• 2025-03-16
  • 3-minute read

Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology / (ICST) Zurich University of the Arts

OSC Syntax for the ICST AmbiEncoder Plugin

The ICST AmbiEncoder supports OSC and JavaScript, enabling seamless communication with OSC tools such as TouchOSC, IanniX, MaxMSP, and other OSC-enabled software.

How It Works

  1. Open the ‘OSC In’ tab.

OSC IN-OUT

_Figure: Encoder Setting ‘OSC In’ receives over the port 50001

Find all information in the Help section by clicking the question mark (?).

OSC In

  • Receive OSC: Receive OSC commands on the defined port (default: 50001). The full OSC specification is available in the plugin’s Help section.
  • Send Positions for External Usage: This function sends audio source positions as OSC messages to a defined target/port. Messages trigger position changes, and the update rate is limited to 20Hz (50ms).

OSC Syntax & Address Specification

1. Accessing OSC Specifications

Click the question mark in the ICST AmbiEncoder. osc-in-help

Figure: OSC specifications in the Help section.

Available sections:

  • Help (?)
  • OSC Syntax
  • Sections

2. Incoming OSC Messages

Messages can be:

  • Index-based (source index), e.g., 1
  • Name-based (source name), e.g., flute

Set Source Position (AED Format)

	/icst/ambi/source/aed [ChannelName] [Azimuth] [Elevation] [Distance]
	/icst/ambi/source/aed 'S1' 45 10 0.8

Set Source Position (XYZ Format)

	/icst/ambi/source/xyz [ChannelName] [X] [Y] [Z]
	/icst/ambi/source/xyz 'S2' 0.2 0.2 0.0

Note: The channel name (e.g S1, S2) will be sent as symbol.

Set Source (Index) Position (AED Format)

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed [ChannelIndex] [Azimuth] [Elevation] [Distance]
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed 1 45 10 0.8

Set Source (Index) Position (XYZ Format)

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz [ChannelIndex] [X] [Y] [Z]
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz 2 0.2 0.2 0.0

Note: Channel indices are sent as integers.

Sending Positions for External Usage

  1. Open the ‘OSC Out’ tab.

OSC IN-OUT

Note: The ICST AmbiPlugins standard format sends source names as symbols. Max users should define a Custom OSC Message:

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz {i} {x} {y} {z}
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed {i} {a} {e} {d}

OSC-Out

Figure: Custom ‘OSC Out’ Editor

Internal OSC Communication

To send all AmbiEncoder movements to the ICST AmbiDecoder:

  1. Deactivate Speaker Edit Mode in the AmbiDecoder.
  2. Activate the OSC port.

Edit_off

Intern_osc_port

OSC_internal

Now, the AmbiDecoder receives all OSC messages from all connected AmbiEncoders.

Steps to Send OSC Messages

AmbiEncoder can also send most of its parameters via OSC.

External-osc

Open the question mark before the presets to get detailed help information.

  1. Enable “Send Positions for External Usage” in the settings.

  2. In the Targets section:

    • Enable or disable OSC transmission.
    • Define the Host IP address.
    • Select a Port (default: 50001).
    • Double-click OSC messages to edit.

    Note: If participating in an internal FX learning program, select “Continuous” mode.

  3. Click Help (?) for detailed OSC information.

  4. Add or delete OSC messages.

  5. Save or load OSC messages in Presets.

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