VidLoop 1.4.18 is out on Adobe AIR Marketplace

Just like the sign says… VidLoop 1.4.18 is out on Adobe AIR Marketplace.

It’s been a year since I released the initial version (built over last Thanksgiving holiday) and have been working on some revisions in the past few weeks with the intention of getting this new version out as an anniversary marking. Looks like I made it!

The new version adds the following features:

• You can now present SWF files within a loop
• VidLoop automatically rescans directories at startup and shutdown
• You can choose to have a loop start automatically
• I rewrote the transitions mechanism
• Fixed some directory parsing bugs and other junk

I’m not claiming the thing is perfect or even rock-solid, but after receiving feature requests and thanks from many people regarding the usefulness of this little app… I think it deserves some continued support.

LiveStreamer AIR Application

I wrote a new AIR app called LiveStreamer available now via the Adobe AIR Marketplace.

This started as a simple mechanism to display a live RTMP stream from Flash Media Server to a client machine and related projection system. So… not for broadcast over the web- just sending a live stream from one physical location to another.

While developing the application, I came across the need to test an RTMP stream and it was so simple using this app that I decided to expand it. In the current version (0.9.0), it will accept RTMP and HTTP streams- just type in the URL and you can easily test it in order to verify that it is correct before trying to publish anything on a website or whatnot. You can also use it as a fullscreen projection or display mechanism as was originally intended.

If you have some FLVs or MP4s or whatnot on your local machine- you can just drag those into the app to watch them. I’m thinking about adding some playback controls and other options a bit later.

Application for display of video streams via RTMP, HTTP, or local filesystem. Just drag in a file or enter a stream address and away we go!

At the University of Denver, we have built a good number of AIR applications at this point. Some are internal data management tools, others are full, complex, private applications such as the VPS Projection system, and then we have small utility apps like this which others may also find some use for. These we make available to others free of charge as part of our community outreach.

Windows 7 RC Impressions

Unlike the majority of reports out there, I’ve never had a major problem with Windows Vista. The two big problems I have had are in regard to the difficulty in taking ownership of files and directories even when logged in as an admin, and the initial lack of drivers. The first problem is remedied with some basic re-education, and the second issue has been resolved for some time now due to availability. My only major gripe is not with Windows but lies in the fact that Microsoft feels the need to stick its nose into everything under the sun (Silverlight, for example). Windows Vista has been a fine experience for me in the three years I’ve been using it.

I’ve been using the Windows 7 beta on my laptop since it was released months ago, and recently switched to the RC build. I’m very impressed with the changes from Vista- so much so, that I’ve now upgraded my home office machine to the Windows 7 RC. This is no small step as I’m dependent on this system for all my consulting, development, and audio production duties. This is how much I favor Windows 7 over Vista- it is such a refined user experience, overall. The reliability and speed improvements on older machines are a huge plus as well… that laptop I mentioned previously was purchased in 2004.

Here’s a short video demonstrating some niceties in my current environment:

“Student Shuffler” AIR Application

The Student Shuffler AIR application is now available via Adobe AIR Marketplace.

The app was built to facilitate a fair and transparent way of organizing classroom presentations whether by group or individual student. The instructor goes in before class and inputs each presenter into the application edit interface. This is saved locally to the internal database. When it comes time to begin presentations, the instructor needs only to run the app and the students can all see their names being shuffled into a random, numbered presentation order. This not only frees the instructor of any responsibility toward the selection of presentation order, but always transmits an air of fairness around the process that the students can appreciate.

Student Shuffler is a small application that allows the user to edit a list of names to be randomized into a numbered list. Useful for generating an unbiased presentation order for classroom or presentation scenarios. Makes use of the local SQLite database to preserve student names across active sessions.

There were a number of firsts for me in developing this app. Specifically, this was my first experimentation with custom chrome and use of the internal SQLite database. I found both features to be very simple to deal with once the process was understood in a complete manner.

I hope others find this to be a useful piece of software!

Sonar 8 PE Review

Sonar 8 was released a few weeks ago.  Being in the middle of a project at the time, I’ve had a good week or so to check out some of the new features.

Here are some things I like:

SONAR Performance Optimizations
How can you not like this?  I haven’t had a huge problem with projects in the past, but do notice a significant decrease in resource usage in this new version, all the same.

Dedicated Instrument Track
This is more of an organizational preference than anything else- but I do find it a bit cleaner than the old way of grouping a midi and synth track within a track folder.  Another good thing is that you can switch back and forth whenever you want and apply the feature to only those instruments you want.  Very flexible!

Dimension Pro
Very similar to Dimension LE that shipped along with Sonar 7 PE- the most noticible thing for me so far is that we get over 7 gigs of material with the pro version.  Wow.

Z3TA+ / Integrated Step Sequencer
Two tools from the previous version I feel compelled to mention here since they are just so great.  Z3TA+ is a waveshaping synthesizer with a wide array of options for generating some really, really incredible sounds.  The step sequencer provides an alternate midi pattern generation environment from the traditional piano roll.

TL-64 Tube Leveler / TS 64 Transient Shaper
Any tools that give me more control over the sound are always welcome.

TL-64 provides intuitive controls to determine the level and character of analog tube saturation, from subtle “warming” to hard-driving saturation. The TL-64 plug-in features a unique selectable Dynamic Response Filter control that when engaged employs a dynamic (versus static) tube model algorithm.

Here are things I could care less about:

Beatscape loop performance instrument / Loop Explorer 2.0
I don’t work with loops… so this is pretty useless as advertised.  However, as with many other tools, it may be useful when applied in some other way?

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE
Similar to above… I wonder what running some vox through this would do…

I’ve been using this software since version 3 and normally upgrade every other version.  I obviously have broken that tradition with the purchase of Sonar 8- the overall improvements on an already solid piece of software were too good to pass up for another year.  There are lots and lots of other things to mention, but these are some initial observations after a week of use.

More nformation can be found at http://cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/.