SampleRobot - CLEVER INSTRUMENT CREATION ________________________________________ Version History: ________________ Version 3.09 ____________ New Features: - Waveformat extensible support It is now possible to drag&drop audio files in waveformat extensible into SampleRobot and WaveRobot. Loop markers, sample names and root keys (embedded or from file name) are recognized during import. - Save Preferences to Disk Now you can save all settings manually to disk including MIDI and Audio setup, multi-sample setup and GUI / Zoom settings. Changes: - Updated ASIO integration SampleRobot and WaveRobot now support the ASIO V2.2 standard which improves the communication with some audio interfaces. Furthermore the stability was optimized when using several audio interfaces with different ASIO drivers on one system. - Optimized Export SampleRobot In SampleRobot and SampleRobot Essentials you can now export projects that are not fully recorded. This makes testing of multi-samples in a software sampler environment a lot easier. - MIDI Monitor filter SampleRobot Real time MIDI messages (like “timing clock”) are filtered automatically in the MIDI monitor so that other messages can easily be identified. - Updated program activation dialogue Since the SKYLIFE server has moved to another location is was necessary to adapt all dedicated internet links for program activation. - Default Autoload samples into Note/Loop/Release Editor and WaveRobot (SampleRobot) This important function to see the waveforms of all samples in a multi-sample just by rolling with the mouse pointer over the dedicated keys is now activated by default. Furthermore at the same time all dedicated sample information like length and loop behavior is displayed in an overlay window. For each key-sample individual zoom settings are stored. - Demo versions Several new graphical screens and also new internet links have been included in all demo versions. Furthermore all restrictions of the demo versions are displayed during program start. - Optimized activation procedure - General improvements of the graphical user interface - Changed background tune during "About" screen Fixes: - New driver cleanup services When closing and opening different audio drivers shortly after another, under special circumstances this could affect the audio performance of some interfaces. Due to the new cleanup services those issues do not occur any longer. Furthermore a special cleanup log is written to hard disc offering debugging options in the future. Version 3.01 ____________ Changes: - New SampleRobot 3 operation manual included. Fixes: - New Cakewalk Dimension LE 1.3 installers included. Version 1.3 includes several fixes like the Cubase 4 sustained notes bug described in section Known Issues of Version 3.00. Furthermore the support for Intel Macs was optimized. - When dragging and dropping more wav-files to SampleRobot's virtual keyboard than the number of keys available, SampleRobot crashed. This has been fixed. Now a window pops up informing that the desired operation cannot be executed. - The visual feedback of incoming MIDI notes on SampleRobot's virtual keyboard was partly invisible (black keys). Now this function works correctly again. - When working with several projects it could happen that the path of the startup project was lost so that the dedicated samples were not found. This has been fixed. Version 3.00 ____________ New Features: - VST + AU Software Sampler included: Cakewalk Dimension LE. Now all exported SampleRobot instruments can be played right away in any VST host sequencer environment. The software sampler Cakewalk Dimension LE is included in the SampleRobot 3 installation package. Dimension LE offers a lot of interesting features to polish sounds like high quality filters and effects. Up to 4 multi-samples can be combined in one Dimension LE program. Over 400 factory programs spanning acoustic, electric, and synthesized instruments for Dimension LE are included. Over 150 MB of guitar, bass, piano, percussion, and ethnic multi-samples for Dimension LE are included. - Clever Export Bridge SampleRobot SampleRobot exports all samples (incl. mapping, release-samples and crossfades) directly to the program browser of Dimension LE for instant access to the sounds. They can be played right away in any VST/ AU host. Everything is managed fully automatically without manual browsing or importing samples. The Export Bridge was added to the Import/Export Menu "Export selected Project as...Cakewalk Dimension Preset". - Loop Overlay WaveRobot Wouldn’t it be great to see how the regions around the loop points in a sample match each other when moving loop markers? WaveRobot 3 can overlay the dedicated regions in all zoom settings. You will find the "Loop Overlay" button in the Display section of WaveRobot underneath the marker buttons. - Autogain SampleRobot/WaveRobot Some samples are really hard to loop. Mostly it is because of phase problems in the crossfade area causing the sound to gain or to drop volume. SampleRobot 3 comes with newly developed Autogain cross-fades that can compensate phase problems and optimize the level in the crossfade area. The "Autogain" function can be activated in WaveRobot in the "Loop Functions" section underneath the "BF-X- Fade Type". Autogain is also avaiolable in SampleRobot's "Multi-Sample RECORD Settings" and in the Note/Loop/Release Editor. Autogain is an option for all cross-fade types. - Editing/Virtual Keyboard SampleRobot Now the range for each sample can be adjusted manually using the new Key-Sample Range Selectors. Mapping samples is now a lot more flexible. Key- Sample Range Selectors can be edited by clicking and dragging with the mouse. They are located directly above the keys of the Virtual Keyboard. With a right mouse click you can snap a Key-Sample Range Selector to the Selector next to it. - Editing/Virtual Keyboard SampleRobot When holding the Shift key and right-clicking on a key-sample a new window pops up. The name for the sample can be entered here. The key name can be used during export. - Project Auto Loader SampleRobot From now on sampling projects can be specified that will load automatically at program start. Just save Projects including the samples to the directory: Program Files/SKYLIFE/SampleRobot/Data/ StartupProjects. - Autoload Sample into WaveRobot/NLR This function can be activated with the button "Autoload NLR/WR" on the right Keyboard Range Selector. Multi-samples can get very complex. With the new Autoload function of SampleRobot 3 one will never lose the overview. Just by rolling the mouse pointer over SampleRobot's Virtual Keyboard the dedicated samples will be loaded automatically into WaveRobot or into the Note/Loop/Release- Editor one after another. SampleRobot can show the samples so fast that it is possible to browse samples by waveform. Of course, all zoom settings are stored for each sample individually. The Autoload function can be disabled by clicking the dedicated button or by right-clicking on a key-sample. - Semi-transparent Key-Info Window SampleRobot Another feature that is extremely useful when creating complex Multi-Samples is the Key-Info overlay window. This function can be activated with the button "Show Key Info" on the right Keyboard Range Selector. By rolling the mouse pointer over Key-Samples on SampleRobot's Virtual Keyboard it will display all important information about this sample immediately, like in SampleRobot 3 newly available key name, sampling rate, bits per sample, channels, size, length, loop and release information. - Preferences Menu SampleRobot Length of Click/Pop Reduction Fades: Now for all exported "Note" and "Release" samples a fade-in and fade-out length can be specified in number of samples. This new export option can be used to render micro-fades into all exported samples at Note-In and Note-Out as well as Release-In and Release- Out. This function helps to avoid clicks and pops and can make attack transients smoother. It will only affect the exported samples. Other new options in the Preferences: Autogain can be activated as a default setting. The option "Load default Projects at Startup" determines whether projects located in the directory: Program Files/SKYLIFE/SampleRobot/ Data/StartupProjects should be loaded at program start or not. - Import/Export SampleRobot The new export format Cakewalk Dimension (*.prog) was added to the export menu. The export bridge can be used with Cakewalk's Dimension LE and also Dimension Pro software sampler. SampleRobot recognizes if Dimension LE or Pro is installed and offers the dedicated export options. Another new export format is: Wav (loop only). In this case all exported samples will only contain the loop. This option is ideal if you would like to work with your samples in loop-based sequencers like Ableton's Live. - Import of Sound Names during Drag & Drop SampleRobot A new option was added to the import dialog allowing to maintain the name of the imported sample. - Semi-automatic Recording SampleRobot After the recording process the window "Check recorded Key-Sample" pops up. It has been extended by the "Name Key" function to name the take after recording. The key name can be used during export. - GUI SampleRobot Below the MIDI monitor section there are 5 new buttons for selecting different backgrounds. Just select your favourite texture. This setting is stored in the prefs-file on your hard drive. - Options/Extras Menu SampleRobot A new function called "ZoomRobot" was added to the Options/Extras Menu. When active a new window shows the surrounding area of the mouse pointer in a closeup zoom. This function might be useful when working with high resultion graphics settings or if the computer is far away from the user. - Path and Data Handling SampleRobot If you try to load a Project where samples are missing, SampleRobot now allows you to browse to the location where the dedicated samples are stored. - "Auto-Note for all" SampleRobot/WaveRobot The transient recognition for the "Auto-Loop for all" operation in the edit menu has been optimzed. There is a new option "Set all Silence Markers equal the loaded Key-Sample's Silence Markers" in the "Auto- Note/Auto-Loop for all" dialog. If you experience Note-In markers that are not adjusted properly by SampleRobot, just increse the silence length by moving the Silence markers in WaveRobot. Then redo the Auto-Note recognition with the option above. Changes: - Edit Menu SampleRobot The structure of the Normalize dialog has been otimized allowing easier understanding of all operations. Fixes: - Help/Info Menu SampleRobot When clicking on the internet links in this menu it could happen that no browser was opened to display the pages. This has been fixed. Known Issues: - Dimension LE running in Combination with Cubase 4 When working with Dimension LE as a VST plugin in Cubase 4 there occurs the following issue: When you play Dimension LE via MIDI keyboard everything works fine and all sounds are played as expected. As soon as you record the MIDI notes and play them back via sequencer, all MIDI note-off messages are ignored by Dimension LE causing "endless" notes. Cakewalk is already informed about this. SKYLIFE will provide a free update for all users as soon as there is a new version available from Cakewalk. Version 2.50 ____________ New Releases: - All SampleRobot® and WaveRobot products are now available as CAKEWALK SPECIAL EDITION download products. The SPECIAL EDITIONs are distributed via CAKEWALK online. See www.cakewalk.com for more details. The distribution of the packaged versions of all SampleRobot® and WaveRobot products is handled via ESI Audiotechnik's international distributor's network. See www.esi-audio.com for more details. New Features: - File menu SampleRobot® The entry "Project Wizard" [Ctrl+W] was newly added to the File menu. By default the Project Wizard opens when SampleRobot® starts. It helps the user to create complex sampling projects very easily. So new users can record their instruments fast without having to read the operation manual. And also experienced users will benefit from the Project Wizard since it logically combines several operation steps and makes creation of projects a lot easier than before. - Project Wizard SampleRobot® The Project Wizard checks automatically if an audio format is supported by the sound card and the dedicated driver. If it is not supported, an error message shows up. Also new functions like automatically creating Multi-Sample layers and several optional loop templates are included. - Preferences SampleRobot® New checkbox "Start Project Wizard at Startup" has been added to the Preferences dialog. You can disable the Project Wizard by unchecking the box. - SampleRobot® audio engine From now on it is possible to record audio from an input with dedicated ASIO driver in all bit depths: 8, 16 and 24 bit. Earlier versions only supported the native ASIO driver resolution which is very often 24 bit. You can now use all sound cards with ASIO drivers to record in 16 bit. Therefore SampleRobot® converts the ASIO stream automatically during recording. - SampleRobot® audio engine In earlier versions 24 bit audio samples could not be played back with an internal (16 bit, non-ASIO) sound card. Now 24 bit samples can be played with all cards and drivers. Therefore SampleRobot® converts the 24 bit data automatically to 16 bit during playback. Of course, the file data is not altered. - Import/Export menu SampleRobot® All common software sampler formats are now supported in the Import/Export menu. From now on you can export instruments directly to Apple's Logic Pro EXS 24 (*.sf2), Tascam Gigastudio (*.wav), Emu Emulator X (*.wav), Yellow Tools Independence (*.sf2) and NI Kontakt (*.sf2). - Help menu WaveRobot A new screen "Quick Help: Key Commands" was added to the help menu. On this page you will find all important editing commands and keyboard short cuts to speed up your workflow in WaveRobot. Changes: - GUI For the CAKEWALK SPECIAL EDITION all credit screens and startup windows have been changed, now including the CAKEWALK logo. - WaveRobot naming In the Information section in the lower left corner of the WaveRobot window the name Bars (Loop) was renamed to Beats (Loop). The entry field shows the beats not the bars in a loop. - Import/Export menu SampleRobot® The order of the export formats and the dedicated shortcuts have been changed. E.g. Cakewalk's sfz format is now heading the list of Multi-Sample export formats. Fixes: - Loading Projects into SampleRobot® When loading a Project that included a Release Length greater than 0, this information was not displayed correctly after the loading process. This has been fixed. - Selecting an Audio Out Device in SampleRobot® Under certain circumstances it could happen that the application crashed when right-clicking on the Audio Out Device display in the MIDI Monitor section. This error had to do with the number of audio interfaces and ports that are available on the computer system. This has been fixed. Now even a very long device list will be displayed without problems. Version 2.41 ____________ Fixes: - Demo Version only After starting the demo version of SampleRobot® V2.40 the program failed to initialize properly causing a program abortion because a file was missing in the installer package. This has been fixed. Non-demo versions were not affected by this issue. Version 2.40 ____________ New Features: - WaveRobot New display "Bars (Loop)" was added to the information section in the lower left corner of WaveRobot. In front of the display there is a lock button. Furthermore there was the new "Bpm (Loop)" display added underneath the Bars display. You will find a lock button for this display as well. These two displays are very helpful, if you try to loop tempo- based audio material. When the display is locked you can enter a value by right-clicking on the dedicated display. E.g. you have found a perfect loop and you want to know what tempo it is: Just count the bars of the loop and enter it in the Bars display (lock button must be active). Now the dedicated tempo is displayed in beats per minute underneath. If you now move loop markers, you will see that the tempo information will change while you drag a marker, based on the bar information that you entered. If you know the tempo of the loop it makes sense to lock the Bpm display. Now you can adjust loop markers and you will see directly how many bars are included in the loop. - WaveRobot Two new entries were added to the file menu: "Open" loads a WAV file into WaveRobot. If the WAV file contains loop information and/or root key information those information will be used in WaveRobot. As an alternative to open a file you can simply drag a WAV file to WaveRobot's waveform window. "Save as" saves the loaded WAV file including all WaveRobot marker settings. Except from loop and root key information this additional information can only be used by WaveRobot. Use the "Render Key-Sample" option in the File menu to export edited samples for other applications. - WaveRobot New minimize and maximize buttons were added to the window title bar. - Activation process (all applications) There are two buttons "English" and "Deutsch" added to the Activation dialog. By pushing these buttons you can connect to the dedicated SampleRobot® website for product activation. - Help menu (all applications) The new entry "Internet Links" was added to the Help menu. You can now directly connect to the SKYLIFE Online Shop, SampleRobot® and WaveRobot websites and to other related links like support sites and tutorial sites. - Help menu SampleRobot® When opening the About window SampleRobot® will play a special song. - WaveRobot (stand-alone) RELEASE! - WaveRobot (stand-alone) New menu entry added: "Edit->Set Root Key" [Ctrl+K] With this option you can manually set a root key for the loaded sample. - WaveRobot (stand-alone) You can open a Wave file by simply dragging and dropping it onto WaveRobot's waveform display. If there is a sample already loaded before this operation, the message box "Discard changes of loaded Sample?" appears. Click on "Cancel" to abort loading. Changes: - WaveRobot (stand-alone) The menu entries "View/Display->WaveRobot's Window->*" are greyed out. These function only makes sense in conjunction with SampleRobot®. - WaveRobot (stand-alone) The menu entry "Edit->Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all" is greyed out. These function only makes sense in conjunction with SampleRobot®. - WaveRobot (stand-alone) New startup screen added. Fixes: - SampleRobot® and WaveRobot Under certain circumstances it could happen that the Auto-Note recognition was not executed properly after recording. This has been fixed. - WaveRobot With maximized WaveRobot window it could happen that some entry fields (e.g. to enter Release-In manually) were displayed partly out of the visible screen area. This has been fixed. Version 2.25 ____________ New SampleRobot® Version 2.25 manuals are available. You will find them in the Manuals subfolder of your SampleRobot® installation folder. New Features: - Help menu SampleRobot® New function "Show Quick Info/Tool Tips" enhances the help menu. With this function activated a short description will show up in the bottom left corner of SampleRobot® when you move the mouse pointer over a button or entry field in SampleRobot®. Leave this function on to learn more about SampleRobot® and to receive some tips for the usage. - Import/Export menu The Wusikstation soundset (*.WusikSND) was added as an export option to the Import/Export menu. With this function all Wusikstation VSTi users can immediately export from SampleRobot® ready-to-play multi-sampled instruments in Wusikstation format. - Import/Export menu In the Export-Settings dialog there was a new function included: "Remove Audio after Loop-Out (recommended)". This option helps to keep sizes of exported files smaller since all audio information after Loop-Out normally would not be played anyway. It is recommended to leave this option on. This function only affects exported Key-Samples that include loop information. - Virtual Keyboard Now it is possible to move, copy or swap Key-Samples on the Virtual Keyboard. Just hold down the SHIFT-key on the computer keyboard and drag a Key-Sample to another key on the Virtual Keyboard at the same time. After releasing the mouse button there appears a new dialog window where you can specify the desired operation. - Edit menu SampleRobot® and Edit menu WaveRobot New function "Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all" was added to the Edit menus. With this functions it is possible to apply loop marker settings and/or note marker settings from one Key-Sample to all other selected Key-Samples in a Multi-Sample or in a Project. This is a very powerful function e.g. to apply similar loops to a bunch of Key-Samples at the same time. If you would like to do batch processing (trimming audio or looping samples) this function is ideal. "Auto-Note for all" is useful e.g. if you have dragged Wav-files (that contain silence at the beginning) to SampleRobot®´s Virtual Keyboard. With this option you can correct all Sample-Starts (Note-In markers) at the same time. Another example for "Auto-Loop for all": Once you have found optimum loop points in one Key- Sample you can apply those settings to all other recorded Key-Samples in the Project or Multi-Sample. This is done very cleverly. SampleRobot® does not transfer simple absolute marker values but it does an automatic loop-search for each Key-Sample. Therefor a new dialog was added where you can select if all settings from the "loaded Key-Sample" or from the "Multi-Sample Record Settings" should be used for the "Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all" operation. If you select "loaded Key-Sample" all markers including the Loop- Search markers and X-Fades are used to apply the perfect loop to all other Key-Samples. Please note that you can abort this function during processing at any time by pressing "ESC" on the computer keyboard. "Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all" does not affect the momentary loaded Key-Sample in the NLR editor or WaveRobot. There is a check box in the "Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all" dialog called "Make all Note Lenghts equal the loaded Key-Sample's Note length". This option sets all Note-Out markers of all Key-Samples in a Project/Multi- Sample to the same Note-Out position like the currently loaded Key-Sample. E.g. this function is useful if you have recorded in semi-automatic mode so that all Key- Samples have different lengths. Since SampleRobot® uses relative values for loop searching it makes a lot of sense to match all note lengths before applying an "Auto-Loop for all" operation. In other words if you mark the check box you will be sure that the loop points in all other Key-Samples will nearly match your alsolute settings of the loaded Key-Sample. Turn this function off if you have used full automatic recording with different note lengths or if you have used drag and drop to create your Key-Samples. With the option "Turn Release Off" in the "Auto-Note/ Auto-Loop for all" dialog you can switch off all releases in all samples of a Project or Multi-Sample at the same time. If off, no Release-Samples will be generated during export. - Edit menu SampleRobot® New functions "Clean" were added to the Project and to the Multi-Sample drop down menus in the Edit menu. Clean erases all unused samples from the hard disc. Attention: This function is not undoable. The following Key-Samples will be erased by the "Clean" action: Key- Samples from unselected keys and Key-Samples that are not inside the range of the Keyboard Range Selectors. You can clean a Multi-Sample or a Project. - Edit menu SampleRobot® Function "Auto-Set Sample Range/Auto-Select Keys" was added to the Multi-Sample drop down menu in the Edit menu. If you activate this function the following will result: All keys in the dedicated Multi-Sample that contain a Key-Sample will be selected. All other keys will be deselected. The lower Sample Range Selector will be set to the lowest selected key minus 5 semitones. The upper Sample Range Selector will be set to the highest selected key plus 5 semitones. - Preferences/GUI SampleRobot® With the new option "Skins" in the Preferences dialog you can change SampleRobot®´s graphical user interface. At the moment there are two options available: "Old grey Style" (SampleRobot® version 1) and "Default green Style" (SampleRobot® version 2). - Preferences/GUI All windows zooms and positions are now stored in the preferences file on hard disk when exiting SampleRobot®. SampleRobot® will show up with the same zoom and windows settings the next time you start it. - WaveRobot New silence markers have been introduced. Silence-In and Silence-Out define the area of a recorded Key- Sample where silence or noise exists before the sample starts. Silence markers are used for the Note-In recognition. The markers can be edited like all other markers. Since SampleRobot® does an automatic silence marker adjustment under normal circumstances it is recommended not to move silence markers. If you record audio that contains some background noises and/or clicks it might make sense to move the silence markers manually to let SampleRobot® know where the silence is and "how loud" the silence is. Then try the "Auto-Note" or "Auto-Note for all" function to adjust Note-In accordingly. - WaveRobot A new Preferences dialog was added to the Options/ Extras menu in WaveRobot. This was done in regards to the standalone version of WaveRobot. If you are using SampleRobot® including WaveRobot all preferences are mirrored from the original SampleRobot® preferences. - Program start A new window during program startup informs you about the momentary tasks (e.g. loading pictures) before SampleRobot® is ready. - Log file A new file called "sr_init_log.txt" will be created when you start the application. This file is for debugging purposes only and can be sent to support@samplerobot.com in case of hardware/software incompatibilities. Changes: - WaveRobot Now loop and crossfade area are better visualized (new coloring of waveforms). - ASIO driver support If an unsupported ASIO driver has been detected after starting SampleRobot® there will be an alert box with a special code which can be emailed to the SampleRobot® support team. SKYLIFE tries to support this ASIO driver as soon as possible then. - WaveRobot The maximum waveform y-zoom (SHIFT + right click + drag up or down) has been increased by factor 20. This makes manual editing even more precise. - WaveRobot The restriction that you can not move the X-Fade marker when Note-In marker and Loop-In marker have the same position has been removed. Now you are able to use Key-Samples that contain only a crossfade loop. Please note that you can not move the X-Fade marker when Loop- In and sample start have the same position. - WaveRobot and Note/Loop/Release Editor The handling of Release-Samples has been changed. In earlier versions release was automatically active when Release-In marker and Release-Out marker had different positions. Now the Release-Samples option can be switched on and off. Therefor the previous "Turn Rel. Off" button in WaveRobot has been modified to "Release ON/OFF". It is comparable to the "Loop ON/OFF" button. In the NLR Editor the little square button to show and hide the release markers has been fuctionally changed. It now activates (release markers are visible) or deaktivates (release markers are not visible) the Release-Samples functionality. - Temporary directory Now after starting SampleRobot® there is a check if the temporary directory exists. If not, a new dialog shows up with an option to automatically create this directory. - Keyboard shortcuts F1 is no longer the shortcut for "Key Commands". Now F1 activates or deactivates the "Quick Info/Tool Tips" function. - Recording menu Inactive functions "Clean sel. Project" and "Clean sel. Multi-Sample" were deleted from this menu and are now included in the Edit menu under "Project" and "Multi-Sample". - Export menu When selecting "Export as WAV-Files" all the spaces in the default names were erased resulting in shorter file names. Furthermore some naming restrictions have been removed. Now you do not have to include the name or the index of the Multi-Samples in the file name necessarily. - Rendering single Key-Samples A new dialog has been added displaying when audio rendering of single Key-Samples (ALT + left mouse click on a key of the Virtual Keyboard ) is in process. - Multi-Sample Export Settings The option map to "Release Velocity" was removed because only Release-Samples should be mapped to "Release Velocity/Note Off". Fixes: - GUI When using multiple monitors it could happen that entry-windows were displayed on the wrong monitor. This has been fixed. - WaveRobot Fixed the problem that you could not move Loop-Search markers when only Loop-Search markers were visible. - WaveRobot During rendering a single Key-Sample you could reload a new Key-Sample causing the rendering process to render silence. This has been fixed. You can not load Key- Samples while rendering any more. - WaveRobot When scaling the WaveRobot window in high x-resolution it could happen that some GUI parts were not displayed. This has been fixed. - Recording Under certain circumstances selecting a driver and then pushing the peak meter button could result in a crash of the application. This has been fixed. Please note that if you would like to record with 24 bit resolution ASIO is recommanded. If you would like to record with 16 bit resolution please select the dedicated MME driver, since most ASIO drivers support 24 bit. Version 2.01 ____________ New Features: - WaveRobot File menu Two new export options were added: "Render Key-Sample to Disk" and "Render Key-Sample to Disk (Loop only)". The second option is useful to create WAV files that start with the Loop In marker and end with the Loop Out marker. E.g. those files can be used in Ableton´s Live or other loop-based applications for further processing. Use the first export option to render the whole sample to disk (not only the loop). You can also use a shortcut by holding down the ALT-key on the computer keyboard and clicking with the mouse at the same time on the dedicated key on the Virtual Keyboard. Changes: - WaveRobot and Note/Loop/Release Editor marker editing When playing a loop and adjusting loop markers at the same time audio playback now restarts from Loop In marker not from Note In marker. - Import/Export menu The unit of the Silence Threshold parameter from function Import Single-Sample-Soundlibrary is now dB. - Multi-Sample Record Settings Now all parameters have the dedicated unit added (e.g. Note Length in seconds, Loop-Search Length in %). Note that Threshold Precision In and Out are special parameters (smaller values give better results when there is background noise during recording, higher values should be used in a studio environment when there are clean audio signals available). - Preferences The units are added to all parameters. Fixes: - "Gain Change left or right channel only" now works also for samples with 24 bit depth. Version 2.00 ____________ New Features: - WaveRobot WaveRobot is a fully scalable wave editor for professional loop editing. For basic editing functions please refer to SampleRobot®'s Help menu: Quick Help: Key Commands-> Note/Loop/Release Editor. The basic functionaly of WaveRobot is similar to the NLR Editor. - Open WaveRobot option in semi-automatic recording mode Now you have instantly full editing capabilities when recording in semi-automatic mode. - Improved interface design (colouring, workflow, hide- panels) Showing/hiding panels can be achieved via the new View menu. - Shortcut functionality All important functions can now be accessed via shortcuts. Please refer to the menu entries for more details about this topic. - MIDI capture function (found in the MIDI monitor section) With this function activated all played note velocities and all incoming MIDI controller information will automatically be captured in the Multi-Sample section allowing perfect MIDI remote control of all sound sources. - MIDI Note In display All played notes are now displayed on SampleRobot®'s Virtual Keyboard. - Comprehensive copy functions for Multi-Samples (found in the Edit menu) Now it is possible to combine Multi-Samples from different projects to create huge layer sounds and velocity-splits. - Load recent Projects function (found in the File menu) Makes working with different Projects / data paths a lot easier. - ChessRobot (found in the Options/Extras menu) This game makes waiting during recording a lot easier since you can play a nice game of chess in the meantime.ChessRobot runs independently and offers different challenge levels. - Set current settings as default (found in the Options/ Extras menu) This function allows you to capture all momentary parameters from SampleRobot®'s graphical user interface and to store them to the preferences automatically. - New additional display resolution 1280x1024 supported (found in the new View menu) - Minimize display option (450x300 pixels) with full editing capabilities (found in the new View menu) Optimizations: - Optimized Note-In recognition - Optimized ASIO playback (no more clicks when stopping wave or tuning oscillator playback) - Optimized VSTi recording (secondary audio buffer implemented) - Optimized Autoloop recognition (now usually about 15 times faster) - Edit menu: New entries and short cuts for Project and Multi-Sample operations - Optimized colouring of markers in the Note/Loop/Release Editor - Optimized graphics in menu Help: About SampleRobot® - several additional improvements in detail Known Issues: - ChessRobot not included yet. - Autogain feature of WaveRobot not included yet. - Yellow Tools Independence export not included yet. Version 1.57 ____________ New Features: - Import/Export New export option "Export selected Project as Dimension" is added to the menu. Now SampleRobot® supports the SFZ format which can be used for Cakewalk's Dimension Pro and other products from Cakewalk and rgc:audio. As usual SampleRobot® does all the sample mapping und renders all crossfades during export. Now you are able to open a directly playable SFZ-program in your software sampler. - Import/Export New function "Adjust Samples' Levels according to Velocity Mapping (recommended)" is added to all export dialogs. This is a very useful option that should be activated in most cases. Leaving this option on results in much better velocity dynamics when playing a multi- velocity-layer sound in a software sampler. What does this function do? It gains lower samples in lower Multi-Samples to the loudest layer to get the best velocity dynamics in a software sampler. This function works without loosing individual sample level differences in one Multi-Sample. It is important to understand that this function affects only exported samples. Levels of the original samples will be left untouched. - Startup There is a little intro animation during startup showing the 3D SampleRobot® and the activation of the SampleRobot® displays on the graphical user interface. This startup animation can be deactivated via the Preferences dialog. - Preferences The "Preferences" dialog under Options/Extras has a new check box for the five available display colors. Furthermore there is an option to switch the "Intro Animation at Startup" on or off. All preferences will be stored permanently in the prefs file on your harddisc. Version 1.53 ____________ New Features: - ASIO The maximum amount of ASIO In and Out channels per device has been increased from 32 to 256. - Import/Export The new "Export Settings" dialog allows optionally converting bit resolution and sampling rates during export for all Samples in a Project. There is a "High Quality" option which is only relevant if you convert to a lower rate. Leave this option on to get best results. Sometimes it can be useful to disable this option. Then conversion is faster and might create interesting LoFi-effects. In some export dialogs not all export options are available. If a format does not support the special rate or resolution these settings are greyed out. There is also an intelligent automatic loop point translation if you export to another rate. Best results can be achieved when the loop points are placed on zero crossings. - Import/Export There is a new dialog for the function "Export selected Project as WAV-Files". You can choose between long and short naming which is useful if you are working with samplers that allow only a few characters for the Sample's name. The "Preview" function shows you how the Samples will be named with the selected name length option. Of course you can enter a destination folder or use the browse function to save the Samples to a special location. - Import/Export Now the export status dialog known from the SF2 export has been added to all export formats. This dialog will inform you about the progress during exporting. - Preset Manager With the function "Save selected Project as Preset" in the File menu it is now possible to use a normal Project as a template for a Preset. There are 2 options in the dialog to retrieve information from the current Project. "Get Project Name" will rename the Preset to the Project's name. "Default Description" will add information in the description field about how many layers are involved and the time and size estimation. Please refer to the other Presets for the common naming convention. There is a new option in the "Preset Manager" dialog. "Delete selected Preset" will erase the Preset and its description from the harddisc. There is no undo for this option. Fixes: - WAV drag and drop In earlier versions there occurred sometimes an unwanted reset of the MIDI devices after drag and drop. Now all settings remain as adjusted. - Naming There could be naming conflicts before when names were longer than 42 characters. This has been fixed. Multi-Sample's names can now have up to 47 characters. The name entry dialog boxes e.g. "Enter Project's Name" have been improved. There can only be characters entered till the maximum amount is reached. The size of the entry fields now depends on the amount of possible characters. - Initialization If an error occurred during initialization of a MIDI port SampleRobot® stopped in earlier versions. Now there will be a warning dialog in this case, the dedicated port will be deactivated and SampleRobot® can be used in a normal way except that defective port. Version 1.52 ____________ Fix: - WAV drag and drop In version 1.51 there was a bug when importing looped Samples. The Loop Out marker was set to the end of the Sample when choosing "Use File's Loop". Now loop points are imported correctly. Version 1.51 ____________ Fixes: - Import/Export menu Now "Export as WAV-Files" can be selected (in version 1.5 this option was grayed out). - Import/Export menu Also "Export as NN-XT (Reason)" can be selected now (in version 1.5 this option was grayed out). - Loop functionality If Note In marker and Loop In marker are very close to each other Click/Pop Reduction could produce unwanted results in version 1.50. Also erroneous clicking of loops is avoided now in the case when Note In marker has the same position like Loop In marker and Loop Out marker is identical to Note Out marker. Version 1.50 ____________ New Features: - ASIO 2.1 support Now you can use high quality ASIO drivers with SampleRobot® to record and playback sounds at the best quality. This allows you to Sample with up to 192 kHz and 24 bits depending on the audio hardware. All bit and rate formats in mono and stereo and also different audio-drivers can be mixed in one project. There are new "CP" buttons in front of the Audio In and Audio Out Device displays. If an ASIO driver is selected and an ASIO Control Panel exists you can open it by clicking on a "CP" button. - Sampling of virtual instruments With version 1.5 you can sample virtual instruments running on the same computer at the same time. Therefor SampleRobot® sends out MIDI-data via a virtual MIDI-cable and records the audio stream that is played by the virtual instrument. To use this function you have to install a MIDI loopback (virtual cable) first. - Reason NN-XT export SampleRobot® now supports Reason's software sampler NN-XT. Just create your Projects and export them automatically mapped directly as NN-XT format. Projects that are created with a previous version of SampleRobot® can now be loaded and exported easily to Reason's NN-XT, too. - Preset Manager The new Preset Manager can be found in the File menu. SampleRobot® 1.5 comes with 80 sampling Presets for different sampling situations and different instruments. This helps to start quickly without having to know SampleRobot® in detail. E.g.: Just load the Preset "PianoHQ", specify your basic recording settings (like Audio In Device, MIDI Out Device, Program Change and Data Path) and click on "Rec" to sample your piano automatically. If you adjust the recording settings in the Preferences those settings will be pre-selected when opening Projects in the Preset Manager. You can create your own Presets by saving Projects to the Presets folder. Before you save a Preset, go to the Project Settings and enter a "." (point) as Data Path. Then this Preset can be used on all computers regardless which paths exist. You can also add a description file to the Preset. This must be a text file with the same file name in the Presets folder. - Wave drag and drop fuctionality Drag one or more wave-files onto SampleRobot®’s virtual keyboard. The Samples will be imported and mapped automatically. SampleRobot® can read the root-key information or extract the key from the filename. If desired loop points are also imported. - Scalable main window The main window can be fully scaled now. Click on the window-maximize button or hit hotkey to scale SampleRobot® to full screen resolution. The maximum SampleRobot® screen resolution is 1356 x 944 pixels. Only this resolution and the normal scale are anti- aliased. - New crossfade types and optimizations 11 new crossfade types can be selected for loop transitions. Some of the crossfades include an automatic gain to prevent loss of volume during crossfading. The crossfade engine is generally optimized. The quality of the fades has been meliorated to create “non-audible” fades. Even with complicated loops you can get very good results now. - MIDI optimizations SampleRobot®'s MIDI engine is optimized in version 1.5 causing faster communication. This helps to avoid MIDI buffer overflows in older MIDI sound generators. If there are still problems with older gear just deactivate "Program" change and "AutoSendReset". - Export status window for SF2 files Since it can take a while till all Samples in a Project are exported as a Soundfont2 file now there is a status screen to inform you about progress. Fixes: - Automated recording Now a MIDI note off message is generated when you click on "Close" in the recording dialog. Earlier versions could cause an infinite MIDI note when you canceled recording. - Import Single Sample Sound Library When using 8 bit Samples the slice and loop recognition caused wrong results. Added is a time estimation for the loop calculations. - Selecting MIDI In Device Now the MIDI buffer is cleared when switching to a new device to prevent sending of accumulated MIDI data. - Naming convention Most names and parameters start now with capital letters (e.g. Project, Multi-Sample). Some other minor changes in naming were done to provide consistency. Version 1.32 ____________ - If a Project path does not exist SampleRobot® shows a dialog allowing you to create the specified path. - If a folder with Samples can not be found after loading a Project you have the option to browse for the missing folder. - Browse-button (with option in dialog: Make new folder) added to Project-Settings screen. - Browse-button added to Options menu's Preferences dialog in the Project's Defaults section. Version 1.30 ____________ - New menu "Edit" with functions "Normalize" and "Change Gain". "Normalize": Now you can normalize all Samples in a Project/Multi-Sample at the same time. It is possible to normalize not only to 0 dB but to a specific dB value. Furthermore you can find the maximum peak level in a Sample, a Multi-Sample, or a Project. The "Normalize all Samples in the Project to the maximum Level of the Multi-Sample it belongs to" is very useful. For each Multi-Sample-Layer all Samples are normalized to the maximum level that was detected in that Multi-Sample. All Samples in the Multi-Sample will be adjusted to the maximum level, but each Layer will be treated seperately. Function "Change Gain" works in a similar way. An additional button "Warning if Clipping will occur" to inform about possible clipping after the gain change is also included. - Fixed bug: sometimes changing a Multi-Sample-Layer and loading a Sample into the Note-Loop-Released- Editor caused a crash. This happened also sometimes after using the function "Import Single-Sample- Soundlibrary". - Fixed bug: After using "Import Single-Sample- Soundlibrary" sometimes the endings of Samples were truncated. The Sample-end recognition is optimized in version 1.30. - Now if you use "Import Single-Sample-Soundlibrary" the Samples will be split to the selected keys that are not containing a Key-Sample yet. If there are no free selected keys available SampleRobot® displays an error-message. - Renamed function in Recording menu: The old "Statistics" is now renamed to "Estimate Time and Size", functionwise there are no changes. Version 1.13 ____________ - Delete Projects and Delete Multi-Samples (Del-button) now cause a new screen to appear where you can select how the dedicated Samples will be treatet. Now Samples can be erased in one go from the harddisc. Version 1.12 ____________ - SampleRobot® is now visible in the task-bar while entering the Activation codes. - New OSC-button added: Tuning Oscillator is now also available on the right Keyboard-Selector slider. - Right click on OSC button opens dialog which allows to choose from 3 different waveforms (sinus, square and saw). A volume adjustment can also be done. - Same OSC-functionality is also included in the Semi-Automatic Recording dialog. Version 1.11 ____________ - added Tuning Oscillator in Semi-Automatic Recording dialog - added auto-button underneath REC-buttons in Project and Multi-Sample-window for switching between Full- Automatic (MIDI) and Semi-Automatic (without MIDI) Recording mode Version 1.1 ___________ - added feature Semi-Automatic Recording in Recording menu - changed button-sizes, order and names in Multi- Purpose screen (upper right field) > Button "Rec.Sett." renamed to "Multi-Sample RECORD Settings" > Button "Project Sett." renamed to "Project Settings" > Button "M.-Sam. Sett." renamed to "Multi-Sample EXPORT Settings" > Screen "Multi-Sample Settings" renamed to "Multi- Sample Export Settings" > Button "Note/Loop/Rel. Ed." renamed to "Note/Loop/ Release-Editor" Version 1.0 ___________ Release ________________________________ Copyright (C) 2005-2010 SKYLIFE MUSIC www.samplerobot.com www.samplerobot.de www.waverobot.com www.waverobot.de www.skylife.de