SonicBirth v2 alpha

[Kewl]

I have a problem exporting: I was able to export one plug-in in AU and VST, but none after that because SB will export it, but with the same name as the first patch I exported. The "name" field in properties are different, but SB wants to give them all the same name...

If you relaunch the app before opening another document, does it still have this issue ?

OK, it's weirder than that: it seems that SB is exporting the plug-ins as "invisible" files! I used a utility to make invisible files visible and, lo and behold, they appear!

[Musik Man]

If you want to sell a video or a song via the iTunes Store, Apple takes up to 30% (same for apps, books). Other sites may charge less, but they all take a cut. Selling on your own is unlikely to generate any significant sales volume.

Also, videos/songs made via Apple/Cubase tools do not contain any copyrights related to these tools. An exported audio plugin contains a large portion of copyrighted software code.

If you sell it yourself, you'll have to pay for hosting, bandwidth, and a payment processor (who will take its cut, depending on how much you handle yourself, it will be between 2% and 8%). You'll also have to make your own marketing/visibility which you won't have without a central marketplace.

All of this is very likely to end up costing more than paying a commission, unless you have important volume.

Either way, you either have fixed costs + smaller commission to pay (but non-zero), or no fixed costs and higher commission (but with added value, less work).

I've been selling Mac apps for 10 years. I know from experience that selling by yourself doesn't always maximize revenue.

Anyway, I'll consider it, but a commercial license is likely to be expensive.

Yes i see your Point you are Probably Right!
if you host a website to sell these plugins Good idea more Exposure!
but can we still distribute them in other ways?
and if so what would be the license fee % for plugins created with SB2 thru our own distribution ?

and if you plan to release a "commercial license likely to be expensive" what range of price are we talking about?


Tank You
Musik Man

[zmix]

Hi Antoine are you planning to add a software protection module & Serial Generator module using mac address for exported plugins? for the retail version (paid Version)

You want to sell plugins you create ? I'm still unsure the best way to go about this. If plugins are sold individually, I'll probably setup a store like the Mac App Store and handle distribution, payment, protections (and take my cut).

However, I was more inclined to make SonicBirth a subscription model, giving access to anything and everything under its umbrella, with some sort of revenue sharing for plugin creators based on usage or downloads statistics, à la NetFlix.

It's very tricky, I don't expect to have the perfect business model on the first try. What we are used to and most comfortable with may not be the best solution.

The store is an interesting idea.

I suggest that if you want to set this up properly you should offer the SB2 development software free of charge, and make your money through licensing and distributing through your site. As long as you are responsible for piracy protection (built into your software or through PACE or whatever), you're providing great incentive for development.

You could make a lot of money with this idea.

I'm less fond of the subscription model. It discourages people who only want one or two plugins. I think "Pluggo" had an open sourced approach like that one. Too many ill-conceived plugins and no distinction or "brand identity"...

I have a lot of great plugins I've developed in SB and would be happy to distribute through your store under my own brand name.

[Kewl]

Hey Antoine,

Would it be possible, with the new Pro Tools AAX plug-in format, to include it as an export option?

[makira]

Should be relatively easy since the JUCE framework supports it. I haven't rewritten the plugin wrappers yet... there's still a bunch of features I have to rewrite in JUCE for the main app, then I'll, at last, be able to add features again.

Lost quite a bit of time last week to upgrade to Mavericks from Snow Leopard... still getting used to it.

[lalo]

yeah! go ahead makira! with the juce framework i guess we'll have 32bit and 64bit VST on windows to and maybe even VST3! a modular multiplatform dream since we've lost Pluggo!

[Kewl]

Should be relatively easy since the JUCE framework supports it. I haven't rewritten the plugin wrappers yet...

Good ! Thanks.

[makira]

Ok, new build.

Warning: not tested much, it may set your house on fire, it will likely crash, there are still a few graphical glitches here and there, and some menu items are missing. Adding components is a bit of a pain (ie unfinished).

But I wanted to show where things are, so I can prioritize what is really critical for a new build before the previous one expires (February 1st if I remember correctly).

With that in mind, here is the link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kbeei4h1jkwhj ... 140121.zip

10.8 is now required.

Cheers!

[lalo]

Hi makira, i don't intend to put pressure on you. But just to know as far as i understand now you're rewriting Sonicbirth with a multiplatform framework ( Juce ? ). How far we are from a preliminary Windows alpha version? many thanks and all the best
a.

[makira]

How far we are from a preliminary Windows alpha version?

The app itself already runs on Windows. The biggest issue right now has to do with third party dependencies (compilers / linkers). I've done a lot of work under the hood to reduce these dependencies. The last big block is redoing the plugin wrappers (which I have to do anyway for custom GUIs). Then, I'll have to spend a bunch of time repackaging the dependencies. For a first alpha, the Windows version will probably only export Windows VST plugins.

In terms of time, I'd like to say somewhere in the Spring, but don't hold me to that.

[lalo]

Thanks! take your time!

[makira]

New build on sonicbirth.com

Let me know of any bugs you find.

Next step is to rewrite the plugin wrappers in Juce, then custom guis.

[Kewl]

SonicBirth or Sonic Birth now? New icon? I kinda like the previous retro-brown one...

[makira]

We hesitated a long time on SonicBirth vs Sonic Birth, but in the end I went for Sonic Birth. As for the icon, it might still change before going out of alpha/beta.

[dtpietrzak]

are you going to add a debugging oscilloscope like in SB1?