vMix EmberPlus Bridge

Overview

The vMix EmberPlus Bridge is a Node.js application that acts as a bridge between a vMix instance and EmberPlus clients, such as Lawo's VSM.

It performs the following functions:

• Monitors vMix Status:

  • Tally Updates: Receives a string like TALLY OK 0121... where each digit represents the tally state for an input (0 = off, 1 = program, 2 = preview).
  • ACTS Updates: Receives individual lines such as:
    • ACTS OK Recording 1
    • ACTS OK MultiCorder 0
    • ACTS OK Streaming 1
      These indicate the statuses for Recording, MultiCorder, and Streaming respectively.

• Exposes an EmberPlus Provider Tree:
  The tree includes:

  • Studio1A Subtree:
    • Program Tally (for up to 32 inputs)
    • Preview Tally (for up to 32 inputs)
    • vMix Connected flag (boolean)
    • ACTS Status subtree with nodes for Recording, MultiCorder, and Streaming (boolean)
  • Functions Subtree:
    Contains the following function nodes:
    • Auto Mix 1 (sends FUNCTION CUT)
    • Stinger 1 (sends FUNCTION STINGER1)
    • Stinger 2 (sends FUNCTION STINGER2)
    • Stinger 3 (sends FUNCTION STINGER3)
    • Stinger 4 (sends FUNCTION STINGER4)
    • Transition 1 (sends FUNCTION TRANSITION1)
    • Transition 2 (sends FUNCTION TRANSITION2)
    • Transition 3 (sends FUNCTION TRANSITION3)
    • Transition 4 (sends FUNCTION TRANSITION4)
  • Matrices Subtree:
    Contains an example matrix.

• Function Invocation:
  When an EmberPlus function is invoked (via an EmberPlus client), the bridge sends the corresponding vMix command (if the TCP connection is active).

• Robust Connection Handling:
  If the vMix TCP connection fails, the bridge uses an exponential back-off strategy (with delays of 2, 4, 8, 16, then 30 seconds) to attempt reconnection. The "vMix Connected" node in the EmberPlus tree reflects the connection status.

Requirements

• Node.js (v12 or later recommended)
• npm (Node Package Manager)

Installation

Docker

docker run -p 9000:9000 -e VMIX_HOST=<your_vmix_host> -e VMIX_PORT=8099 mattlamb99/vmix-emberplus-bridge

Locally

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd <repository_directory>

2. Install Dependencies:

   npm install
   
   This project depends on:
   

• emberplus-connection
• chalk

Configuration

By default, the bridge expects the vMix instance to be available on localhost port 8099. If your vMix instance is running on a different host or port, set ENV variables VMIX_HOST and or VMIX_PORT

const VMIX_HOST = 'localhost';
const VMIX_PORT = 8099;

Usage

Run the bridge with:

node bridge.js

The application will:

• Start the EmberPlus server on port 9000.
• Attempt to connect to vMix and subscribe to both TALLY and ACTS updates.
• Update the EmberPlus tree with live data:
• • Tally Updates for Program and Preview tallies.
• • ACTS Updates for Recording, MultiCorder, and Streaming statuses.
• • vMix Connected status.
• Listen for function invocations and, if triggered, send the corresponding commands to vMix.

EmberPlus Tree Structure

vMix
 ├─ Studio
 │    ├─ Program Tally
 │    │      └─ Input 1 … Input 32 (boolean values)
 │    ├─ Preview Tally
 │    │      └─ Input 1 … Input 32 (boolean values)
 │    ├─ vMix Connected (boolean)
 │    └─ ACTS Status
 │           ├─ Recording (boolean)
 │           ├─ MultiCorder (boolean)
 │           └─ Streaming (boolean)
 ├─ Functions
 │    ├─ Auto Mix 1 (FUNCTION CUT)
 │    ├─ Stinger 1 (FUNCTION STINGER1)
 │    ├─ Stinger 2 (FUNCTION STINGER2)
 │    ├─ Stinger 3 (FUNCTION STINGER3)
 │    ├─ Stinger 4 (FUNCTION STINGER4)
 │    ├─ Transition 1 (FUNCTION TRANSITION1)
 │    ├─ Transition 2 (FUNCTION TRANSITION2)
 │    ├─ Transition 3 (FUNCTION TRANSITION3)
 │    └─ Transition 4 (FUNCTION TRANSITION4)
 └─ Matrices
       └─ Test Matrix (example)

vMix TCP API Subscriptions

TALLY Updates:

Sent using: SUBSCRIBE TALLY

Responses (e.g., TALLY OK 0121...) update the Program and Preview tallies for each input.

ACTS Updates:

Sent using: SUBSCRIBE ACTS

Responses update the corresponding ACTS statuses for:

• Recording
• MultiCorder
• Streaming

Function Commands

The following functions send the corresponding commands to vMix when invoked:

Ember Function	vMix Command
Auto Mix 1	FUNCTION CUT
Stinger 1	FUNCTION STINGER1
Stinger 2	FUNCTION STINGER2
Stinger 3	FUNCTION STINGER3
Stinger 4	FUNCTION STINGER4
Transition 1	FUNCTION TRANSITION1
Transition 2	FUNCTION TRANSITION2
Transition 3	FUNCTION TRANSITION3
Transition 4	FUNCTION TRANSITION4

Error Handling & Reconnection

If the vMix TCP connection is lost:

• The vMix Connected node is updated to false.
• The bridge logs a human-readable error message.
• A reconnection attempt is scheduled with exponential back-off:
• • 2 seconds, then 4 seconds, then 16 seconds, and finally 30 seconds between attempts.
• When the connection is re-established, the vMix Connected node is updated to true and the bridge resubscribes to both TALLY and ACTS updates.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributions

Pull requests & help is welcome.

Acknowledgments

vMix TCP API Documentation EmberPlus and the EmberPlus Connection Library. Chalk for colorized logging.