Darwin Arts Trilobite 1.3 ReadMe

Copyright Darwin Arts, L.L.C. 2016 All rights reserved

This file is an introductory overview of Darwin Arts Trilobite, an intuitive software toolkit for creating new sound timbres and controllable audio synthesis patches. It contains important information about the programs and resources distributed with the Trilobite installer, and includes links to the software license and documentation. Please read carefully before installing or using.

Both the Professional and Free Trilobite editions for all supported platforms are discussed.

Contents:

Features
What is packaged with Trilobite?
Getting Started
Is Trilobite really free?
System Requirements
Plugin Versions
Media Compatibility
Deprecations
Documentation
Support
Disclaimer
Contact
Features Comparison Table

This version of Trilobite Pro brings new features and performance improvements!

The primary new feature is the ability to assign names and descriptive text to patch parameters, thereby making patches more intuitive to use. In addition, we've added an A/B Gate module to the Pro Version and a Signal Smoother module to the Free Version.

To prevent long performance lags when editing patches, we've optimized patch redraw when popup menus are shown or patch edits occur, so the user experience should be much-improved.

See the installer release notes for a more detailed description of what has changed from earlier versions and what known bugs still exist in the software.

Trilobite is available both as an extended professional edition and a free version, so feature upgrades will vary depending on which you acquire. Refer to the Features Comparison Table to see an overview of differences between the two.

Like the audio synthesis patches it creates, Trilobite will continue to evolve and adapt to its environment...in this case that environment being the needs, interests, and inspirations of its creators and user community. To stay informed about Trilobite upgrades, new Darwin Arts product releases, or general Darwin Arts news, please subscribe to the Darwin Arts announcements mailing list by becoming a registered user on our web site.

What is packaged with Trilobite?

The manifest of the Trilobite Professional and Free installations include:

In addition, the Professional version installers include:

Getting Started

Launch the stand-alone version of Trilobite before launching any of the plugin versions. This will insure that the patch banks included with your installer are loaded automatically. Product registration with Darwin Arts is necessary for Pro Version users. Click here for instructions.

To hear your first sound, select a single patch from the table in the lower left hand corner of the main window, and then drag that patch into the renderer panel on the right. Click the renderer panel play button.

For more detailed instructions on getting started with Trilobite, check out the tutorials on the Darwin Arts YouTube Channel. Although these tutorials were developed for Trilobite 0.9.3, all of their lessons are still applicable to the current release version.

Is Trilobite really free?

The Trilobite Free version is provided free of charge for use by anyone, but redistribution may not include re-branding. Free version registration is optional. Trilobite may be used for any purpose, including personal, commercial, governmental, and educational use. For further details see the license text downloaded with this software. If you find this software useful and wish to support our development efforts, please consider purchasing the Pro version and participating in the on-line forums at the Darwin Arts web site. We want to hear your sounds!

System Requirements

You will need the following in order to successfully install and run Trilobite:

Please be aware that administrator rights may be required for installation. It is recommended that you close all other applications before starting the installation.

Plugin Versions

Although it was originally conceived and developed as a stand-alone desktop application, Trilobite is also released as a set of fully-featured audio plugins which can be used in most Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). Trilobite will work either as a software instrument or as an audio effect, but since most plugin architectures differentiate between the two, we release both effect and instrument plugin versions. The following table indicates the different plugin flavors, and refers to VST and Audio Unit versions interchangeably:

TrilobiteFree_plugin
TrilobitePro_Plugin32
TrilobitePro_Plugin64

These are the effect versions of Trilobite, which allow

  • Routing audio into the plugin for effects processing

  • Effect parameter mapping for patch control

iTrilobiteFree_plugin
iTrilobitePro_Plugin32
iTrilobitePro_Plugin64

These are the instrument versions of Trilobite, which allow

  • Playing the plugin as a note-triggered keyboard instrument



The procedure for making Trilobite plugin versions visible to your DAW plugin host host software may be application specific; you should read your host software documentation to determine this. In general you can take the following manual steps to begin using the included plugin(s) right away:

For Audio Units plugins on OSX, copy the contents of the installer AudioUnits plugin folder to the shared plugins folder /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components on your hard drive. See the Apple support page for more details and other options. System administrator privileges will be required.

For VST plugins on OSX, copy or move the contents of the installer VST plugin volder to the shared plugins folder /Library/Audio/Plugin-Ins/VST. System administrator privileges will be required.

For VST plugins on Microsoft Windows systems, there are just about as many different options for installing plugins as there are VST hosts which can load them. In most cases, you will need to copy the plugin files from the Trilobite installation directory to a VST plugins folder specific to the host software manufacturer. Please consult the VST Host user documentation to determine the best option.

Note that 64-bit versions of the Trilobite plugins will only be recognized by 64-bit plugin hosts.

Trilobite plugins have been successfully tested with with a number of VST and Audio Unit plugin hosts including Ableton Live 9, Reaper v. 4.78, Logic Pro X, Tracktion, and Garage Band. We believe it will be compatible with most plugin host programs out there, but strongly suggest that you download and try the Free Version first to be certain. Any software host which loads the free version plugins will also support the pro versions.

Media Compatibility

At this time Trilobite supports no known 3rd party audio synthesis media formats, and there is no implied guarantee that such support will be provided in the future. Any 3rd party compatibility found to exist is purely coincidental and is not supported by Darwin Arts in any way.

Trilobite 1.3 will load bank and patch files from versions as early as Trilobite 0.9.3, but not population files from that version.

Trilobite 1.3 will load presets from versions as early as Trilobite 1.0, but midi and parameter mappings will be not be loaded. These must be manually restored.

Ability to load Trilobite 1.3 version media files is not guaranteed for earlier versions.

Trilobite Pro 1.3 will load all files generated from Trilobite Free 1.3, but not the inverse.

Image-embedded bank files from Trilobite 0.9.3 are no longer supported.

Darwin Arts will endeavor to maintain media compatibility in future releases of Trilobite and any derivative product, but reserves the right to make improvements which may disable such backwards compatibility. Any future loss of compatibility known to Darwin Arts will be documented in future release notes or readme files.

Deprecations

Some current features of Trilobite will probably be removed in future versions. Where known, these will be documented in the User Guide.

Note that this is the last release of Trilobite which will support 32-bit OSX platforms, or OSX versions earlier than 10.8.

Documentation

Trilobite has an on-line user guide which will cover most questions. The Trilobite application and plugins have multiple context-aware help buttons which link directly to appropriate sections of this user guide for rapid shortcut help browsing.

Support

Other than the online User Guide, Darwin Arts provides no official support for Trilobite. If you have questions not covered in the user guide, please feel free to post on the appropriate at our web site, and the user community (or our harried engineer) will provide assistance if and as soon as possible. Preference will be given to Pro Version users who provide their web site user name as part of the Pro product registration.

Disclaimer

Use of Trilobite is done at your own risk. To minimize the risk of personal injury when using this software, DO NOT WEAR HEADPHONES when designing or evolving new patches. The often unpredictable nature of Darwinian Evolution may produce painfully loud and sometimes gratingly harsh sounds, even with conservative audio compressor settings.

Darwin Arts makes no claims regarding the suitability of Trilobite to meet your particular needs, but then we've probably never dreamed of what you're trying to do. For more details regarding your rights and limitations when using this software, please consult the license agreement consented to when this software was installed.

Contact

For more information about Darwin Arts, L.L.C., our software products, and our rationale for nurturing oblique creative processes, visit our web site. A link to a contact form is provided.

Darwin Arts L.L.C.
http://www.darwinarts.com

Features Comparison Table


Feature

Trilobite Free 1.3
MS Windows

Trilobite Free 1.3
OSX

Trilobte Professional 1.3
MS Windows

Trilobite Professional 1.3
OSX

Visual Patch Editor

X

X

X

X

Patch Evolution Engine

X

X

X

X

Pinch to zoom patch Feature

-

X

-

X

Bank Manager

X

X

X

X

Midi Mapping

X

X

X

X

Preset Manager

X

X

X

X

Music Keyboard

-

-

X

X

Integrated Help Buttons

X

X

X

X

Custom Color Schemes

X

X

X

X

32-bit Audio Unit Plugin

(both instrument and effect)

X

X

X

X

64-bit Audio Unit Plugin Version

(both instrument and effect)

-

-

-

X

Trilobite 0.9.3 patch & bank compatible

X

X

X

X

Trilobite Free 1.2 patch & bank compatible

X

X

X

X

Trilobite Pro 1.2 patch & bank compatible

-

-

X

X

32-bit VST Plugin Version

X

X

X

X

64-bit VST Plugin Version

-

-

X

X

Bank-Manager Bank and Patch Image columns

-

-

X

X

Requires Registration

-

-

X

X

Noise Module

X

X

X

X

Oscillator Module

X

X

X

X

Pulse Width Modulator Module

-

-

X

X

Biquad Filter Module

X

X

X

X

Signal Summation Module

X

X

X

X

Signal Product Module

X

X

X

X

Sampler Module

X

X

X

X

Input Module (for effects)

X

X

X

X

Delay Module

X

X

X

X

Tweaker Module
(advanced effects)

-

-

X

X

Interval and Value Sequence Modules

-

-

X

X

Signal Shaper Module

X

X

X

X

Pitch Tracker Module

X

X

X

X

Exponential Envelope Module

X

X

X

X

Sample Hold Module

-

-

X

X

Midi Keys Input Module

X

X

X

X

Router Module

-

-

X

X

Sound Color Module

-

-

X

X

A/B Gate Module

-

-

X

X

Signal Smoother Module

X

X

X

X

ADSR Module

X

X

X

X

Envelope Follower

X

X

X

X

PCM Waveform Animation

X

X

X

X

Phase-lock Waveform Animation

-

-

X

X

Spectrum Signal Animation

-

-

X

X

Spetrogram Signal Animation

-

-

X

X

3d Spectrogram Signal Animation

-

-

X

X

Strange Attractor Signal Animation

-

-

X

X