Abeem Live Technologies updates Rack Performer to v0.98 Beta 2

Abeem Live Technologies has announced that Rack Performer version 0.98-beta2 is now available.

This new release offers many usability improvements as well as its share of new features, improved VST support and various fixes. It is also the last public beta version, meaning they will close the registrations soon and concentrate on a reduced set of selected testers, as they will transition to the final closed beta phase.

There are many new features in this version, some have already been detailed on their blog, including the Live Synopsis, Presets Links and how they refactored the Perform mode. Amongst the other notable additions are the Quick keyboard mapping feature, complete VST-Shell support (e.g. Waves plugins) and the "freewheeling" synchronization option. VST support has also been improved, so they suggest you to clear the black-list and the cache in the application config, and perform a full deep scan again.

The complete change list

New features:

• The new "live synopsis" is a centralized interface to manage all document mappings easily.
• New "mappings" module context menu entry displays the live synopsis for the selected module only.
• Patcher operations are no longer disabled when patch is powered, but remain locked when perform mode is enabled.
• Perform mode semantic has changed: it can be enabled or disabled independently of the main mode (patch or edit).
• VST Shell plugins (ex: Waves) are now fully supported.
• Presets links allow to link module preset numbers together such that changing any link member also changes the others.
• Quick keyboard map allows to easily create control focus key mappings.
• Implemented "free-wheeling" synchro config option (default: on).
• In full slave mode with free-wheeling off, application stops and re-locate when timecode or clock signal stops (not requiring transport control commands).
• In live synch mode with free-wheeling enabled, stopping and restarting the master makes the application properly re-lock synch.
• Patcher copy, cut and paste operations are now functional.
• Modules can now be renamed (new entry in patcher module context menu).

Minor modifications:

• Current monitor group is now properly updated when modified via the monitor groups dialog while engaged.
• Ticker size is now dynamic and adapts to displayed content.
• Ticker events to display can now be filtered by type, in the general configuration tab.
• Refactored the (rather useless) "flat plugin listing" option to "automatically create sub directories when lists are too large".
• Slightly optimized VST plugin scanner (again).
• Added a "clear cache" button to the VST configuration tab (force a full deep scan).
• Added new hidden compatibility option (default: on) to support some faulty VST plugins (ex: Model-E, VB-1).
• New hidden advanced option to set the synchro-lost duration before triggering free-wheeling (default: 300ms).
• Local module latencies are displayed in patcher when doing manual patch delay compensation.
• Application now properly installs for non-admin user accounts (some support files and shortcuts were missing).
• Added hidden advanced config option to change user data directory location.
• Required fonts are now loaded dynamically to prevent accidental user deletion.
• Now reverting back to default system MMCSS profiles when custom ones are not available.
• Added a new "carbon fiber" screen background.

Bug fixes:

• Resolved some edge cases around "CRC check" and "name check" plugin listing options.
• Some recent VST plugins (ex: Model-E re-edition) were not properly listed during scan.
• OpenGL patcher surface could be corrupted when using some VST plugins built with the same technology.
• Corrected an edge case around audio output channels offset (when monitoring dedicated channels are in use).
• "Edit" menu items were re-enabled after a right-click on a locked patcher object.
• Fixed a rare race condition that could happen on mono-core machines with some ASIO drivers.
• Resolved a crash that could happen when creating VST modules with special GUIs (ex: Mobius2).
• Corrected some button refreshing problems in transport bar when changing synchro engine settings.
• Metronome in MIDI mode could sometimes retrigger the first down beat when tempo was zero.
• Swapping master modules did not clear scene snapshot data properly.
• Error appearing in log when using the custom MMCSS profiles right after installation.
• Angular modes for knob controls have been fixed and re-enabled.
• Minor error appearing in log sometimes when closing some documents.

For even more detailed release notes, please read this post in their forum.