporjumpbetweensegments,etc. Onceyou'rereadytostart,plugyourProcyonintoanavailableUSBportand turniton.BesureyourGanzFramesarepluggedintotheconnectorontopof theunit,andplugyourheadphonesintotheappropriatejackontherightside oftheconsole. Notethatyoudon'tneedtohavebatteriesinstalledwhenit'sconnectedtoUSB butiftheyareinstalled,USBwillstillsupplypower,tomaximizeyourbatterylife. USBwillnotrechargethebatteries. OpenProcyonEditor,andselectSerialCommunication/SetCOMPort.Youwill seealistofavailableports;chooseonewhichisnotghosted.Usually,those withlowernumbersworkbest,astheProcyoncanonlyaccessports116. Onceyouhavemadeyoursettingitwillberememberedunlessyoure ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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configuretheportsatsometimeinthefutureinwhichcasethissettingwill neededtobeupdated.

ChooseSerialCommunication/OpenCOMPort.Thesmallredcircleatthe upperleftsideoftheEditorwindowshouldturngreen,indicatingthatyour ProcyonisnowcommunicatingwiththeEditor.

Youarenowreadytostartyourfirstsession. It'softendesirabletohavethelightandsound"fadein"duringthefirstsegment, andto"fadeout"duringthelast,solet'sstartbychangingtheaudiovolumeand brightness. Here'swhattheaudiosectionwilllooklikewithafadeinadded:

NoticethatI'vesettheaudiopitchto220Hz("A")inallthe"Pitch"boxes.This meansthatthesamesoundwillbeheardinbothears,anditwillnotchangeinpitch duringthesegment,becausethestartandfinishvaluesarethesame.Phasehas beensetto0degrees,sothelightandsoundwillpulsetogether,andsound modulationisbeingcontrolledbythebluecolorchannel.Ifyouwouldpreferto include(say)an8Hzbinauralbeat,settherightsideto228Hz. Next,let'ssetupthecolorchannels.Thefrequencieshaveallbeensetto10Hz,and amplitude(brightness)fortheredandgreencolorchannelsrampfrom0tohigher numbers.I'vesetthepeakredamplitude(200)lowerthangreen(255),because greenlightdoesnotmakeitswaythroughyourclosedeyelidsaswellasdoesred:

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 Noticethat,althoughallthreecolorchannelsaresetasactive(viathecheckboxesat thebottomoftheimage),theamplitudeforbluehasbeensettozero.Inthiscase weusethebluechanneltomodulatethesoundwithasinewavenottriggerthe lights.Youcanhavethelightsturneddownallthewayandstillaffectthesoundbut theLFActiveboxshouldstillbechecked(lightchannelon) We'reusingthesquarewaveformtomodulateredandgreen,andI'vesettheduty cycle(pulsewidth)forthosechannelstostartat50andendat90. Finally,let'sleavethesegmenttimeatavalueof20seconds.Itshouldlooklikethis:

You'renowreadytotestyourfirstsegmentjustclickthe"RunSegments"button ontherightsideofthescreentoseewhatyourfirstsegmentislike! Addingsegments PresstheF3key,orusetheEdit/InsertSegmentcommandtoaddasecondsegment toyoursession.Noticethatthecolorchannelandsoundsettingsaremirrorimages ofthefirstsegmentthesoundvolumedecreasesagaintozero,andlikewiseforthe variouslightbrightnesssettings.Thesesettingsareidealforthelastsegmentinyour sessionprovidingagradualfadeoutatthesession'send.Let'skeepthatsegment asthefinalone,andaddathirdonebetweenthetwo. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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Inordertodothis,clickinthecurrentsegmentnumberboxandmovethesegment slidertotheleft;the"currentsegmentnumber"willnowshowas1,asbelow:

Whenyouinsertasegment,itisalwaysinsertedfollowingthecurrentsegment number.PressF3toinsertonenow. Noticewhathashappenedtothesettingswhichappearbydefaultinthesegment you'vejustinserted:

Thesettingsareall"flat"andshownoramps.That'sbecausetheparametersfor insertedsegmentsalwayscopythe"finish"valuesfromtheprecedingsegmentas thenew"start"values,andthe"start"valuesfromthefollowingsegmentasthe "finish"values. Let'schangethesoundforthissegmenttoabinauralbeat.

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 NoticethatthesoundmodulationhasbeenchangedfromBluetoNone,andthe pitchfortherightsideisnow225Hz.Thismeansthata220Hzsinewavewillplayin theleftearwhilea225Hzsinewaveplaysintheright;theresultisa5Hzbinaural beat. Thisalsomeansthatthebinauralbeatdoesnothavetobelockedtothefrequencyof anyofthecolorchannels. Tryplayingtheentiresession.Todothis,makesurethatthecurrentsegmentnumber issetto1,andthenruntosegmentnumberissetto3.Onceyou'vedonethis,click theRunSegmentsbutton.Alternatively,youcouldchooseUtilities/Runentiresession. Youcankeepaddingandtestingsegmentsuntilyouhaveexactlythesessionyou want;tryexperimentingwithdifferentvisualwaveforms,amplitudeandfrequency values.Onceyouhaveasessionyou'dliketokeep,selectFile/SaveSessionAsand saveitwithwhatevernameyouwish.Nowyou'rereadytotransferittoyour Procyon. Todothis,selectSessionTools/UploadSessiontoProcyon.Whenyouseethe followingdialogbox,selectAppendifpossible.

You'vejustsavedyoursessionasthe50thinternalsession.Remember,session000is the"random"session,whichcannotbedeletedorchangedandisn'tcountedasone ofthestandardsessionssoyournewlyaddedsessionwillshowas051onthe display. ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide

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Addingloopingtoyoursession Aloopissimplyasequenceoftwoormoresegmentswhichrepeatmorethanone time.Thisisagreatwaytoaddcomplexitywithoutusinguptoomuchmemoryin theprocess.Youcanhavemultipleloopsinasession,andtheycanoverlap(nest)as longastwoormoreloopsdon'tstartonthesamesegment. Toaddalooptoyoursession,dooneofthefollowing: SelectEdit/LoopControl Usetheshortcut<Ctrl>L ClickontheblueLoopingboxjustbelowthewords"Wavetable"onthe middleleftsideoftheEditorwindow. Thefollowingwindowappears:

Loopsareconstructedaslists;toaddaloop,clickinthefirstStartbox,typeinthe segmentyouwishtostarttheloopfromanddothesameintheFinishbox,andadd thenumberoftimesyouwantthelooptorunintheTimesbox.Youcanincludeup to32loopsinasession,andeachonecanrunupto32times.ClicktheUpdatebutton tocompletetheprocess.TheLoopeditorwillsortthevaluessothattheearliest segmentsareatthetopofthelist.Also,althoughasinglesegmentcanbecontained inmorethanoneloop,allloopsmuststartonauniquesegmentnumber. NoticethatwhenyouclicktheRunSegmentsbutton,the"totaltime"nowreflects thetimeconsumedbyallloopsinyoursession. Youcancreatevery,verylongsessionsorverycomplexonesinthisway.

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Youhaveenoughinformationnowtocreateyourownsessions,thoughwe'llcover thissubjectinmoredetailinfuturetutorialspostedtowww.mindplacesupport.com.

III.Usingthegraphicseditor
Thegraphicaleditorallowsyoutodisplaymultiplesegmentsonthescreentoeditat onetime,andtocreatesegmentsbyclick/draggingontheendsoflinesegmentsto changethevariousparameters.It'sespeciallyusefulforkeepingtrackoffrequencies andamplitudes,butcanbeusedtoworkwiththeotherparametersaswell. OpenthegraphicaleditorbyselectingDisplay/UseGraphicsEditor. OnceyouopentheGraphicsEditor,youcandisplayinformationinanumberofways, asyouwillseebyselectingtheDisplaycommand.Theoptionsaredescribedbelow. Display/DisplaybyFunction Thiscommandopensascreenshowingallthefunctionsforagivencolor. Clickontheoptionbuttonstochangecolor;intheexamplebelow,redisselected. Leftclickoneitherendofthelinesegmentsandwhileholdingthebuttondown,drag thelineupordowntochangeitsvalue.Atextboxappearsshowingthecurrent value.Noticealsothattheboxnearthetopwiththesegmentnumberturnswhite whenyouareeditingthatsegment. TheUpandDownArrowscanbeusedtomoreaccuratelystepthevalues Ifonasegmentboundarythenpressing<=>equalkeywillforcethesegmentto thevalueofthevalueoftheothersegmentboundaryendpoint. Noticethatsegmentthreeintheexamplebelowisdarkerthantheothers;this indicatesthattheredcolorchannelforsegmentthreeisinactiveinthissession(Red LFActiveoff).

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 Ifyoursessionincludesmoresegmentsthancanfitintothedisplaywindow,ablue barwillappearnearthetopofthedisplaywhichlookslikethis:

Justclickonthisbaranddragittobringothersegmentsintoview. Holdingdownthe<Shift>and/or<Ctrl>keyswillaffecthowthecolorvalueschange. Amplitude, DC Offset, Function Frequency Duty Cycle, Phase Range 0.1 75 Hz 0-255 Shortcut Key(s) None Ctrl Shift+Ctrl Shift

0.1 Hz 1 Hz 5 Hz 10 Hz

1 4 16 64

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Display/DisplaybyColor Thisinvokesawindowshowingallthecolorsforagivenfunction. Clickontheoptionradiobuttonstochangefunction;choicesincludefrequency, amplitude,DCoffset,dutycycle,andphase. Leftclick+dragtheendsofthelinesegmentstomakeadjustments,asabove.With theleftmousebuttonhelddown,thearrowandshortcutkeyswillprovidemore preciseentries.

Display/DisplaySoundValues ThiswindowdisplaysleftandrightHz(pitch)andvolume;ifyourightclickononeof thechannels,youcanchangetheotheraudioparametersavailable,asshownbelow:

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 Optionsinthiscaseinclude: Toenable/disablethesoundforthatsegment.Ifthesoundisactivethen moreoptionswillappear. Toenable/disabletheleftandrightsoundmodulationforthatsegment.Ifthe soundmodulationisactivethenmoreoptionswillappear. Setthephaseoftheleftandrightsoundmodulation(0or180degrees) relativetothedrivinglightsource. Setthesourceoftheleftandrightsoundmodulation:Red,GreenorBlue source.Boththeflashrateandthewaveformtype(Sine,Squareetc.)will affectthesoundmodulation. Youcanchangeparametersusingshortcutkeysifyouprefer: Function Frequency Volume Range 60600Hz 0(off)255(fullon) ShortcutKeys StepSize None 1Hz 1 Ctrl 10Hz 4 Shift+Ctrl 50Hz 16 Shift 100Hz 64 ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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 IfyouRightclickonasegmentwhileineitherthebyFunctionorbyColormodes, apopupmenuappears,allowingyouto: Activate/deactivateindividualcolorforthatsegment.Ifthecolorisactive thenmoreoptionsappear. ChangetheWavetablethatdriveseachcolor(Sine,Square,TriangularorUser defined) *Note:'Userdefined'hasnotbeenimplementedinthisfirmwarerevision.

IV.Howtocreateanalbum.
Inordertocreateanalbum,youneedtobuildalistofsessionsinthedesiredorder usingNotepadoranotherplaintexteditor,andsavethatlistinthesamedirectory thatyoursessionsresidein.Whenyousaveit,donotsaveitwiththeusual*.txt suffix;instead,changethesuffixto*.PRb.Whenyoubuildthelist,besuretoinclude thefullnameofthesessions,includingtheir*.PRwsuffixes.Forexample,the ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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followingimagedisplaysthealbumfileforthefactoryprogrammedsessions includedinyourProcyon:

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ConvertingProteussessionstoProcyonformat YoucanconvertanyProteussessionsyoumayhavedeveloped,orthe"factory" ProteussessionsincludedwiththeProteusEditortoProcyonformatusingthe ProteustoProcyonconversionsoftwaretoolavailableintheProcyonsupportsection ofwww.mindplacesupport.com;instructionsareincludedwiththattool. SynchroMuse YourProcyonincludesatechnologycalledSynchroMuse,whichallowsyoutocreate compactdiscsorlowlosscompressedaudioformatssuchasWAV,FLAC,AACorOGG thatsynchronizeaudiotrackswithasessionstoredinternallyontheProcyon.In effect,thisactslikeafullcolorversionoftheAudioStrobetechnology.Gotoour supportsitefordetailedinstructionsforcreatingyourownSynchroMusefiles. BesuretovisitourYouTubechannel,forvideotutorialsonhowtousetheEditor, VisualSegmentspreadsheet,etc.:www.youtube.com/user/Themindplace. Tips Ifyouarenotusingoneormoreofthethreecolorsinasegment,turnthe segmentoff;thiswillsavememory. Onewaytocreatea"ganzfeld"istosetthefrequencyto80Hz,whichwill appeartobeauniformfieldoflight. ThebestwaytocreateaganzfeldistosettheAmplitudeto0thenadjustthe DCoffsetvaluebetween127(off)and255(fullon).Allvalueslessthan127will resultinzerobrightness. Sales:www.mindplace.com Support:www.mindplacesupport.com www.youtube.com/user/TheMindplace;www.soundcloud.com/Mindplace ThankstoScottHendricksonforassistanceinpreparingthisGuide. RobertAustin,January2012 ProcyonEditorUser'sGuide
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