Blue Cat`s PatchWork User Manual
Contents
1. i Channel 2 Show Editor Channel 3 Bypass Channel 4 Presets Channel 5 Cut Channel 6 Copy Channel 7 Center Editor Channel amp Channel 9 Channel 10 Channel 11 Channel 12 3 Load VST Paste Paste with Map No Plug in Channel 1 Channel 14 Channel 15 Channel 16 Params Map MIDI Input MIDI Output Rename w Track Undo e Host this port connects to the host application to send MIDI Out and receive MIDI In events By default all slots have their MIDI input connected to the Host e Port A to Port P these are virtual ports that can be used to connect sub plug ins together For the MIDI input of a plug in you can additionnaly choose to filter events by channel so that it receives all events for one or several selected channels only If you just want the plug in to receive all events without any filter choose All Channels for the selected port Using virtual internal ports is simple connect the output of a plug in to a port and the input of another plug in to the same port The two plug ins will then be able to exchange MIDI data from sender to receiver Multiple plug ins can be connected to the same port as input or output MIDI events will be gathered from MIDI Outs and redistributed to to all connected MIDI Ins However there is a limitation in which plug ins can be connected together e itis not possible to create feedback loops e only a plug in that processes audio data before another c2. PAi Get used to the user interface features of Blue Cat Audio products They have been designed for an optimal workflow so here are the tips and tricks to save time All these functionalities are explain Read More Global Settings Uzer Manual Check For Updates Tutorial Using MIDI Control in Sonar This tutorial will help you understand how to use parameters MIDI control in Cakewalk Sonar It is applicable to any DXi plug in MIDI enabled DirectX plug in Read More Tutorial How to Use the Free Presets Available on this Website T mi ne FAYE 1 L This tutorial shows you how to get and load free presets for your favorite Blue Cat Audio plugin This tutorial uses Blue Cat s Dynamics for the demonstration but is applicable to all our plugins Read More Updates As you can see in the history log below we care about constantly updating our products in order to give you the latest technology available Please visit our website often to check if Blue Cat s PatchWork has been updated or subscribe to our Newsletter to be informed of the latest news about our products You can also follow us on twitter and facebook for almost real time updates notification and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see the latest videos about our software Versions History V1 4 2014 07 24 New Features e Selectable parallel processing chains summing mode sum or average e Solo button for parallel chains
3. Skin Use Global Skin Undo Redo Preset Settings Global Settings Check for Updates Get More Skins Legal Information About e Presets opens the presets menu to manage presets e Set Preset Skin change the skin for the current preset e Use Global Skin use the skin defined in the global settings for the current preset This item is enabled only if a skin has been defined for the current preset e Undo Redo undo or redo the latest modifications This includes all changes made to the current preset settings such as MIDI or automation preferences e Presets Settings open the presets settings window It lets you change the skin MIDI and automation settings for the current preset e Global Settings open the global settingswindow It lets you change the skin MIDI and automation settings that are used by default in all instances of the plug in if not overriden by the current preset e User Manual open this user manual e Check for Updates opens up our website to let you check if any update for this software is available e Get More Skins get more skins for this software e Legal Information browse licensing and misc legal documents e About displays the about dialog box The Title Bar In most skins an icon bar is located below the main toolbar The first commands are the same for all plug ins e Smooth Bypass smoothly bypass the plug in just like a power button e Window Opacity reduce the op
4. e MIDI Channel filtering for each plug in input Fixes and compatibility improvements e Fixed undo redo incompatibilities with some plug ins e Mac Fixed crash introduced in 1 3 when trying to load missing VST plug ins e Mac Fixed wrong plug in instantiated in some cases when selected from a VST shell package e Mac Fixed crash after closing the editor of an Audio Unit plug in loaded with SoundRadix s 32Lives V1 3 2014 06 17 New Features e Audio Unit hosting support Audio Units can now be loaded into the plug in on Mac e Plug ins can now be cut from a slot for cut paste operations e Plug ins can now be pasted into a slot with their params map Improvements e User interface loading or resizing is now up to 50 faster e Reduced the size of windows installers e Minor layout changes Fixes and compatibility improvements e Fixed undo redo incompatibilities with some plug ins e Mac Fixed random crashes when unloading some plug ins on Mac Waves plug ins for example e Win AAX Fixed shortcut to user manual in start menu e AAX Fixed inaccurate transport information reported to sub plug ins when stopping playback in Pro Tools V1 2 2014 04 23 New Features e MIDI Routing custom MIDI routes can be created to connect plug ins together and with the host application to send and receive MIDI e Plug in instance Renaming it is now possible to give a name to each instance of a plug in e Mono to stereo proce
5. owned by Steinberg DirectX by Microsoft while Audio Units is the property of Apple Computers and RTAS and AAX are owned by AVID How can I use your plug ins Download and install a host software then download and install the plug ins from our page They will appear in the host effects menu If you are using a DirectX host with our MIDI controllable plug ins and they do not show up in you host list you might need to use our freeware DXi Manager Note that our plug ins are sometimes shown in the MIDI controllable audio effects or soft synths sections in some host applications Where can find a host There are many commercial or freeware hosts that will suit your needs You can find a long list of applications here You can also use demos of Cubase Wavelab Ableton Live Tracktion or Sonar software which are usually available on the companies websites On the Mac Garage Band is part of the system and can be also used to host our Audio Unit plug ins What are the main differences between DX VST RTAS AAX and Audio Units VST is a protocol that works on several platforms Mainly Windows MacOS BeOS and some Linux platforms use it as well whereas DirectX is Microsoft Windows only and Audio Units are available only on the Mac RTAS and AAX are available on Mac and PC but only for Pro Tools products AVID AAX plug ins are compatible with Pro Tools 10 and higher whereas RTAS versions are compatible for Pro Tools 10 and lower v
6. same session in order to differentiate them Use global skin Skin file path C Frogam Files Blue Cat Audio Skins Defautt defautt xml Browse Preset Control Input Settings MIDI and Automation Use the global settings or override them for the current preset The parameters are the same as for the global input settings Blue Cat s Plug Use global setting Parameter Name Enable Channel CC Control MIDI 16 127 Response All Parameters 0o Linear Bypass eam Linear Param 1 L eam Linear Param 2 2 j Linear Param 3 0 f i eam Linear Param 4 I l 4 am Linear Param 5 iC E eam Linear Param 6 D l bo o am Linear Param 7 d pl ear Linear Param amp l E eam Linear Param 9 o Linear Param 10 lo i i i eam Linear Param 11 La am Linear Param 12 2 eam Linear Param 14 IT linear generic screen shot does not correspond to the actual plug in parameters About Skins Blue Cat s PatchWork integrates Blue Cat s skinning engine that allows you to customize the user interface You can download new skins for your plug in at the following address http www bluecataudio com Skins Product_ PatchWork If you don t find a skin that fits your need or if you want a really custom one you can choose to create your own skin Changing the Skin You have two ways to change the skin of your plug in you can change the default or global skin in the global settings or ch
7. series 12 PARALLEL plug ins slots parallel processing chains A OND e 12 1 activate the effects chain e 12 2 pre gain for the effects chain e 12 3 plug ins slots for the chain processed in series e 12 4 post gain for the effects chain e 12 5 phase flip for the chain reverse the phase of the signal 90 degrees phase shift e 12 6 solo the chain deactivates all other non soloed parallel chains e 12 7 summing mode for parallel chains chain average splits the signal and compensates the gain based on the number of active chains Sum simply sums all active parrallel chains like busses on a console with no gain compensation 13 POST plug ins slots processed in series 14 Output gain knob pre meter 15 Output peak level meter 16 Knobs for assigned parameters are displayed here when mapping sub plug ins parameters for automation Using VST or Audio Unit Plug Ins Note before inserting VST plug ins it is strongly recommended that you setup your main VST plug ins directory in the preferences pane as detailed later in this manual Each plug in slot lets you insert a plug in When clicking on an empty slot the following menu appears Load VST Paste Paste with Map Track Undo Selecting Load VST will open a standard system window where you can select the VST plug in you want to load If the preferences have been properly set the window should open the appropriate loc
8. will replace the older one Uninstall To uninstall the plug in simply remove the plug in components from the folder where you have copied them during install move them to the trash If you want to completely remove all settings and configuration files you can also remove these additional directories that may have been created on your computer e Library Preferences Blue Cat Audio Plug in name and TYPE where TYPE is VST AU RTAS or AAX global preferences e Library Preferences Blue Cat Audio Plug in name license information e Documents Blue Cat Audio Plug in name user data such as presets additional skins and user created plug in data Just beware that these directories may contain user data that you have created Remove these directories only if you wo not want to reuse this data later Using Blue Cat s PatchWork Introduction Blue Cat s PatchWork is a simple yet powerful plug ins rack the main purpose of the plug in is to host VST or Audio Unit AU plug ins with a fixed but flexible routing scheme Effect or Instrument Two versions of the plug in are included audio effect or virtual instrument They both offer the same capabilities you can host instruments in the effect version for example but they will be considered differently by your host application Simply use the synth version if your main purpose is to host virtual instruments and the effect version if you want to process t
9. AS or DirectX plug in adapter effect chains A B comparison Features Main Features Blue Cat Audio Standards e Configurable VST or Audio Unit plug ins rack host up to 64 third e Available as Mac AAX Mac AU Mac RTAS Mac VST Win party plug ins or instruments in series or parallel AAX Win DX Win RTAS Win VST Win x64 AAX Win x64 e Available as an effect or virtual instrument DX Win x64 VST e Build your own effects chains up to 8 pre and post plug ins e Native DSP code for optimal performance slots to chain plug ins in series e Full MIDI control and automation support with silent zipper free e Parallel processing made easy up to 8 parallel plug ins chains parameters update advanced response control and MIDI Learn with phase flip solo and gain controls e No CPU load on idle when the plug in is fed with silence the e Host up to 8 virtual instruments in parallel and mix them within the processing smoothly shuts down to optimize the CPU usage of plug in your Digital Audio Workstation e Global Dry Wet control Mix e Skinnable and customizable user interface with transparency e Parameters Mapping map sub plug ins parameters to automate management them or use a control surface e Smooth Bypass activate deactivate the plug in with absolutely e Flexible MIDI routing connect sub plug ins together or with the no noise host application e Undo Redo e Link pre and post gains for automatic gain
10. Blue Cat s PatchWork User Manual Blue Cat s PatchWork amp a hice 100 The virtual patchbay for audio plug ins K AY y6q E ws x B Table Of Content e Introduction e Description e Features e System Requirements e Installation e Using Blue Cat s PatchWork e Introduction e The User Interface e Operation e Blue Cat Audio Plugins Basics e User Interface Basics e Controls e Keyboard e Mouse e Presets Management e MIDI amp Automation Control e More e Blue Cat s PatchWork Parameters e Plug in Settings e The Global Settings Window e The Preset Settings Window e About Skins e Changing the Skin e Create a Custom Skin e Frequently Asked Questions e More e Extra Skins e Tutorials e Updates e Versions History Note An online version of this user manual is available here Introduction Description Blue Cat s PatchWork is a universal plug ins patchbay that can host up to 64 VST or Audio Unit plug ins into any Digital Audio Workstation DAW in one instance lt is possible to chain effects in series or create up to 8 parallel chains that can be activated independently This lets you create your favorite effects or instruments configurations within the plug in without the need for multiple busses These configurations can be saved as presets and recalled instantly or shared with multiple DAWs using any plug in format full list below Despite the name you can forg
11. VST path that contains most of your plug ins If the Restore plug ins editors on open option is checked default when the PatchWork plug in is opened inserted plug ins user interfaces will be restored at the same position as when the PatchWork plug in was last closed If the option is unchecked all plug ins user interfaces will be kept closed when re opening the PatchWork plug in and their position on screen will not be saved The various elements of the user interface knobs sliders buttons are simple and intuitive to operate but more information about how to interact with them is available in the Plug ins Basics chapter of this manual Operation This section decribes several common use cases for the plug in A complete list of the parameters exposed by the plug in is available in the next section Custom Channel Strip When configured with a single column the plug in can be used as a simple custom channel strip chaining plug ins together 1 columns Lape rryot Tel Lae LL a A rire 4 T Oi G That s the preferred configuration to use the plug in as a simple chainer Mixing Multiple Synths If you want to mix the sounds of multiple synths and control them as if it were a single synthesizer you can use several parallel chains and insert a synth on the first slot of each chain No need for multiple tracks all synths can be stacked together on a single track and controlled with a single keyboar
12. acity value by turning the knob and make the the plug in window transparent the result may depend on the host application e Show Hide MIDI and Automation Control Settings show hide the buttons that give access to direct MIDI Automation setup for each parameter in the user interface This button will show or hide dropdown menu buttons that popup a MIDI Automation setup menu described here From left to right Controls Examples Here are a few examples of typical controls you will encounter in the user interface of our plug ins slider slider knob button Text control Interacting with Controls You can interact with the controls of the plug in interface either with the mouse or the keyboard Setting the keyboard focus on a control so that it responds to key strokes may be automatic when you pass the mouse over it it gets focus or manual you have to click on the control to set the focus on it Note that all host applications behave differently regarding keyboard handling In some applications you may not be able to use all keys described later in this manual to interact with our plug ins It is usually made obvious to you to know the active surfaces of the skin the places where you can click with the mouse the mouse cursor usually changes when you can do something on a control In the default skins delivered with the plug in the cursor changes to a small hand or an arrow to tell you when your mouse Is over an active c
13. an send MIDI data to this plug in It means that a plug in can receive MIDI data from plug ins that are located earlier in the audio processing chain only see the signal flow above If the plug in is located in a parallel chain it can also receive MIDI data from plug ins that are located in parallel chains above it These limitations ensure causality and perfect synchronization of MIDI data exchanged between plug ins without latency Note when connecting a plug in to control its parameters via MIDI you may want to disable undo tracking on this plug in to avoid that to many undo steps are recorded by Blue Cat s PatchWork and reduce CPU usage The Preferences Pane PREFERENCES VST plug ins directory C Program Files WSTPlugins Restore plugins editors on open In the preferences pane you can set the default VST plug ins path by clicking on it or on the button labelled This VST plug ins directory is used for several purposes e It is the default directory that is opened when you want to load a VST plug in e It is used as the root path when saving loading presets that include VST effects the path of VST plug ins is saved relatively to this root path so that you can reopen your sessions on different machines that may have different VST paths typically on a Mac and a PC If you happen to have your VST plug ins installed in several paths we advise you to choose the closest common directory path or the
14. ange the skin for the current preset only either in the preset settings page or from the main menu The global skin applies to all plug in instances whereas the current preset skin only applies to the current preset of the current plug in instance See the main menu for more information about how to access these options On some hosts the plug in window won t resize automatically when you choose a skin with a different size In this case just close the window and re open it it will be displayed with the right size Create a Custom Skin You can create custom skins for your plug in in order to adapt it to your exact needs You can change its look and feel and make it completely integrated in your virtual studio Just read the Blue Cat s Skinning Language manual and download the samples for the tutorial on http www bluecataudio com Skins You can get ready to create your own skins in a few minutes You can then share your skins on our website FAQ Plug ins Formats What are DirectX DX Audio Unit AU RTAS AAX and VST plug ins VST Audio Unit RTAS AAX and DirectX plug ins are software components than can be used in Host Software such as Cakewalk Sonar Steinberg Cubase or Wavelab Sony Vegas Logic Pro Garage Band Ableton Live Pro Tools in order to perform some MIDI and Or Audio real time Processing tasks To be more precise what we usually call directX plug ins is actually a DirectShow Filter VST is
15. at Audio plug ins Blue Cat s PatchWork uses a skinnable user interface It means that the appearance and behavior of the user interface can be entirely customized Especially with third party skins the experience may be quite different from the one offered by the default skins that we provide However our plug ins and our skinning engine have several standard features that will be available whatever your favorite skin More information about custom skins can be found in the skins section The Main Toolbar In most skins an optional toolbar at the top of the user interface gives you access to the main options and settings of the plug in Presets Area At the center of the toolbar you can see the current preset area the Default Settings box It displays the name of the current preset with a at the end if it has been modified since loaded The arrows on the left and right let you navigate thru the factory and user presets available for the plug in Clicking on the preset name opens the presets menu which lets you manage the presets of the plug in Commands The icons in the toolbar give you access the to the following commands that are detailed in the next paragraph Icon Name Function Menu Open the main menu i Undo Undo ab Redo Redo Manual User Manual i About About The Main Menu The main menu is available from the main toolbar or if you right click anywhere on the background of the plug in Presets Set Preset
16. ation where you can find the VST plug ins On Mac an additional Load AU menu item is available to load Audio Units It opens a file open dialog in the standard location for Audio Units on your system Note if you want to load the system Audio Units provided by Apple you will need to open the CoreAudio component located in the System Library directory You can also choose to paste an existing VST or AU plug in if previously copied into the system clipboard from another slot When using the Paste with Map command if the plug in in the source slot had mapped parameters these parameters will be added to the map until no more assignable parameters are available Once a plug in has been loaded into a slot a mouse click will display the following plug in menu that offers various controls over the plug in Show Editor Bypass Presets Cut Copy Center Editor Load VST Paste Paste with Map No Plug in Params Map MIDI Input MIDI Output Rename w Track Undo e Show Hide Editor display or hide the plug in s user interface e Bypass toggle bypass for the plug in e Presets access the plug in s factory presets if any e Cut copy the plug in and its settings into the system clipboard and remove it from the slot e Copy copy the plug in and its settings into the system clipboard Onced copied it can be pasted to any other slot in any instance of the PatchWork plug in even in a different app
17. button dropdown menu buttons appears next to main controls Clicking on this button shows the MIDI Automation settings menu MIDI Learn MIDI Unlearn Enable Automation Settings e MIDI Learn launches MIDI learn mode for the control touch your MIDI controller and the control will learn from it the MIDI channel and CC number To end the learn mode reopen this menu and deselect the option e MIDI Unlearn deactivates MIDI control for this parameter e Settings launches the advanced settings panel described below This controls the settings for the current preset Andvanced MIDI and Automation Settings You can completely customize the way the plug in is controlled by automation and MIDI For a global view of all parameters at a time you can use the Plug in Settings window for the current preset which is available from the main menu Control Control Control Min Max MIDI 16 127 Response E 0 5 team Linear OdB 3dB MIDI Settings e Enable MIDI enable disable the MIDI control of the parameter e Channel MIDI Channel for the parameter control If set to 0 the plug ins will accept Control Change Messages from all MIDI Channels MIDI Omni mode e CC Control Change Number e Learn click on this button to activate the MIDI learn functionality When it is activated you can move your MIDI controller and the plug in will automatically set the MIDI Channel and CC Number MIDI and automation setting
18. compensation e Full featured integrated presets manager e Cut Copy and paste plug ins with their settings between slots e Copy paste the plug in s state between instances using the e Recall complex processing setups and plug ins layouts with one system clipboard click and share them between your DAWs e Any sample rate supported e Input and output levels monitoring e Plug ins Latency compensation e Supports VST Shell plug ins e Integrated undo redo e Fully customizable user interface with multiple sizes system Requirements Windows Mac OS X e An SSE2 enabled processor Pentium 4 or later e An Intel processor e Microsoft Windows XP Vista Windows 7 or 8 e Mac OS X Mavericks 10 9 Moutain Lion 10 8 Lion 10 7 e Any DirectX VST RTAS AAX compatible host software 32 or Snow Leopard 10 6 or Leopard 10 5 64 bit e Any VST Audio Unit 32 64 bit RTAS AAX compatible application For more information about supported platforms see our FAQ Installation Blue Cat Audio plug ins cannot be run standalone they require a host application see the System Requirements chapter for more information Depending on which host application you use you might need to install the plug ins in different locations Windows Install All versions of the plug in provide an installation program Follow the steps of the wizard to install the plug in on your machine During the installation you will be asked wh
19. d with no additional MIDI routing required For this scenario you probably want to use the sum parallel chain mode so that the volume of each synth is not altered when soloing or muting one of the chains i Menu oe Red p OR Blue Cat s PatchWork amp 3 columns y pema 1Ga 0 4 Mix 100 4 rows You can also improve your multi synth presets using MIDI effects arpeggiator MIDI delay and connecting the MIDI input of some of the synths to the MIDI output of these MIDI effects This lets you create a single preset with multiple synths playing different arpeggios all triggered by a single keyboard See MIDI Routing below Comparing Effects Chains It is often useful to try several effects chains before choosing the one that fits best on a track Blue Cat s PatchWork makes it very easy to do A B comparisons it is possible to use two or more parallel chains and activate one after another to compare them They can include different plug ins or the same plug ins with different settings Instant Configuration Recall You can save your favorite effect chains and settings as presets including full windows layouts They can be recalled later with a single click in the presets menu This is of course applicable to audio effects but it can also be useful to store complete synthesizer plus additional effects configurations as presets so that the complete chain can be restored easily instead of having separate presets for s
20. eams in mono stereo or multichannel Surround formats up to 8 channels If you insert a plug in that can process less channels only the first channels will be processed and others will be forwarded to the next plug in until it reaches the output of the PatchWork plug in Latency Compensation lf a plug in inserted in a parallel chain reports latency signal delay the PatchWork plug in will compensate the delay so that other parallel chains are in sync Latency is also reported to the host application so that it can be compensated However some hosts may require that the plug in is deactivated and re activated before the new latency is taken into account Cubase Sonar and Studio One for example Restarting transport may also be required Pro Tools 10 and earlier for example Parameters Mapping With Blue Cat s PatchWork it is possible to map sub plug ins parameters in order to control them with host automation an external control surface or simply within Blue Cat s PatchWork s user interface Thanks to the included learn mode simply touching the knobs of your favorite plug ins will let you assign parameters for external control up to 40 parameters can be mapped Phase Flip The plug in includes a phase flip also called phase reversal button for each parallel processing chain This lets you change the polarity of the signal if some plug ins are causing phase reversal problems or to simply compute the difference with o
21. ere you want the plug in s to be installed For the VST version you should install the plug in inside the VST plug ins folder used by your host application s The default path set in the installer should work for most applications but you should check your host software documentation to know where it looks for VST plug ins Some applications will not automatically rescan the new plug ins so you might have to force a refresh of the plug ins list Upgrade When a new version of the plug in is released just launch the new installer it will update the current installation Uninstall To uninstall the plug in simply launch the Uninstall program that is available in the start menu or in the configuration panel It will take care of removing all files from your computer Mac Install On Mac the plug ins are available as drive images After download double click on the file to open it You can then drag and drop the plug in file s to the shortcut that is provided within the image It will install the plug in s for all users on the machine In case you do not have admin rights on your Mac or if you want to install the plug in s to another directory just copy the files to the appropriate location If required more information is available in the README txt file that is included in the package Upgrade When a new version of the plug in is released open the new image and copy the files over the previous ones The new version
22. ersions What is the difference between DXi and DX effects DXi effects are MIDI controllable DirectX plug ins It s the same as DX effects plus MIDI control Which version VST Audio Unit RTAS or DX should use in my host application Here is a list of host software and the version we recommend you to use Many other applications are supported check your application user manual to choose the best version AU stands for Audio Unit and DX for DirectX Host Application Plug in Version Cakewalk Products Sonar Project5 DX sony Products Vegas ACID Soundforge DX for old versions VST for new Steinberg Products Cubase Nuendo Wavelab VST Mac or PC Ableton Live VST Mac or PC Adobe Audition any EnergyXT VST Magix Samplitude VST Avid Digidesign Pro Tools RTAS Apple applications Logic Pro Logic Express Garage Band AU Cockos Reaper VST Mac or PC In general we recommend using VST over Audio Unit on Mac when both are supported particularly for the plug ins that can output automation or MIDI CC messages Where can find more information about this topic e www steinberg net e WwWw microsoft com e www kvraudio com e www apple com e www digidesign com Installation have installed my software and it is not listed as an application Why What can do How can I launch it Most software you can purchase on this website is plug ins for host applications It means you need another application t
23. et about wires or cables configuring plug ins routing is as simple as adding or removing a row ora column in the rack s matrix All plug ins can also communicate with each other or with the host application using the virtual MIDI ports offered by the plug in For each plug in slot latency compensation presets management undo redo integration and individual plug in bypass are included for optimal operation The plug in also stores the position of the window for each plug in so that the layout is restored with your session or saved with presets Also sub plug ins can be automated or controlled with external control surfaces using Blue Cat s PatchWork parameters mapping capabilities The plug in is available as an audio effect or a virtual instrument so that it can be inserted on any type of track with up to 8 audio channels Input and output level meters are also included to monitor the signal that is dispatched to inserted plug ins If you are looking for a multiband plug ins host for multiband processing check out the Blue Cat s MB 7 Mixer plug in Also any Blue Cat Audio plug in is compatible and can be hosted by this plug in Copyright Note VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Typical applications Plug ins host custom channel strip parallel processing effects chainer virtual bussing virtual instrument share bus and plug ins configurations between DAWs VST or Audio Unit to AAX Audio Unit RT
24. he signal as an effect Signal Flow The signal flow is the following Blue Cat s PatchWork e At the input of the plug in the signal is split so that the original input signal can be mixed back with the processed signal using the mix control e It is then processed by the input gain stage and the active PRE plug ins in series e It is then dispatched to the active parallel chains each chain offers its own pre and post gain knobs e After the parallel chains the signals are summed and compensated if average summing mode is selected before going into the POST chain that processes the plug ins in series e The output gain is then applied before going into the mix stage that mixes the original input with the processed signal Note about the included level meters the input levels are measured right after the PRE gain control and the output levels right after the mix control Summing Mode Starting with version 1 4 you can select the summing mode for parallel chains With average the parallel chains are averaged which compensates for potential gain increases This is particluaraly useful when using the plug in as an audio effect to avoid gain increases when adding new parallel chains However when using the plug in to mix multiple synths you may want to choose sum instead so that muting one of the chains does not impact the volume of other chains Multiple Channels Support The plug in supports audio str
25. here are two types of presets factory presets read only that are provided with the plug in and user presets that can be created and stored by the user The user presets are stored in a subdirectory of the documents folders of your profile Documents on Mac and My Documents on Windows Blue Cat Audio Plug in Name Presets Each preset is stored as an individual file You can create folders and subfolders in the Presets directory to classify your presets as shown in the example below Folder A b User Presetl Folder B b User Preset User Preset X User Presets If you save a preset named Default in the root Presets directory it will override the factory default preset that s what Save As Default does To restore the factory default preset you can just remove this file or use the Reset Default command MIDI and Automation Control Blue Cat s PatchWork can also be remotely controlled via MIDI using MIDI CC Control Change messages or automation curves if your host application supports it It is possible to customize the channel control numbers range and response curve used for each parameter in the settings panel available from the main menu see the Plug in Settings chapter for more details MIDI and Automation Settings Menu Most skins also provide the ability to change MIDI and automation settings for each parameter directly in the main user interface When this feature is activated using the corresponding title bar
26. it will upgrade your software Automation What is Parameters Automation The parameters of an effect can be automated in most host software It means that you can record the changes you do during playback or recording so that it s replayed when playing back again It s a way of sequencing parameters changes the same way you do with Audio or MIDI data What is Smooth Update When changing parameter values in real time or replaying a song where parameters have been automated our plug ins compute intermediate values between parameter changes in order to avoid clicks and pops that may occur otherwise It results in a non audible smooth parameters update and lets you freely use automation or MIDI control to change the effects in a song Do your plug ins support MIDI Control Yes they do They offer precise control over the mapping of MIDI Control Change CC messages to parameter values you can adjust both the channel and CC number as well as the response curve of the control Since some of our plug ins are also capable of creating MIDI CC from the audio signal they can all be connected for real time signal dependent audio effects See our MIDI Control in Sonar tutorial for an example More This manual only covers the basics of Blue Cat s PatchWork Our website offers many additional resources for your Blue Cat s PatchWork plug in and is constantly updated so keep an eye on it You will find below a few examples of availab
27. ivate parallel chain number i Pre Gain i dB Pre gain for parallel chain i Post Gain i dB Post gain for parallel chain Phase Flip i dB Invert phase for parallel chain Solo Solo parallel chain number i Solo will deactivate all other Assignable Controls Control 01 to Control 40 dB non soloed parallel chains Assignable parameters for sub plug ins automation Plug in Settings In addition to the controls offered in the main user interface Blue Cat s PatchWork has various settings that let you fine tune the behavior of the plug in You can choose to change these settings either for the current preset or globally for all instances of the plug in The Global Settings Window The settings available in this window apply to all instances of the plug in for all presets if not overriden in the presets settings Consider these settings as default settings General You can change the default skin for all instances of the plug in write the skin file path in the text edit box or click on the button to open a file chooser dialog If you have several instances of the plug in opened in your session you will have to re open the user interfaces of these plug ins to see the skin change Skin file path C Progam Files Blue Cat Audio Skins Defaut defauk xml Output data refresh rate 20 Hz The output data refresh rate can also be customized for all instances of the plug in It controls the refresh rate of
28. ky in your DAW and require multiple MIDI tracks to create MIDI connections is much simpler using Blue Cat s PatchWork instead Computing Differences Using Phase Flip Flipping phase on a parallel chain is the same as multiplying the sound by 1 So it is possible to compute the difference between two effect chains easily A typical application is to use an empty effect chain with flipped phase in parallel with an effect chain you are tweaking PARALLEL CHAINS The above setup performs A B And since the B chain carries the dry signal as a result you can hear what the A chain actually adds to the original signal This is particularly useful for dynamics processing or distortion you can hear what the effect adds to the Original sound and you can easily switch to the full processed signal by disabling chain B Note you may have to adjust the gain of the B chain if the A chain does not preserve the average volume Patchwork of Patchworks When using complex routings and many plug ins you may want to reuse parts of your effects configurations as modules In this case using several instances of the Patchwork plug in into another one and using presets for predefined configurations will do the trick Blue Cat Audio Plug ins Basics This chapter describes the basic features that are common to all our plug ins If you are already familiar with our products you can skip this part User Interface Basics About Skins Like all Blue C
29. le resources Extra Skins We encourage our customers to propose their own skins for our products and we often propose alternative skins to let you choose the one that best suits your needs You can check Blue Cat s PatchWork skins page to get the latest skins satYatunes Themes Pack Product PaitchWork Description A pack of two wonderful skins dark and silver for Blue Cat s PatchWork Please follow install instructions contained in the zip file Author satYa Choudhury Satyatunes com Download Skin SatYatunes zip Tutorials Many Tutorials are available on our website They cover a wide range of topics and host applications You will find below a list of tutorials that are related to the Blue Cat s PatchWork plug in An updated list is also available online Tutorial Using DXi plug ins in Sony Vegas This tutorial will teach you how to use any DXi plug in in Sony Vegas Sony Vegas does not support MIDI automation so if your plug in supports the MIDI Dxi protocol it is removed from the plug ins l Read More Tutorial Export Plugin Presets to Share them with the Community mypreset This tutorial shows you how to export your presets in order to share them with the community on the Blue Cat Audio website This tutorial uses Blue Cat s Stereo Triple EQ for the demonstration Presets Files preset bu Read More Tutorial Getting Started with Plug ins User Interface Set Preset Skin PTER
30. lication e Center Editor bring back the editor of the plug in to the center of the screen in case you cannot find it e Load VST load another VST plug in in the slot will replace the existing plug in if any e Load AU Mac only load another Audio Unit plug in in the slot will replace the existing plug in if any e Paste paste a plug in and its settings from the system clipboard into the slot e Paste with Map paste a plug in its settings and mapped parameters from the system clipboard into the slot Parameters are re mapped in order until no more assignable parameter is available e Params Map lists the plug in s parameters that can be mapped for automation and lets you assign them to external controls see the next paragraph e MIDI In select the MIDI port s this plug in is receiving data from see below e MIDI Out select the MIDI port s this plug in is sending MIDI data to see below e No Plug in remove the plug in e Rename rename the instance of the plug in Setting an empty name reverts back to the plug in s default name e Track Undo toggle undo tracking for the slot If enabled inserted plug ins changes will be inspected and added to the PatchWork plug in undo history when possible Please note that some plug ins may not work properly when this feature is enabled It is also recommended to disable this feature when controlling a plug in with MIDI events generators such as Blue Cat s DP Meter P
31. n control from very fast to slow control e Min minimal value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated e Max Maximum value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated Control Input E Bypass Faram 1 1000 ms NU 500 ms Param 2 Param 3 3000 ms Param 4 2000 ms Param 3dB Param 6 S000 ms Param 7 60 dB s Param amp 100 Param 9 Reversed Param 10 ch Vee F FFF FFIFEE a a 8 8 8 NEARE ARCANE 4 74 74 ay day pa pa fal pa pa 4 Param 11 Param 12 Param 13 ERE REGGE Bie I A aaua Ga Omm 14 ame Lima NANA ri Mm ARKLFANHRNH CAA i AN AAC RAT AArFF ACAANnN A ta th A ARTIIO AliiAN 1 r MmRALrOQmMmaATALre generic screen snot aoes not correspond to tne actu al D lu go IN parameters Note if the Min value is higher than the Max value the response curve will be reversed increasing the control value will decrease the parameter value Note if you double click on the parameter text control boxes for the max and min values a fine tuning edit box will appear and let you change the min and max values with more precision The Current Preset Settings Window In this window you can change the settings for the current preset of the current instance of the plug in only Preset Skin You can choose to use the global skin setting or to change the skin for the current preset This way you can have different skins for different instances of the plug in in the
32. non audio data produced by the plug in parameters curves It also controls the refresh rate of output MIDI CC messages or output automation data The higher the refresh rate the better precision but also the higher cou usage some host applications may also have trouble recording MIDI data at high refresh rates The default value is 50 Hz Global Control Input Settings MIDI and Automation The plug in offers a couple of settings that affect the way it is controlled by MIDI messages or automation While the first settings only apply to MIDI control the Control Response Min and Max settings apply to both automation and MIDI control For each parameter you can define a default MIDI channel and CC number You can then control the plug in with an external MIDI controller or one of our plug ins that generate MIDI messages The settings below are available for each plug in parameter MIDI Settings e Enable MIDI enable disable the MIDI control of the parameter e Channel MIDI Channel for the parameter control If set to 0 the plug ins will accept Control Change Messages from all MIDI Channels MIDI Omni mode e CC Control Change Number e Learn click on this button to activate the MIDI learn functionality When it is activated you can move your MIDI controller and the plug in will automatically set the MIDI Channel and CC Number MIDI and automation settings e Response response curve of the MIDI or automatio
33. o I know the version of the plug in am using You can see the version information in the about box right click on the background of the plug in user interface and select About The product version is also available in the Windows Add Remove Programs Window Why do newer versions of a plug in override older ones they have exact same name and IDs Because newer versions improve previous ones When a new version is released older versions are not supported anymore In some cases the new versions may be installed as new products compatibility reasons major changes but it is explicitly documented on the product page A new minor version of a product purchased some time ago is available Where can I download the update The new version can be downloaded from the same place where you downloaded the original version All information is contained in the email you received when you purchased the product Your registration number has not changed either Upgrade A new minor version of my plug in has been released Where can download it When you purchased the plug in an email containing the information to download and register your software has been sent to you You can download the new version from the exact same location as the first time have downloaded a new version do I need to uninstall the previous version No you don t except if it s specified on the product page in the history section Just run the installer and
34. o use it See the Plug ins Formats section in this FAQ for more information have installed my plug in and it does not show up in my host application What can I do First check that you application supports DirectX Audio Unit or VST plug ins If you are using the DirectX version check that your host application supports DXi plug ins MIDI enabled DirectX plug ins If it does not it may remove it from the DirectX plug ins list some applications such as Sony Vegas 5 and Cool Edit Pro are known to do this In this case use our DXi Manager free utility and disable the MIDI capabilities of the plug in You may need to reinstall the software again before it shows up into your host application For more information about this topic please read our DXi in Sony Vegas tutorial it is applicable to other applications than Sony Vegas If you are using the Direct X version and your host application supports DXi check that the plug in does not appear in the virtual synth or synthesizers category If you wish not to use the MIDI capabilities of the plug in and use it as a regular Direct X plug in you can download the freeware DXi Manager and disable the MIDI capabilities of the plug in have installed my plug in on windows 64 bit checked the items above and it still does not show up in my host application What can I do You are probably running a 32 bit application If that s the case you need to install the 32 bit version
35. of the plug in the choice for 32 or 64 bit is not determined by the operating system 64 bit windows can run both 32 and 64 bit applications but by the host application that you are using Why are there two plug ins called xxxx Mono and xxxx Stereo installed Mono effects which are effects that do not make any difference between left and right channels are bundled this way for performance reasons Some developers just deliver a stereo Version which also processes twice mono streams The Mono plug in is to be used with mono streams and the Stereo one with stereo streams The effect itself is the same in both cases but the number of processed channels is different this may drastically improve performance for CPU intensive plug ins How do uninstall my plug ins Open the Windows configuration panel Add Remove Programs and choose Remove on the corresponding plug in If you have installed the VST plug in zip file version just delete the corresponding dlls Why do your plug ins need an installer on Windows Do they modify the registry or system settings Why not providing just a dll Our plug ins require several additional files for default settings skins and miscellaneous data We provide an installer for our customers convenience Our installers do not modify the system settings or the Windows registry except for the DirectX versions registration Our installers won t harm your system Software Version How d
36. ontrol Mouse Various mouse movements will let you interact with the controls Mouse Interaction Left Click Left Click Alt Key Left Double Click Right Click Mouse Wheel Mouse Drag Keyboard Action Acquire focus and start dragging or push button Set the value to default Acquire focus and launch the fine tuning edit box except button Set the value to default Increment or decrement the position focus required Change the control position depending on mouse movement except button All control widgets support the following keys note that some of them are caught by the host and thus never forwarded to the control For example in Steinberg Cubase SX you cannot use the arrow keys to control the plug in Keys Common to All Controls Key Up Arrow Down Arrow Left Arrow Right Arrow Page Up Page Down SHIFT Keys Specific to Buttons Key Enter Presets Action Small increment of the position up or right Small increment of the position down or left Same as Down Arrow same as Up Arrow Large increment of the position up or right Large decrement of the position down or left Small increment of the value of the control Small decrement of the value of the control Set to default value same as mouse right click Opens the fine tuning window to precisely set the parameter When the key is down the fine tuning mode is on and you can modify the value with bette
37. out increasing the volume Fixes and compatibility improvements e when no plug in is inserted level meters remained frozen when stopping transport e fixing crashes with GRM Tools plug ins that changed their audio O count dynamically Reson for example e fixing sample rate initialization issue with Nebula when using copy paste e The plug in can now be used as a virtual instrument in Cubase and Studio One it used to be silent e Some plug ins that required the deprecated effldle VST message should now work properly Steinberg s Virtual Guitarist for example V1 01 2013 11 22 Fixes and compatibility improvements e Improved compatibility with plug ins that do not support sample rate changes Nebula e Improved compatibility with synths that internally use VST presets banks the entire state was not properly restored with the session Nexus or Korg Legacy series e Fixed output gain compensation issue when using parallel chains the global output gain stage was skipped V1 0 2013 11 12 First release Thanks again for choosing our solutions See you soon on www bluecataudio com BLUE CAT AUDPIO
38. r assignment are then displayed in the menu Clicking on a parameter toggles mapping on or off When a parameter is mapped the name of the external control as displayed in the host application appears next to it inside parentheses Parameters Mapping works the following way 40 parameters are available for mapping in Blue Cat s PatchWork They are named Control 01 to Control 40 When a sub plug in parameter is selected for mapping the first control available within Blue Cat s PatchWork is used Once mapped the sub plug in parameter and this control are linked together so that any change to either of them is reported to the other This enables the sub plug in to expose its parameters to the outside of the PatchWork plug in You can for example use these external controls for automation MIDI control control surface assignment etc If assigned controls are shown in Blue Cat s PatchWork Show Assigned Controls button new knobs will appear when new parameters are mapped until the maximum number of 40 controls is reached You can use these knobs to control the parameters or check their names the name of the mapped parameter is displayed when the mouse is over the knob MIDI Routing Blue Cat s PatchWork lets you build your own MIDI connections between inserted plug ins and the host application Each slot can be connected to multiple ports to receive and send MIDI events None All Inputs Host None vw All Channels Channel 1
39. r precision when moving the mouse the mouse wheel or using the keyboard Just release the key to get back to the normal mode Action Pushes the button To get started with the plug in and discover its capabilities a couple of factory presets are provided You can also save your own presets and recall them later for other projects Our plug ins propose a full featured preset manager to let you save browse organize and recall its presets The Presets Menu The presets menu can be opened from the main menu or the main toolbar It displays the list of presets available for the plug in as well as commands to load save or organize presets Factory Presets Folder A Folder B User Preset X User Preset Y User Preset Z Load Save As Copy Paste Save As Default Reset Default e Factory Presets shows the list of factory presets delivered with the plug in e Folder A to User Preset Z user presets and categories e Load load preset from file e Save As save current preset to a file e Copy copy preset to the system clipboard e Paste paste preset from the system clipboard if available e Save As Default save the current state as the default preset This preset is used every time a new instance of the plug in is created e Reset Default reset the default preset to its factory state this makes the plug in forgets the custom settings you might have saved as a default preset More about Presets T
40. ro or Remote Control When the mouse is over a plug in slot the following buttons appear Clicking on the power button on the left will bypass unbypass the plug in in the slot The button on the right can be used to show hide the plug in s editor Mapping Parameters The Params Map item in the plug in menu lets you map sub plug in parameters so that they can be automated or controlled with an external control surface It also lets you view existing mapping for this plug in if any Hide Editor Bypass Presets Copy Center Editor Load VST Paste No Plug in Params Map Track Undo Map All Pararns Learn Mode OF Reset All Assignments Bypass Gain Control 01 ry Feedfwd Feedback Control 02 e Map All Params assign all parameters of this plug in to remaining controls in the same order as exposed by the plug in The maximum number of parameters that can be mapped is 40 e Learn Mode on off when learn mode is on touching a control in your plug in s user interface will automatically add it to the parameters map if the plug in supports it Once you are done with parameters assignment you may want to disable learn mode to avoid mapping unwanted parameters e Reset All Assignments removes all assigned parameters from the params map for this plug in This frees all controls used by previously assigned parameters for this plug in only e All parameters available fo
41. s e Response response curve of the MIDI or automation control from very fast to slow control e Min minimal value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated e Max Maximum value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated Note if the Min value is higher than the Max value the response curve will be reversed increasing the control value will decrease the parameter value Note if you double click on the parameter text control boxes for the max and min values a fine tuning edit box will appear and let you change the min and max values with more precision More Check our online tutorial for more screenshots and more examples of our plug ins user interfaces Blue Cat s PatchWork Parameters All parameters described below can be automated and controlled via MIDI if your host application supports it You can precisely define this behavior in the settings panels described later in this manual Level Meters Summing For each parallel effect chain index i Input The input parameters of this plug in are the following Name Unit Description Comment General Bypass Bypass the effect Columns Number of columns for the rack Rows Number of rows for the rack Mix Amount of wet signal compared to dry input signal 0 is fully dry or unprocessed 100 is processed signal only In Gain dB Input Gain Out Gain dB Output Gain Enable or disable level meters Summing mode for parallel chains Power Act
42. ssing the plug in can now be used as a mono to stereo plug in and process mono tracks with stereo effects in hosts that support it Improvements e Improved performance of undo tracking when loading presets for plug ins with many parameters e The Parameters Map menu item is now checked when a parameter is mapped e Improved performance when changing the size of the plug in user interface Fixes and compatibility improvements e Fixed keyboard stealing issue in many host applications when sub plug ins editors are opened except 32 bit applications on Mac e Fixed compatibility issue with Pro Tools 9 on Mac random crashes e Fixing crashes with some plug ins requesting information while being opened V1 1 2013 12 18 New Features e New parameters mapping feature for sub plug ins automation includes a learn mode for easy mapping Up to 40 parameters can be mapped to external controls Our plug in s advanced automation and MIDI control features can also be used to map controllers to sub plug ins parameters e New layout to display mapped automation controls in the main user interface e Added phase flip buttons for each parallel chain so that you can easily compute differences between signals or correct phase problems introduced by some plug ins e Link all pre and post gain knobs so that pre gain changes are automatically compensated by the post gain knobs This can be used to easily push dynamics or distortion plug ins with
43. ther parallel signals Note The main toolbar menus and basic features available with all our plug ins are detailed in the Blue Cat Audio Plug ins Overview The generic controls that can be found in all our plug ins are not described in this chapter More details for these are available in the next section 1 2 a a i E Blue Cat s PatchWork amp 4 columns 6 7 8 A Mix 100 4 rows 10 12 7 9 li PRE ARAJ L CHAINS Average T 11 12 1 12 2 12 12 4 12 5 BC Liny EQ BC Dynamics No Plug in i Show hide the level meters Show hide the assignable controls for sub plug ins automation Select the appropriate size for the plug ins slots small medium large Link pre and post gains global and for each chain so that pre gain changes are compensated by the post gain to drive level dependent plug ins without increasing the volume 5 Display the preferences pane 6 Select the number of rows and columns for the plug ins matrix With 2 columns or less parallel processing slots are disabled With one row no parallel processing is available either 7 Parameter display shows the name and value of the parameter that is currently being modified 8 Mix knob select the amount of wet vs dry signal mix the original input signal with the processed signal 9 Input peak level meter 10 Input gain knob pre meter 11 PRE plug ins slots processed in
44. ynths and post effects Custom Parameters Mapping It can be interesting to combine Blue Cat s PatchWork s parameters mapping feature with its advanced automation and MIDI control capabilities in order to wrap an existing plug in that does not provide the same flexibility For example if you have a plug in that does not support MIDI control you can just map its parameters within the PatchWork plug in and then use the mapped parameters for MIDI control All mapped parameters have the same conirol options as all Blue Cat Audio plug ins parameters you can choose the response curve modify the range or choose MIDI control messages MIDI learn is also available And it is now possible to apply these capabilities to all other existing plug ins MIDI Learn MIDI Unlearn Enable Automation Settings MIDI Routing You can easily create your own synth using multiple plug ins connected via internal MIDI ports for example why wouldn t you trigger several MIDI arpegiators with a single keyboard each one controlling different synths And all within a single plug in Blue Cat s PatchWork It is also possible to use these MIDI routing capabilities together with our plug ins that can generate MIDI CC in order to create side chain effects quickly all within Blue Cat s Patchwork for example detect the envelope of the incoming sound in a parallel chain and control the cutoff of a filter on a synth from another chain What may be tric
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