Why hasn't R4 been replace with R5 (or equivilent)

[Dj_Ziio]

I was just wondering why we haven't seen a newer version of R4 in a long time. I know the program was developed many years ago and the community has gotten a lot smaller than it used to be, but I still see clubs all around town (St, Louis MO, Paducah KY, Chicago IL) using R4 and even R2 as the only visualization on multiple flat screen through out the building. Processor and graphic technology has come a long way since this program was originally developed and my current system, along with many others, can run this program at full setting at way over 100fps. A new revision with some new coding for modern, multi-processor computers and high end graphics cards could put a new lease on life for this aging program. As it stand, 3 of my favorite vjs use it regularly in mixing with there video and other visualizer content to create multi-layered showcases of awesomeness. R4 being one of the few visualizers that come with a console command abilities, and a scene brander to create your own show, you can see the continued usefulness. My friend has a $3000 program and hardware combination to VJ and he still uses R4 the most because he can create unique visualizations for specific shows with the parties name, DJs names and live video feeds of the DJ and crowd. There is still a large group of people that would want to own and use this product, and with the expansion of electronic music is the US scene, clubs, rave venues and even live shows could all sport this new product. Just and idea, what do you guys think?

[rabidhamster]

We actually have a new vis out called Morphyre (www.morphyre.com/Pro) - it's been out well over a year now.

It uses some newer video card features like Pixel/Vertex shaders and has a bunch more scenes, and the ability to customize it on the fly and even script scene changes. It's even still got a whole bunch of the R4 scenes that can be loaded in... For some reason it hasn't taken off quite as much as R4 did though - maybe people just aren't as mesmerized by fancy graphics as they were a few years back when R4 came out...

[Narei]

Wow, long time since I've been here. I remember getting Morphyre's free version for Windows Media Player when it came out. It was nice, but what turned me off it was at the time there was no stand alone version for it. Not even a paid one. The computer system you sold custom made for the program was pretty cool, but I think also the limiting factor. At least for me, one of the main draws for R4 was that I could install it on my own systems, even multiple computers (which came in handy when one fried). Not to mention the free version of R4 was still full featured so I could really put it through its paces before spending so much on the license. The free version of Morphyre seemed limited compared to what the full blown program could do for customizations, and I don't like being so limited with functionality when testing an expensive program. I'd rather be time limited, have a nag message, etc with a free/demo program so I don't shell out the money for the full version with all the extra features and then find out I don't want them.

This is all pretty much from my experience when Morphyre first came out, and I didn't use it much for the reasons I've listed above. If things have changed that make it more "open" like R4 was, I would love to check it out. Well... once I get a good laptop again to run it. Unfortunately both my gaming systems are now fried. One of R4's biggest selling points for me was that it was so open. I could check out everything, learn on the forums, and know I was getting a great program before spending the money.

I think GOOD visualizations are still well appreciated when the program is ran by a competent VJ. The thing I've seen a lot is a DJ or small time venue will start up the visuals program and simply let it run on auto-pilot, and the crowds just get used to it. There's nothing new and eye catching after a while as it cycles through the scenes. Sure, that may be OK, but we all know just what kind of effects we can pull off to really work with the music when at the controls of a program like R4 and can keep it looking fresh and eye catching for a whole night.

[rabidhamster]

Hi Narei,

At the start, we were still developing the Pro version of Morphrye - that's out now, and there is a demo version. However that version has a constant nag message and the resolution is lowered, so that could be putting some people off.

However I think there is still a lot of confusion between 'Morphyre Free' and 'Morphyre Pro Demo'. The problem is that a huge amount of users come from the Windows Media Player site and just want the simple music vis, so we need to be sure not to confuse them while still providing the option for downloading Pro Demo. If we say 'you can download this one with a few buttons, or this one with a bunch of features' they'll click the 'bunch o features' one even though they actually just wanted a simple vis

You should definitely check out the new Morphyre Pro Demo when you get your PC sorted though (you'll have to log into the website first) - it's now got some nice easy scene customisation stuff - although all the proper low-level customisation is still available.

I think it's possible I got a bit carried away there though. Morphyre is basically completely customisable (you can make pretty much any type of scene - even ones that Morphyre doesn't have yet) - but it seems that even though I tried to document everything this time, the huge level of customisation just puts people off. R4 may well have hit that sweet spot of not providing as much customisation, but still being quite hackable.

[Narei]

It may be too early to ask this yet, but I'm guessing at some point you will be moving on and replacing Morphyre with something else or at least a new version. Do you think you'll try to go with something more R4'ish in terms of customization and find that sweet spot again? I have a few suggestions on what I'd like to see, but without having tried Morphyre in so long, much less the pro version, many of my suggestions may already be there or in the works.

[rabidhamster]

Well, it'll be a while before I replace Morphyre - The flexibility means there isn't any reason to.

To be honest I think what it is missing is tools to create the scenes. I could probably open source them too. I've thought that more of a quartz composer style gui would improve matters...

The current scene designer is a useful step in the right direction though. If you log into www.morphyre.com/login with chrome then there is a cool online scene designer that works right in the browser.