Blemote

Blemote is an Android application to control remotely Blender in conjunction with the Add-on AddRoutes (formerly known as "MIDI, OSC and More"). 

Download

Note: If you installed the previous version of Blemote (v0.1), please uninstall it manually before making the upgrade. Minimal Android requirement is v5.0 (Lollipop).

 

You can get the latest version using this LINK or this QR code:

Configuration

After the splashscreen, the first time, you need first to open the Settings Panel by tapping the little grey "S" on the top-left corner of the main screen.

 

You can leave the Input parameters and the Output port as shown on the picture BUT you will need to change the Output address to match the IP of your Blender computer on your local network (it will probably start with 192.168...).

Hint: There is a new facility in AddRoutes to discover that Output address (see below in the Tools chapter). 

Then on Blender you have to go on the Preferences/Addons Panel and search for AddRoutes and unfold its own settings panel.

 

  • Enable Blemote: The link will be established as soon as Blender starts.
  • Server IP/port: 0.0.0.0 allows to receive on all interfaces. For the port you might have to verify they are not blocked by any firewall on your computer.
  • Automatic output configuration: Since it's not easy to know the local IP of an Android device (IP which can be dynamic too), this option let the app automatically send it to Blender. 

If you use the automatic output configuration, then everything should be set. Don't forget to save the Preferences if needed. The Blemote configuration is general for every blender projects, and stored at the Add-on level.

NEW: It's now possible to edit as well theses parameters in the Blemote Config section of the "AddRoutes Config" tab in the Blender viewport (hit "N") who replicates theses preferences settings for the sake of accessibility. 

Tools

There are some new facilities added to the Blemote Config panel (hit "N").

First, as we said earlier the preferences settings are exposed here, don't forget to save manually using the dedicated button.  But there is a new section:

  • Debug Blemote: it will copy a trace of the incoming messages sent from the App in the Addroutes debug pipeline (console or text editor). Note that "blemotized" OSC or MIDI routes won't appear here unless you have enabled accordingly OSC or MIDI debug options. This setting is saved at the project level (not in the preferences).
  • Show the IP's of Blender: As it's not always straightforward to know what IP has the Blender computer on the local network (that you share with the Android App, probably thru wifi), this operator will attempt to display the possibilities for all network interfaces in the INFO window. Then fill the IP that is the good one in the Output port of the Blemote App. Several values can be displayed so open the INFO window to see them all. Note: sometimes the INFO window is a little laggy and you have to click on its window to force the update..

Usage

There are 2 ways to get some sliders in the smartphone or tablet application:

1) "Blemote" as the engine of the routes you create.

This kind of routes is simpler than the OSC and MIDI ones (and is intended for people only interested in the remote application). There is no Send/Receive/Off selector for instance, as it's less a necessity.  

2) You can as well "blemotize" an existing OSC or MIDI route. 

If you have already some realtime routes correctly configured, a "Blemote" check box makes the remote application automatically display the corresponding sliders that can in turn inject values in the Add-on.

Please take in account that in this mode the sliders follow the usual path of the routes, and therefore the routes need to be set on "Receive" or "Both" (and "Rec" if needed). 

Important limitations of this mode:

  • MIDI: only routes set to continuous controller 7bit or 14bit are supported 
  • OSC: properties representing arrays like vector, angles, color are not supported as a whole, but an index can be used on them.
  • multi routes are not supported 

Note: If you clone some OSC/MIDI routes just for a quick test, make sure to change at least the address or the cc7 number. If not one slider might have effect on several routes at once (because a slider is like a virtual device and will "trigger" several route if they have the same settings). 

Slider settings 

They will appear if one of the two Blemotes modes is enabled.

  • min: minimum value 
  • max: maximum value
  • step : minimal possible difference between 2 values (1 for MIDI is advised, 0 means totally discrete)

Categories

In the main screen of the App you will see a little grey "C" button to display a different screen. In this screen you can select a category if you have defined some in AddRoutes. This allows to filter out the sliders that don't belong to the selected category and simplify the display.

System routes have their own category "System" and sliders belonging to it will start with the S letter followed by their number. 

In action

That's all, a few seconds later Blemote should update itself and display the sliders, whatever the 2 modes chosen.

Each slider displays its route number (the Add-on displays this number as well in Blender, or is used by the Debug options).

Moving the sliders should now update the related Blender properties. If not check the Output port and address and/or the Debug reports.  

 

Some final words

This application is very young and bugs can exist. It seems to work as intend nonetheless but further developments are needed to push this first attempt toward a finished tool.

A version for IOS can be made very easily, unfortunately I don't have a MacIntosh, and it's mandatory. I am sure I will find a solution later. Be patient. 

This application will always have a freeware version available (and may be an enhanced Pro version later). Full open source licensing is possible later after enough donation.