Blue Cat's PatchWork 1.6 Released

[bluecataudio]

Dear Pro Tools Users,

We are very excited to announce the release of Blue Cat's PatchWork 1.6: in addition to several fixes and improvements (see below), our "universal plug-ins patch bay" is now also available as a standalone application for Mac and PC, in addition to the AAX version (and other major audio plug-in formats that were already supported).



The standalone version is indeed not an AAX plug-in, but still relevant here, as it lets you use your AVID hardware as an I/O box without having to launch Pro Tools, if you just need to play soft synths or effects thru it. It is also compatible with the presets used for the AAX version, so you can setup your effect chains quickly in this mini DAW before loading them into Pro Tools.

The update is free for existing customers and is available for download from the same page as the initial purchase (link received by email). Demo versions of the application or plug-in (VST, RTAS, AAX, Audio Unit and DirectX formats) can also be downloaded on http://www.bluecataudio.com, for both Mac and PC (32 and 64-bit).

New Features:
- Now available as a standalone host application.
Fixes and compatibility improvements:
- Improved presets and session load/save performance (up to 4 times faster in some situations).
- Fixed issue with Izotope Audio Units that were configured as mono effects on stereo tracks.
- Fixed crashes during auto save with Kontakt 5 in Pro Tools 11 (and maybe other plug-ins).

Pricing:
Blue Cat's PatchWork: 59 EUR or $79 (VAT excluded).

If you are interested in the app version, more details can also be found on our blog: Blue Cat's PatchWork Standalone Host Application Summary.

The new Blue Cat's PatchWork application is a fast and lightweight host that can quickly load audio effect plug-ins and virtual instruments for immediate usage. It supports up to 8 audio I/O, tempo synchronization, Audio Unit and VST plug-ins hosting (up to 64 plug-ins), copy/paste between multiple applications. Presets created with the standalone application or the plug-in are compatible and can be shared between all plug-in formats to quickly reload effect chains. The application and the plug-ins inserted into it can also be controlled via MIDI.

[guitardom]

You never fail to impress!!

[Righty27]

Good opportunity to combine the new functionality with a special deal to help it stick out of the crowd in the coming days! :)

[WorldStudios]

Just give them what they are asking! It is very cheap and yet keeps developing all the time.

[Righty27]

Haha ... just conscious of all the demands on people's money over the coming days! It will be hard for anyone selling at full price as buyers focus their $ on time-limited offers, accepting they can pick up other stuff later.

This year, Slate, IK T-Racks and SSL have done their best to get into our wallets early too!

I don't have Patchwork - I've seen it on offer before but passed as I stuck it out waiting for AAX versions ... now just VCC (apparently in the coming weeks but in a VMR rack). My only use would be for Korg Legacy Collection which also works standalone ... but would maybe consider it as an alternative to e.g. Soundflower?!

[WorldStudios]

Don't forget the insane possibilities of making up huge serial and/or parallel chains for instant recall. You are also getting the possibility for a mix knob for any of your plugins and the dark horse: you get audio suite for any and all plugins, including those huge chains...

all of the above is of course only true if they exist as either vst or au, which is true of 99% of the plugins, perhaps

[bluecataudio]

We indeed believe that the price of this piece of software is fair given its added value, so there won't be end of year discounts on it. Believe it or not, it is still selling, despite the constant discounts available all over the place (it's not only Black Friday...).

[WorldStudios]

Dear Cat,

I tried the 1.6 standalone version just now and I could not get it to open my Integra editor V2 AU, so I was thinking you did not get to fix that this time, but then I tried the flux bittersweet and stereo tool AU s as well they all throw the same error saying they are not 64 bit, but they are.. The Integra editor v2 AU opens in Maschine 2.2

[bluecataudio]

Thanks for the heads up.

We have indeed tested both plug-ins and the reason for the failure is that they have not provided the resource files that are necessary for backward compatibility and loading an Audio Unit from its file. It is a simple change on their side, and I think I have seen a couple of people complaining on forums that these plug-ins won't load on older systems.

This might be solved on our side in the future too, when we implement plug-ins scanning and let you load them from a menu, but that's a bigger job.

[WorldStudios]

Aha. Ok. Well, thanks for the info and I will bug Roland about this instead. :)