Qtractor 0.4.4 - The Frisky Demivierge's in the wild!

What? No automation, yet? Yes I failed the promise once again. So what? What would you expect from this self-called über-procrastinator? As sure is one to say that this is the Year of Linux Desktop (YOLD:), I'll give you the shivers and command this one will be the year of Qtractor Automation. No kiddin' ;)

Meanwhile, this new dot-release brings you several niceties, a couple of them have been waaay longer and dustier on the all-mighty-overdue TODO list than automation is. Rejoice! or else...

Release highlights:

• LV2 plug-in support (NEW)
• MIDI event list view (NEW)
• Expedite audio/MIDI clip import (NEW)
• DSSI plug-in output control ports feedback/update (NEW)
• JACK transport, MMC, SPP control options (NEW)
• Self-bounce/recording (FIX)
• Audio/MIDI drift correction (FIX)
• Anti-glitch audio micro-fade-in/out ramp smoothing (FIX)

Website:

Project page:

Downloads:

• source tarball:
  qtractor-0.4.4.tar.gz
• source package (openSUSE 11.2):
  qtractor-0.4.4-2.rncbc.suse112.src.rpm
• binary packages (openSUSE 11.2):
  qtractor-0.4.4-2.rncbc.suse112.i586.rpm
  qtractor-0.4.4-2.rncbc.suse112.x86_64.rpm
• binary packages (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS; no LV2 support):
  qtractor_0.4.4-1.rncbc.ubuntu804_i386.deb
  qtractor_0.4.4-1.rncbc.ubuntu804_amd64.deb
• binary packages (Ubuntu 9.10; UPDATED):
  qtractor_0.4.4-2.rncbc.ubuntu910_i386.deb
  qtractor_0.4.4-2.rncbc.ubuntu910_amd64.deb
• user manual (ever still outdated):
  qtractor-0.3.0-user-manual.pdf

Weblog (upstream support; oh wait...):

License:

Change-log:

• For all the DSSI plugins that have output control ports, a host feedback/update process cycle is now being finally provided: all output control ports are now marshaled to their respective GUI process, rather often and when found open/visible.
• MIDI clip editor (aka piano-roll) snap-to-beat behavior on edit mode is now kind of more like 'filling-in-the-blanks' (as Frank Neumann et al. wishes ;)
• Fixed MIDI clip editor mistake when reverting to initial clip length, before closing and discard changes (thanks to Frank Neumann, for spotting this one).
• LADISH Level 1 support has been added: SIGUSR1 signal trap just makes it a shortcut to File/Save.
• Avoid parameter value flickering, due to duplicate command invocation, most evident when changing values massively on native Linux VSTi plugin editor GUIs (thanks to a detailed report on this odd behavior, from Mike of linuxDSP.co.uk).
• Another TODO item bites the dust: MIDI event list editor, now accessible from the MIDI clip editor menu (View/Events)
• Last used session directory is now made current on startup only when no filename is given on the command line (solving bug #2920244).
• Current snap-to-beat setting (time quantization) now affects the anchor event only, while dragging, moving and/or pasting multiple events over the MIDI clip editor (aka piano-roll).
• Make anti-glitch audio clip micro fade-in/outs independent from current buffer size as much as possible.
• Audio/MIDI engine drift correction gets really sophisticated, with the help of (now old) ALSA MIDI tempo skew facility.
• Edit/Clip/Import... menu option is now available for expedite clip insertion from audio and MIDI file requesters.
• Set default session directory effective to file's location.
• Audio track/clip recording process has been target to special re-factorization across the internal audio engine process cycle, in a late attempt to get self-bounce/recording effective and working consistently for all track layouts.
• All session related dialogs are now set to window modality, (were set to default application modality before) allowing for continued input focus and interaction on all plugin/tool windows.
• An off-by-one nasty old bug fixed in audio clip drawing, was causing instant crashes on certain zoom levels of the main track view.
• Graphical MIDI clip representation regarding note/pitch range is now kept as much as possible across clip edits (cut, copy, paste, drag, move, delete, etc.)
• LV2 plug-in hosting has finally come into actual implementation; only some and the most basic LV2 plug-in features are supported at the moment; probably there's no big advantage against the old LADSPA ones; there's some support for external UIs though; also, LV2 MIDI/Event bare-bones support is included but chances are it won't build nor work right on most of the setups out there. It's a WIP host implementation anyways, as is the whole LV2 spec. for that matter ;)
• Connections filter is now reset when widget is shown through the View/Connections main menu or toolbar button.
• Audio bus auto-connection option is now applied when creating or updating, newer or existing buses, respectively.
• Global configuration state is now explicitly saved/committed to disk whenever View/Options... dialog changes are applied or when a session is loaded or saved.
• Audio ramping spin-locking makes its smooth stuff, in an attempt to reduce glitching and crackling when editing (due to its own pseudo spin-locking) and toggling playback states.
• JACK Transport, MMC Device, and MIDI Song Position pointer (SPP) control modes are now made optional (View/Options...), allowing for discretionary configuration: None/Disabled, Slave/Input, Master/Output or Full/Duplex (default).
• Session files may now be dragged and dropped over the main track view and get loaded for business as usual (once quietly ignored).
• In an attempt to mitigate potential stack corruption and sudden crashes, old commented out session pseudo-locks are now back in business while executing clip editing commands (cut, paste, drag, move, insert, delete) and playback is currently rolling.
• Adjusted first-time application window size to fit into 800x600 screen size and with reasonable initial dock-ables layout.
• Avoid duplicate snap-to-grid effect when changing the length of MIDI clip editor events across non-zero clip offsets (after a glitch reported by Ralf Mardorf).
• Late audio track processing optimization, suppressing all plugin, mixer and monitor pass-through activity when given track is muted, either explicitly or implicitly (ie. other track is in solo state).
• Entering System Exclusive events (SysEx) on the MIDI clip editor (aka matrix/piano-roll widget), yet something not fully supported anyway, even though allowed in edit mode, doesn't crash the whole damn thing anymore, while saving the clip to a file.
• Strict aliasing avoidance, with plain and demanded use of 'union', as much as to stop nagging warnings from gcc >= 4.4.1 (last seen on src/qtractorMidiEvent.h hackery).
• Visual correct play-head position while changing zoom levels, applicable to both main track and MIDI clip editor views.

Cheers && Enjoy.