MuTools

muzycian · Post by **muzycian** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:46 pm

Finally, LUNA PreRelease 5 is here

LUNA PR5 features a vastly improved workflow thanks to the new Rack System.

All kinds of plugins (both audio and midi) can easily be inter-connected, and used to full extent.

And on top of this, many other detailed improvements have enriched LUNA's feature set.

While LUNA is even easier to use than ever before.

Check it out here: http://www.mutools.com/products.html

Enjoy Being Creative!

Jo

http://www.MUTOOLS.com

=======================
What's new in LUNA PR5
=======================

* New: RACK System (replaces the Mixer Strips and Players)
* New: Part Property Panel (replaces the Player Panel)
* New: Export to MIDI file
* New: Mixdown function for sequence parts (via the part's context menu)
* New: Neat progress bar during Mixdown
* New: Sequence function "Quantize Note Lengths"
* New: Sequence function "Make Triggered Notes"
* New: Sequence function "End Notes At"
* New: Sequence function "Modify Times"
* New: Sequence function "Modify Keys"
* New: Sequence function "Modify Velocities"
* New: Sequence function "Modify Lengths"
* New: Sequence function "Modify Values 2"
* New: List Editor: context menu with Part and Sequence functions
* New: List Editor: when editing a value while multiple selection -> option to copy the edited value to all selecteds
* New: Dialogs now show a colored rectangle around the component with keyboard focus
* New: Plugins can be (internally) renamed => easy to distinguish between different instances of same plugin
* New: File Browser now has "Desktop" and "Favorites" buttons

* Tuned: You can access the plugin context menu (rename,assign controller,...) from the plugin editor via right-click
* Tuned: Track Mute Icons have more balanced size
* Tuned: Windows: On Exit, "Exit without Save" -> "Quit without Save", as then you can simply quit with a 2nd Q
* Tuned: Very short and triggered notes are also properly displayed in Key Editor
* Tuned: If you click a rack plugin slot to choose a plugin, that rack is also automatically focussed
* Tuned: Improved VST engine
* Tuned: Note offs always get priority against note ons
* Tuned: In Rack slot list: "Bypass" has been replaced by "None"
* Tuned: A multi-channel audio signal (> 2 channels) will not be touched by the Racks' stereo panner (volume will be applied though)
* Tuned: Improved menu system
* Tuned: Choose Target: Groups are initially closed for a more neat/easy feel of choice
* Tuned: Main Menu has been moved to top left as that place is more conform
* Tuned: Editing numeric values: optimized mouse sliding range
* Tuned: Editing time and length values: optimized user interface
* Tuned: Parameter types are also editable in List Editor

* Fixed: Crash bug when splitting a part on or outside its bounds, then doing Undo
* Fixed: Editing plugs via the default editor caused a crash when that plug has 0 parameters
* Fixed: Sometimes LUNA could crash on exit

* And other fine tunings

* Updated documentation

mahtazz · Post by **mahtazz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:57 pm

Thanks a lot!

pljones · Post by **pljones** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:59 pm

Argh, I'm excited and I won't have time to play until the weekend!

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:19 pm

By the time I read through the "new" and "tuned" list, it almost sounds like a whole new program! I'm looking forward to my test drive. Meanwhile, I find myself wondering: Does the new rack system affect compatibility with existing .musession files?

DaveL

muzycian · Post by **muzycian** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:28 pm

Yes, but not dramatically.

PR4 musession files are for 90% loaded fine in PR5, and if you do some manual work, you can get it to 100%

Read more about it here: http://www.mutools.com/luna/PR4-PR5-Transition.txt

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:59 am

Hi, Jo,

Great to see PR5. I've loaded up a song and moved the VSTs as recommended in that write-up. I'm wondering if I've missed something because I'm getting some odd behavior with rack levels and soloing. I've got three VSTis, each fed from a single track, each in a rack. The faders in each rack change what the meter displays but don't CHANGE the actual audio level to the output. Also, if I solo a track, I hear only the sequences on that track, BUT if I solo the corresponding rack, the meters in the other racks drop to zero but I still hear the audio output from those VSTis.

Is there some other tweak I need to do? Does this have something to do with where the Pre / Post location is relative to the VSTi?

Two other things:

1) What's the meaning of the little slider & meter icon that appears on the MIDI parts?

2) Do you still want the solo context menu on racks to say "Solo Strip / Unsolo Strip" or should that change to "Solo Rack / Unsolo Rack"?

DaveL

muzycian · Post by **muzycian** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:00 am

DaveL60 wrote:Hi, Jo,

Great to see PR5. I've loaded up a song and moved the VSTs as recommended in that write-up. I'm wondering if I've missed something because I'm getting some odd behavior with rack levels and soloing. I've got three VSTis, each fed from a single track, each in a rack. The faders in each rack change what the meter displays but don't CHANGE the actual audio level to the output. Also, if I solo a track, I hear only the sequences on that track, BUT if I solo the corresponding rack, the meters in the other racks drop to zero but I still hear the audio output from those VSTis. Is there some other tweak I need to do? Does this have something to do with where the Pre / Post location is relative to the VSTi?

YES!

It's indeed something which might be a bit confusing at first sight.

But it's 100% logical: if you put a synth in slot 1, and that's the first post-fader slot, then the rack's volume fader cannot control the synth's output anymore, as it's already post-fader

But i've been thinking to change the default settings of a rack so that slot 3 is the first post-fader slot by default. That way, starting with a new empty project, you can easily plug in a synth in slot 1 and it's still pre-fader.

(i've updated the PR4-PR5-Transition.txt with a note about this)

Two other things:

1) What's the meaning of the little slider & meter icon that appears on the MIDI parts?

It's just the icon of the target you're sending at, in this case it's the Rack icon, which is still the same as the previous mixer strip icon. Maybe the icon should be updated to reflect more of a rack?

2) Do you still want the solo context menu on racks to say "Solo Strip / Unsolo Strip" or should that change to "Solo Rack / Unsolo Rack"?

No, you're right! Thanks!

mahtazz · Post by **mahtazz** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:22 am

Racks are a great improvement, Jo.

Caco · Post by **Caco** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:57 am

Hey Jo,

Great update!! I really like the whole rack idea, its made it really quick and simple to set up MIDI effects and audio send chains

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:28 am

muzycian wrote:
DaveL60 wrote:Does this have something to do with where the Pre / Post location is relative to the VSTi?
YES!

It's indeed something which might be a bit confusing at first sight.

But it's 100% logical: if you put a synth in slot 1, and that's the first post-fader slot, then the rack's volume fader cannot control the synth's output anymore, as it's already post-fader

But i've been thinking to change the default settings of a rack so that slot 3 is the first post-fader slot by default. That way, starting with a new empty project, you can easily plug in a synth in slot 1 and it's still pre-fader.

I think that would be a good change, since a beginner who still hasn't grasped a lot of the signal flow issues would take a lot longer to puzzle out why the fader "doesn't work" than us more experienced types.

I've also got an idea about the GUI for this that I'll propose as soon as I get a little time to work up an example of what I'm thinking to post.

DaveL

Caco · Post by **Caco** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:46 am

DaveL60 wrote:
muzycian wrote:
DaveL60 wrote:Does this have something to do with where the Pre / Post location is relative to the VSTi?
YES!

It's indeed something which might be a bit confusing at first sight.

But it's 100% logical: if you put a synth in slot 1, and that's the first post-fader slot, then the rack's volume fader cannot control the synth's output anymore, as it's already post-fader

But i've been thinking to change the default settings of a rack so that slot 3 is the first post-fader slot by default. That way, starting with a new empty project, you can easily plug in a synth in slot 1 and it's still pre-fader.
I think that would be a good change, since a beginner who still hasn't grasped a lot of the signal flow issues would take a lot longer to puzzle out why the fader "doesn't work" than us more experienced types. I've also got an idea about the GUI for this that I'll propose as soon as I get a little time to work up an example of what I'm thinking to post.

DaveL

Yes I agree, also it wasn't immediately obvious ( to me at least ) that you could click to move the pre / post position. Perhaps that could be made to look a bit more button or slider like ?

muzycian · Post by **muzycian** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:47 am

I'm curious about your gui idea.

Chance is real that we have the same idea: showing how the signal really flows, a bit like the picture in the docs: http://www.mutools.com/luna/docs/racks.html

And by clicking, you can change the signal flow, i.e. the pre/post switching.

Is that your idea too?

fgimian · Post by **fgimian** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:20 pm

Any chance of getting ReWire in this host ? Looks really nice

Fots

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:33 pm

muzycian wrote:I'm curious about your gui idea.

Chance is real that we have the same idea: showing how the signal really flows, a bit like the picture in the docs: http://www.mutools.com/luna/docs/racks.html

And by clicking, you can change the signal flow, i.e. the pre/post switching.

Is that your idea too?

Essentially, yes. Hadn't gotten to the change it by clicking part yet; I was only thinking of making the signal flow more visual / obvious.

Guess I'll save the time I might have spent whipping up a graphic!

DaveL

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:39 pm

One other thought: any chance of expanding the send control with a panning option, somehow? I'm thinking of feeding something like a vocoder effect, where the carrier and modulation inputs need to be panned fully left and right. If I want to use my drum audio as the modulator, the only way I see right now to have both the stereo audio and the hard-panned modulator input is to use a rack (whoops, almost wrote "mixer strip"

) as an intermediate stage just to get the panning. Seems like panning in the send control (maybe with stereo -> mono conversion as a send option) would be an easier way to do that.

DaveL