out to launch

OUT TO LAUNCH — turns a Novation Launchpad Mini Mk3 into a live 9×9 RGB VIDEO MONITOR. Takes ONE video input, downsamples it to a 9×9 grid on the GPU (each cell is a TAPS×TAPS box-average of its slice of the frame, so it does not alias/flicker on moving video), and pushes those 81 pixels to a BOUND Launchpad's LEDs in real time via the batch-RGB SysEx. The Mini Mk3's WHOLE addressable surface IS a 9×9 grid — the 8×8 pads (11..88) + the top CC row (91..98) + the right scene column (19..89) + the corner logo (99) — and in programmer-mode numbering every button is row*10+col for row/col 1..9, so the downsample maps DIRECTLY onto the hardware, UPRIGHT: the bottom-left of the frame lands on pad 11 (bottom-left), the top-right on the logo (99). It has NO video output — it is a SINK, an endpoint (like a monitor at the end of a chain, except the monitor is a grid of buttons). BIND from the card: Connect (gesture-gated Web-MIDI sysex, no eager prompt) then pick a Launchpad output; bindMonitor claims EXCLUSIVE LED control of that device (it enters programmer mode + its LEDs are driven by the video), so a bound Launchpad CANNOT be used for control at the same time — out to launch takes it over. Two knobs shape the look: BRIGHT (0..1) scales overall LED brightness; GAMMA (0.5..3, default 2.2) deepens/lifts the mid-tones (both applied identically to the LEDs AND the on-card preview, so the preview matches the hardware exactly). Architecture: the module's pure-GL factory box-averages the input into a tiny 9×9 FBO and readPixels the 81 RGBA texels each frame (exposed via read('grid9x9')); the CARD's throttled ~30 fps rAF loop reads that grid, draws the 9×9 preview, maps it to LED colours (monitorGridToLeds), and setMonitorFrame()s it (diffed → only changed LEDs sent, batched into one SysEx ≈413 bytes/frame — trivial over USB-MIDI). pullExempt keeps the readback fresh even when the card is off-screen. The monitor binding is INDEPENDENT of the clip-launcher's L/R units, so out to launch on one Launchpad and LAUNCHPAD CONTROL on another run simultaneously (one owner per physical device; same-device sharing is refused via isOutputClaimed). On unbind / node-delete the device is released (LEDs cleared, returned to Live mode). USAGE: patch a source (CAMERA / a generator / a clip) → VIDEO in, Connect + pick your Launchpad, and dial BRIGHT/GAMMA — a tiny confidence monitor, a lo-fi VJ output, or lighting a Launchpad from a live feed. The pure surface mapping (lpMonitorIndex / rgb8ToLp / monitorGridToLeds) lives in $lib/control/launchpad/launchpad-sysex.

out to launch turns a Novation Launchpad Mini Mk3 into a live 9x9 RGB video monitor. Patch any video source into it, and it downsamples that frame to a 9x9 grid on the GPU (each cell is a box-average of its slice of the frame, so it doesn't alias or flicker on moving video) and mirrors those 81 pixels onto the Launchpad's LEDs in real time. The Mini Mk3's whole addressable surface is a 9x9 grid — the 8x8 pads plus the top control row, the right scene column, and the corner logo — so the picture maps straight onto the hardware, upright, with the bottom-left of the frame on the bottom-left pad. Bind a device from the card (Connect, then pick a Launchpad); once bound it becomes a screen and its LEDs are driven by the video, so it can't be used for control at the same time (out to launch takes it over). It has no video output — it's an endpoint, like plugging a monitor into the end of a chain, except the monitor is a grid of buttons. Two knobs shape the look: BRIGHT scales overall LED brightness and GAMMA deepens or lifts the mid-tones. The on-card 9x9 preview shows exactly what the LEDs show, so you can dial it in without hardware. Great for a tiny confidence monitor, a lo-fi VJ output, or lighting a Launchpad from a camera/generator feed.

the faceplate

inputs

params

controls

source

out-to-launch.ts on GitHub.