+
+ > Carla 2.0 RC1 is here!
+ On 2018-09-16 by falkTX
+
+ Hello again everyone, and surprise, the stable 2.0 version of Carla is coming!
+
+ This is the announcement of the first release candidate of Carla 2.0.
+ Very little features were added, focus went on stability instead.
+ The 'master' branch on Carla's source code is now for stable content, all new stuff will go to 'develop'.
+ My intention is to really let Carla on the side for now. If I can do it or not remains to be seen...
+
+ The list of changes is a little big, so let's split it by parts.
+ First, the highlights and major changes.
+
+ Basically I removed the code that interacted internally with LinuxSampler, and replaced it by SFZero.
+ There are a lot of reasons for this change, but we can resume it to 3 points:
+
+ Removing LinuxSampler means we lose support for GIG files, also SFZero loads the entire kit in RAM.
+ But, in return, SFZ files now always load without getting muted or having to do dirty workarounds.
+ Plus, with this, Carla can keep SFZ support while maintaining its GPLv2 license intact.
+
+ Note that SFZero does not support some opcodes, so the playback might sound different.
+ At a later date, a release will be made that will focus on SFZ support.
+
+ Carla under has always a been a bit behind, compared to its Linux and macOS support.
+ Not anymore!
+
+ Carla can now run as a plugin in Windows, and also the PyQt-based big-meter, midi-pattern and notes plugins.
+ With this done, Carla as LV2 is now included in the Windows builds.
+
+ The export of a single plugin as LV2, though it is an experimental feature, now also works on Windows.
+ Because Windows does not handle symlinks very well, Carla copies its resources instead.
+
+ Scanning plugins will no longer show a console window.
+ The font engine was changed from native to freetype, which not only fixes the mini-canvas but gives a better presentation too.
+ Plugin bridges work once again, and now even better as Carla now initializes Windows resources on them (like static pthread and OLE).
+
+ The piano-keyboard widget got some attention, now has 4 different highlight colors, 3 input layouts (qwerty, qwertz and azerty) and allows to change the offset when using the PC keyboard to send notes.
+ Just right-click on a piano-keyboard widget to trigger these options.
+
+ The rack looks a bit different now, as the possible "skins" for the plugin slots are now exposed and can be changed at any time.
+ You can change the background color too. Because why not? :)
+
+ Make the knobs and rack buttons more white-theme friendly.
+ This was needed to get white backgrounds working correctly, so for those of you that prefer Carla in a more bright theme, it will behave better now (why would you do that though?)
+
+ Some changes that make sense or are useful enough, and that deserve to be mentioned.
+
+ Besides the ones already mentioned for Windows, we also have: +
+
+ Currently work-in-progress is a complete REST API of Carla's backend, allowing to have full control of a remote Carla instance.
+ (and not in a limited fashion like done with Carla-Control / OSC).
+ Initial code for it is already done, and tested to work.
+ If this interests you, let me know!
+
+
+ +
+ The code for scanning plugins had a little rework, making some internal data structures change.
+ Because of this, a full rescan of your plugins is needed after the update.
+
+ When running Patchbay mode in JACK, changing the buffer size might cause a crash.
+ This is not a common action to do, so not a priority to fix.
+
+ To download Carla binaries or source code, jump on over to the KXStudio downloads section.
+ If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" (plus "carla-lv2" and "carla-vst" if you're so inclined).
+ Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump on over to the Carla's Github project page for those.
+
+ To download Carla binaries or source code, jump on over to the KXStudio downloads section.
+ If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" (plus "carla-lv2" and "carla-vst" if you're so inclined).
+ Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump on over to the Carla's Github project page for those.
+
+ With Carla done, next up is DPF handling and KXStudio 18.04 ISO release, while trying to get a new JACK2 release out too.
+ Note that after these 3 items are done, I plan to take a well-needed break from open-source project maintenance.
+
> Carla 2.0 beta7 is here!
On 2018-07-23 by falkTX