DSP Robotics Support

Today we have just released FlowStone 3.0.3 Raindrop!

It's been a while since our last update - much longer than we wanted it to be.

The release notes are on the Version History section of the Download page but we just wanted to highlight a few things here.

DMX & HID

First off, we have DMX and HID primitives. DMX allows you to control all sorts of Lighting equipment straight from FlowStone. HID support is incredibly useful for not only input devices and controllers but also other hardware. Its inclusion means that you could now build your own I/O board say and use FlowStone to talk to it!

Here are a couple of examples:
http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=1563
http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=1564


VST PLUGINS & RUBY

One of the issues with previous releases that we've been working very hard to overcome is VST export and the way it uses Ruby. Because Ruby was in a separate dll it had to be shared amongst plugins. This meant that plugins made by two different people had to share the same Ruby interpreter. This obviously opened up the possibility for conflicts if say class names were duplicated.

However, it also caused problems when plugins made with different versions of FlowStone were run together. The one that loaded first would create the interpreter that suited its needs and any subsequent ones would have to share it. We realised this would be a problem once we started expanding our own bespoke Ruby classes and methods that interface to FlowStone because plugins created with new features would need to have an interpreter created with these features in order to work.

So for a long time now we have been working on trying to link Ruby into our VST binary and finally we have succeeded. The end result is that every individual exported plugin gets its own personal Ruby interpreter. Two instances of the same plugin will share the same one though. However, this won't cause conflicts (as they use the same Ruby code) and in fact it allows for communications between instances which can be a useful feature! Also, the Ruby dll no longer needs to be packaged with the plugin dll.

There is one small fly in the ointment - with Ruby now linked into our binary you won't be able to use Ruby extensions or Gems with exported VST plugins. We do hope this doesn't disappoint people. If we can get it working in the future then we will.

EDITS, DROP LISTS & MESSAGE BOXES

One thing missing from the UI capabilities of Ruby in FlowStone was controls and message boxes. So we've now added those to make it incredibly easy for you to build them into your interfaces. Edits and Drop lists can be created on-the-fly with a single Ruby method. You then implement a callback in your Ruby code to capture the result. Simple. See the Ruby section in the updated User Guide for more details.

ADAPTIVE SCROLLING

Unless you had a special mouse, let's be honest Toolbox mouse wheel scrolling in FlowStone has not been very useful. We hope we have really improved that in 3.0.3 by introducing Adaptive Scrolling. This allows you to control the speed at which scrolling is performed based on the speed at which you move your mouse wheel. Move it slowly for precise control or give it a good spin to set the tool box flying. You'll find controls to adjust this in the new Toolbox page on the Options dialog.

NEW TRIAL EDITION

Finally, for those wishing to try the software, we have changed from a FREE edition to a time limited TRIAL edition. The TRIAL edition is unlimited except for exporting where exes have a 5 minute close down period and VST plugins have inserted noise bursts.

Thanks for your patience. We hope you enjoy the new features!

Great news!
You made the update just 5 minutes before I finished my almost 2-years long project.

Thanks DSPR! Nice update and glad to see you sorted a solution to the Ruby issues!

Have a beer/puff on me guys

thats really great news! think the ruby dll stuff is a milestone for all vst devs thanks for that!

Sorry but I will be part of the disappointed.
In the scenario of the VST plugin,
Ruby for me is useful in these circumstances, to call external dll and external libraries,
just because not having an SDK,
it was the only way to expand the existing functions in a personal way.
But ruby is slow.

Then we shall have an SDK to call external code?
Great.

Otherwise we will only do complex graphics with it.
you have tested the performance of large arrays?
Ruby is Slow.

Having just paid $199 for updates, an given that there hasn't been an update for half a year, this is extremely disappointing. I think in future I'll go unsupported and just wait a few years until something significant happens....

Where is the 64 bit version promised on the SM forum many moons ago...

Folks, folks... - having such complaints - how much are your projects (made in FS) worth? Yet another delay? Yet another $5 EQ? Yet another free 3osc synth that nobody will use except you? Start doing serious things, to get real influence on FS development. And I mean it. You saw recently the Flowbotics Studio. Why they influenced company to take this direction? And keep in mind, that the company listened to regular users too; they changed their initial phiilosophy after our requests. So there is a balance between going into profitable directions, and listening to customer needs. Isn't it?

Flowstone is multi-purpose environment, not only VST. You paid for 1 year free upgrades, and you have stable, fully featured environment plus free upgrades during that 1 year. A lot of major fixes and changes are done by now. If you expect there will be nothing interesting next year - you don't need to extend your purchase; you can work with what you have right now - there is no expiration period. There is no secret on what will be inside next updates, because changelogs are public; you can rejoin for another year when you need it and only when you need it - just read when they decide to add x64 or OSX support (if they don't do it, some other environment will pop up). Meanwhile - focus on what you can do right now, and not on some "maybe future".

I would expect x64 and/or OSX support within 5 years, not now. Why? Because right now computers still can operate on x32 Windows (XP). It's not a matter of Microsoft support to that operating system, but hardware compatibility (I remember my very late switch from W98 into XP - not because W98 was old, but because my PC could not handle it). Meanwhile - there are many gadgets to interface with, and many other processing features to face with (directshow support for audio/video? processing graphics in photoshop-like style? processing video? processing 3D for robotics?).

My secondary thought on developments is - that the company needs to make right now more business connections, to survive in the future. Networking is something, that you don't see, but it is something, that makes projects survive.

tester wrote:Folks, folks... - having such complaints - how much are your projects (made in FS) worth? Yet another delay? Yet another $5 EQ? Yet another free 3osc synth that nobody will use except you? Start doing serious things, to get real influence on FS development. And I mean it. You saw recently the Flowbotics Studio. Why they influenced company to take this direction? And keep in mind, that the company listened to regular users too; they changed their initial phiilosophy after our requests. So there is a balance between going into profitable directions, and listening to customer needs. Isn't it?

Flowstone is multi-purpose environment, not only VST. You paid for 1 year free upgrades, and you have stable, fully featured environment plus free upgrades during that 1 year. A lot of major fixes and changes are done by now. If you expect there will be nothing interesting next year - you don't need to extend your purchase; you can work with what you have right now - there is no expiration period. There is no secret on what will be inside next updates, because changelogs are public; you can rejoin for another year when you need it and only when you need it - just read when they decide to add x64 or OSX support (if they don't do it, some other environment will pop up). Meanwhile - focus on what you can do right now, and not on some "maybe future".

I would expect x64 and/or OSX support within 5 years, not now. Why? Because right now computers still can operate on x32 Windows (XP). It's not a matter of Microsoft support to that operating system, but hardware compatibility (I remember my very late switch from W98 into XP - not because W98 was old, but because my PC could not handle it). Meanwhile - there are many gadgets to interface with, and many other processing features to face with (directshow support for audio/video? processing graphics in photoshop-like style? processing video? processing 3D for robotics?).

My secondary thought on developments is - that the company needs to make right now more business connections, to survive in the future. Networking is something, that you don't see, but it is something, that makes projects survive.

I somewhat agree- I use Flowstone for more than VST development- I have the flow board and all the bits that go with it...I actually think the flowstone software is cheap (without the upgrade pack), its just if your going to go down that road (as N.I. did briefly with Komplete Kare or however they spelt it!) you have to deliver something worthwhile every six months...

I also agree FS needs some business direction, I understand they need the robotics etc. to survive and not be a one trick pony, but abandoning SM forum and all the great stuff that was developed? I tried to start a FS discussion on KVR and it just seems to be considered a dead product (but loads on synth edit...) It really needs some kick but audio stuff (like the old 'analog pack' which incidentally seems to crash this release but was fine on the last one) or to go 64 bit or something to get some good publicity especially with the audio guys and people who they lost with the SM 'merge' (who kills a busy forum- there is still more activity there than here many days!)

That said, the HID stuff looks interesting- could use more explanation!

Sean wrote:I somewhat agree- I use Flowstone for more than VST development- I have the flow board and all the bits that go with it...I actually think the flowstone software is cheap (without the upgrade pack), its just if your going to go down that road (as N.I. did briefly with Komplete Kare or however they spelt it!) you have to deliver something worthwhile every six months...

I agree on that. But this is the "first year" of real Flowstone (3.x, SM and FS merge, working ruby) anyway. So they have about a year to figure out whether they are able to handle the upgrade philosophy they selected. I admit - knowing recent past (I don't know how it worked with earlier stages of SM development) - I will observe it with curiosity... I suspect, this year there will be 1-2 minor updates (fixing forgotten things), and one major (but not x64 or OSX), and some tensions when some vital fixes appear after 1 year free upgrade periods are gone.

Sean wrote:I also agree FS needs some business direction, I understand they need the robotics etc. to survive and not be a one trick pony, but abandoning SM forum and all the great stuff that was developed? I tried to start a FS discussion on KVR and it just seems to be considered a dead product (but loads on synth edit...) It really needs some kick but audio stuff (like the old 'analog pack' which incidentally seems to crash this release but was fine on the last one) or to go 64 bit or something to get some good publicity especially with the audio guys and people who they lost with the SM 'merge' (who kills a busy forum- there is still more activity there than here many days!)

That said, the HID stuff looks interesting- could use more explanation!

About abandoning SM forum, I think there was no clear idea how to merge these two forums (I don't know if you saw how people over-reacted?), but this year and maybe a half of next one will probably show how to make it. Plus - they will need someone with skills to not lose the data and customers. Tricky thing.

As for KVR - it's their problem. KVR is probably better for promoting, than real development (my guess - I'm not there), and probably that's why people talk more on synthedit. I see it as a different marketing strategy; is it better one? Don't know, my guess is - no. I suspect FS is openly considered to be "robotics + something", not "audio + robotics"; see the main page - what thoughts/associations you have? Market is tricky, what is loud does not have to be profitable.

This, I think, is the issue- cant be all things to all people! May have been better selling very basic pack and then adding the modules as paid extras (Maybe even free basics and then pay $99 for audio pack...); anyway, don't want to hijack the upgrade thread...I'm off back to the SM forum to find some cool audio modules