[LAU] [ANN] Qtractor 0.5.5 - The Foxtrot Uniform swings out!

Here it goes.

Mostly a LV2 1.0.0 compliance release with some fixes from the stash
and fewer candies from the jar. On the darker/brighter side (your
choice) there's news on the LV2 atom(ic) fall-out now being officially
over. A new dawn has commenced, quite as every day follows every night
may I add.

Dang!

I'd better stop right here and save you all from that boring
trivialities. Let's go with the plain, interesting facts:

  Qtractor 0.5.5 (foxtrot uniform) swings out!

Release highlights:

* LV2 Atom/MIDI support (NEW)
* LV2 Worker/Schedule support (NEW)
* LV2 Presets support (NEW)
* LV2 Time/position support (NEW)
* LV2 Programs/instrument support (NEW)
* MIDI plugin event timing on tempo changes (FIX)
* Loop-recording/takes audio sync (FIX)
* Quick start guide and user manual (NEW)
* Russian and Italian translations (NEW)

Website:

  http://qtractor.sourceforge.net

Project page:

  http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtractor

Downloads:

- source tarball:
  http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtractor/qtractor-0.5.5.tar.gz

- source package (openSUSE 12.1):

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtractor/qtractor-0.5.5-4.rncbc.suse121.src.rpm

- binary packages (openSUSE 12.1):

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtractor/qtractor-0.5.5-4.rncbc.suse121.i586.rpm

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtractor/qtractor-0.5.5-4.rncbc.suse121.x86_64.rpm

- brand new (quick start guide &) user manual:
  http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtractor/qtractor-0.5.x-user-manual.pdf

Weblog (upstream support):

  http://www.rncbc.org

License:

  Qtractor is free, open-source software, distributed under the terms
of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later.

Change-log:

- Auto-monitored MIDI tracks were missing their pass-through to their
respective MIDI output bus plugin chains, now fixed and letting any
multi-timbral instrument plugin to get a peek from auto-monitoring.
- New user option/preference to whether to open a plugin's editor
(GUI) by default, when available (cf. View/Options.../Plugins/Editor).
- Clicking and/or dragging for rubber-band selection on main
track-view canvas doesn't change the edit-head and -tail positions
anymore.
- Backward and Forward transport commands now have an additional stop
at first clip start point.
- LV2 Atom/MIDI buffering support is finally entering the scene; LV2
Worker/Schedule support is also included in a bold attempt to convey
non-MIDI event transfers between plugin and its UI.
- MIDI Clip editor (aka. piano-roll) and MIDI Tools fix: avoid note-on
events of zero velocity, which conventionally equates to a dangling
note-off event and dropped into oblivion sooner or later. There's no
more need for Shift/Ctrl keyboard modifier to change in one single
step all the MIDI events that are currently selected (now consistent
with drag-move).
- LV2 Presets support now entering effective operational status; a new
local option has been added (cf. View/Options.../Plugins/Paths/LV2
Presets directory; default is ~/.lv2).
- Dropped XInitThreads() head call as it was never useful but on those
early days of JUCE VST plugins.
- Italian (it) translation added (by Massimo Callegari, thanks).
- Clip fade-in/out dragging now follows snap-to-beat setting.
- Late modern eye-candy indulgence: alternate shaded stripes, on every
other bar as in a "zebra" background option for the main tracks and
MIDI clip editor views (cf. View/Snap/Zebra).
- LV2 Time/position information is now being supported through special
designated plugin input ports (after suggestion by Filipe Coelho aka.
falktx). Additionally, the time/position information report has been
corrected and complemented for VST plugins.
- Audio vs. MIDI time drift correction has been slightly improved
against rogue tempo changes across looping cycles.
- Honor tempo/timing on MIDI instrument plugins. Happy regression fix
on getting MIDI note-offs at looping ends back in business; all the
necessary bumming for MIDI plugins to play nice in face of tempo
changes and whenever playback is started from anywhere but the
beginning of the time-line (ie. frame zero); thanks to rvega aka.
Rafael Vega, for the heads-up).
- Audio clip wave-forms were being displayed in inverted phase (ie.
upside-down) all this time ever since day one. What a shame!
- LV2 Programs interface is getting initial experimental status, to
let LV2 instrument plugins get on par with the DSSI and VST crowd for
MIDI bank/program instrument inventory and selection support (a
sidetrack complot with Filipe Coelho aka. falktx, thanks:).
- Dropped the old but entirely useless LV2 URI-unmap feature, now
being superseded by official LV2 URID (un)mapper.
- Russian (ru) translation added (by Alexandre Prokoudine, thanks).
- SLV2 deprecation process started, effective now at configure time.
- Added include <unistd.h> to shut up gcc 4.7 build failures (patch by
Alessio Treglia, closing bug #3514794).
- Another approach avoiding recursive observer widget updates. Also
applies to mixer, monitor and track state buttons.
- Update to latest LV2 state extension (by David Robillard, thanks).
- Loop-recording/take number displayed on clip title, respectively.
- Make(ing) -jN parallel builds now available for the masses.
- A one buffer period slack on audio engine's loop turn-around logic
might just have fixed an illusive report on loop-recording/takes going
progressively out-of-sync, most notably when recording under large
audio buffer period sizes (>= 1024 frames/buffer).
- Editing MIDI while playback is rolling, doesn't mute the track any
more, adding a point to the live editing experience.
- Finer granularity for direct access parameter mouse wheel changes.
- Dropped a dumb optimization for short full-cached multiple
linked/ref-counted audio clips which were incidentally out-of-sync
after rewind/backward playback. Once again and uncertain to be the
last take on this, got fixed (probably related to some oddity reported
by Louigi Verona, thanks).

Enjoy!

-- 
rncbc aka. Rui Nuno Capela
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