Nintendo Wii Nunchuck to USB Midi for Theatre Purposes.
I wanted a way for an assistent to comfortably trigger Qlab/Theatremix software during our shows. We used to use a Streamdeck for this task but found the buttons had a tendancy to stick or be mispressed.
Here is a demo of it in action:
This solution is achieved with the following hardware:
- Nintendo Wii Nunchuck (Everybody has one of these kicking around somewhere! They can be found for a few $$ on Aliexpress)
- Adafruit QT Py RP2040 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4900
- Adafruit Wii Nunchuck Breakout Adapter - Qwiic / STEMMA QT https://www.adafruit.com/product/4836
- STEMMA QT / Qwiic JST SH 4-Pin Cable - 50mm Long https://www.adafruit.com/product/4399
- Self 3d Printed case (See STL Folder)
Software: The Qt Py Rp2040 is running a simple Circuit Python script which you can find here. This tells the Qt Py to emulate a USB Midi device which is then set up with Qlab (or SCS on Windows) to send OSC commands to Theatremix.
I have coded the Z & C Button as my primary Go and Back buttons for Theatremix, they will thusly turn the status LED Green and Red/White when triggered. The joysticks 4 cardinal extremities (Up/Down/Left/Right) provide 4 more midi signals to do with what you will in Qlab, in my example video I have them navigating around the Theatremix interface.