November 3, 2001 Welcome to version 1.05 of the PalancarWare Scalar VST plug-in. Installation and usage notes are below. History v1.05 - 03Nov2001 - vastly improved optimization. Simplified the compression algorithm without changing significantly the compression character. Improved a slight DC offset that was introduced. Parameters are now smoothed. v1.04 - 26Oct2000 - now VST 1.0 compatible; also supports being used as a send effect, although it has no practical use in this mode. v1.03 - 17Oct2000 - fixed a specific problem Cubase had with VST the plugins initial program name not being 'default'. v1.02 - 17Oct2000 - corrected problems with plugins not being recognized by many VST hosts, including Cubase VST24 and n-Track Studio v2.2. v1.01 - 14Oct2000 - fixed a big bug where you could lock up your VST host by dialing the ceiling all the way down to neg. infinity. Also improved the compression algorithm to make it somewhat more difficult to cause distortion. If you overdrive the compressor enough, though, it'll distort and there's now way around that. v1.00 - 13Oct2000 - first release. The Palancar CD-Ware License This product is copyright (c) 2000-2001 by Darrell Burgan, with all rights reserved world-wide. This product is not public domain. I developed all content in this product, with any exceptions noted below, and am the sole owner of the copyright. I'm granting you, however, an almost-free license to use it on as many devices as needed, for any legal purpose, subject to these terms: This product is licensed as-is, without warranty of any kind. I disclaim all legal liability. If you use it, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for ensuring it works to your satisfaction. Why do I not warrant it? I'm just an individual struggling musician like everybody else, and I simply don't have the resources to provide an adequate warranty. My warranty wouldn't be of much use to you anyway. This license is granted as "CD-ware". What this means is that you have 30 days to use this product and evaluate whether it works to your satisfaction, and whether you like it and intend to use it. If you decide to continue to use it beyond 30 days, or if you use it in a project from which you will derive profit before 30 days have elapsed, I ask you to please go to my music web site (see below) and purchase one (or more) of my CDs as compensation. The CDs are very low priced, and can be purchased from anywhere in the world. How do I know whether you've done this or not? I don't. This is on the honor system, folks. If you like the results of my hard work, I don't think a measly CD is too much to ask. If you use multiple products, then purchasing multiple CDs is suggested. Use your best judgment as to how many you ought to purchase. But I do request you purchase at least one. If you honestly cannot afford to purchase a CD but still want to use this product, then please contact me and we'll figure something out. The license does not imply nor suggest ownership of this product. I'm licensing the product's use, not selling ownership of the product. The license is subject to alteration or revocation at any time, at my discretion, with 30 days notice given here. I can foresee no reasonable scenario where this could occur, but I want to make clear who owns the intellectual property. Note also that you are licensed only to use this product for the purpose it is designed, not to distribute it in any way, alter it in any way, or use it in any other way. If you want to distribute it, you need to link to "http://www.palancar.net/palancarware" in its entirety, and should not distribute the files nor point directly to them from any web site. If you disagree with any of the terms of this license, then you should not use this product. If you use the product, you have implicitly agreed to these licensing terms. If you are the least bit uncertain about these terms or would like to explore alternatives, please contact me and we'll figure something out. Other folks' copyrights: Portions copyright (c) Steinberg GMBh Palancar music CDs can be purchased at: http://www.ampcast.com/palancar Whew! Sorry for all the lawyer stuff, but you know how it is in these days of Napster and Gnutella. I hope you enjoy this product, and I hope you understand that I've put far more time into it than I would ever hope to receive back financially under this license. In other words, I'm not doing this for the money, folks... Installation Simply copy the DLL file to the VST plugins directory of your VST host program, then restart that host program. I've not included an installer because this installation is so simple, to minimize download time. The Plugin What is 'Scalar''? Simply put, it's an unusual compressor that finally makes dynamics processing approachable by mere mortals. I call this compression algorithm "scalar compression". Like all dynamics processors, it is designed to be used as an insert effect, not a send effect. You can use Scalar as a send effect, but in this mode it will not affect your input signal at all. Traditional compression uses a "damping" effect, by increasingly clamping down on the volume of a signal the more it exceeds a certain threshold. Scalar compression, however, seeks instead to model a signal's waveform within a given amplitude domain. To understand how it works we need a little background. Consider a sample waveform such as this: +max | | * | C | * * | * | * * | * * | * * 0 |*--------------------*---------------------*------ | * * | * * | * * | * * -C | * | -max | As shown, there are two variables at work here. Max is the maximum possible sample value at any point on the signal curve. For 16-bit PCM signals, max=32767; for 24-bit signals it's considerably higher. The other variable is C, which stands for the Ceiling we want to compress the signal to fit under. Looking at the sample signal, it's clear that portions of the signal exceed the value of C, but fortunately do not exceed the value of max. This makes the signal a great candidate for scalar compression. What scalar compression does is "scale" the input signal down to fit within the dynamic range established by C. The result is a signal curve that looks very similar to the input curve, but is smaller so that it fits neatly between +/- C. DSP pros might wonder whether this means there is a loss of audible volume? The answer is no, because under the hood, the scalar compression engine establishes a dynamic threshold, somewhere less than C, below which no compression will occur (see the T variables): +max | | * | C | * * | * T | * * | * * | * * 0 |*--------------------*---------------------*------ | * * | * * -T | * * | * * -C | * | -max | Thus, instead of fitting the entire curve underneath C, the algorithm only fits that portion of the curve between T and C; the curve less than T is unaffected by the algorithm. The result is a remarkably smooth compression effect, with absolutely no hint of pumping or breathing. This is truly an unusual compressor, one that I think you will find to be a useful addition to your toolbox. It can't solve every dynamics problem, but it has a unique character other compressors cannot touch. The plugin has only two controls: Input Gain - this controls the amount of amplification (or gain cut) that occurs on the input signal before any compression is performed. Ceiling - the value of C, expressed in dB. If you set this to 0dB, it is the same as setting it to max. Setting it to -3dB means that the signal will be scaled to fit so that no sample values exceed the -3dB mark. And so on. Using the Plugin This plugin should be used anytime you need to take control of your dynamics but cannot get acceptable results from a traditional compressor. It's also a great way for people who don't understand the black art of traditional compression to get some dynamics control without having to get a physics degree. A couple of tips on using the plugin: The one drawback to the scalar compression model is that if the signal has to be scaled too much it will begin to distort. This is because the subtle differences between before/after values for each sample are all of a sudden not so subtle anymore. ...
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