Antialiasing Plugins
You’ll see a heck of a lot of updates around this time: it’s because I’d hit on a thread on Gearslutz about aliasing in plugins, and it caused much consternation in Airwindows-land.
I dropped everything and started devising ways for my plugins to alias less, or differently, in hopes of stepping farther away from ‘ITB sound’.
So, the fall of 2010 saw many plugins getting upgraded to ‘antialiased’ versions. Some of these legitimately existed earlier than this, but the version I’ve got is often from this period. Since I went through later and made ’em all 64-bit, what’s on the site is what we’ve got. I don’t want to dig up even older builds if they’re not going to be 64-bit, considering that everything currently available including the old versions and the freebies are all 64 bit without exception.
Chris,
How about creating a plugin that removes aliasing. It can be something inserted to the end of plugin chain or plugin that generates aliasing and removes it. That would be pretty awesome.
@ Maksim – as far as I understand, Slew 2 cuts the extreme highs which reduces aliasing. Infrasonic and Ultrasonic are in a similar category. I too am looking for an ‘anti-aliasing’ toolbox to slap on old projects which are in 44.1k where Infrasonic and Ultrasonic apparently won’t help much. Another good habit is using multiband options to avoid interfering with the top end. That, and cutting unnecessary high and low extremes. Metaplugin and oversampling are also good to reduce aliasing.
What’s the best way to test for aliasing?
Ha, ha, ha!… what a mess! It’s become evident to me (at least) that many have overlooked the last ten years of complaints offered up by frustrated MS Paint users… and, pertaining to both text and graphics renderings! But, check out the ensuing issue as well…
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It’s been brought to my attention that the incorporation of rectangular pixels within desktop, laptop and other PC systems/ devices is not only violating users’ “free geometric expressions (by hardware default!)”, but– as well!– inadvertently (at least!) imposing “anti-semetic hardware behaviour” on those wishing to render a Star of David on their respective computer screens… and because, rectangular pixels (again, by hardware default!) won’t allow for– can’t permit!– the rendering of TRUE equilateral triangles (see, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_David… and “hexagram”, within the first paragraph)! CRAZY!
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The use of pixel aspect ratio covers– primarily– “standard-definition TV” and sundry other exceptional uses. Many other imaging systems, including those that comply with SMPTE standards and practices, use square pixels… however, even state-of-the-art square shadow masks must invoke problematic anti-aliasing software.
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But, ironi̲c̲l̲y̲, an even more efficient and effective mitigation of the the need for anti-aliasing software than that deployed for square pixels, is the introduction of tessellate equilateral triangular shadow masks (TET-masks… my term) within PC screens! And, inasmuch as such TET-masks and “TET-pixels” are able to render twice the number of lines for text and image creation (a horizontal and a vertical row of TET-pixels, and, a backslash row and a foreslash row of TET-pixels… see, t.ly/DbeAK) and are also able to provide truly squared images, and monospaced text (the latter, enabling Donald E. Knuth’s Metafont Computer Language to form the basis of a truly interoperable monospaced font that/ which can now make use of the flexibility of TET-pixel technomas… i.e., TET-pixel technic products and services).
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To close…
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Years before his passing in 2007, I told John Warner Backus (the developer of FORTRAN) that the fastest chip set architecture that one could design is one composed of equilateral triangles. And indeed, I went on to assert that the most efficient and effective shadow-mask that one can create for a computer display, is one based upon this same equilateral triangle architecture… affording, vertical, horizontal and oblique lines, rather than the staid bi-directional stair-pattern architecture that we’ve become accustomed to, and providing the smoothest features possible for both font glyphs and picture graphic representation… and, the best opti̲c̲ architecture. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen to what extent anti-aliasing for both text and graphics can be mitigated… OR COMPLETELY DONE AWAY WITH!… by simply ending this ridiculous use of rectangle and square pixels, altogether! And, I suggest, that these go the way of the, “floppy disk”!
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What can I say, reader?… not only is our Internet still in it’s̲ infancy (take Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter as one example… but also, throw in Tim Burners-Lee’s [“Sir” Tim’s!] comments aimed at “Net Stakeholder accountability”!), our ICT hardware, is– in addition!– “off the rails”! Who knows?… maybe, Potomac-laser.com can be convinced to draw up some specs on a TET-pixel-based shawdow mask… and help us to end this, “pixelmare”! And if anyone can do it, Potomac-laser can… and we can spend our time chasing PRACTI̲C̲ CONCERNS! And!… we can then address these f-ing Corporate botnets that/ which are now routinely denying website access to millions of webizens (e.g., Cloudflare botnets!)!
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All the Best!… and may God find you Blessworthy!