Week highlights: new releases of Helio sequencer and ZLEqualizer, new features in GIMP and FreeCAD.
GIMP
CmykStudent started working on a total ink coverage display filter. For now, you can set a threshold and choose a color to visualize areas where the TIC is larger than that threshold. There is a quick demo in this post and quite a discussion in the comments.
FreeCAD
The integrated assembly workbench hasn’t seen much action since the demise of Ondsel. However, furgo16 recently started contributing to it and improved the bill of materials feature to enable BOM columns to be autopopulated with given properties.
Another useful recent enhancement is a patch by tetektoza to enable selecting a preferred PDF version in Preferences for importing and exporting PDF files. You can choose between PDF 1.4, 1.6, X-4, and A-1b. Previously, FreeCAD was hardcoded to use PDF/A-1b.
Helio 3.15
Peter Rudenko released an update of his distraction-free Helio sequencer. Here are the main changes:
- A new option to switch between displaying note names in either C-D-E or Do-Re-Mi notation.
- Flats/sharps are now displayed as icons rather than ASCII symbols.
- Two colour schemes with higher contrast are now available.
- Window position and size are now persistent.
- Various improvements for mobile versions.
ZLEqualizer 0.6.1
zsliu98 recently released a new version of their equalizer with new features and improvements:
- Multi-band target gain/Q changes.
- Pitch note support for slider text editors.
- Text editor support for pop-up floating window frequency value.
- LR/MS mode performance has been improved.
- The top panels are now half-transparent when they are not open.
ZLEqualizer is available as an LV2 and a VST3 plugin, as well as a standalone app.
Anagram
Darkglass Electronics announced Anagram, its first multi-FX processor for the bass last week. Inside, it’s a Linux box with JACK2, LV2 plugins, and an open-source neural amp with support for NAM and AIDA-X models.
Here is a soundcheck with the company’s founder, for maximum insights:
Much of the work on software was done based on the tech by MOD Devices with the help of MOD’s developer Filipe Coelho and co-founder Gianfranco Ceccolini. I covered the news in more detail last week. Read on if you haven’t yet.
Artworks
Recent personal work by Andrew Lee, made with Blender and Photoshop:
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Story Packs by Mikhail Greuli from Massive Entertainment, made with Blender, Photoshop, and Snowdrop:
The Littlest Guardian by Rene Juul Madsen, made with Blender and GIMP:
Steampunk Dockyard by Jacob Foster, made with Blender, Substance Designer/Painter, and Unreal Engine:
The Pyramid by Deltakosh, made with Blender and Photoshop:
The Old Stage by ABluSkittle / James, made with Krita:
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