Ganymede Visualizer Plugin User Manual

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Overview

  • This guide is current with the latest version (Version 1.0.0) of the Ganymede Visualizer Plugin. It's the comprehensive resource detailing the installation, usage, and operation of the plugin.
  • Additional Resources:
    • Product Page

System Requirements

  • The Ganymede Visualizer Plugin is compatible with MacOS and Windows Operating Systems that meet the following requirements
  • MacOS System Requirements
    • MacOS Version 10.3 or Newer
    • Intel or Apple Silicon CPU
    • A DAW/Host that supports one or more of the following plugin formats:
      • AU
      • VST3
      • CLAP
      • AAX
  • Windows System Requirements
    • Windows 10 or Windows 11
    • x64 Architecture Only. (Windows on ARM is not supported)
    • GPU with OpenGL Version 2.1 or newer
    • A DAW/Host that support one or more of the following plugin formats
      • VST3
      • CLAP
      • AAX

Downloading the Plugin Installer

  • The plugin installer can be downloaded from your Tuneform Account at any time.
  • To access the installer for download:
    • Log in to your Tuneform Account
    • In the site toolbar, click "My Account" and then click "My Media"
    • Locate and click the "My Plugins" button
    • In the "owned" section of the "My Plugins" page, you should see a section titled "Ganymede"
    • Look for the buttons in the "Download/Install" section. Click the installer for your current operating system, and the installer will be downloaded to your machine

Installation

  • Once the plugin installer file is downloaded on your machine, navigate to the location where you saved the installer file on your computer, and double click to run the installer.
  • On Windows, if your operating system blocks the installer executable from running, click "more info," then click "Run Anyway" to proceed with installation. Be sure to verify that the installer was signed by "Tuneform LLC"
  • Proceed through the installation wizard to complete installation
  • Updating from an old version
  • Follow the same instructions in Installation. The new version will overwrite the previous version on your machine.

Installation Locations

  • The Installer will install each plugin type at the following locations on your computer:
  • macOS
    • Ganymede.vst3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
    • Ganymede.clap /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP
    • Ganymede.component: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
    • Ganymede.aaxplugin: /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins
  • Windows
    • Ganymede.vst3: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
    • Ganymede.clap: C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP
    • Ganymede.aaxplugin: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins

Uninstalling

  • To uninstall the plugin, go to the installation location on your machine and delete the relevant plugin files for each format you installed

Activating the Plugin License

  • After installing, close and re-open your daw, or rescan your plugins to make the Ganymede Visualizer Plugin appear in your DAW's plugin bank. Then, with internet enabled, place the plugin on a track and open the plugin's GUI.
  • Once opened, you'll be prompted for your license key. You can get your license key from the "My Plugins" section of your Tuneform Account.
  • To navigate to "My Plugins" in your Tuneform Account
    • Log In
    • In the toolbar, click "My Account" and then click "My Media"
    • Locate the "My Plugins" button
    • You'll see a section titled "Ganymede"
  • You need to use the license key in full. There is a "Copy License Key" button which will automatically copy your license key to your clipboard. You can also click "Show License Key" which will show your license key in plain text so you can highlight and copy it.
  • Then, return to your DAW and paste the license key into the plugin's GUI. Once verification is complete, you are good to go.
  • Back in your Tuneform Account, you should see the machine you just activated appear in the "Current Activations" section

Plugin Windows

  • Each instance of the plugin consists of two windows, the Visualizer GUI & the Configuration Window
  • Opening The Visualizer GUI Window
  • The Visualizer GUI is the main plugin window where the visualizer is rendered. You can open it as you would any other third party plugin in your DAW

Resizing The Visualizer GUI Window

  • The Visualizer GUI can be resized in several ways, depending on the DAW/Host you're using to run the Ganymede Visualizer Plugin.
  • Within most DAWs, drag the edges or corners of the window to resize the window to your desired size.
  • In DAWs that don't allow plugin resizing via the edges/corners of the plugin window, an icon will appear in the bottom right corner that looks like three diagonal lines. These lines disappear when your mouse cursor is not hovering over the window. They can also be configured to not appear entirely via the Configuration Window.
    • To resize the window in one of these DAWs
    • Ensure that the "Show Options On Hover" checkbox is on in the configuration window.
    • Move your mouse cursor over the plugin window to make the resize icon appear
    • Click, hold, and drag the window resize icon to resize the window to your preferred size.

Opening The Configuration Window

  • In order to open the configuration window to adjust the settings and appearance of the visualizer plugin, first open the main Plugin GUI window in your DAW.
  • Once open, you have three options for opening the configuration window
    • Double-click the Visualizer GUI window
    • Press the 'o' key on your keyboard, with the Visualizer GUI window in focus
    • If configured, hover over the plugin window with your cursor and click the "Customize" button (this option can be turned off)
  • Note the Configuration Window cannot be resized, unlike the main Visualizer GUI window

Saving & Loading Presets

  • To Save A Preset:
    • Open the Configuration Window
    • At the top of the Configuration Window, underneath the Tuneform logo, look for the "PRESET" section
    • Click the "Save" button. This will open up a file system window where you can name the preset and save it on your computer to a location of your choosing.
    • The file extension for these preset files is .ganypreset
  • To Load A Saved Preset
    • Open the Configuration Window
    • At the top of the Configuration Window, underneath the Tuneform logo, look for the "PRESET" section
    • Click the "Load" button in this section. A file system window will appear that will allow you to locate valid Ganymede Visualizer preset files on your machine.
    • Select the preset file, and click "Open"
    • The preset will then be loaded into the plugin.
  • Naming Presets
    • Presets can be named when saving the preset files, as detailed in the "To Save a Preset" section. The file name will be displayed in the Preset dropdown after saving a new preset, or loading one from your computer.
    • You can rename a preset by renaming the file in your file system explorer. However, after renaming, it may disappear from the "Recent Presets" section of the Preset dropdown menu.

Configuration Options

  • Opening the Configuration Window gives you full access to the entire array of the plugin's customization options and overall settings.
  • Note that this plugin does not alter the output audio in any way. It only operates on the input audio from it's place in your track's FX chain. The audio passes through this plugin transparently, regardless of any of the configuration values you set.

Preset Section:

  • This section allows you to switch between factory presets, as well as load and save your own custom presets. From left to right, it contains the following buttons.
    • Left Arrow: Clicking this will change the factory preset loaded in the plugin
    • Preset Drop Down Menu: This displays the name of the current preset. Clicking will open a list of all available factory presets, as well as a list of the five most recently used custom presets that have been saved or loaded.
    • Right Arrow: Clicking this will change the the current preset to the next factory preset.
    • Load Button: Allows you to load a custom preset from your file system
    • Save Button: Allows you to save the current plugin configuration as a custom preset to your machine.
  • When adding a fresh instance of the plugin to your DAW for the first time, no preset will be loaded.

Band Visibility Section:

  • This section allows you to configure what bands appear in the visualization.
  • By default, all bands are on.
  • Each band is mapped to the low, mid, and high frequencies of the output audio sourced from the track where the plugin is placed.
  • Turning off the respective toggle will make the visualization for the frequency band completely disappear.
  • Automation: All of these values can be automated through DAWs capable of parameter automation, and are binary on/off values.

Color Bands: Low Band, Mid Band, & High Band

  • The next three sections allow you to adjust the color of each of the bands independently via sliders. The bands combine to create a color in the RGBA color format, and can be further altered via the hue slider.

Band Sliders:

  • Red: Sets the value of the red component of the band's RGBA value from 0-255
  • Green: Sets the value of the green component of the band's RGBA color value from 0-255
  • Blue: Sets the value of the blue component of the band's RGBA color value from 0-255
  • Alpha: Sets the alpha (transparency) component of the bands RGBA color value from 0 (completely transparent) to 255 (completely opaque)
  • Hue: Shift the hue of the current color between -180 and 180 degrees.
  • All of these values can be automated

Band Gains

  • The Band Gains sliders allow you to alter the strength of the signal by boosting or attenuating the signals amplitude. Increasing the values from the default of 0 dB will make the bands larger, while decreasing the values will make the bands appear smaller.
    • Global: Boost/Cut the entire audio signal by the slider value
    • Lows: Boost/Cut only the low frequencies of the audio signal by the slider value
    • Mids: Boost/Cut only the mid frequencies of the audio signal by the slider value
    • Highs: Boost/Cut only the high frequencies of the audio signal by the slider value.
  • All of these values can be automated

Band Strength

  • The Band Strength sliders control the width/weight of the respective bands. Increase the values to 5.0 for maximum thickness. For maximum thinness, keep the values at 0.0.
  • These values are exposed for automation

Band Spread

  • The Band Spread sliders allow you to to widen the appearance of any of the low/mid/high bands by applying stereo widening effects to the input bands. This is useful for increasing visual complexity for narrow source audio or other mono.
  • To widen the bands, increase the respective slider values above 0. The max widening value is 5.0.
  • These values are exposed for automation

Appearance Toggles/Checkboxes

  • "Make Square" Checkbox
    • When the "Make Square" checkbox is on, the visualization will always remain locked to square dimensions. This will remain true regardless of the size of the plugin's Visualizer GUI window.
    • When the box is checked off, the visualization will conform to the custom size of the window, allowing it to squeeze and stretch with the dimensions of the window.
  • "Show Options on Hover" Checkbox
    • This option will be on when the plugin is opened for the first time. If you choose to turn it off, it will remain off between "sessions" (adding new instances of the plugin to different tracks, or opening other projects that contain instances of the plugin).
    • When checked "on," hovering over the plugin with your mouse cursor will make the "Customize" button appear, which can be clicked to open the Configuration Window. If you're using certain DAWs, the resize window icon will appear in the bottom right corner as well.
    • The purpose of this button is to make it easy to access the configuration during early usage to gain familiarity with routine plugin usage, while also providing a way for more advanced users to toggle off the overlays when streaming or screen recording.
    • Note that the configuration window can always be accessed via double-clicking the plugin window or pressing the 'o' key (see "Opening the Configuration Window" for more details).
  • "Lock Non-Color Band Values" Checkbox
    • This checkbox allows you to change presets while maintaining the values configured in the non-color oriented sliders.
    • When checked "on" the following values won't change when loading a new preset (factory or custom):
      • Band Gains
      • Band Strength
      • Band Spread
    • When checked "off," loading a preset will also change those values to the values saved within the preset.
  • Reset to Defaults Button
    • Clicking this button will reset all values to their default, clearing any customizations you've previously set on the plugin.

Sample Rate & Buffer Size

  • The visualization is sensitive to the sample rate you assign in your DAW. You can increase the perceived density of the visualization by increasing the sample rate. Similarly, you can increase the sparsity by decreasing the sample rate.
  • Lower sample rates will increase the performance of the plugin. Altering the buffer size will have a smaller effect on performance, and won't affect the appearance of the visualization.