Graphical Glitches with some modules [VCV RACK 2.2]

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 4:37am

Hello,

Since my update to Rack Free 2.2 i have noticed strange graphical glitches on some modules. I have a video of the issue here : VCV Rack Graphical Glitch - YouTube

when the view is zoomed out below 85%, some modules show strange orange artifacts in their interfaces. This is visible in the logo of the modules by Flag, and around the knobs on Hora’s “Detour” module, as seen in the linked video.

Does anyone know if this is a VCV bug, or a bug specifically with these modules, and if it is a VCV bug where do we report such things/check to see if it has been reported?

Cheers!

Jens.Peter.Nielsen · November 27, 2022, 5:11am

VCV - Support for VCV + VCV branded modules. There is no issue/request tracker / known bugs/limitations list.

For third-party Rack plugins, contact the plugin developers using their contact information on the VCV Library.

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 6:26am

Contacted the authors of the Flag and Hora branded modules - these are the main ones I have seen this glitch in so far.

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 8:03am

Found the cause of the bug - The VCV VCA (from the fundamentals collection). Every time the VCA meter shows 0%, it causes the graphical glitches/artifacts.

Sent an email to the VCV Dev Team, hopefully they can get it sorted soon.

LarsBjerregaard · November 27, 2022, 10:14am

Are you sure it’s not a deliberate effect with light in the logo? @jnorberg do you have blinky lights in the Flag logo?

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 10:56am

It’s not just the Flag logo. It happened in various spots around the controls on many of Hora’s modules, too.

I have actually nailed it down to the VCV VCA causing the problem. See this video :

Watch the video in 1080p. you can clearly see the artifacts appearing and disappearing when the meter on the VCV VCA is at 0%. I have used this VCA in many many patches, and this never happened before the update.

Bug has been reported to VCV devs via the email link on the support page.

LarsBjerregaard · November 27, 2022, 11:07am

I see what you mean. Seems to go with the lights-off/light-bloom thing in Rack.

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 11:18am

from my tests, seems specifically connected to VCV’s VCA. None of the areas that were showing the glitch are lit, and the VCA’s display doesn’t have bloom. I tested it further, and it happens no matter what the bloom levels are set to. I just hope they manage to come up with a fix for the issue some time soon, as I don’t really want to have to roll back to Rack 2.1 and re-install all my plugins. Thankfully, though, I do still have the Rack 2.1 installer kicking around.

cosinekitty · November 27, 2022, 3:52pm

Yes, this looks like the code that renders the VCA’s level bars is changing the graphics context to paint yellow, but in the special case where the level is zero, it isn’t restoring the prior context when it’s finished.

baconpaul · November 27, 2022, 5:52pm

github.com

VCVRack/Fundamental/blob/f80e1a0e78dc043a0ff0b777ef98a36b91063622/src/VCA-1.cpp#L94


      
          			nvgRect(args.vg,
          			        r.pos.x,
          			        r.pos.y + r.size.y * (1 - value),
          			        r.size.x,
          			        r.size.y * value);
          			nvgFillColor(args.vg, color::mult(color::WHITE, 0.25));
          			nvgFill(args.vg);
          		}
          
          
		// Segment gain
          		nvgBeginPath(args.vg);
          		for (int c = 0; c < channels; c++) {
          			float gain = module ? module->lastGains[c] : 1.f;
          			if (gain >= 0.005f) {
          				nvgRect(args.vg,
          				        r.pos.x + r.size.x * c / channels,
          				        r.pos.y + r.size.y * (1 - gain),
          				        r.size.x / channels,
          				        r.size.y * gain);
          			}
          		}

From that code it looks like if all the gains are zero it begins a path, adds nothing, then sets the fill to yellow and fills

Wonder if the problem would be fixed by only filling if you add a rect at all, kinda like the code above it does? Haven’t tried and it may be the wrong spot in the code, but your comment did make me look!

falkTX · November 27, 2022, 10:01pm

That is exactly the issue, I experienced the same too, and sent a fix in Fix VCA-1 out of bounds fill by falkTX · Pull Request #129 · VCVRack/Fundamental · GitHub which was rejected for legal reasons

Squinky · November 27, 2022, 10:21pm

Ah, that famous service with a smile

baconpaul · November 27, 2022, 10:48pm

Well perhaps whomever sends it to support should indicate that the problem is that no-path draw at that line number?

LarsBjerregaard · November 27, 2022, 10:52pm

I simply don’t understand Andrew’s attitude about this, and I fear he’s been given some bad legal advice.

Squinky · November 27, 2022, 10:53pm

Is this reply meant for me? I don’t get it. I was responding to @falkTX. I meant that it’s unfortunate that @falkTX submitted a fix a year ago and it still hasn’t been fixed.

baconpaul · November 27, 2022, 10:54pm

no. is there a way to add to a thread without indicating that it is ‘for’ someone on this forum?

baconpaul · November 27, 2022, 10:54pm

ahh yes the reply button at the bottom doesn’t tag a person. Sorry @Squinky didn’t mean to bother you with a comment for the OP and crew.

Squinky · November 27, 2022, 10:56pm

I’m always doing that in this forum. I mean to go all the way up to the top and reply to the original post. But I usually pick the closest “reply” button. Would be better ux if the link said “reply to joe cool” so it was more obvious.

Bill_Yarkakar_XVIII · November 27, 2022, 11:02pm

Interestingly enough, it wasn’t doing this until VCV 2.2 was released.

What legal reason can there possibly be for not fixing a bug?

baconpaul · November 27, 2022, 11:04pm

Without endorsing it as correct or incorrect in this case: The GitHub comment was not that he would not fix the bug for a legal reason. It was that he couldn’t review or accept third part code submissions. There are definitely situations where engineers should not consume information from external sources, including carefully protected IP, patent law, and more.