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Boom Recorder 7.21 beta 6, Full input and output routing and mixing


takev

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Hello everyone,

I have been working a little bit on the new version of Boom Recorder. Someone who uses MADI had asked me for

complete input and output routing and mixing.

In this new version it is possible to assign one or more inputs for each channel, and attenuating each assignment separately.

Setting the attenuation level is currently only possible using AppleScript.

Currently attenuation can changed with increments of 1 dB, between 0 and 254 dB. Is this accurate enough for mixing?

Cheers,

  Take

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Guest Jeff Colon

Hello Take,

Long time, No see...  American saying for: where have you been?  I missed you :-)

Your program is just getting better... the attenuators sound like a possible mixing interface 

???  I am curious in that I either heard or read or hallucinated that windows xp could possibly run cocoa apps...if so, will we see a windows version ?  The one DB resolution on attenuation ought to be fine... is that attenuating output ? individually? inputs? assignable?....

Para-graphic EQ... some notch filters... compressor limiters... ability to remix on the fly using all these features... I miss my weekly/hourly version upgrades Take !  *Kidding*

Thanks and Keep up the great work,

Jeff C

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Hello Jeff,

I haven't had the same hallucination as you have about cocoa, but that may be just me.

It is indeed a complete mixing solution.

For each input->channel combination you make you can say how much the signal needs to be attenuated. And you can now make any combination you want. The same for each output->channel combination.

An example AppleScript (mix both input 1 and input 2 to channel 1 with 3 dB of attenuation, and also send input 1 at full strength to channel 2):

    tell application "BoomRecorder"

        set attenuation of input 1 of channel 1 to 3

        set attenuation of input 2 of channel 1 to 3

        set attenuation of input 1 of channel 2 to 0

    end tell

I am trying to make a nice user interface so you can also change it without resorting to AppleScript. But if you have a programmable control surface you could assign faders to Boom Recorder. But I don't think you can ride the faders yet, I believe you should only change volume at zero crossings, to not get to hear the ticks, or am I wrong?

It seems that my customer likes at least one tenth of a dB (cB?) precision, so I will make it completely fluid.

I am not able to route all the audio through AudioUnits yet, I am not actively working on it either; so no EQ, notch filters and compressor limiters. This change I made for full mixing made Boom Recorder actually much simpler and lighter on the CPU (It now uses Altivec or SSE to do all the mixing and copying between the ring buffer).

I have to test Boom Recorder 7.21 first before I release it officially, there has been many changes and I don't want to make a big mistake. Also I am working on my screen play, which keeps me from releasing official releases.

Cheers,

    Take

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Hello Everyone,

I have made a user interface for the mixing, I hope it becomes more clear with what is happening.

The amount of signal is shown as a pie, a full pie means the full signal, a half pie means -18 dB, en empty pie is at least -36 dB. The red dot shows a little change, 1 dB at a time, it goes 6 dB in full circle.

The whole thing works pretty much like a clock, except there are 6 positions instead of 12. Where the big hand is the red dot and the little hand is the pie.

You can simply change the value by pressing on the + or - keys on the keyboard.

post-128-130815073447_thumb.gif

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Hello everyone,

I think I am now pretty happy with the results of the mixer, I have added color coding to the pies so that you will be able to see and control the amount of attenuation from 0 dB to 108 dB in increments of 1 dB (or mute). From AppleScript you can control the attenuation from 0 dB to 999 dB (or mute) in increments of 0.001 dB.

I am planning on releasing version 7.21 fully, but I would like to have some feedback of the beta first, as a lot of core functionality has been changed.

You can download the beta version here:

    http://www.vosgames.nl/downloads/BoomRecorder-7.21b7.dmg

I hope everyone has fun with this new version.

Cheers,

    Take

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Guest Jeff Colon

Hi Take,

Boom Recorder, A mac laptop, some preamps and a fw interface, some wirelii and voila!... sound package in a briefcase.... maybe a small suitcase.

For me the term "attenuators" usually refers to a pad before the pre amp... coarse adjusments there could be made up for in later gain stages... -5db increments were enough to keep things out of the saturation range. Certainly, higher resolution at the bussing and output stages in a mixer is usefull.

I'll download the new version, run signal through the spectrum analyzer...point my earballs at it...let you know what I think offlist...

Since I only hallucinated the cocoa on xp thing ;-(  how about some sweepable q limiters and those para graphic/metric eq's... Monday would be cool ;-)

Keep at it Take. all Best,

Jeff c

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Hello Jeff,

How would you suggest the design of the user interface for where each joint has a separate stack of AudioUnits, each with their own parameter set. And of course there are multichannel AudioUnits where you assign multiple joints to.

oe, I think I know how to design it. Next monday you want it, right? Just kidding.

Anyway, who knows when, but there is a possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Units

Cheers,

    Take

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Guest Jeff Colon

I was thinking monday morning actually...hehe...

  I tried to find any reference to the cocoa windows thing and sure enough it was some rumor and innuendo on macrumors.com... certainly, msoft does not embrace the type user development apple does... the core audio units being a good example.  The frameworks availiable to cocoa developers is pretty amazing... and far over my head.

One of the things I initially liked about Boom Recorder is it's simplicity and functionality.  Not much to screw up.  The number of details to attend to and be aware of in the digital recording world is mind numbing for me... many times I cannot see the obvious without going through a sort of mental checklist (4 or 5o times...)  Any type user interface that wanders too far from a straight piece of wire scares me... rarely that simple, I personally like the tactile interface on a VCA mixer. If I cannot put my fingers on it, I want it to at least look the same on the GUI... Using the 01v96 has had me on a steep learning curve with layers, the 4" greenscreen (1983?) and the quirks of Studio Manger... like learning a second language, I have to think instead of being intuitive... makes things slow. Once I "get it" it usually sticks.

When I started in this, I had to learn to record tracks as "dry' as possible... mostly setting and forgetting if possible,  it was nice to not have to worry about multiple delays, racks of compressors, usually not more than one or two tracks...

Now that I am using some gear designed for music multitracking, I still rarely use a lot of those features.  Most of what I need is routing capabilities... i.e. mixed output, iso output and the occasional mix minus... these days, there are new lions coming from a much more advanced technical background than I have, and are probably more comfortable with a gazillion digital options.

For me the features I want in a mixer/interface are:

    Routing, the more the better... Digital makes the "patchbay" fun.

    honest Metering, keeping me honest

    High Pass filter, Keeping my pre amps clean

    Brick Wall Limiter, I like it "Hot"

    Delay, 30ms on a boom mixed with lavs to keep the mono mix happy

    Machine Control for multiple recorders would be nice

Super whammy EQ, Gates and compressors are nice... I try to leave that to the posties and sweetners.

I like Boom Recorder just as it is, My system makes great sounding recordings and there is nothing else I really need to deliver what is being asked.  Just off the top o my head, it seems keeping a separate recorder/logging module might be a good idea.

It's Cheers time in NOLA... les le bon temps rouler!... Krew Du Vieux tonight.

Regards,

Jeff c

   

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Hello Jeff,

Yes, too bad Cocoa is not for windows. There is OpenStep, which is the ancestor of Cocoa, which will work on Linux fine. But that does not include the more modern features of Cocoa like binding, or other frameworks like Core Audio and Quartz.

You say you initially liked Boom Recorder, I hope that didn't change :-\

As for the routing / effects:

    I think I will have to implement effects channels (they would show below the normal channels).

    You can assign multiple inputs to a effects channel the same way as for a normal channel.

    An effects channel is linked to an AudioUnits stack.

    The output of the AudioUnits stack is send to a corresponding return (return would show right from a normal input).

    A return would work the same way as a normal input that you can assign to channels (normal or effect).

   

I even know how to make it look pretty. The effects channel would be like a horizontal line that continues into a vertical return with a 45 degree slope.

Could you elaborate on the separate recorder/loggin module?

Cheers,

    Take

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Guest Jeff Colon

Hi Take,

Boom Recorder is my all time favorite piece of software... ;-)  To be honest, I like the clean

"recorder only" interface.  Programs oriented toward the music industry have all kinds of bells and whistles... and no proper meta data capability for use in conforming sound to picture.  I like to think of B.R. as a Nagra... just a reliable, brick of a record machine. The "logging" or metadata sound report attached to the media is a big advancement over scribbled notes (I still scribble first ;-(.

I would like to see some others thoughts, but my fear is that the program might become unweildly with too many features... hence the "recorder/logging module comment.  I am aware that all the versions and updates are availiable on vosgames.nl, I really like it just as it is.

I have also enjoyed watching BR develop into an industry accepted application... as with all digital software and hardware we users become beta testers.  Boom Recorder is the only App that I can e mail the developer himself and get quick answers... it is also the only company I have ever dealt with that releases updates on friday afternoon and again on monday morning.  You should be proud... a veritable "David" in a world of "Goliaths"... Thanks !

All Best,

Jeff c

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Take, As you know I am super happy with Boom Recorder. I like that you have made the patch bay squares a bit bigger. I guess I am similar to some other mixers in that we  like Boom Recorder for it's ease of use and robust behavior. Changing Metadata after the fact is the only thing I can think of which might help me although I only needed it once on the last movie (out of two thousand "roll sound's"). Anything you add is a bonus to me. All the best, Patrick

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Hello Ramsay,

I don't think I have made the squares bigger, they are still 14 pixels across. I did make the buttons inside the squares bigger otherwise it would be impossible to read the level from it.

I do have to work on the editable metadata, that is more important than the Audio Units thing. The new version is a continuation on this effort, it now can handle variable-header-lengths, this is needed when editing files that are foreign to Boom Recorder.

I will now focus my effort on having a very robust wav file reader to handle foreign files without crashing and reading all possible metadata. This has to be done, before I feel confident in editing any wav file (foreign or Boom Recorder native).

Cheers,

    Take

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Well Take, you added another dedicated, thankful user a couple of weeks ago (ME!!).  Since I live in the low-budget world, my clients are as impressed by your software as they are the running LED's on my 302 when I turn it on (seriously, I had one DP make me do it 3-4 times because he thought it was so cool....I know, I need to get better clients.  ;-)

I'll have to wait until you release 7.21 to try it out - I live in the software world and know it's a very bad thing to install beta software on a production machine.  :-)

Thank you Take!

Phil

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Hello Phil,

Thank you for the kind words.

I know a couple of customers who run my beta software. I am still adding some features for the 7.21 release, but I am pretty confident that it is working correctly (customers haven't complained the potential problems I was worried about would have shown up very quickly).

It is a lot of work to actually test Boom Recorder fully, with that many features, especially because it is difficult to automate. So the only thing I can really do is try and make Boom Recorder simpler with each feature added, so if there is a problem it would show up immediately.

Cheers,

  Take

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Take,

Is there a way I can have both the beta and the released version installed and available on my Mac at the same time?  My only concern with running the beta is if I find a problem on a shoot, I need to be able to get back to something I know is stable quickly.  Otherwise I love testing software (and usually I find a big crash bug just after it is certified for release - the programmers here at my day job generally are mad at me most of the time.  ;-)

Phil

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Hello Phil,

Yes, you can run multiple versions next to each other. But new versions (including this one) uses for some features a different set of preferences. For example the input settings between the old Boom Recorders and this beta are being kept separate from each other.

Not so long ago I changed the license code checking to be more robust, if you have a version from before this change you will have to reenter the license code. The newer versions remove the dash '-' characters from the license code.

Cheers,

  Take

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