A few questions regarding Flowstone

[TEKing66]

Hi to All,

First up, I haven't yet purchased Flowstone, but I am trying the demo at the moment.
Though my work schedule may not allow me to test it as much as I would like to in the next seven days.
Hence my asking these questions here.

Also, I have had a fair bit of experience with visual programming of this nature, so do understand what it is all about.

Some questions that have come to mind are below, and I'm hoping to get some good honest answers.

1. How stable are the VST/i files exported? (I know you get out what you put it, but when done right then how is stability?)

2. Are there any known issues with any or all DAW's regarding VST'i's exported from Flowstone?

3. By adding the DSP Pack, does that give me the ability to create my own crazy filters and other audio scrambling modules or components that could then be added into a synth? (i.e. does that give me the ability to expand me audio tools palette?)

4. How easy is adding my own custom graphics to your project? (i.e. is it as simple as inserting a module to link and place the image?)

5. Is there a 64-bit version available? if not, is a 64-bit version foreseeable in the future?

OK, I think that covers most for now, maybe more later.

Thanks in advance for your answers, opinions, help and guidance.

[Perfect Human Interface]

3. By adding the DSP Pack, does that give me the ability to create my own crazy filters and other audio scrambling modules or components that could then be added into a synth? (i.e. does that give me the ability to expand me audio tools palette?)

Yes, absolutely. You can make synths or audio effect plugins and export in VST format. There are still certain limitations but if you have the knowhow you can in theory do almost anything you can imagine.

4. How easy is adding my own custom graphics to your project? (i.e. is it as simple as inserting a module to link and place the image?)

"Easy" in the sense that you can achieve everything that you need to; not necessarily "easy" in the sense that there aren't easy custom graphics editing tools and stuff that takes the work out of it. For instance if you want to draw a line, you have to drop in a draw line module, wire it to the view you want to draw into, then wire in the parameters such as start and end point and then pen type, which is itself another module... (Or alternatively you can type the draw code in Ruby language.) You can load bitmaps very easily though if you have your own graphics. And for knobs and stuff you can replace the graphics of existing ones with your own custom animation strips.

5. Is there a 64-bit version available? if not, is a 64-bit version foreseeable in the future?

No and we don't know, unfortunately.

As to your questions of stability I won't try to answer because I've only had experience working with Flowstone within FL Studio. There are certainly plenty of things that can go wrong within the schematic itself, I can tell you that.

[djbrynte]

check your pm.

[TEKing66]

OK, all good info.
Now, I come to one more question.

I was reading somewhere here on the forum that version 3 is suppose to support VST 2.4.
Does it indeed support VST version 2.4 at this time?

That is a big one for me as I use Studio One and is doesn't support the older VST versions, only 2.4 forward.

[Jay]

Yes Flowstone moved to VST2.4 some time ago

[TEKing66]

Cool beans then.

So, as it stands it sounds like the lack of 64-bit is really the only concern that I have at the moment.
Now it seems that what I need to do is dig really deep into the demo and then make a decision.

Thanks to everyone for responding.

[TEKing66]

Hi again to all,

Well, after digging deeper, considering everything that I have read here on the forum and trying to contact the developer for a little more info, I have made my decision.

I will not be purchasing a license for this software!

My main reason is that I see it reiterated through out the forum that the developer is not at all pro-active with it's community. I find this to be in bad taste and very disrespectful to those that keep it's doors open. I completely understand keeping trade secrets, that is to be expected, but to basically make a potential customer feel unwanted is something else entirely. If they are unwilling to have even one correspondence with me before my purchase, then I know it will probably never happen after the sale. Yes, I have dealt with companies like this in the past and after those experiences I just can't feed a machine like that anymore.

So, instead of learning Ruby and spending my money on this software. I think I am just going to learn C++ and learn to program my own modules for SynthEdit, it's near a 1/4 of the price anyway. And it is getting closer everyday to a fully fleshed out 64-bit version with Mac AU/VST support to boot. Plus, the one person behind it's development IS very active with the community and that does mean a lot to me. And learning what is probably one of the most widely used programming languages will surely be more useful than learning Ruby. Yea, probably will be a longer road, but better rewards in the end I feel.

Maybe in the future if the company sees the error of it's ways and does become a little more proactive with it's community and adds at least 64-bit support. Well, maybe then I might reconsider. But I won't be holding my breath for that, as I get the feeling they would rather close their doors than talk to their customers.

Just so everyone knows, I not angry, but I am very disappointed in the lack of any response at all to my email, or even the developer responding to my questions here on the forum.

So, once again I'd like to thank everyone for there time.
Best Regards to All,
Tim

[Perfect Human Interface]

Good luck Tim. Learning C++ is surely going to be worth your time if you can stick with it.

I'm not sure why Malc turned all reclusive, but yeah, that's what we live with.