Timecode Bridge
Set up the PulseMesh Timecode Bridge and wire MTC or LTC into your console.
The bridge currently ships for Windows (x64). macOS and Linux builds are in development.
The Timecode Bridge is a small companion app for the Cloud Player: it runs on a PC at the show site and emits MTC (over a virtual or physical MIDI port) and LTC (over an audio output) in lockstep with your show — so lighting consoles and drone show software chase the same clock your audience hears. It can also run the other way and chase house LTC or MTC instead of generating its own.
It is a single executable: no installer, no admin account — it runs from wherever you unzip it.
Setup
Download the bridge
Download the Windows build here and unzip it anywhere. The folder is the whole install — there is no setup program.
The download is unsigned; a SHA-256 hash is published beside the zip if you want to verify it before running anything:
certutil -hashfile pulsemesh-timecode-bridge-0.1.0-windows-x64.zip SHA256
Install the MIDI runtime (Windows 11)
Run the bundled Microsoft installer once — the file whose name starts with Windows.MIDI.Services. It adds Microsoft's MIDI runtime; with it, the bridge creates its own PulseMesh TC MIDI port every time it starts — nothing to name, nothing to keep running.
The installer is Microsoft's, unmodified (we bundle it so you don't have to find it). It is a release candidate and not yet signed by Microsoft, so SmartScreen may ask the same "More info → Run anyway" as for the bridge itself.
Windows 10, or a Windows 11 that can't take updates
Older Windows cannot create MIDI ports on its own, and the Microsoft installer above won't help. Use loopMIDI (free) instead: install it, create a port named exactly PulseMesh TC, and leave loopMIDI running (it starts with Windows by default). The bridge finds the port by its name, and the bridge page will tell you if it can't.
Run the bridge
Double-click pm_gateway.exe. If Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen, click "More info", then "Run anyway" — the download is unsigned, and the published hash above lets you verify it first.
A console window opens and stays open — that window is the bridge. Minimize it, don't close it.
Open the bridge page
On the same PC, open http://127.0.0.1:9130. The page shows a six-character claim code.
Claim the bridge
Claim the code on your Devices page — from any browser, phones included. The lookup shows the bridge's hardware facts before you bind it to a display. The bridge finishes pairing by itself.
Confirm it's ready
Once paired, the bridge appears under Timecode Bridge on the Devices page with its own status. If it goes offline later — closed window, sleeping PC — Show Control's preflight will say so: the lights can't chase a stopped clock.
Wiring
How the bridge's clock reaches your gear.
SkyBrush
In SkyBrush Server's smpte_timecode config, use "pattern": "*PulseMesh*". The bridge's own port (PulseMesh TC) is already there — nothing to pick on the bridge page.
grandMA and other MTC consoles
Select the PulseMesh TC MIDI port as the console's timecode input and set the console to chase incoming MTC. On Windows 11 the bridge creates that port itself; on Windows 10 it's loopMIDI's port, so leave loopMIDI running.
LTC
Connect an audio output of the bridge PC to your console's or recorder's LTC input.
Chasing a house clock
The bridge can consume house LTC or MTC instead of generating its own, so the show follows your existing clock rather than the other way around. You set this up from Show Control's Timecode panel, not on the bridge page.
Show day
- Set Windows power settings to never sleep. A sleeping PC is a stopped bridge, and SkyBrush faults after 3 seconds of timecode silence.
- Keep the console window running for the whole show — minimized is fine.
Updating
Stop the bridge (close the console window), replace pm_gateway.exe with the new one, and start it again. Your configuration and pairing survive — they live outside the unzipped folder, and the bridge page's footer shows the exact path and the running version. The Microsoft MIDI installer does not need to be run again.
Troubleshooting
If things aren't working after following the steps above, please review the solutions below. If you continue to run into issues, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
Windows won't run the exe or the MIDI installer
Both are unsigned, so SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC". Click "More info", then "Run anyway". If you want assurance first, verify the zip's SHA-256 hash against the one published beside the download.
No MIDI port shows up
On Windows 11, make sure the bundled Windows MIDI Services installer has been run once. On Windows 10, the loopMIDI port name must match PulseMesh TC exactly — the bridge finds it by name. In both cases, the bridge page at http://127.0.0.1:9130 will tell you when it can't find a port.
Show Control reports the bridge offline
The console window was closed, or the PC went to sleep. Start pm_gateway.exe again — pairing survives restarts — and set the power settings so it can't happen mid-show.