Blockhead v0.43.0 alpha
Added 2024-12-22 14:21:13 +0000 UTCEDIT: macOS users please download this build instead: https://www.patreon.com/posts/blockhead-v0-43-118528127
Update Notes
Information for macOS users
The required minimum macOS version is now 13.3, sorry! Please blame Apple for making backwards compatibility so difficult.
I have no idea right now how to associate plugin editor windows with the main Blockhead window, so because they belong to a separate process, they will now appear in the dock under a process named 'scuff-sbox', which makes things a bit awkward for now. I'm sure there is some solution to this but I am not a macOS developer and frankly working on macOS makes me quite miserable so I have no plan to investigate the issue right now. The good news is the sandboxing system is entirely open source so maybe some kindly macOS developer will come along and fix it for me: https://github.com/colugomusic/scuff
Information for Linux users
I have a handful of CLAP plugins that I have tested on Linux and most of them do not work very well, and I don't think the issues are entirely on Blockhead's end, however things should be at least a little better now with the new sandboxing system. When I get a chance I will try to reach out to some Linux CLAP plugin developers to let them know of the problems. The Linux Studio Plugins do seem to be working well with Blockhead now (at least for me) so check them out: https://lsp-plug.in/
Information for Windows users
I love you, have a great day.
New Feature: Third-party plugin sandboxing.
CLAP plugins are now run in a separate process. This should resolve several issues related to OpenGL plugins interfering with Blockhead's rendering, and various windowing issues. This also likely introduces plenty of new issues because plugin sandboxing is such a complicated technical challenge and I had to learn how to do it myself, but it should get better over time.
The sandboxing system is open-source and currently only supports the bare-minimum functionality required to implement Blockhead's existing feature-set (CLAP-only effect plugins organized as a linear effect rack on each track.) I am planning to add VST3 support to this system in the future but that won't be for a while unless someone else jumps in and decides to help me out: https://github.com/colugomusic/scuff
Blockhead's sandboxing model is: "One sandbox process is created per workspace, if there is at least one CLAP effect on it." If a sandbox crashes then you should be able to restart it from the settings dialog. This should re-activate all the plugins in the sandbox and automatically recall the parameter settings.
New Feature: "Quick Find"
Press ENTER to open a search box to search for things.
Press Ctrl+N to select the next item in the search results and Ctrl+P to select the previous. Or you can use the arrow keys.
You can currently search for:
Named blocks
Labelled block instances
Samples currently loaded in the project
Blink plugins (effects, samplers and synths)
CLAP plugins (but selecting them doesn't currently do anything)
Update: Visual effect when playback scrubbing was changed to be less uncomfortable for photosensitive users (please let me know of anything else like this.)
Bugfix: Crash when redoing the assignment of a sample to a sampler block which previously had no sample assigned.
Bugfix: Crash when redoing the creation of a macro from a dragged selection of blocks.
Bugfix: Possible crash when creating a manipulator from the parameter context menu.
Bugfix: Feedback loops aren't detected properly.
Bugfix: "Error: queue size is beyond reasonable" when triggering many baking operations.
Bugfix: Visual jittering effect on dragging/stamping blocks while zooming in and out.
Bugfix: Clicking a browser button while the browser is fully contracted sometimes doesn't open up the browser.
Bugfix: Workspace map can't be hidden.
Bugfix: CPU load indicator has visual glitches when CPU usage goes above 100%.
Links
Manual (WIP): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y6je_g2oNnxClL1eXV20dcQpoyZEkek5LTxQPyEFT0w
Known Issues: https://trello.com/b/MT1A3Zob/blockhead-issues
Discord: Blockhead (discord.com)
Development Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@colugo5172/videos
Comments
Thanks that is helpful. I understand what the issue is so it will be fixed in the next build
Colugo Music
2024-12-29 15:44:09 +0000 UTCalso getting these errors: "ERROR: Can't open dynamic library: bin/libblockhead.so. Error: libboost_filesystem.so.1.86.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory at: open_dynamic_library (drivers/unix/os_unix.cpp:409) ERROR: No valid library handle, can't get symbol from GDNative object at: get_symbol (modules/gdnative/gdnative.cpp:510) ERROR: No nativescript_init in "res://bin/libblockhead.so" found at: init_library (modules/gdnative/nativescript/nativescript.cpp:1503) ERROR: Script does not inherit from Node: res://autoload/BlockheadAutoload.gdns at: start (main/main.cpp:2019) ERROR: No valid library handle, can't terminate GDNative object at: terminate (modules/gdnative/gdnative.cpp:417) ERROR: Can't open dynamic library: bin/libblockhead.so. Error: libboost_filesystem.so.1.86.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory at: open_dynamic_library (drivers/unix/os_unix.cpp:409) ERROR: No valid library handle, can't get symbol from GDNative object at: get_symbol (modules/gdnative/gdnative.cpp:510) ERROR: No nativescript_init in "res://bin/libblockhead.so" found at: init_library (modules/gdnative/nativescript/nativescript.cpp:1503) ERROR: Script does not inherit from Node: res://autoload/Glue.gdns at: start (main/main.cpp:2019) ERROR: No valid library handle, can't terminate GDNative object at: terminate (modules/gdnative/gdnative.cpp:417) ERROR: Can't open dynamic library: bin/libblockhead.so. Error: libboost_filesystem.so.1.86.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory at: open_dynamic_library (drivers/unix/os_unix.cpp:409) ERROR: No valid library handle, can't get symbol from GDNative object at: get_symbol (modules/gdnative/gdnative.cpp:510) ERROR: No nativescript_init in "res://bin/libblockhead.so" found at: init_library (modules/gdnative/nativescript/nativescript.cpp:1503) "
Marco Neumaier
2024-12-29 15:34:10 +0000 UTCSame here in Ubuntu 24.04 / Wayland. It crashes when clicking the gear wheel.
Marco Neumaier
2024-12-29 15:33:18 +0000 UTCHi Will could you send the crash report to colugomusic@gmail.com ?
Colugo Music
2024-12-22 19:59:00 +0000 UTCI seem to be crashing constantly. BH opens, but if I click gear or any other button, It crashes instantly. Macbook air m1, sequoia 15.2
Will Woodard
2024-12-22 19:37:53 +0000 UTCYes I will add a command line option for it
Colugo Music
2024-12-22 16:34:46 +0000 UTCAny chance you could disable the automatic window maximizing at app load? When I have Nvidia surround on (5760x1080 desktop), Blockhead refuses to run. Dunno if that's the reason but it seems related.
Martin Pukownik
2024-12-22 16:33:38 +0000 UTC