OSC Controls

In this article:

• Global Controls
• OSC Controls for Live Effects
• Learning Command Paths
• Sending OSC Commands through sendosc

Open Sound Control is a protocol that was originally developed for communication between synthesizers, musical instruments, and other multimedia devices but has transformed into a popular tool for interactive installations, particularly as an alternative for MIDI. Lightform devices can be controlled through OSC to create interactive experiences. The information and tables on this page include all the information you need to know when mapping OSC controls with other applications.

The first two things to know when working with OSC are the IP Address and Port.

• IP Address: This is the IP address of your Lightform device. You can find this by going to the Control page in Lightform Creator and it is listed as Hostname.
• Port: The port for all Lightform devices is 8000

To control a specific property such as switching to the next slide or increasing the speed of an effect, you need to know some information about it so you can control it by sending an OSC message from another application.

OSC Messages can consist of three parts:

1. Command Path: an OSC-string beginning with the character '/' (forward slash)
2. Type Tag: Lightform properties use the following types:
   • f : float (a number that has a decimal place)
   • b : boolean
   • i : integer
3. Argument(s): The actual value you want to set, which is a number within a range

For example, to decrease the brightness of the projection to half, you would send the message: /brightness f 0.5

Global Controls

The following table includes information about Global properties that can be controlled through OSC. Global properties can be controlled simply by sending a message with just the command path except for brightness and set slide, those require a type tag and argument as well.