VCI 400 Overlay Sticker
VCI 400 Overlay Sticker Posted on: 07.08.2012 by Donald Tuetken Goal: I'd like to ask the opinions and expertise of controllerists and DJs out there (using or interested in using the Ean Golden Mapping for the VCI-400), about a custom sticker overlay. My Background: I started with a standard VCI-400 and asked DJTechTools to install the custom firmware needed to use the EG mapping. Success. Action: Next step for me is the overlay sticker. DJTT is looking into getting more of these in the future, sold separately. In the meantime, I made my own for you and me. Not a critical need if a user simply studies the controller enough, but a visual representation can go a long way (especially when you work in the dark). See attached image. - What are your thoughts, recommendations? - Is it accurate? - Does it make sense to you? - What would you change? You can take a lot of control over the design/content if you have the right software. My intention was to make a transitional overlay sticker for the users, including myself and make it somewhat ideal and supportive of the powerful Ean Golden mapping. High resolution vector file will be made available soon. Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks and play on! VCI-400-EG-Overlay-Mapping-template.jpg https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30481523/VC...g-template.png P.S. If I find a custom sticker company, through Vestax or other, who can handle the production, I'll be sure and include that information. | |
| Julian Ispas 05.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by quickswitch
the colored layout pdf is the same size as the dimension layout pdf **i compare this by setting both pdf to 100%, and print screen, paste it to paint, then cut, then layout it over on the other one**. so i'm assuming if you were just to print out the pdf (set it to 100%) it will not fit. There out some layouts that came with the controllers, but i haven't use it yet. when i get home i'm going to compare them with the online pdf's |
| Donald Tuetken 05.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Kensic
To help assist, I started with the color-PDF from the Vestax website, converted it over to a usable vector file, and went from there. Though, I am not sure yet if that is accurate--I assume it is, for it looked like the default overlays. I don't mind helping pose your concern to Vestax anyway. |
| Pierre Massner 12.03.2013 | Great, thanks so much for the info. I'm was believeing of an EGE but the altered functionality isn't really that much use to me. What I'm now wondering is the feasability of powder-coating the top plate and filter knobs and whether it would void my warranty. That said, if the cost of powder-coating is greater than the diff between vanilla and EGE 400 then I may just drop for the EGE and be done. Weird, I just have a some feeling somewhere that the vanilla 400 might serve me better than an EGE... I'm not a huge glitcher, cue-jumper, more like long mixes, dubbed-out freeze delays, filter-mixing and fairly simple loop use. I am fairly happy with some mapping but don't want to spend weeks on it as I don't have the time. |
| Donald Tuetken 12.03.2013 | I have not moved forward with an order from Vestax yet. With a number of mapping versions since the original post, and the eventual self-memorization of the controller itself, I've held off on the order for now. I still may get it done eventually, mainly for a visual customization. The labels on the sticker overlay, in some cases will need to be less specific though, so that they remain valid past future updates. Since there is a minimum quantity required, and one user doesn't necessarily need 100 sticker overlays, my next mission is to see if other users of this controller are interested in contributing to the purchase. For example, instead of 1 person paying a few hundred dollars, if a few users would be OK paying $20 each (let's say). |
| Pierre Massner 11.03.2013 | Did this ever move forward? |
| Donald Tuetken 15.10.2012 | @Kevin, Fortunately, the best printer solution found thus far was the one Vestax utilized, so we're sticking with them. What that means for us is, the overlay sheets should be quite similar to how the standard overlays are (i.e. Material, Layout, Pieces, etc). With a custom order, I suppose there's a chance there may be an extra sheet with pieces on it, but I will find out for sure. To clarify, the supplier I am pursuing is the same one who created the standard overlay for the VCI400. As far as DJTT communications on mass distribution, I am not sure what you mean specifically. My understanding is there's not a stand-alone Firmware kit being sold yet. Not sure if that answers your question though. I am actively working with the printer this week and will tweak the design a bit to create more contrast (text to background). Also, still do not know yet about a glow-in-the-dark option. Stay tuned. Best regards, QuickSwitch |
| Classie Alvizo 14.10.2012 | hey Can I ask, are people planning to get all of the individual stickers on that PDF printed separately, as they come in the standard VCI box? Or are you combining them into one large sticker for the whole face of the VCI? My (FAR!) preferred solution would be the latter to be honest. Rather than messing about with lots of small stickers I just assumed we would be designing one large, full sized sticker similar to what your get for the VCI-100 overlay. Pull all the faders and knobs off, stick it on, faders etc back on and done you've a fully covered and labelled VCI-400. Even better if we could use the same supplier that DJTT uses for the VCI-100 overlays, its a very thick plastic like material rather than paper/vinyl which is MUCH thicker and more hard wearing than any normal overlay/sticker I have seen. I do also agree than if we could make the text on the overlay a lighter grey, much closer to white, it would help visibility a lot in dark clubs. However this is all a bit academic until we find out if DJTT are planning widespread release of the firmware etc. I havent been on the site much in the last few weeks so may have missed an announcement but things seem to have gone all quiet on that front? k |
| Julian Ispas 10.10.2012 | haha no worries. i have almost got all the dimensions down, alot of measuring, but when its done, ill make sure to share with everyone. |
| Donald Tuetken 11.10.2012 | Hey Kensic. I also agree with you, having labels, the expected costs, wait times, adjustments, and design work needed: having the overlay is not a critical requirement to perform. Vestax's answer, I pasted in as is though. Although I didn't fully understand the "black line cuts" comment. Vestax may have in fact messed up the PDF/EPS available online, or the printer company in Japan may operate differently than US printers, or there is an intentional 1mm off-set. I'll press Vestax for more information--I feel I need to speak directly to their design team on this one. If I move ahead with a custom sticker, I simply want to absorb the opinions of others, so that the overlay works for more than just me. But we obviously need the template accurate. I hope to have more info and hear from other users. |
| Julian Ispas 10.10.2012 | Hi quickswitch, to get this out of the way, i don't want to buy anything from japan. overlays aren't important. so they are saying that the dimensions in the tooling kit pdf is to set up the machines. and if someone were to physically measure the layouts after the machining it would be totally different? sorry but i find that hard to believe. i believe they really messed up on these dimensions in the tooling kit pdf. because they are wayyyyyyy off. its like me trying to put on a shift of a 10 years old kid. |
| Donald Tuetken 10.10.2012 | Kensic, and all, Thanks for chiming in on this and sharing your expertise. I got a response back from Vestax, "Basically, the PDF on our website may not be totally exact as if your cut follows tha black lines! The black lines are in fact slightly bigger, in order to be cut correctly by the printing vendor without mistake (it's the "1mm loss margin" standard for every printing factory) That user can use our PDF to create his design, however if he prints it out he will have to supply the tooling file to his vendor. This tooling file features all the required dimensions to prepare the cutting at the correct dimensions. We can print that here in Japan with a good quality (much better than supplied overlays). Delay is about two weeks, but price is quite expensive (10 000JPY or so). I can let you know later the final cost if your customer is interested. Let me check about the glow in the dark." Action Items (for me and anyone who wants to contribute):
Option: Unless we can find another company that is capable of handling the 1mm off-set, providing the glow-in-the-dark feature, in the form of a matte sticker that can easily be re-applied... it may be best to stick with the same vendor in Japan. Info: 10,000.00 JPY = $ 127.683 USD |
| Julian Ispas 05.10.2012 | so what i'll probably do is take out my good old engineering calibers and measure the controller manually |
| Julian Ispas 05.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by quickswitch
the colored layout pdf is the same size as the dimension layout pdf **i compare this by setting both pdf to 100%, and print screen, paste it to paint, then cut, then layout it over on the other one**. so i'm assuming if you were just to print out the pdf (set it to 100%) it will not fit. There out some layouts that came with the controllers, but i haven't use it yet. when i get home i'm going to compare them with the online pdf's |
| Donald Tuetken 05.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Kensic
To help assist, I started with the color-PDF from the Vestax website, converted it over to a usable vector file, and went from there. Though, I am not sure yet if that is accurate--I assume it is, for it looked like the default overlays. I don't mind helping pose your concern to Vestax anyway. |
| Julian Ispas 05.10.2012 | http://help.vestax.co.jp/ja/usr_data...el_tooling.pdf just to let everyone know, these dimensions do not fit. i drew this up in CAD, printed it and it doesn't fit. am i assuming unit is "mm". |
| Donald Tuetken 04.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Kensic
Still waiting to hear back from them, so stay tuned. If you care to take some liberties with the Design file, I'll forward it to you? It's in Adobe Illustrator. Just let me know. I haven't had issues before witch surface scratches or scuffs, but the possibility is still there. When in transit, I pack and cushion the hell out my controllers and any other hardware I have, if doable. |
| Julian Ispas 03.10.2012 | you know what we should, a basic lay of the entire controller...so that you can print in those clear plastic and lay it over the controller to keep the faceplate from scratching and stuff. i believe imma do that |
| Donald Tuetken 23.09.2012 | Great suggestion. I am currently working with a vendor with Vestax and will request for a glow-in-the-dark material. If you believe the template itself could benefit from some changes, please respond here. DJTT may also be acquiring stand-alone sticker overlays soon, so if I hear anything, I'll also respond to this thread. Cheers, QuickSwitch |
| Cris Hasenbein 23.09.2012 | Hello, I just bought the VCI-400 EGE. Maybe because I'm just starting to get familiar with it, but boy I wish the text on the template wasn't black. Maybe when I get really familiar I will change my mind about it, but on the mean time I wish the text glowed in the dark. Is anyone, by any chance, making overlay templates that can glow in the dark, bet it would look really cool with black light! |
| Leeanna Ayla 19.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by quickswitch
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| Donald Tuetken 19.08.2012 | Shortened the original response to help. To be more concise: 1. Did you flash a normal VCI-400 with the DJTT firmware? Yes. I ordered a standard VCI-400 and later decided to do the Ean Golden firmware flash. 2. If you did, how did you do it? Mailed my hardware directly to DJTT in California, pre-paid shipping to/from. DJ TT charged a minor fee for the parts/labor. They performed the operation. This was all worked out via phone/email conversations to coordinate. |
| Leeanna Ayla 19.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by quickswitch
1. Did you flash a normal VCI-400 with the DJTT firmware? 2. If you did, how did you do it? |
| Donald Tuetken 18.08.2012 | Kevin, PhotoJojo, Everything that I can tell works, as DJTT instructs in their documentation and videos. I have not done macros yet, I need to research that. I've tested the controller out many times already. I'm not sure what firmware version originally came with the standard controller. I made the purchase about 5 months ago if that helps. I surely did not request or acquire another firmware upgrade beyond the EG firmware. Firmware Only Release: No estimate for a wider/sale release, according to DJTT's responses. At first DJTT considered 2-3 months to market. Now it seems longer and less likely. Sticker: I hope using the company Vestax used for printing purposes is available--Chris & Ean stated they're looking into it. The problem I'm finding with other vendors is they require such a high minimum order and they charge quite a bit. I simply desire less than 5 custom sticker overlays. Still researching and getting estimates. I co-sign, a one-piece would be great. But if I have to apply the sticker in sections, I'll make do. Recognizing that a user must moreso memorize and get comfortable with their controller, what do you believe about the mapping design I did? Do you recommend changing anything? Does it make sense? Let me know if I have answered all of your concerns. I appreciate your feedback. |
| Classie Alvizo 11.08.2012 | hahaha I suspect your post is about to open a whole can of worms, so i'll try and get all the questions people will ask a million times in one post save you having to constantly repeat yourself Can i just confirm for everyone that I'm reading your post correct and you have flashed a standard, off the shelf VCI-400 with the custom DJTT firmware and it worked fine? It is now able to use the DJTT mapping and access all of the features, perform all of the macros and FX stuff etc? Was this the "version 1" of the firmware that was originally released or was it an upgrade including the standalone mixer functions? If this is indeed working, have DJTT indicated a timescale for wider sale/release? In terms of the overlay, obviously DJTT have provided these in the past for the VCI-100 and they were superb quality, the plasticy material was great and very hardwearing, so would using that company again not be an option for getting new overlays done? Having a one piece overlay that can just be stuck straight on would be great and indeed would be even easier to do than the VCI-100 as it wont have to bend round the curved edges like it does on a 100. k |
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