Skylum Luminar 2018

Skylum Luminar 2018 screenshot

 

After releasing a number of award winning iOS apps, Macphun hired a bunch of ex Nik Collection employees, changed its name to Skylum, and released Luminar, a cross platform program that it claims is a Lightroom alternative. So is it? Read on to find out.

Skylum Luminar is a raw image processor with an interface that’s similar to Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Develop module, sans left column. Like Lightroom, its right column contains the editing controls (which, in Luminar, are called ‘filters’). However, instead of this being full to the brim with everything but the kitchen sink filter (that’s the one that magically removes kitchen sinks from any image), it offers a selection of workspaces, which populate this column with a subset of its available filters. These can be customised further by adding/removing filters, naming and saving your workspace.

Removing filters is as simple as clicking on the little x that appears when they are moused over. Adding filters is achieved, uncontroversially, by clicking the ‘add filters’ button and choosing from the resultant drop down list. Mousing over that list provides useful descriptions of what each filter does and an example photo, though not a live preview of your photo. Alternatively you can use the ‘clear workspace’ option to build a workspace from scratch.

Unfortunately, if you switch between workspaces whilst editing a photo, you loose any changes you have made to your photo and have to start again. Notwithstanding that and the aforementioned lack of live previews, we really like this approach and feel it is something that Adobe would do well to adopt as there have been countless times when we have found ourselves scrolling up and down the right column in Lightroom’s Develop module trying to find a specific control.

All of Luminar’s filters do an excellent job. The star though is the ‘Accent AI Filter’ which uses Skylum’s AI technology to optimise everything in your photo; and because it’s a slider, you can use it to dial in everything from a subtle enhancement to in-yer-face pop.

In addition to filters, the right column includes layers. Those who have grown up with Photoshop will appreciate this. Those who have grown up with Lightroom, not so much. For our part we view layers as a retrograde step that is entirely the wrong paradigm for this type of image editing application. However, as they are an unobtrusive addition that most functions do not depend upon, we do not object to their presence per se.

Across the top of the screen are several functions including ‘History’ and ‘tools’ drop downs. The latter consists of just four tools – ‘Crop’, ‘Free Transform’, ‘Clone & Stamp’, and ‘Erase’, which is a bit limiting. There is also a before/after button, which displays your photo as a before/after split screen with a draggable split point. We love this and wish that Lightroom offered something similar.

Across the bottom of the screen is a ‘filmstrip’ offering live previews of the various preset ‘looks’ that are available. Although there are 7 preset categories (‘Basic’, ‘Street’,’Outdoor’, ‘Portrait’, ‘Travel’, ‘Dramatic’ and ‘Aerial’) each contains only a handful of presets. However, you can get more by downloading free and premium looks from inside Luminar, and can create your own.

So is Luminar a Lightroom replacement? In a word, no. Whilst it does an admirable job of replicating and in some ways improving upon Lightroom’s develop module, it lacks some of that module’s functionality, for example, there’s no negative clarity, red eye correction, spot removal tool, or camera profiles. Furthermore it lacks almost all of the functionality found in Lightroom’s other modules and crucially any form of asset management. Consequently (its basic batch mode notwithstanding) you have to open individual images and, when you are done working on them, save them in Luminar’s proprietary file format, remembering to tick the ‘save history’ checkbox, in order to be able to pickup editing where you left off, which is an inefficient use of disc space and a potential asset management headache. This coupled with Luminar’s reliance upon layers for some functions makes it feels like something of a halfway house between Lightroom and Photoshop.

Nevertheless, there’s lots to like about Luminar. It offers an elegant interface, is easy to use, and enables you to achieve excellent results. It is also outstanding value for money. If your photo editing needs are modest, or you are used to a Photoshop workflow, then it may very well suit you. If you are a professional photographer who needs to edit and manage large numbers of photos on a regular basis, we’d suggest sticking with Lightroom or Capture One for now. However, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if, as it matures, Luminar becomes a true Lightroom alternative for all.

 

More info: https://www.skylum.com

© 2018, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.

Propellerhead Reason 10

Propellerhead Reason 10 screenshot

 

I remember my first time with Reason. My homie, Alain Whyte had just returned from a tour with Morrissey and phoned me to see if I’d like to check out his latest software purchase…Reason 1.0; so I popped over to his studio. Whilst Al headed to the Kitchen for refreshments, I installed Reason on his Apple Mac. Ten minutes later he returned with tea and biscuits, to find Reason not just up and running, but that I had done an entire drum n bass remix. His jaw dropped and he asked me, “how did you do that?” “Easy,” I replied, “It works just like my studio.” And that, in essence, is the point. At a time when DAWs were clunky, mechanistic behemoths that had almost as much in common with computer programming as music making, Reason changed everything.

Of course, much has changed since version 1.0. But although Reason has grown exponentially in its abilities, the simplicity that enabled me to go from install to remix in ten minutes, without having ever used it before, and without reading the manual, remains.

The biggest and most significant change came fairly recently, in Reason 9.5, when, after years of doggedly remaining a closed system, Propellerhead suddenly opened Reason up to third party plug-ins…and after years of restrictions, being able to run Arturia V Collection and Eventide Anthology X from inside Reason feels so simultaneously right and wrong that it’s like having a Catholic girl feed you a pork and cheese sandwich, on Yom Kippur.

So what’s new in Reason 10? Quite a lot actually!

‘Europa’ is a wavetable synthesizer that was created for “huge, epic sounds”. Its three engines let you choose from simple and complex wavetables, or draw your own. These can be modulated by up to two modifiers, with the results displayed in a handy ‘oscilloscope’. Each engine includes complex spectral filtering, harmonics processing and a versatile unison mode. A mixer delivers the results to one of a variety of filters, and, in turn, to an amp, both of which have their own envelopes (complex for the former, ADSR for the latter). There are also 3 LFOs, a modulation matrix, and effects. In other words, pretty much everything except the pirate twins. In practice, Europa is straightforward to use and capable of producing everything from beautiful 80sesque pads, to in-yer-face EDM basses and leads.

‘Grain’, as the name implies, is a granular synthesizer that allows you to process any samples, granularly. Its refreshingly simple interface (half of which is the same as Europa’s) belies its numerous sonic possibilities. Whilst it is capable of many things, its unique textures are particularly well suited to sound design, experimental music and ambient soundscapes.

‘Klang’, ‘Pangea’, and ‘Humana’ are romplers. Each offers the same set of controls (sample start point, basic modulation, resonant filter, dual envelopes, delay and reverb) in a different skin, with its own specific sound set. Klang has a small collection of tuned percussion such as glockenspiels and wineglasses (though no Kling). Pangea offers a variety of ‘World’ instruments. Humana will make you go ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’, or at least, it will make Reason do so, with its collection of choirs and solo voices. The sounds in all three are excellent, but it would have been nice to have some more of them.

Klang
Pangea
Humana

 

‘Radical Pianos’ and ‘Synchronous Effects Modulator’ are popular rack extensions that used to be available as separate purchases, but which now come bundled with Reason 10.

Radical Pianos combines sampling with physical modelling, to offer three customisable, acoustic pianos.

Radical Piano

 

Synchronous is a multi effects unit with separate sections for distortion, filter, delay and reverb. Three independent, extensively customisable modulation envelopes can be assigned to almost all of the controls in each of these sections. So, for example, you could modulate delay time, filter cutoff and filter resonance, independently of each other, by assigning different envelopes to them (which is easy to do, thanks to a clever interface). This flexibility provides the potential to use Synchronous for everything from subtle sound animation to extreme remixes. It’s a shame that the parameter knobs being modulated don’t revolve in real time to provide some visual feedback, but the effects sound fantastic and Synchronous is a demon on drums.

Synchronous

 

Finally, ‘Drum Supply’ and ‘Loop Supply’, are multi gigabyte sample libraries, offering an immediately useable range of Kong kits, one shot samples and REX loops.

So is it worth the price of the upgrade? Absolutely! If you’re running Reason 9.5, Reason 10 is highly desirable and if you’re running anything earlier than Reason 9, Reason 10 is an absolutely essential upgrade.

MC Rebbe

5 bagels

 

More info: www.propellerheads.se

© 2018, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.

The 30 Best Things at NAMM 2018

1. Our friend Thomas Dolby, getting a lifetime achievement award from Roland (h/t KraftMusic):

2. Our friend Paul White getting all Men in Black with the Game Changer Audio Plasma Pedal – a stomp box that’s so bright you gotta wear shades (h/t Sound on Sound):

3. Waldorf Quantum. The most eagerly anticipated keyboard of 2017/18 is all but finished and perilously close to shipping (h/t Synth Anatomy & Bonedo Synthesizers):

4. Strymon Magneto Eurorack Tape Delay. A virtual 4 head tape delay, looper & spring reverb, in Eurorack format, with extensive CV i/o? What’s not to like?! In fact it gets our award for best Eurorack module at NAMM 2018. But shhh… don’t tell Marvel Comics (h/t Perfect Circuit Audio):

5. The Pioneer DJS-1000. We loved its forerunner – the Toriaz SP-16 and suspect that the DJS-1000 will be the new standard of DJ sampler (h/t Sonic State):

6. BOSS GT-1000. A multitude of amps & stomp boxes, including the algorithms from the fantastic DD/RV/MD-500 & MDP series, with 32-bit AD/DA and 32-bit/96 kHz internal processing? Yes please! (h/t Better Music):

7. Elektron Digitone. Proof that if you wait long enough, everything comes back into fashion…even FM…and here it is with knobs on, both figuratively & literally (h/t Synthtopia):

8. Korg Prologue. This Minilogue/Monologue influenced 8/16 voice hybrid polysynth features two analogue and one digital oscillators and looks as sleek as it sounds (h/t Sound on Sound & Loopop):

9. Rossum Electro Music Assimil8r – The final version of the long awaited 8 channel Eurorack sampler from Mr E-mu Emulator himself! (h/t Sonic State):

10. The Arturia MiniBrute 2 & MiniBrute 2S. Falling somewhere between a MiniBrute and a MatrixBrute, these Brutes feature dual oscillators and 48 point Eurorack compatible patch bay. We prefer the MiniBrute 2S, which swaps its keyboard for a BeatStep Pro style sequencer (h/t SourceDistributionTV):

11. Alesis Vortex Wireless 2 keytar controller. Simply the best Keytar we’ve ever seen (h/t Andertons):

12. SE Electronics RNT. A large-diaphragm tube condenser mic designed in collaboration with audio legend and thoroughly nice guy, Rupert Neve, that’s said to combine vintage quality with the benefits of modern advances (h/t Sound on Sound):

13. Antares Autotune Pro. Better, faster, stronger, but not harder and now with added auto tune 5 classic algorithm option. Believe (h/t Bedroom Producers Blog):

14. Behringer in original synth shocker. It’s called the Neutron and it’s redder than Lenin.

15. Roland TR-808 and TR-909 plug-ins for the Roland Cloud. Following on from the TR–08 and TR–09, Roland is bringing VST and AU versions of the venerable TR-808 & TR-909 to the Roland Cloud. Say Planet Rock, it’s the sure shot (h/t Bedroom Producers Blog):

16. Doepfer Polyphonic Eurorack Modules. They’re made by Doepfer. They’re polyphonic. As David Byrne once said “Any questions?” (Animato Audio):

17. Apple Logic Pro X 10.4. Offering far more than one would expect from a point update, Logic Pro X 10.4’s headline new features include ‘Smart Tempo’, which claims to use “advanced tempo detection technology” to enable all recorded tracks to stay in time with each other without the need for a metronome/click track; a new algorithmic reverb called ‘ChromaVerb’; a ‘Vintage EQ’ plug-in; Celemony Melodyne ARA 2 support; and, best of all, the return of two of our all time favourite plug-ins – Camel Audio’s CamelPhat and CamelSpace, in the form of ‘Phat FX’ and ‘Step FX’.

 

18. Realitone Hip Hop Creator. This grabbed our attention not only because our Publisher/Editor is the world’s greatest rapper, but also for the unintended comedic brilliance of 2:57-3:30 in this video (h/t Sonic State):

19. Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O. One of three new Pocket Operators, the PO-33 K.O. is a sampler that looks like a lot of fun…with or without added Cuckoo…though undeniably more so with (h/t Cuckoo):

20. Sonnox VoxDoubler. This duo of plug-ins – ‘Widen’ and ‘Thicken’ aim to do what they suggest naturally, with Sonnox quality at a refreshingly economical price (h/t Sound on Sound):

21. Roland’s expanding headband. Whilst you’re waiting for Roland to re-release the Jupiter 8, why not buy a bunch of Roland SE-02s and poly chain them?. Here’s Scott Tibbs demonstrating how huge this sounds (h/t Sonic State):

22. Empress Effects Zoia. The modular pedal that’s anything you want it to be

23. Sim1 XT-1. A pedal that promises to transform your guitar into a classic Les Paul, Strat, Tele, 335, or acoustic…and what’s more it seems to work!

24. Blip Blox. A Fisher Price style synthesizer & beatbox for kids that’s guaranteed to be used almost exclusively by adults.

25. Yamaha CS-80. No, not a re-release, but an original, that was recently unearthed by Yamaha in a spot of office archaeology. What’s more, it’s in pristine condition..or, at least, it was before spending 4 days at NAMM… (h/t Synthtopia):

26. The Waldorf STVC. Contrary to rumours, this is not a case of Waldorf going all Behringer on the Roland VP-330, but an entirely different beast, based upon a re-voiced (and, in our opinion, better sounding) Streichfett. Now all Waldorf need to do is to remove the keyboard and the vocoder and stick it in a box (h/t Sonic State):

27. Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4. Express yourself! (h/t Kraft Music):

28. Rainger FX Reverb X. Just when you think everything that can be done with reverb and overdrive in a stompbox has been done, Rainger FX’s Reverb X comes along and does something new (h/t Sonic State):

29. Yudo NEUMAN Multi-Touch Keyboard / Synthesizer Prototype. Is this the future? (h/t Synth Anatomy):

30. Ormsby DJENT2018. You can’t mention NAMM 2018 without mentioning this 18 string Tasmanian blackwood and stone (sic) 18 string guitar. It reminds us of the time that Homer Simpson designed a car… (h/t GAK):

© 2018, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.

IK Multimedia Syntronik

Syntronik

 

In The Technofile Awards 2016, we implied that there are two ways to recreate vintage synths in software – modelling and sampling. However, that was then but this is now and, as ABC asked, why make the past your sacred cow? IK Multimedia certainly hasn’t. Instead they’ve devised a third way, by hybridising the first two, to produce Syntronik.

 

In developing Syntronik, IK Multimedia took the view that step A was to use their sampling expertise to painstakingly multi sample single oscillators and oscillator combinations (including sync and FM sweeps) from ‘golden’ examples of their 38 favourite synths and string machines.

 

The list of machines they sampled is pretty comprehensive, including, as it does, the Alesis Andromeda, ARP 2600, ARP Solina, Elka Rhapsody 490, Hohner String Performer, Micromoog, Minimoog Model D, Modular Moog, Moog Opus 3, Moog Prodigy, Moog Rogue, Moog Taurus I, Moog Taurus II, Moog Taurus 3, Moog Voyager, Multimoog, Oberheim OB-X, Oberheim OB-Xa, Oberheim SEM, Polymoog, PPG Wave 2.3, Realistic Concertmate MG-1, Roland Juno-60, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland Jupiter-6, Roland Jupiter-8, Roland JX-10, Roland JX-3P, Roland JX-8P, Roland RS-09, Roland RS-505 Paraphonic, Roland TB-303, Sequential Circuits Prophet-10, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha CS-01II, Yamaha CS-80, Yamaha GX-1, and Yamaha SY99.

 

Step B saw IK Multimedia inventing and applying its brand new “DRIFT” technology to the resultant 50GB library of 70,00 samples, in order to vary the phase, timbre and pitch, temporally, as a means of emulating the way that analogue oscillators behave.

IK Multimedia Drift Technology

 

Step C involved IK Multimedia using its modelling expertise to create circuit-level models of the Moog transistor ladder (from the Minimoog and Modular Moog), Roland’s IR3109 chip (from the Jupiter-8 and Juno-60), the Curtis CEM3320 chip (from the Prophet-5 and Oberheim OB-Xa) and the Oberheim SEM state variable filter, through which these DRIFted samples are controllable.

 

And there you have it, easy as ABC; but not wanting to make the past their sacred cow, IK decided that instead of merely offering facsimiles of the 38 machines they sampled, they would instead mash things up a bit by distilling them into 17 machines, some of which (such as the ‘T-03’ & ‘Blau’) emulate one specific synth (the Roland TB-303 & PPG Wave 2.3 respectively), others of which (such as ‘Stringbox’) combine the characteristics and samples of several similar machines.

 

 

 

Each of these 17 virtual instruments, though visually representative of the instrument(s) it emulates, offers a common set of controls…including a filter section that sports all four of the aforementioned filter models, plus a phaser, a formant filter and the SampleTank filter. This means that you can essentially play a Jupiter 8’s DRIFTified oscillator samples through a modelled MiniMoog’s filter, and a Solina’s DRIFTizzled oscillator samples through a modelled PPG filter.

 

 

Notice we said ‘and’, not ‘or’, as Syntronik allows you to layer/split up to four machines, making for some complex sonic possibilities.

 

But it doesn’t end there, as Syntronik also includes 38 ‘lunchbox’ style effects, some of which are derived from IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube and T-RackS, others of which, such as ‘Ensemble Chorus’ are new and exclusive to Syntronik; and up to five of these can be applied to each machine.

 

There is also an (up to) 32 step note/chord arpeggiator with some fairly deep options.

 

As for how it sounds? Exquisite! The samples are pristine, the DRIFT is convincing, the filters are some of the best software modelled ones we’ve heard, and the effects are every bit as good as one would expect, given their provenance. We would have loved the ability to select initialised instruments, instead of being forced to choose from presets, but in mitigation the 2000 presets sound fantastic and are eminently editable.

Conclusion:

We think that Syntronik brings something genuinely new to the table by enabling the ‘DNA’ (as IK would have it) of 38 vintage instruments to be combined in new and novel ways. Programming is simple thanks to the common set of parameters, large friendly effects page, and easy to use layer/split/arpeggiator window; and the results sounds fantastic. It’s Driftification for D nation.

More info: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/syntronik/

© 2017, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.

Red Giant Trapcode Suite 14

Trapcode Suite 14

Red Giant Trapcode Suite has long been an industry standard package for creating motion graphics and visual effects in Adobe After Effects, but its latest incarnation – Trapcode Suite 14, takes things to the next level. Of the eleven products it includes, two – Trapcode Particular & Trapcode Form, see major updates (to v3.0), whilst a third – Trapcode Tao, sees a point upgrade (to v1.2), so we’ll concentrate on these.

Trapcode Particular 3

Particular 3

Particular is very much the go to third party particle generator for Adobe After Effects. Version 3 sees a raft of major new features.

Particular-GPU-Accelerated

Kicking things off is Open GL GPU acceleration. Red Giant say that depending upon your system this could result in a speed increase of 4X or more. Whilst we haven’t scientifically tested this claim, we can say that we saw a significant improvement on our Mac Pro, making this a godsend.

Particular Designer

Coming in a close second is the new ‘Designer’ interface, which owes much to Red Giant’s excellent Magic Bullet Looks. Clicking the ‘Designer’ button opens the ‘Designer’ window. On the right hand side of this is the pop up ‘blocks’ tab. Each block contains a preset behaviour/style for emitters, particles, shading, physics and aux particles. When a block is selected it appears in the scrollable ‘effects chain’ tab below, from which it can then be selected and adjusted in the ‘Master System’ tab. Alternatively, you can select one of over 300 complete particle effects from the pop up ‘Presets’ tab on the left. These include effects for creating fire, space flight, fireworks, muzzle flashes, explosions, & smoke, and all are customisable.

Particular Presets

As you select/tweak blocks/presets, the impressive results are previewed in Designer, in real time, thanks to the GPU acceleration. This level of immediacy is reminiscent of Apple Motion, making it easy for those who are new to or inexperienced with particles to create great results. In fact we’d go so far as to say that thanks to Designer, Particular 3 is to particles what Magic Bullet Looks is to grading. That said, Designer is optional and hardened pros can still use Particular the classic way, direct from the After Effects’ interface.

Particular Multiple Systems

Up third is the ability to combine multiple particle systems in the same 3D space. The interaction of these can results in some awesome effects. Adding multiple particle systems in Designer is as easy as clicking the plus button and adding blocks/a preset for each additional system; and we’re delighted to report that when you do this, the results remain viewable in real time, thanks to the GPU acceleration.

Particular OBJ Emitter

Up forth is something that will delight the 3D crowd, namely the ability to use 3D models and animated OBJ sequences as particle emitters. You can choose from Particular’s library of 60, or you can load your own, and particles can be emitted from the vertices, edges, faces or volume of your chosen OBJ.

Form Sprites

Fifth is the ability to use any image in your composition as a particle by assigning it to a 2D sprite or textured polygon. Particular 3 includes over 270 still and animated sprite images, which run the gamut from 2D shapes, to dust & debris, ‘light & magic’, organic matter, smoke & fire, water & snow, symbols, and 3D geometric shapes. There’s even a selection of ten festive baubles…for those needing particles for Jesus.

Particular Aux Systems

Sixth and finally, Particular 3’s updated aux system (which is great for creating effects like particle trails and traces, organic lines, and splashes) now allows you to add custom particles and has keyframable parameters, for more variation and control.

Trapcode Form 3

Form 3

Many of the cool new features in Particular 3 are shared with Form 3.

Form Designer

The most notable of these is Designer. Of course, the blocks and presets on offer differ between the two as they are different programs, with the blocks in Form 3 affecting base form, particle, disperse & twist, spherical field, kaleidoscope & world transform.

Meanwhile the 71 presets include fractals, landscapes, geometry, bokeh, lines, shape grids and spin dots.

Form 3 also shares Particular 3’s ability to use 3D models & animated OBJ sequences, and 2D sprites.

Finally, the updated graphing system allows you to temporally animate controls including colour, size, opacity, and particle dispersion. Best of all though, these can now be audio reactively animated, which is something we hope to see implemented in all of Trapcode suite’s components in a future release.

Tao 1.2

Tao

Rounding off the updates, is a new depth-of-field tool that makes it simple to create camera-realistic blurs for Tao objects, based on their distance from the After Effects 3D camera.

Conclusion

Mir

Trapcode EchospaceTrapcode Shine

Of course, that’s just part of the story, as Trapcode Suite 14 includes 8 other products – Trapcode Mir 2.1 for creating 3D Surfaces, Terrains and Wireframes; Trapcode Shine 2.0 for creating Ultra-fast 3D light ray effects for footage, motion graphics & text; Trapcode Lux 1.4 for creating 3D Volumetric point and spot lights; Trapcode 3D Stroke 2.6 for creating organic 3D Shapes and Lines from masks; Trapcode Starglow 1.7 for creating stylized glints and glows for motion graphics and text; Trapcode Soundkeys 1.4 for creating audio reactive motion graphics; Trapcode Horizon 1.1 for creating infinite 360 degree backgrounds; and Trapcode Echospace 1.1 for creating complex 3D shape animations. Together they make a compelling suite that is essential for After Effects based motion graphics and visual effects work. If you are doing either, we say get Trapcode 14, and if you are using an earlier version we highly recommend upgrading.

5 bagels

 

More info:  https://www.redgiant.com/products/trapcode-suite/

© 2017, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.