REQ: Resolume Arena 7
This may come as a surprise to you. Usually it takes us 3 or 4 years to release a new major version. Now it's only been a little under 2 years since we announced Resolume 6. The reason for this change of pace is we have big changes and even bigger plans. We think you'll like them so read on for all the juicy deets.
UNDO
When someone asked us why there is no undo in Resolume we usually said something like “Resolume is a live instrument! There is no undo on a piano either!?” or we joked “Resolume is about doing, not undoing”. We do not have to hide behind these jokes anymore. We did it, Resolume now has undo & redo.
When an application is not built from scratch with an undo system then implementing it at a later stage, when it has hundreds of thousands of lines of code is a lot of tedious, error prone and boring work. This is why we delayed implementing undo for a long time. We just focussed on fun and exciting features. Meanwhile, our problem only became bigger and bigger, with every new line of code we wrote.
We realised that we had to rip of this band-aid hard and quickly or it would haunt us for ever. The longer we waited, the bigger our problem would become. So we sat down, put on our headphones, enabled crunch mode and did it. We modified thousands of lines of code, broke the whole system to add two very unsexy but very important keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + Z & CTRL + SHIFT + Z. UNDO & REDO.
So now you have a little guardian angel watching over your shoulder. Made a mistake? Just hit undo and you're back to where you were. Removed a deck instead of renamed it? CTRL + Z and all your clips are back.
Undo is also a great design tool. Feel free to experiment with the look of your clips, apply effects, change the colors and if you do not like what you see you can always just go back with undo.
Resolume is still very much about doing, but now your doing does not have to be disastrous anymore. You can undo your way back to safety. If we were to redo this (pun intended) from scratch we would have done it a lot earlier. So if we’re ever going to release a new app, we’ll make sure it has undo from the very beginning. Promised.
A New License Model
We never want to do major releases any more, they’re painful. We want to innovate faster. Days before the release of version 5 we felt bad it “only” had improvements to the Advanced Output. The release of version 6 was production hell because it contained too many new features. When we’re releasing a new major version we always feel uncertain if it’s good enough. Does it contain enough new features that would get you all excited? Does all of that new stuff actually work? Did we test everything enough? A lot of things need to come together for a major release. It’s a lot of work and we’re a small team so we always drop the ball one way or the other.
With a major version we need to save up on new features. Which means we build something and then we can not immediately release it because we have to wait for all the other features to be done, to make sure the major release is worth the upgrade price. This means we often have exciting new stuff that will improve your VJ-ing, but it has to sit on our virtual shelves for months, over a year sometimes. We want to work in smaller, more manageable iterations. Bring you updates and respond to the changing live visuals market quicker.
We’re changing our license model so we can innovate faster and release new or improved features more often. We will no longer charge an upgrade fee to a major version anymore. Instead, now when you buy Resolume 7, you’ll get a full year of updates, bug fixes, new features, improvements, everything and all of it. When your 12 months of free updates are over you can simply renew your license if you want to continue using the latest & greatest versions. Or you can wait, your latest eligible version will always work.
This is not a subscription
You do not have to continue paying just to use Resolume, you can use it forever. You do not have to renew your license every year, the last update before your license expires will be yours forever.
So from now on we’ll be working in smaller iterations so we can make sure a new feature is fully tested, documented, translated & ready for release. This way you’ll get to see less bugs & more new features.
USB License Dongle Option
resolume-dongle.png
resolume-dongle.png (16.55 KiB) Viewed 91 times
With the Resolume USB Dongle you have a very flexible way to manage your Resolume Avenue 7 and Arena 7 license. Register your dongle once and then insert it into any computer you like, start Resolume and it's registered. A dongle does not require online verification after registration, so it's perfect for use on computers that are kept offline. Available in the shop for 79 Euro.
Of course, the dongle is optional. You can still use the online registration system if you prefer.
Color Eye Dropper
color-picker-animation.gif
color-picker-animation.gif (35.37 KiB) Viewed 90 times
Pick a color from anywhere on your screen and apply it in your composition.
Multiple MIDI Devices
multi-midi.png
What's better than an APC40? Two APC40's!
Connecting multiple MIDI devices was always possible but their MIDI signals would get mixed. Resolume can now distinguish MIDI coming from different devices making them work nicely together almost magically.
Improved Random Playback
random.png
Random playback was always a bit too ... well ... random. But you now have a lot more control over random playback. You determine how often it will jump to a new random position and how far it is allowed to jump.
Color Palette Animation
color-palette-animation.gif
color-palette-animation.gif (45.23 KiB) Viewed 87 times
Pink Green Pink Green Pink Green Pink Green
Animate your favorite colors in a color palette.
Autopilot Loops
autopilot-loops.png
You can now determine how often a clip should loop before advancing to the next.
MetaBalls, Sine Wave, Spiral
generators.gif
generators.gif (166.97 KiB) Viewed 82 times
They say it's more sustainable to buy local produce. So we worked together with The Hague based artist Darien Brito to create a few versatile generators so you can create even more visuals right within Resolume.
Improved Media Manager
Clip reconnecting in the Media Manager is simplified to make it faster and more robust.
FFGL 2.0 Plugins
The FFGL plugin standard is updated to version 2.0. Plugins can now receive Audio FFT input to create audio visualizers. Parameters can be spinners or drop-downs. Parameter ranges can be customised and are not limited to always 0.0 - 1.0 anymore. The documentation & examples are also improved on the GitHub repository.
FFGL 2.0 now requires OpenGL 4.1 so plugins that work in version 6 will not work in version 7, those plugins will need to be updated by the developer who created them.
Native ProRes Playback
Resolume can now play ProRes video on both macOS & Windows. Alley 2.1.0 can convert ProRes to DXV.
UNDO
When someone asked us why there is no undo in Resolume we usually said something like “Resolume is a live instrument! There is no undo on a piano either!?” or we joked “Resolume is about doing, not undoing”. We do not have to hide behind these jokes anymore. We did it, Resolume now has undo & redo.
When an application is not built from scratch with an undo system then implementing it at a later stage, when it has hundreds of thousands of lines of code is a lot of tedious, error prone and boring work. This is why we delayed implementing undo for a long time. We just focussed on fun and exciting features. Meanwhile, our problem only became bigger and bigger, with every new line of code we wrote.
We realised that we had to rip of this band-aid hard and quickly or it would haunt us for ever. The longer we waited, the bigger our problem would become. So we sat down, put on our headphones, enabled crunch mode and did it. We modified thousands of lines of code, broke the whole system to add two very unsexy but very important keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + Z & CTRL + SHIFT + Z. UNDO & REDO.
So now you have a little guardian angel watching over your shoulder. Made a mistake? Just hit undo and you're back to where you were. Removed a deck instead of renamed it? CTRL + Z and all your clips are back.
Undo is also a great design tool. Feel free to experiment with the look of your clips, apply effects, change the colors and if you do not like what you see you can always just go back with undo.
Resolume is still very much about doing, but now your doing does not have to be disastrous anymore. You can undo your way back to safety. If we were to redo this (pun intended) from scratch we would have done it a lot earlier. So if we’re ever going to release a new app, we’ll make sure it has undo from the very beginning. Promised.
A New License Model
We never want to do major releases any more, they’re painful. We want to innovate faster. Days before the release of version 5 we felt bad it “only” had improvements to the Advanced Output. The release of version 6 was production hell because it contained too many new features. When we’re releasing a new major version we always feel uncertain if it’s good enough. Does it contain enough new features that would get you all excited? Does all of that new stuff actually work? Did we test everything enough? A lot of things need to come together for a major release. It’s a lot of work and we’re a small team so we always drop the ball one way or the other.
With a major version we need to save up on new features. Which means we build something and then we can not immediately release it because we have to wait for all the other features to be done, to make sure the major release is worth the upgrade price. This means we often have exciting new stuff that will improve your VJ-ing, but it has to sit on our virtual shelves for months, over a year sometimes. We want to work in smaller, more manageable iterations. Bring you updates and respond to the changing live visuals market quicker.
We’re changing our license model so we can innovate faster and release new or improved features more often. We will no longer charge an upgrade fee to a major version anymore. Instead, now when you buy Resolume 7, you’ll get a full year of updates, bug fixes, new features, improvements, everything and all of it. When your 12 months of free updates are over you can simply renew your license if you want to continue using the latest & greatest versions. Or you can wait, your latest eligible version will always work.
This is not a subscription
You do not have to continue paying just to use Resolume, you can use it forever. You do not have to renew your license every year, the last update before your license expires will be yours forever.
So from now on we’ll be working in smaller iterations so we can make sure a new feature is fully tested, documented, translated & ready for release. This way you’ll get to see less bugs & more new features.
USB License Dongle Option
resolume-dongle.png
resolume-dongle.png (16.55 KiB) Viewed 91 times
With the Resolume USB Dongle you have a very flexible way to manage your Resolume Avenue 7 and Arena 7 license. Register your dongle once and then insert it into any computer you like, start Resolume and it's registered. A dongle does not require online verification after registration, so it's perfect for use on computers that are kept offline. Available in the shop for 79 Euro.
Of course, the dongle is optional. You can still use the online registration system if you prefer.
Color Eye Dropper
color-picker-animation.gif
color-picker-animation.gif (35.37 KiB) Viewed 90 times
Pick a color from anywhere on your screen and apply it in your composition.
Multiple MIDI Devices
multi-midi.png
What's better than an APC40? Two APC40's!
Connecting multiple MIDI devices was always possible but their MIDI signals would get mixed. Resolume can now distinguish MIDI coming from different devices making them work nicely together almost magically.
Improved Random Playback
random.png
Random playback was always a bit too ... well ... random. But you now have a lot more control over random playback. You determine how often it will jump to a new random position and how far it is allowed to jump.
Color Palette Animation
color-palette-animation.gif
color-palette-animation.gif (45.23 KiB) Viewed 87 times
Pink Green Pink Green Pink Green Pink Green
Animate your favorite colors in a color palette.
Autopilot Loops
autopilot-loops.png
You can now determine how often a clip should loop before advancing to the next.
MetaBalls, Sine Wave, Spiral
generators.gif
generators.gif (166.97 KiB) Viewed 82 times
They say it's more sustainable to buy local produce. So we worked together with The Hague based artist Darien Brito to create a few versatile generators so you can create even more visuals right within Resolume.
Improved Media Manager
Clip reconnecting in the Media Manager is simplified to make it faster and more robust.
FFGL 2.0 Plugins
The FFGL plugin standard is updated to version 2.0. Plugins can now receive Audio FFT input to create audio visualizers. Parameters can be spinners or drop-downs. Parameter ranges can be customised and are not limited to always 0.0 - 1.0 anymore. The documentation & examples are also improved on the GitHub repository.
FFGL 2.0 now requires OpenGL 4.1 so plugins that work in version 6 will not work in version 7, those plugins will need to be updated by the developer who created them.
Native ProRes Playback
Resolume can now play ProRes video on both macOS & Windows. Alley 2.1.0 can convert ProRes to DXV.