7 Making Movies and MIDI Files



A Movie is a record of an M performance.  The reason for making a Movie is to take the compositional material M generates, store it as a MIDI File, and send it to another MIDI program.  


Why MIDI Files?

MIDI Files were first proposed by Dave Oppenheim, the author of Opcode's Sequencer (for the Macintosh), because he believed that no one program could fulfill the demands of every musical situation or provide a universally accepted way of composing.  

MIDI Files allow for the exchange of files between different programs.  You can, for example, use M to produce tracks for Dr. T's Keyboard-Controlled Sequencer.


Making a Movie

To make a Movie, select the Movie icon (GC3) in the Global Control window.  When you click on the Start/Stop button (GC2), turning it "on", the filming will start along with the music.  Everything that happens will be placed in the Movie buffer until you hit the Start/Stop button again, turning it "off".


"Running Out of Film"

There is, of course, a limit to the number of events that can be stored as a Movie, and if you exceed the limit the filming will stop automatically.  In any case, your Movie will be intact as far as it went.  The limit is determined by the amount of free memory available in your Atari.


Saving a Movie

To save a Movie as a MIDI File, select Save Movie File... in the File menu.  Remember to save your MIDI Files with the .MID suffix so that M will find it when it's looking for MIDI Files.


