The finished, cleaned-up, copy-edited version of this book is available for purchase in PDF, mobi, and epub formats. You get all three formats when you buy the book. Plus, the paid version is where updates are made and contains content not available in the Web version.
While you may not need all the details, it is helpful to know what kinds of data you can use with OSC.
If you are simply setting up some existing components then you can rely on them to send valid data.
If, however, you are crafting your own OSC messages then you will need to know what will work. But at that point you can refer to the specification for the details you need.
DIY
By the way, you do not need to be a programming guru in order to create your own OSC software. There exist tools, such as Processing, that manage much of the complexity for you. If you’ve every written any JavaScript or done any Flash programming then you’ll have no trouble using Processing. If programming is new to you, good news: It’s easy to get started and use Processing.
In fact, there is some free software created for the book Kinect Hacking for Artists that was written in Processing will allow you to do some basic OSC exploration. The program is discussed later on in this book.
Message patterns look much like URLs for Web pages or directory paths on your computer. This similarity is useful in understanding them.
As with Web page and file paths, OSC messages tend to go from the general to the specific.
For example, the music tracker program Renoise (http://www.renoise.com/) has a built-in OSC server. This means you can control your music from, among other things, your phone or tablet, using multi-touch controls. (It’s really quite slick.)
Renoise defines a core set of OSC message it will handle. For example, you can stop and start your song using:
/renoise/transport/start
/renoise/transport/stop
A few things to note: Neither of these messages take any arguments. You don’t pass along any data when your client sends these messages.
Another thing to note is that they bother have /renoise/transport. In fact, all of the Renoise OSC messages begin with /renoise.
You can see all of the built-in Renoise OSC message at http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Open_Sound_Control.
The messages are defined using a set of hierarchies to group like items.
Messages that deal with the playing of a song all fall under /renoise/transport.
Song details are managed by the /renoise/song hierarchy. Here you’ll find a number of /renoise/song/track messages, but also /renoise/song/sequence, /renoise/song/record, and a few others.
There’s no law that says you have structure your OSC messages using a hierarchy or grouping, but it makes things so much easier to understand and manage.
The finished, cleaned-up, copy-edited version of this book is available for purchase in PDF, mobi, and epub formats. You get all three formats when you buy the book.
The paid version is also more current and has additional content not available in the Web version.