` pointer-cc is an app that enables you to control all the control elements of your software instrument using just 4 knobs or sliders of your MIDI controller. Pointer-cc does this by simulating the mouse pointer inside the instrument's window.`

NOTE: The app is in early development and may contain a lot of bugs. Please help me improving the software by submitting error repors or feedback as a Github issue or send to [email protected].

See Demo here:

Some features of pointer-cc:

• Detects the geometry of the software instruments, i.e. you can resize and move the instruments window around
• Supports software instruments that react to "mouse wheel" AND to "dragging up and down"
• Allows controlling many software instruments at the same time: pointer-cc detects the instrument window the pointer is inside and switches configurations dynamically
• No setup in the DAW / Host-application required: pointer-cc only talks to the OS
• Currently only supports software instruments with control elements at static positions, i.e. doesn't support menus or paged/tabbed interfaces

Installation / Download

You can download pointer-cc for both Mac and Windows from the releases page. If you have a newer Mac with an M? chip, download the .dmg file that ends with -arm64. Otherwise, download the .dmg file that ends with -x86_x64. You can verify your Mac type under About This Mac in the Apple menu.

When running the Windows installer, you may encounter a warning about the installer coming from an "Unknown Publisher." This is because I (the author) have not bought a verified certificate, which requires an annual fee of 300 EUR. Optionally, you can add the StefanMattingCA.cer certificate to your trusted root certificates to remove this warning.

Using pointer-cc

Upon first launch on a Mac, pointer-cc will request permissions for both "Screen Recording" and "Accessibility" to function properly. Navigate to "Security & Privacy" in your system settings and ensure permissions are enabled. Please restart the app afterward; sometimes, pointer-cc may not request all necessary permissions on the first attempt, requiring a second restart.

At the bottom of the main window, you can select your MIDI device and channel. If everything is set up correctly, MIDI messages should appear at the bottom as you interact.

To begin using pointer-cc, you'll need to configure instrument settings. Follow these steps:

1. Capture a screenshot of your instrument. Make sure you crop to the exact contents of the window, omit the window bar or borders.
2. Use a paint program (e.g. online jspaint.app, MS Paint or GIMP) to mark all controls with points or rectangles in a distinct color not found in the screenshot. Note the exact RGB color code (e.g., #ff00ff or R = 255, G = 0, B = 255). You can omit controls you're not interested in. Here's an example:

Save the marked screenshot as a PNG file.

3. In pointer-cc, select Add Instrument from the menu and follow the prompts.

After adding the instruments choose Open Config Dir. The configuration directory of pointer-cc contains two types of files:

• config.txt: The main configuration file.

• inst-{some name}.txt: Instrument configuration files (must start with inst- and end with .txt).

The config files use the TOML format.

The main confguration file config.txt looks like this

[bindings]
[bindings.1]
command = "pan-x"
cc = 77

[bindings.2]
command = "pan-y"
cc = 78

[bindings.3]
command = "adjust-control"
cc = 79

[bindings.4]
command = "freewheel"
cc = 80

[midi]
port = "Launch Control XL 0"
channel = 0

In the [bindings] section, you map MIDI control knobs to pointer-cc commands. To determine the correct cc field value, note the control number displayed in the MIDI status bar at the bottom of the pointer-cc window.

The command field specifies the action performed when adjusting the MIDI controller.

• pan-x: pan the cursor horizontally. A CC value 0 pans the pointer all the way left

• pan-x-inv pan the cursor horizonally. A CC value of 127 pans the pointer all the way left

• pan-y pan the cursor vertically. A CC value 0 pans the pointer all the way up

• pan-y-inv pan the cursor vertically. A CC value 127 pans the pointer all the way up

• adjust-control adjust the current control. What mouse pointer action is simulated depends on the configuration of current control element (See instrument configuration below)

• freewheel start freewheeling. While freewheeling you can turn the adjustment knob (knob mapped to adjust-control) in one direction without it having any effect. When you turn the adjustment knob in the other direction freewheeling stops and the adjustment knob has its effect again. Freewheeling is useful if you don't have an endless rotary knob on your midi controller.

The [midi] section updates automatically based on your MIDI settings within the application.

The instrument file that is generated in the "Add Instrument" window is meant to be edited manually after creating it. A typical instrument configuration file, e.g. inst-jupiter8.txt looks like this

[window]
contains = "TAL-J-8"

[default]
type = "wheel"

[default.drag]
speed = 1.0

[default.wheel]
speed = 0.3
time_resolution = 50

[dimensions]
width = 1439
height = 736

[controls]
[controls.c1]
x = 1074
y = 172
m = 1.0

[controls.c2]
type = "click"
x = 1033
y = 177
m = 1.0

• window.contains is used by pointer-cc to find the instrument window. Pick a string here that is contained in the window title of the instrument. It's usually the name of the instrument. Note that the case has to also match (comparison is case-sensitive).

• controls The controls.c1, controls.c2, ... sections correspond to the control elements that you marked in the screenshots. You can see the c? number that belongs to acontrol element in the pointer-cc window when you select it via the panning knobs.

• controls.c1.x: x coordinate of the control element (was extracted from screenshot)

• controls.c1.y: y coordinate of the control element (was extracted from screenshot)

• controls.c1.type (optional): Specifies the type of mouse pointer action simulated by pointer-cc when adjusting the knob associated with control c1. Available values include:

  • drag: Simulates dragging the mouse pointer up or down.

  • wheel: Simulates scrolling the mouse wheel up or down.

  • click: Simulates a mouse click. To trigger a click, quickly turn the adjustment knob down and then up again.

  If no type is specified for a control element (c1), the default type specified by default.type will be used.

• control.c1.m (optional): This parameter acts as a speed multiplier specifically applicable to wheel and drag control types. When set to values smaller than 1.0, it reduces the sensitivity of dragging or wheeling actions, resulting in slower movements. Conversely, values greater than 1.0 increase sensitivity, causing faster dragging or wheeling. Adjust this parameter to fine-tune the responsiveness of the control relative to others. The resulting speed of the controller is calculated as speed * m. If m is not specified, a default value of 1.0 is used.

• control.c1.speed (optional): This parameter defines the speed specifically for the control element. It is recommended not to set this parameter unless you have a specific reason to do so. Instead, it is preferable to establish consistent base speeds for all knobs by setting default.drag.speed and default.wheel.speed. Use control.c1.m to adjust the relative speed of individual controls based on this standardized base speed. This approach ensures uniform behavior across controls and simplifies configuration management.

• default.type the default type of pointer control used by all controls if not explicitely type is defined. Valid values are drag, wheel, click (see above)

• default.drag.speed default setting forspeed for controls that are of type drag

• default.wheel.speed default setting forspeed for controls that are of type wheel

• default.wheel.time_resolution: This setting determines the maximum frequency (in times per second) at which wheel events are sent to the instrument window. If set too high, particularly on Windows systems, rapid adjustment knob turns may cause the operating system to drop wheel events. Conversely, setting it too low can result in overly choppy updates. I recommend experimenting with this value to find an optimal balance. A starting point of 50 times per second often works well to achieve smooth and responsive control.

• dimensions.width and dimensions.height. Defines the dimensions of the whole instruments. All x and y coordinates of control elements relative to it. This is the resolution of the screenshot image.

Acknowledgements

The original idea for this project came from a video by @WoodyPianoShack titled I Fixed The Major Problem With All Software Synths.