> 20,000 Downloads

OpenSebJ downloads are going strong; the 20,000 total download mark have been passed this month. A few bug fixes and some slight feature improvements have been included in the most recent releases.

Passed 10,000 Downloads - Still on Beta 0.1 (for the moment)

Passed the 10,000 download mark for OpenSebJ today, even though there hasn't been a subsequent release since the 0.1 Beta version (although it is coming soon ;-) - The next version will have a few bug fixes and a some requested changes will be implemented as well but the fun is still just beginning.

I've been looking in to the 3d side to MDX (Managed DirectX) recently and for the next Beta release I am hoping to introduce a VJ aspect to OpenSebJ. Currently I have limited the scope to being able to play images and videos in the same fashion and/or at the same time samples are playing to add a visual element to the production without a whole separate suite of management tools. I.e. You will be able to assign an image to a key and trigger its display each time the key is pressed (hopefully this will eventually cover video but no promises for the next beta version).

Always open to feedback, so let me know what you think and what you would like to see.

Cheers,
Sebastian

Computer Vision & CG with MDX: Requested: Video texture in MDX

Computer Vision & CG with MDX: Requested: Video texture in MDX

If you want to do anything more with Managed DirectX and Video files than load them and press play - you need to have a look at this post.

Why this process isn't simpler in MDX still amazes me.

> 6000 Downloads

For those of you who don't monitor OpenSebJ's downloads (most people ;-) I thought you might be interested to know that the 6000 download mark has been broken. Some great feedback has been provided about the Beta and it is be incorporated for the next release, until then keep making beats and let me know if you need any more help or you would like some new functionality - Peace

Beat v0.1 Released!

Yes boys and girls you heard it right, right here and right now, the first public version of OpenSebJ is now available - less bugs than an Alpha and on the road to a production ready version. Massive feature improvements have been included since the last Alpha (including the saving & loading of almost every option in the program.)

Have a look at some of the sexy action shots:


and some scratching:


and some Beat Boxing:


As always; feedback appreciated

OpenSebJ 0.07 Released!

Changelog Below:

----v0.007---------------------------------------------------------------------
New Functionality::

Beat Box:

+ A beat box has been added. Standard type of functions, adjustment to
the BPM, On-Off initialisation interface for each sample channel.
Currently only supports the first 5 samples.
+ Calculate the ticks per second required for the selected BPM
+ Select a BMP. Tick = 6000 / BPM.
+ Each tick advances the position of the ticker by one & then plays
the appropriate sample(s)

Wave Graph:

+ Graphing samples on screen has been made possible thanks to the sample
code provided by Corinna John ( http://www.binary-universe.net/ ).


Bug Fixes::

Scratch:

+ System.Exception something has now been fixed when tyring to fast
forward, reverse and all of the other scratch features. This was bug
was introduced with the frequency modulation and how now been resolved.
+ Now have access to all of the loaded samples (previously restricted to
all except the last loaded sample).

New Wave Graph - Thanks to Corinna John

This quality audio graph is brought to you with thanks from the help of Corinna John (http://www.binary-universe.net/). This has been implemented as a user control and will be part of the 0.07 Alpha Release.

The code base issue which have been hampering the next release have been fianlised now and as such 0.07 should be coming soon.

In other news - a 0.06a version of OpenSebJ has been released, this only contained updates to the install package to force checks for the pre-requisites before allowing the installation to continue. This will hopefully clear up any issues you may have had when not having the correct dependencies installed (I've seen some comments in the installers for NASA's World Wind referring to it as DX_HELL - I haven't said it yet but I'm not sure how far I am away from that ;-)

Any way keep the feature requests and bug reports coming in.

New Feature Alert - Beat Box Ahoy

If you look on out the right hand side of traveling OpenSebJ train you can see a preview of the latest and greatest feature to join the already well prepared feature set - a beat box. Yes finally the simplest and yet one of the most creatively powerful tools for the modern day samplig man (or lady) has joined the ranks of the sampling, sequencing creation otherwise commonly known as OpenSebJ. As you can see from the lovely screen shot it is a basic yet clean interface, like a cool night breeze on a sea side coastal city some where south of Hobart. Yes the graceful tool can all be yours if you lay down 0 dollars - you heard right nothing, nada, zero, zilch and that's right there's also nothing to pay latter - you even get access to use the source code as you like!

If you want to hear what the above screen shot sounded like - grab it here

Guess which open source audio program, just got an audio graph

So here's the news, OpenSebJ has got a wave mapper built in, while some what of a standard feature for audio applications in general, it's a milestone and worth celebrating none-the-less. Thanks go to Aravind for the hard work and research required to get this all going within the interface.

So if you have some spare time and feel like contributing to the project, now is a fantastic time to get in touch and get involved. We are always looking for Alpha/Beta testers, suggestions, comments, designers, audio engineer's etc. Not sure how you can contribute? Drop us a line any way - I'm sure we can find something ;-) Let us know what you think and what you want to see us looking at next!

Can't Install SQL Server Express 2005?

Maybe it's to do with the interesting system requirements it has, coupled with the not so helpfully error reporting on setup failure. Tonight I discovered that SQL Server Express won't install on a machine where the Protected Storage Service is set to manual. Interestingly though you can't easily find this relationship with the error message of "ParseBootstrapOptionsAction".

For more information see this post Error installing Express Edition with VS2005 Standard
Or the actual Knowledge Base Article

Version Alpha 0.06 Release - Beta coming soon

OpenSebJ version 0.06 has been released, this means that an official beta is getting close and will be released soon. Only a few features are outstanding before OpenSebJ will take off the Alpha shackles and make a Beta.

In this release a new feature has been included which you (probably?) won't find any where else - a position record straight to the multi track sequencer has been included. All you need to do is assign the samples to a key - open the lay down window hit the Key Record button, play and then tap out your beat.

I haven't kept up with the commercial software but I think this feature has a chance to rival the their products positions.

"System.NullReferenceException"

Bizarre, somehow when I run OpenSebJ through the C# Express 2005 IDE, I can click "Select File" on the record window and have no issue but once I run the program outside of the IDE (Either the Debug or the Release version) I can follow exactly the same operation and get a "System.NullReferenceException". I've found the offending part of the program but have only so far caught it - I would like to debug it further but it's rather difficult without the use of the debugger ;-)

Any ideas?

Version 0.05 Released

Version 0.05 Released - Download OpenSebJ, the Open Source real time editing tool, here!