Arturia Pigments 4 has landed

[martiu]

Was that intentional???

yes

[Atlatnesiti]

Will this ever have a paid update?

I'm afraid to buy this because of possible future paid updates.

You are joking, right?

I don't think he is (joking) = troll
Majority of his posts are selling used licences to someone else...
Just ignore his posts

[chk071]

You can also get there from within the synth selecting Help->User Manual. They tried to make it easy.

Obviously that's not much help if you're not on your music computer, and don't have the synth open.

But obviously it is if you do.

Yes, but I wasn't. Thanks anyway.

[zerocrossing]

Very nice update. The modulation controls have been nudged in line with Phase Plant, Vital and Rapid... the good ideas percolate through the market.

I find it so funny that Serum always seems to get left out of this list, even though it was probably the first.

[Teksonik]

@Teksonik: Also tested your patch (nice one!) and it goes up to 44% in vital CPU meter, that's really a lot on my desktop machine. Wouldn't run on my laptop. If I reduce the polyphony to 4 and the number of partials to 256, it makes hardly an audible difference and it goes down to 18%. Looks like a linear progression of how much sound elements / partials Pigment needs to handle at the same time and how it affects the CPU. With that patch and the harmonic engine, polyphony getting maxed out due to long AMP Env release - you're in the thousands.

A little history on that patch. I made it right after first getting a Pigments 3 license and during the "getting to know the architecture" phase.

I made it on my studio computer and didn't pay any attention to the CPU demand. But when I moved it to this system, the patch choked it out in five seconds with one note so since then it's become the test patch for CPU demand.

I made a less demanding version and uploaded it with several other patches at that time.

But the point remains that having to worry about adding some release time or any other parameter combination to any synth that might make it impractical to use in a project due to high CPU demand is obviously not an optimal condition.

I have synths that I never worry about the CPU demand no matter how hard I push them so if two synths are making very similar sounds it's hard to justify reaching for the plugin using considerably more CPU.

The recent update has made significant improvements in CPU demand but for me Pigments remains a synth that's fun to patch and play but one I have to stop and think about when adding an instance to a project which is why I don't often reach for it in favor of less demanding synths in my folder. For the record my studio system has no problem whatsoever running Pigments at full power but none the less it remains one of the more hungry synths in my collection.

Anyway I'm enjoying the new Unison FX module which along with Osc level Unison can yield come very lush sounds. I'd forgotten that we can load our own Wavetables so that's a nice feature as well. There are some nice WTs and Samples added in version 4 so that's a bonus.

All in all it was a great (and free) update so I'm grateful.....

[martiu]

The FX take a lot of CPU in Pigments, one way getting around that is to turn them off and use external efficient FX (especially reverbs with long decay time)
just my 2.5 cents

[Fannon]

But the point remains that having to worry about adding some release time or any other parameter combination to any synth that might make it impractical to use in a project due to high CPU demand is obviously not an optimal condition.

I have synths that I never worry about the CPU demand no matter how hard I push them so if two synths are making very similar sounds it's hard to justify reaching for the plugin using considerably more CPU

Yeah I get that - with Pigments you need to keep this in mind and have a look at CPU usage of the patches. But I wonder if it's a fair comparison in cases where other synths don't even allow you to create patches with such high complexity. I would assume that the harmonic engine is just by nature something that will result in much higher CPU usage than a simple wavetable engine.

[Andreya_Autumn]

MTS-ESP support!

[inaheartbeat]

I don't get the comments about Pigments not having any low end. All you need to do is browse the Neuro Bass Wavetable library to completely dispel that idea. A free update to 4.0 plus only $19.99 for 3 full libraries of really well done presets is a great deal for me. I am super happy also that there is less CPU load and even more features.

[zzz00m]

I don't get the comments about Pigments not having any low end.

Especially now with the MS-20 filter and the Super Unison FX!

[Neon Breath]

In case you've missed this new feature (I did, just discovered it today when sound designing), they added a new Smooth parameter for the LFO 1, 2 & 3. So now we can have true smooth S&H LFO which we couldn't before this update. Smoothing out the Square shape is pretty fun as well. Check it out!

[Dartelec]

Just saying that this new update made the difference for me. Now Pigments 4 is one of my most favourite instruments! I feel it is now much more lively and warm!

[Bodhisan]

In case you've missed this new feature (I did, just discovered it today when sound designing), they added a new Smooth parameter for the LFO 1, 2 & 3. So now we can have true smooth S&H LFO which we couldn't before this update. Smoothing out the Square shape is pretty fun as well. Check it out!

Glad you pointed that out. That makes light FM modulation (my own personal favorite synthesis) a lot easier to dial in without getting those clicks - much like the smoothing using the lag generators in Bazille.

[Teksonik]

But the point remains that having to worry about adding some release time or any other parameter combination to any synth that might make it impractical to use in a project due to high CPU demand is obviously not an optimal condition.

I have synths that I never worry about the CPU demand no matter how hard I push them so if two synths are making very similar sounds it's hard to justify reaching for the plugin using considerably more CPU

Yeah I get that - with Pigments you need to keep this in mind and have a look at CPU usage of the patches. But I wonder if it's a fair comparison in cases where other synths don't even allow you to create patches with such high complexity. I would assume that the harmonic engine is just by nature something that will result in much higher CPU usage than a simple wavetable engine.

As I said the comparisons are made with other plugins running the same type of patches. For example a VA patch with the same unison settings or a single WT Osc with the same WT.

It's in those tests that Pigments can be more CPU demanding and has nothing to do with the Harmonics engine.

As for complexity, Pigments is nowhere near the most complex synth I own although it does have features others don't and of course they have features that Pigments doesn't so a perfect 1:1 comparison of CPU demand is not possible. We can only compare like settings with like settings.

with Pigments you need to keep this in mind and have a look at CPU usage of the patches.

And that sums up the point perfectly. I don't have to worry about CPU demand when making complex patches in other synths and if we do for Pigments that tells us all we need to know about it's efficiency.

Again I like Pigments a lot but based on my tests it is one of the more CPU demanding synths I own especially in relation to sound returned. Arturia must have agreed or heard the feedback and hence the CPU optimizations in this latest version which are a good start and hopefully more will follow.

--------

Anyway I spent a few enjoyable hours making patches in Pigments yesterday. It's a lot of fun to patch but I do hit the wall pretty quickly due to limitations in Pigments architecture compared to synths like Parawave Rapid, VPS Avenger, etc.

Has anyone figured out a way to get free running Function generators or LFOs that don't re-trigger when the Arp/Seq is running?

[lin0x]

Has anyone figured out a way to get free running Function generators or LFOs that don't re-trigger when the Arp/Seq is running?

Set the Retrig Source to "Seq Start"