Cycle v1.3 - updated interface, infinite unison, new mod matrix

[DavenH]

I'll revisit the contrast settings then.

Fixed the help on Firefox, Breeze.


I'm going to make a bunch more presets now. If anyone has requests for certain sounds let me know.

[yessongs]

why not go white with black text it would make it more usable and offer people that choice.

[Breeze]

I'll revisit the contrast settings then.

Dave, take a look at the recent U-he Bazille demo: they actually have a menu item for gamma adjustment that gives you some play over the brightness. Seems like a good solution.

Fixed the help on Firefox, Breeze.

Thanks!

I'm going to make a bunch more presets now. If anyone has requests for certain sounds let me know.

How about some pads with continuous harmonic movement? I found some patches in the older set seemed to settle to a rather static tone after a very interesting evolution; it seemed to me that these would be a lot more interesting if they at least re-capitulated their evolution, if not continued it.

[DavenH]

How about some pads with continuous harmonic movement? I found some patches in the older set seemed to settle to a rather static tone after a very interesting evolution; it seemed to me that these would be a lot more interesting if they at least re-capitulated their evolution, if not continued it.

Yeah I introduced multiple scratch envelopes in v1.1 that sort of fixed that. The trouble was that because meshes have a fixed duration, once they expire the tone would stop evolving. Using a layer's scratch channel mapping to distort its timeline with a looping scratch envelope (using it as an LFO in other words), they keep evolving as long as the note is held. Like in TanpuraPad3c...
So, more like that, got it.

And good idea about the gamma.

[DavenH]

Made an update today.

UI is brightened about 20%



fullscreen: http://i.imgur.com/mbn4ZTl.jpg

I made about 25 new presets, here's a little run through some of them:

http://www.amaranthaudio.com/data/audio ... s_5_24.mp3

A small addition is there's a dot next to the envelope icons if they're active, so you don't need to look through them too see what's active in a preset. Same goes for the two spectral domain icons.

And several minor bugfixes. Feedback on the changes welcome...

[helium]

UI is brightened about 20%

That looks a lot better.

[Slarti]

.
Dear mr. DavenH

I just had a wild idea! Since you call your waveforms 'meshes', wouldn't it be cool to be able to create 'real' meshes in a 3d-modelling program like e.g. Blender and then import them into Cycle?! . .

This way Cycle could really be the bridge between graphics and sound!

(Don't know if this is even feasible)

What I DO like to ask you is if there could be a (text) tutorial about making a sound from scratch?

[DavenH]

That would be interesting wouldn't it! I'm planning down the line to have an immersive 3D editor like Blender's where you can rotate the camera around on a trackball to see the wireframe from all angles. The hurdle in converting 3D mesh files is that Cycle needs a certain type of topology in the wireframe. In Cycle the 'mesh' is just a bunch of lines like tendrils of a jellyfish, that can't overlap or crosshatch so it doesn't really live up to its name admittedly. A high poly ZBrush-like mesh surface would be something else entirely, perhaps for a different product.

Yeah I'll see to a sound design tutorial soon. Just ironing out bugs from the last update, speaking of which there was another today (update that is) fixing a thing or two, plus more presets which never hurt. Including a sitaresque sound I've been after for a while...

http://www.amaranthaudio.com/data/audio ... %20pad.mp3

[Krakatau]

a sitaresque sound I've been after for a while...

http://www.amaranthaudio.com/data/audio ... %20pad.mp3

i'm impressed...

[Slarti]

.
(I posted this on Daven's forum but got no reply thus far. Maybe he is more active on KVR. (or maybe he's on vacation ... ))

When installing the trial version of Cycle I noticed some very odd behaviour ...

For security I always work as a 'user' on my PC. Not as an 'Admin'

To install programs (Cycle) in my 'user' account I have to give 'Admin' rights. That's normal.

However; to be able to use Cycle in a host I have to run the host in 'Admin' mode too or the plugin won't load!! That I find annoying and I don't like it! . .

I tried several hosts: VSTHost, Mulab and Tracktion 5

Any idea why the program behaves that way?

I suppose there cannot be a version without an installer?


Also Cycle doesn't seem to respond to a sustain pedal?!


And there is a thing I don't know it's a bug or not: when I drag a point (e.g. from an envelope) outside the envelope window It is impossible to reach that point even when zooming out!

So maybe when a point is dragged beyond the border of a window it should stay inside the window?

But the new GUI is fine. Easier to read. Better on the eyes . .

[wasi]

For security I always work as a 'user' on my PC. Not as an 'Admin'

To install programs (Cycle) in my 'user' account I have to give 'Admin' rights. That's normal.

However; to be able to use Cycle in a host I have to run the host in 'Admin' mode too or the plugin won't load!! That I find annoying and I don't like it! . .

That's windows UAC for ya. Check the permissions on the dll and the presets folder. They need to be allowed for all users not just admin. If it's just Cycle that should fix it.

I'm not sure this is an installer issue per se, I tried to use my DAW with your same UAC concept for a few weeks but ran into nothing but grief. Basically, any installer that uses default locations and permissions will mess things up because running it in a regular user account will require admin rights whereupon it will install things in /admin/ locations instead of the /user/ (because he doesn't have permission to install at all), but then the user is typically not allowed full access. I had problems with practically everything, plugins, drivers, DAWs. Crashes, lost presets and settings, you name it, all because of UAC.

[Slarti]

.
I have to do it this way, because it is the most secure way! Never encountered those problems before.

I've checked the rights and they were fine. User permissions were OK!

I even tried installing in a sandbox and copying the files manually. That should have worked but also to no avail. Host must be 'Admin' to load plugin!

The best solution would be to have no installer ...

[wasi]

Did you try other hosts? Does your host binary have enough permissions?

I seem to remember having to jack up the permissions on Ableton Live for certain plugins to work. UAC hell, I tell you. I gave up after two months. Like I don't have enough stuff to worry about.

[wasi]

On second thought, also check the permissions in /Program Files (x86)/Amaranth Audio/Cycle/ and the excutable (Cycle.exe) too. The .dll points there and even if you have permissions for the dll, /%Program Files/ requires admin by default so every VST that has a dll that only points to an executable (more and more, these days) you have to fiddle with the core executable's permissions too.

Did I mention UAC hell?

[DavenH]

(I posted this on Daven's forum but got no reply thus far. Maybe he is more active on KVR. (or maybe he's on vacation ... ))

Sort of... I was helping my dad dispatch burdocks and collect boulders for a rock garden most of yesterday.

When installing the trial version of Cycle I noticed some very odd behaviour ...

For security I always work as a 'user' on my PC. Not as an 'Admin'

To install programs (Cycle) in my 'user' account I have to give 'Admin' rights. That's normal.

However; to be able to use Cycle in a host I have to run the host in 'Admin' mode too or the plugin won't load!! That I find annoying and I don't like it! . .

I tried several hosts: VSTHost, Mulab and Tracktion 5

Any idea why the program behaves that way?

It's likely the fault of the installer not explicitly setting the owner of the installed files to the current user. I guess I've had UAC turned off forever and most other users must have as well. I'll look into it - might be an easy fix.

I suppose there cannot be a version without an installer?

There's really too much to do by hand... like 10 or more steps. Nature of the beast.

Also Cycle doesn't seem to respond to a sustain pedal?!

On the todo!

And there is a thing I don't know it's a bug or not: when I drag a point (e.g. from an envelope) outside the envelope window It is impossible to reach that point even when zooming out!

So maybe when a point is dragged beyond the border of a window it should stay inside the window?

Hmm that's right. You can usually select it by clicking near the edge, as it's typically the closest point to there, but it's a bug.

But the new GUI is fine. Easier to read. Better on the eyes . .

Sweet. Tomorrow I'll look at the installer concerns.