Andrew Belt Q&A on Discord Jan 11th 2019

There was many interesting questions and answers in the discord Q&A session a couple of days ago. Since messages in Discord tends to get quickly buried with time, I thought I would repost them here for those not on Discord. If that’s not alright, just delete the thread. :slight_smile:

The Q&A is not in correct order they were asked due to the multiple channels they appeared in. If I missed something, sorry in advance.

PS. Analogic is me (Autinn).

ppalderete:

Hello! I dont know if this has already been asked but, is there going to be an aax plugin for vcv? If so, when? Thank you!

vortico

Shortly after Rack 2.0 is released in about a year, a DAW plugin version of Rack will be available for around $99. It will be a VST2 plugin, and perhaps a VST2/AU/AAX plugin unless there are major roadblocks with any of those formats.

Nik :

A year on, do you think Rack is seen as a threat or an opportunity by hardware manufacturers?

vortico :

Nik Most don’t care, they’re indifferent. Other DAWs, probably.

CodeMonkey:

Hi Andrew, Marc Boulé here, and I think I will jump in two feet first in the unrelated-random-chat theme: how do you manage to code all this stuff while keeping your physical health intact? i.e. carpal tunnel, posture, etc, or are you getting mangled by your VCV Rack job? :smiley:

vortico :

CodeMonkey Posture’s easy, just sit with proper posture with a monitor at proper height and force yourself to walk around with a straight back and your head back. You get used to it and nothing ever gets painful. Carpel Tunnel can be avoided by building the muscles over time. I know a few pianists who went from 0 to 10 hours of practice per day, and they quickly developed wrist injuries. I’ve been doing both for ~18 years so I’ve never had a rapid increase of wrist activity.

McTool :

Hi Andrew. Stephen McNally here. Any planned support for UAD plugins within Host-FX?

vortico :

McTool The crash happens within the UAD plugins’ initialization, and as far as we can see, we’re doing everything in a VST2 compliant way. I’ve sent an email to Universal Audio with some information. Who knows if they’ll handle it.

Rcomian :

vortico - who’s the most famous person you’ve heard of using vcv rack?

vortico :

Rcomian Can’t mention names, but he’s a synth hobbyist and isn’t famous for anything music related.

alec.tron :

Thanks for the question opportunity! :wink: 2 came to mind: - is there a loose ETA for the newly mentioned ‘MIDI-MAP’ for VCV Core… ? (crossing my fingers…)

vortico :

alec.tron Of course, it will be added to the Rack 1.0 release, but I’m not sure when the source will be pushed to the repo. Waiting on Grayscale mostly for that.

funkブラスタ :

makes me think… who actually makes the core / fundamental modules in the end? i mean i hear stuff all over the place sometimes it’s you sometimes it’s grayscale it kind of puzzles me

vortico :

funkブラスタ Grayscale (https://grayscale.info/) is the graphic designer. He’s a hardware manufacturer for the Eurorack and Buchla formats and has also designed for - AI Synthesis - Conjured Circuits - Manhattan Analog - Music From Outer Space (Eurorack) - nw2s - Open Music Labs - Retroaktiv Synthesizers - SynthCube - Synthesis Technology - Tiptop Audio so you’ve probably seen his stuff.

vortico :

I’m the software developer for Core and Fundamental.

pyer:

Hey Anderw! (so that is this discord thing… :wink: ) Any chance to see you at superbooth?

vortico :

pyer No, not going to superbooth. Probably not even doing Knobcon this year, but who knows at this point. I generally don’t like conferences, and they’re not commercially worth it for VCV.

vortico :

I might get a booth at Knobcon anyway, just to visit friends in Chicago and Lansing, MI while I’m up there.

Rcomian :

vortico any plans for vcv merch?

vortico :

Rcomian VCV Rack logo | Grayscale Funds go mostly to Threadless, and the rest to Grayscale.

Rcomian :

vortico ok boring question, are the v1 Fundamental plugins supposed to build against the current v1 rack branch?

vortico :

Rcomian Usually about 50% of the time until the API is stable.

pyer :

was wondering: about the audible instrument collection: did Olivier(then)/Emilie(now) Gillet participate to the port? do you have any feedback from her about this virtual collection?

vortico :

pyer She and Papernoise originally gave me the Illustrator files for the components (knobs, switches, etc), but that was actually replaced by Grayscale’s Component Library. Then Emilie started giving me the source for modules 3-4 months before each firmware is open-sourced in the Audible Instruments Preview collaboration.

vortico :

I don’t really need anything else from her, since nearly everything is MIT/CC-BY-whatever.

vortico :

One day I’ll probably do the AVR stuff (Grids, Edges) if we can agree on a way to not make the whole repository GPL. Apparently the reason those firmwares are GPL is because they depend on a library which is GPL, so she could just relicense as MIT and point out that if anyone uses the library, the GPL would apply. But a VCV port wouldn’t need it.

djpeterso23662 :

vortico Will 1.0 be able to connect MIDI controllers to module knobs? Will there be a way to record and play back knob automation?

vortico :

djpeterso23662 Yes. There will be a new Core module that looks like MIDI-CC but instead of output ports, there will be a way to select parameters on other modules to assign them to CC numbers. An indicator will be displayed on the parameter when it is mapped. I don’t know the name yet, probably MIDI-MAP.

vortico :

Knob recording will never be added. That is a problem perfectly solved by CV recorders.

modular80 :

What’s the rough release time frame for 1.0?

vortico :

modular80 2+ months

pyer :

about midi learn! so cool to hear that! If I may ask, what is wrong with the good old right click/learn or ctrl+click on the control?

vortico :

pyer Right clicking on knobs resets them. You’d also need a way to select the MIDI driver, device, MIDI channel, see device status indicators, and holy shit you might as well put all that info in a settings dialog box! But since that’s not the Rack pattern, that information should go in a module.

CodeMonkey:

Thanks for doing this AB, this is really cool of you. Next question :smiley: : even though Rack is still in beta, on a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you so far of your VCV Rack endeavor? Counting everything as a whole: the software itself, the business side, the ecosystem, the people, social media, creative/musical aspects etc.

vortico :

CodeMonkey Probably a 10/10 overall. Everything has worked out well. I’m happy with the structure of the software and my choice of libraries. The connections with people I work with are ideal. Social media has had nothing but a positive effect on the project. The only thing I would like is more regional VCV workshops, hosted by individuals. I haven’t seen VCV used in a lot of “local synth club meets”, but it’s surely used in a lot of university classrooms.

pgatt :

vortico is there anything you have expected of the players of VCV that you haven’t seen yet?

vortico :

pgatt I have a list of about 20 module ideas that people would love, but no developers have implemented them. I’ll keep them a secret for now, except for the embedded libpd one, because I want people to merge those two platforms.

Analogic :

Will patches created before v1.0 be compatible after 1.0?

vortico :

Analogic Yes, but not backwards compatible, i.e. you can’t load 1.x patches in Rack 0.6.

Hermbot :

So, ask any question day: is MIDI learn still planned? vortico

vortico :

Hermbot Yes. There will be a new Core module that looks like MIDI-CC but instead of output ports, there will be a way to select parameters on other modules to assign them to CC numbers. An indicator will be displayed on the parameter when it is mapped. I don’t know the name yet, probably MIDI-MAP.

Omri Cohen :

vortico Hi! Will MIDI-Out be available in 1.0?

vortico :

Omri Cohen Yes, three new modules will be available. Names aren’t finalized yet but will be something like Core CVM, CVM-CC, CVM-Trig.

Analogic :

vortico will v1.0 support changing params value. So turn knobs etc. from plugin? (or can that already be done, just haven’t seen it in any plugin)

vortico :

Analogic Yes, internally Rack has a completely restructured Param system so modules can read/write Param values in a supported, non-hacky way.

Zalor :

As a ask-any-question -question: I just setup things to try and learn some simple dsp related stuff by building my own modules. What synthesis concept would you recommend tackling first. (For example filters seem like a key concept)

vortico :

Zalor Whatever you feel like. Perhaps skim this and see what interests you? VCV Manual - Digital Signal Processing

boxtek :

Hey all, good to see an discord going wich make small chatting a lot easier. I am an complete beginner with just a few patches going in this great software. But I do have an few questions so hope u van help me out: is theoretisch a way to record motion sequence? How can I record properly on windows? Can puredata patches link with vcv somehow :slight_smile: ? Where to look up how to midimap modules ( if possible :slight_smile: ) ?

vortico :

boxtek What do you mean by motion sequence?

vortico :

There are ways to integrate with PureData, but I haven’t tried any so I can’t answer you. I’ve invited the community to make a module which embeds libpd though.

vortico :

There will be a new Core module in Rack 1.0 that looks like MIDI-CC but instead of output ports, there will be a way to select parameters on other modules to assign them to CC numbers. An indicator will be displayed on the parameter when it is mapped. I don’t know the name yet, probably MIDI-MAP.

boxtek:

Thank u for answers. I am looking forward for that module and the midi map cheers! BY motion sequencer record i saw the following in my head: when i change an parameter on exampel an tune knob. i want the begin valeu till the end valeu get recorded so that when the module is placed in an stepsequencer. it starts at a begin valeu then moves the same movement speed as i moved the parameter till the recorded end valeu and then jumps to the next step in the sequencer :smiley:

vortico :

boxtek I think that’s a question about what sequencers are available. I’m not a big sequencer person, so the only sequencers I’ve used are my own: Fundamental SEQ-3 and VCV Pulse Matrix. You’ll have to ask someone else.

jaynothin :

I had read, somewhere, maybe the VCV rack twitter feed, can’t quite remember, that the next, or a next version of VCV could or would make use of multicores. Is this something possible in the coming version 1 ??? I’m just curious.

vortico :

jaynothin JimT’s research looks promising, and his implementation is simple so I’ll probably adopt a similar method for Rack 1.0.

modular80 :

I would like to see your approach to a sample player with audio recording facilities. Kind of like NYSTHI’s, but with bigger display of waveform and graphically adjustable start/end (by clicking), proper sample rate conversion support, maybe 8 or 16 slots for different selectable samples. Or maybe something like a Rack-ified Qubit Nebulae.

vortico :

modular80 Cool, sounds exactly like the timeline editor mentioned above. I agree it would be a good direction, since it would kill the need for a DAW for many users.

modular80 :

One other thing that would be nice (maybe this will be covered in the 1.0 patch format): When I use modules like a sample player, which reference an audio file on my local drive, it would be nice to be able to move the patch WITH the samples to another machine. Ableton has this “harvest all of the audio used in this project and store it in the project folder” feature, which is really helpful for that (also for archiving).

vortico :

That will come in Rack 1.0. The JSON patch format will have an "assets" array with filenames.

modular80 :

Do they refer to the original location of the file, e.g. C:\Documents\Rack\sample.wav?

modular80 :

Ableton lets you run a task that collects all of those files and puts them in an “assets”-like folder inside of the project’s directory, then re-references the project to use those files instead of original locations.

vortico :

Yeah, something like

{
    "assets": [
        {
            id: 42,
            filename: "/home/vortico/samples/tr808-kick.wav"
        }
    ]
}

When you choose “Export” instead of “Save”, those will turn into relative paths and the files will be copied to the chosen directory. I can’t think of a better way to do it.

vortico :

There’s no “Import”. You just choose “Open” as usual.

modular80 :

Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. Exported, the .vcv (patch file) and the sounds would reside in the chosen directory and the “filename” would just reference

filename: "tr808-kick.wav"

i.e the basepath of the patch file, right?(edited)

vortico :

Maybe "assets/tr808-kick.wav" , but that depends on whether I decide to put the patch file in the directory itself or up one.

modular80 :

Ah, right. Most importantly, though it would be a relative path, not an absolute path.

vortico :

Yes, but if you drag the file from your desktop to some sample player module, it will be the absolute path until exported. Perhaps there should be an "owned" boolean in the asset JSON structure to denote that the asset should be deleted upon module deletion, and that it’s allowed to write to it.

vortico :

In other words, if a file is created by a module and saved somewhere, it should be owned. Also, when a patch is Exported, all assets should turn to “owned”.

modular80 :

Right. That makes sense. Works the same in Ableton for what it’s worth.

Nik :

One more question vortico - a big usability improvement (requested by others) has been to be able to save and load blocks of modules. Is this on the roadmap ?

vortico :

Nik Not in Rack 1.0.

Nik :

Hi Andrew. With Midi out coming in Rack 1.0, is there any chance of getting midi out of the Host module ?

vortico :

Nik Maybe. Grayscale and I have been passing designs for a new VCV Host module back and forth, but nothing is polished yet.

Nik :

OK, thanks. It would be good. One more … JimT’s FPS limiting mod has had a very dramatic effect on my overheating MacBook. It has led me to ponder: what is the rationale behind asking a graphics card to do 60fps for Rack? (I am sure there is one).

vortico :

I don’t ask for 60 fps, I ask for vsync.

Nik :

I only half understand that and why it is causing a problem with MacBooks. I guess you probably won’t go into any more detail at the moment about your future plans here. Thanks anyway

vortico :

Nik I could simply add a framerate limiter, but here at VCV, I like to solve problems instead of symptoms. That would involve batching OpenGL calls in nanovg instead of calling the OpenGL API thousands of times per frame.

vortico :

L4 Rack’s SVG renderer doesn’t support text.

L4 :

Is that planned for the future?

vortico :

No.

CodeMonkey :

Any rough guestimate on when 1.0 will be ready?

vortico :

2+ months

Andrew Vailcross :

vortico Hello Andrew! I’d like to ask when VCV Rack will be officially released as VST plugin, will standalone version still be supported, and whether it will have record feature in some future?(edited)

vortico :

Andrew Vailcross Shortly after Rack 2.0 is released in about a year, a DAW plugin version of Rack will be available for around $99. It will be a VST2 plugin, and perhaps a VST2/AU/AAX plugin unless there are major roadblocks with any of those formats.

vortico :

The standalone version will continue to be the main product, since the vision is for Rack to be a DAW rather than a synthesizer. It will always be licensed under BSD/LGPL or similar.

vortico :

NYSTHI has a great multitrack and stereo WAV recorder, so there’s not a huge pressure to add one to VCV Fundamental. It’s planned between Rack 1.0 and 2.0 though.

Andrew Vailcross :

Will standalone be still free in the future and if so, with what limitations or difference ?

vortico :

Yes, BSD/LGPL are open-source licenses.

vortico :

I’m not sure what you mean by limitations or differences. The standalone version is standalone. The DAW plugin will be a DAW plugin.

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@Autinn Really many, many thanks for this! I hope this will fit “thread-safe” in the topics policy too. Fresh and interesting infos here.

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I’ll be changing that here in Edmonton AB, :canada: in the next month or so :wink:

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