ABJEXT Studio 1.0.5-beta.20261103.152039

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.5 — Make a sequence. Play the picture.

ABJEXT now has a four-channel dirty video mixer: bring in footage, blend it live, push it into unstable territory, and keep the performance as an editable timeline clip.

Play the mixer

• Mix four sources simultaneously with independent level, mute, tearing, instability and luma controls. A four-way pad rides all four levels together.
• Swap sources while playing or recording. Give each channel its own pool, move to the previous or next clip, or choose randomly without repeating until the pool has been used.
• Hold Freeze, Blackout, Invert or Damage for momentary interruptions. Release to return to your settings.
• Save named snapshots of channel assignments and controls; recall them immediately or on the next project-grid beat or bar.
• Push sync roll, cross-modulation, color bleed, drive and shared damage, or map continuous controls to MIDI CC knobs and faders.
• Record source changes and gestures together. Finish renders the take to a new timeline track while retaining its recipe and leaving original clips alone.
• Choose a lighter preview independently of export resolution. Live clock holds frames when overloaded; Every frame preserves every processed frame but may run slowly.
• Unfinished takes have recovery checkpoints, including a final checkpoint on normal Quit. Failed or cancelled rendering keeps the take available for retry.

Real datamoshing

Choose Timeline → Datamosh… to let one image inherit another clip’s motion. ABJEXT substitutes actual H.264 reference frames, decodes the resulting corruption, and renders a stable movie you can preview before committing.

Choose sources from the media pool or two selected timeline clips. Adjust compression, duration and repeated re-seeding; swap the sources to explore a different result. Commit adds a new Normal track and keeps the originals. This is a prepared effect rather than a real-time rack effect: 0.5–15 seconds per render, at 360p or 720p. Trim, speed and reverse are respected; bounce first to include clip FX. Source audio is not included. The recipe is saved next to the rendered movie.

From the first pattern to a finished piece

The guided first project includes supplied footage and music, beat alignment, probability, gates, FX pools, contrasting patterns, song arrangement, timeline editing and export. Progress saves with the project. This release also refines the instructions, recognizes the selected pattern when names are duplicated, and keeps the song-pass arrows stationary as values change.

Clip editing, mask inspection, pinned controls and audio-modulation feedback make it easier to see what you are changing. Restoring prepared sections can locate retained originals without damaging the prepared edit. Export cancellation preserves an existing destination, and a failed preview soundtrack merge retains the completed video for recovery.

Before you update

Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14 or later. Save your project and quit ABJEXT before replacing the app. Keep your source media and Renders folder with your project. Mixer session/recovery sidecars also belong beside the project; these files do not make the project self-contained.

Mixer takes are limited to ten minutes. Rendering speed depends on footage, codec, resolution and effects; no drop-free real-time guarantee is made. Beat/bar switching follows the project grid, uses four beats per bar and does not play the soundtrack or follow external MIDI clock. The mixer records video; use timeline audio for the finished soundtrack. Recovery checkpoints require available storage and cannot protect against losing the source drive. A crash can lose the final moments since the last checkpoint.

Questions, work made with ABJEXT, and reproducible bug reports are welcome: abjextstudio@gmail.com.

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.4-beta.20261030.155122

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.4 — More variation, less repetition

Build a visual sequence that keeps changing, then keep shaping it on the timeline.

• Fresh arrangement variations: pool shuffle history carries across cards and passes; Repeat is available for deliberate repetition.
• Random FX pools: individual effects or whole chains, probability, gates and optional step color cards.
• Try another variation: replace one timeline section using any clip lane from any pattern, in the same slot.
• Shuffle selected sections: scatter-select clips across tracks and swap their contents while keeping the arrangement's timing.
• Identification colors: label lanes, tracks and clips without changing the picture.
• Sequencer templates: start from a Probability Pool setup or save your own setup without its media.
• Still images: drop PNG, JPEG, TIFF, HEIC or BMP directly into media, lane pools or the timeline. Prepared once, with transparency, up to 4096 pixels on the longest side.
• Clearer controls: wider audio-mapping choices and transfer progress inside the active dialog.
• Global Thermonuclear War 0.1.5: independent blends for all seven processing stages, including EQ.

Install

Download the Apple Silicon DMG and drag ABJEXT Studio to Applications. The app and installer are Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. Existing ABJEXT installations can find this release in Settings → Updates.

The optional audio plug-in is inside the DMG and also available as a separate ZIP. Quit your DAW before replacing its component; restart the DAW afterward.

Projects and prepared media

Existing projects open normally and existing timeline cuts stay fixed. Save a backup before updating. New creative settings need 1.0.4 for full recall. Keep the project's Renders media and any imported still sources when moving it to another computer. Still sources are stored under ~/Library/Application Support/ABJEXT Studio/Imported Stills/, with a 30-second source duration; sequencer gates set their on-screen duration.

Questions and feedback: abjextstudio@gmail.com.

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.3-beta.20261029.115229

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.3

A focused scrolling update for the timeline and step sequencer.

• Horizontal trackpad gestures move the timeline and sequencer directly, retaining small movements and momentum.
• Timeline drawing reuses a buffered visible area instead of rebuilding clip controls, the ruler, grid and waveform on every pixel of scrolling.
• Manual timeline scrolling pauses playhead-follow so playback does not pull the view back. Press Play or re-enable Follow to resume following.
• Pinned lane headers avoid redundant layout updates while scrolling.

All 1.0.2 section editing, Pattern Color Board, arrangement and FX improvements are included. Project format remains 33; no project conversion is required when upgrading from 1.0.2. Initial prepared-section rendering still takes time—this patch addresses navigation, not export speed.

Install and update

Download the AppleSilicon.dmg, save your project, quit ABJEXT and replace the app. Apple Silicon / macOS 14 or later. The app and installer are Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. Settings → Updates can find this release. The optional Global Thermonuclear War AU remains version 0.1.4 and is installed separately.

Verification

28 targeted tests executed with one optional benchmark skipped and no failures. Checks covered horizontal input routing, viewport reuse, fixed headers, playhead-follow, editing shortcuts and large-timeline playback. The installed app was checked with a populated timeline and 64-step sequencer; physical two-finger scrolling was confirmed improved on the development Mac.

Please report remaining navigation issues to abjextstudio@gmail.com, including whether you were in Timeline or Sequencer and whether you used a trackpad, mouse wheel or scrollbar.

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.2-beta.20261029.010246

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.2

Timeline sections, faster editing, and a clearer pattern workflow.

Edit sections instead of thousands of hits

Add to Timeline → Prepared sections prepares one video section per lane for
each pattern pass. Choose one-, two- or four-bar divisions when you want smaller
pieces. Fractional final passes are retained. Trim, move, copy and warp these
sections as ordinary clips; right-click Show original cuts to reopen the
detail of just one section.

Preparation takes time once and creates ProRes media on disk. Keep those files
with your project. Source footage is not deleted. Existing edits are not
automatically consolidated. Masks and global processing remain live; blend
changes can require separate sections. Unsupported context-dependent effects
produce an explanation instead of a silently altered render. Linked sections
and individual-cut transfer remain optional workflows.

Timeline fixes

• Dense timeline views draw their compact clips together, with detailed controls
  restricted to visible larger clips. Lane headers remain fixed during scrolling.
• Timeline indexes and source metadata are reused. Edits reuse unaffected lanes'
  playback decoders; color-only edits do not rebuild them.
• Command-J replaces selected cuts on the same lanes and time span, with
  project backup and Undo. Multi-lane selections prepare separate lane sections.
• Enable Warp and warp markers operate inside one clip, without splitting
  the timeline into new placements.
• Range copy retains selected fragments and gaps. Paste uses the chosen lane and
  time, can trim overlapping neighbors, and supports Undo. The overwrite warning
  can be disabled.
• Reverse export reads bounded groups of frames, reducing repeated seeks while
  retaining original-resolution frames.
• Empty MIDI performance pads no longer trigger repeated workspace updates.
• Fast reversed trims remain within valid source bounds, and failed saves now
  show the error instead of leaving a previous render-success message visible.

Included from the private testing builds

• Pattern Color Board: compare representative stills side by side and edit
  each pattern's complete color look. These are color studies, not simulations
  of the full moving composite or every effect.
• Copy this look to… transfers the color settings to another pattern for
  further adjustment. Rename is available on the board and beside the pattern
  selector.
• Pattern color changes can update associated timeline color ranges without
  replacing resolved clip choices or timing. Older ranges require explicit linking.
• Arrangement cards accept fractional passes and From / To song boundaries,
  including Beginning of song, named markers and Soundtrack end. Fitting computes
  the needed duration at the current tempo; refit after changing tempo or order.
• Explicit Pattern / Song arrangement preview choices and scrollable
  sequencer controls make the active playback mode easier to find.
• Effect menus are organized into families. Reverse preview preparation is cached,
  with loading/progress and playhead-follow improvements.

Projects save as format 33. Keep a copy before upgrading if you need to return
to an older build. Apple Silicon / macOS 14 or later; optional Global Thermonuclear
War AU remains a separate installation.

Performance and verification

The regression suite passed 783 tests (40 optional skips). Subsequent focused
checks covered MIDI idle behavior, pinned headers and saveable reverse trims.
Live checks exercised same-lane bounce, overwrite paste and Undo, internal warp
anchors, prepared transfer, single-section expansion, and save/reopen.

A 3:34 project with thousands of existing cuts exported at 1080p60 in 6:13 on
the development Mac; it is not a real-time export guarantee. Prepared sections
reduce repeated work during later editing, but initial preparation and complex
effects still take time. Older timelines retain their original cuts until you
explicitly bounce or regenerate them.

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.1-beta.20261026.232942

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.1

1.0.1 · Reception faults, your palette, faster clip preparation

Twelve new interruption effects, organized into three families:

• Analog reception: Analog Sparkles, RF Interference, Sync Slip, Signal Echo, Channel Collision and Line Scramble.
• Tape and film damage: VHS Tracking Error, Tape Dropout, Film Gate Jump and Film Splice.
• Digital reception: Satellite Breakdown and DVD Skip.

Start with Readable faults to retain the subject. Use Strength, Coverage, Size, Instability, Interval in beats, Duration, Recovery and Chance to shape brief faults or sustained interference. The stronger Unstable reception and Signal collapse presets are available too. These are artistic interpretations of signal failures, not certified broadcast simulations or products endorsed by FCC/DISH.

Channel Collision uses the actual picture underneath the affected clip; in Global scope it uses the composite beneath the top clip. It needs overlapping visible footage. Without a lower image it leaves the input unchanged; it does not choose a second source from your pools.

Breathing and live memory: Moth Lung maps configured audio level or bass/mid/treble energy to scale and exposure swells. Audio Playhead / Live Memory scrubs a bounded recent-picture buffer (up to one second, 16 snapshots at 15 captures/second). Configure Audio Reactive input first. This is separate from the timeline clip's whole-source Audio Playhead control. Live microphone reactions cannot be reconstructed from a silent export source.

Your colors stay yours: Halftone, Dot Matrix and Contour Scan now offer Use incoming colors. Put Colorizer earlier in the chain to use its output palette. New starter looks use incoming colors; existing saved settings retain their previous look. Halftone also has cleaner balanced dot/line coverage. RGB Split has three optional custom channel colors.

Prepare clips without leaving the pool:

1. Pause playback, then click a clip in a lane or step pool. Its picture opens in the main viewer with controls underneath. Preparation temporarily uses the center workspace; Done or starting playback returns to the sequencer.
2. Set In / Out to exclude unwanted footage. Adjust Black point, White point and Contrast, Black & White / Film Noir, framing, inversion, speed or direction.
3. Click Apply to update just that pool entry, with Undo. Other pool entries and source files remain unchanged.
4. Select several entries to work through them individually with Back, Skip, Apply & Next. Unapplied drafts survive switching entries or starting playback; apply changes before replacing the project. Done asks before discarding remaining drafts.

Random starts stay within the entry's trim; reverse, speed and resolved timeline captures retain it. Explicit step overrides still take priority. Project Media → Move To → Add to Lane Pool adds the whole media selection to a chosen pool while keeping it in Project Media.

Compatibility: older projects open normally. Newly saved projects use format 32 and need 1.0.1 or newer to preserve pool trims and levels. Keep a copy before saving if you need to return to an older build. Apple Silicon, macOS 14+. Optional Global Thermonuclear War AU remains version 0.1.4; its installation is separate.

The app is signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Download the DMG, quit ABJEXT, and drag the app into Applications. Existing installations can find this build through Settings → Updates → Check for Updates. Projects and source media stay in place.

Feedback: abjextstudio@gmail.com. Application source remains private; this release contains binaries and user documentation only.

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.0-beta.20261026.111958

ABJEXT Studio 1.0.0 beta

Our first Developer ID signed and Apple-notarized release, including the optional Global Thermonuclear War AU. The installer and app carry attached notarization tickets.

• A color look for each pattern: in Sequencer, open Color → Pattern / Project and choose Use pattern color. Adjust Colorizer, grading, black/white points and hue for that pattern. Follow project color restores inheritance. Duplicates keep their look, and Timeline placement, linked sections, recording and export preserve color changes between patterns. Explicit step FX overrides still take priority while active.

• Get inside a saved FX chain: select a step, open Effects, choose its chain, then expand an effect name. Adjust its numeric parameters and Wet / dry as step-specific locks without changing the saved preset or other steps. Random ranges and modulation remain available. Chain routing and bypass switches stay part of the saved rack; a step can hold up to 64 parameter overrides.

• Audition FX continuously: click Audition FX in the step inspector. The sequence plays while the selected effect stays active, with live parameter edits. Footage continues through short gates and loops as needed. End FX Audition restores normal triggers; playback stops only if audition started it. Stop, leaving the inspector, changing patterns or beginning recording also ends audition. Knob edits are saved; the temporary audition is never written to a recording or export.

• Edit a pool clip without assigning it to a step: select one entry in a clip lane or step pool and choose Edit Clip…, or double-click it. Preview the source and set fixed speed (¼×–10×), forward/reverse, scale, position, rotation, flips, crop, color inversion and Black & White / Film Noir. Apply saves one undoable change; Cancel discards it. Settings belong to that entry, so the same source in other pools/patterns and existing timeline edits stays unchanged. Moves and copies carry entry settings with them.

• Random speed and direction: lane controls choose speed within a range when the Speed-change chance passes, and choose reverse independently. Choices stay fixed for each hit and are preserved by Record and Add to Timeline. Fixed pool-entry playback settings take precedence over lane randomness; explicit step settings take precedence over both. Use Use lane speed / random speed and Use lane / random direction in the pool editor to inherit. Gates and soundtrack speed are unchanged. Extremely short marked excerpts limit speed to preserve one video frame.

• Black point / White point: under Color → Color Grading, raise Black point to deepen washed-out shadows or lower White point to brighten dull highlights. These work independently of Creative Colorizer without replacing its palette or settings. Enable Color Grading to see the changes. Grading runs before artistic FX by default; reorder it after Colorizer if you want to adjust the finished colors. This is manual tonal control, not automatic per-clip exposure matching. Presets, automation and export preserve the values.

• Startup and precision: a stopped sequencer prepares and resolves its initial events before starting the soundtrack; BPM now displays up to five decimal places for precise grid alignment.

• Audio-output recovery: output route, hardware data-source and sample-rate changes rebuild the playback connection while retaining the soundtrack position and honoring Pause/Stop. Settings → Audio → Reconnect Output retries the selected device without restarting ABJEXT. System Default follows macOS; an explicitly selected disconnected device stays muted until it returns or another output is selected.

• Projects now save as format 31. Older projects open normally; keep a backup if you need to return to an older app version. The blackletter A app icon and optional Global Thermonuclear War 0.1.4 AU remain included.

Download the AppleSilicon DMG, save your project, quit ABJEXT, and replace your app. Requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14+. The optional audio plug-in is in the DMG and separate ZIP; it is not installed automatically.

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.8-beta.20261026.004047

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.8 beta — Shape the timing

Detailed waveforms and beat alignment

Zoom into the timeline audio waveform to locate precise hits. Align Grid beside BPM exposes draggable beat handles: move the first beat onto the first hit, then move a later numbered beat onto its matching hit to set BPM. The soundtrack stays unchanged. This is one constant project BPM, not a variable tempo map.

Timeline video warp anchors

Select a timeline clip, seek to an action, choose Warp → Add Warp Anchor, and drag its diamond to a beat. Adjacent sections change speed while surrounding anchors stay fixed. Add as many anchors as needed within the clip's frame and speed limits: at least one frame per section, ¼×–4× speed. Option bypasses beat snapping. Undo and save/reopen retain the edits. Audio is never stretched by this operation.

Bounce a finished passage with ⌘J

Build your passage in Sequencer, use Add to Timeline, then select its timeline clips and press ⌘J. Bounce Selection captures the full visible mix across the selected time range, including overlapping tracks, masks, clip/global FX and automation.

Selected clips become one ProRes movie on a new top track, ready for warp anchors. Other clips remain underneath. The song stays separate. Global FX are bypassed while the finished mix is visible, including for other visible layers alongside it; this prevents applying baked effects twice. New clip-level effects remain available.

A saved project and one free top track are required. The bounce uses the chosen export resolution at 30 fps. Keep the adjacent Renders folder, which contains the movie and a full pre-bounce project backup. ⌘Z restores the selected originals. Timeline → Reveal Pre-Bounce Project locates the backup for recovery later. ProRes files take more space than delivery MP4s. New project saves require 0.9.8 or newer.

Also included

The export sync fix reported by @mvbrtr remains included. If you still use a build older than 0.9.6, re-export older movies to receive that correction.

Global Thermonuclear War 0.1.4 remains an optional AU bonus in the DMG, with a separate plug-in-only ZIP. Copy its component to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components while your DAW is closed. Installing ABJEXT does not automatically install the AU. Apple Silicon, macOS 14+, AU hosts; locally tested in Ableton. Logic session testing is still pending.

Install or update

Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14 or later. Choose Settings → Updates → Check for Updates, download the DMG, save your project and quit ABJEXT, then replace the app in Applications. Both app and AU are locally signed beta builds, not yet notarized by Apple. See the README for first-launch instructions and the new timing walkthrough.

Feedback: abjextstudio@gmail.com. Downloads contain binaries, licenses and user documentation only. Application and plug-in source remain private.

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.7-beta.20261025.231324

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.7 beta — Export sync fix + Global Thermonuclear War

Audio/video sync: an important fix carried forward

If you have not updated to 0.9.6, this build includes the fix for exported audio playing approximately 44 ms late through FFmpeg-based decoding, despite aligning correctly through Apple's decoder. Thank you again to @mvbrtr for finding and reporting it.

Soundtrack audio is encoded directly into the final movie so encoder-delay timing stays intact. Video is copied without re-encoding. The related AAC-source tail-truncation fix is also included. Re-export older videos to receive the correction; no manual audio offset is required.

The video application retains the behavior and project compatibility of 0.9.6. This release adds the optional audio bonus to the distribution.

A bonus for making the soundtrack: Global Thermonuclear War 0.1.4

Open the Bonus - Global Thermonuclear War folder inside the DMG for a separate Audio Unit plug-in and installation instructions. It combines:

• Five simultaneous beat-repeat engines, live waveform shuffle, and forward/reverse bursts.
• A three-oscillator Gristleizer, Percolator-inspired saturation, and digital destruction.
• Wavefolding, hard rhythmic chopping, and CD-skip effects.
• A graphical six-band EQ: drag frequency/gain points, adjust width/Q, and see live before/after frequency spectra.
• Independent stage switches, four starting presets, Wet / dry, output trim, and a repeatable chaos seed.

It processes audio live while your DAW plays, records, or renders. This is optional audio software for a DAW, not a new video FX slot in ABJEXT. The ABJEXT video effects still leave soundtrack audio untouched.

Save and quit your DAW, then copy ABJEXT Global Thermonuclear War.component into ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and reopen the DAW. Search Global Thermonuclear War under Audio Units → ABJEXT. Full instructions are included. A plug-in-only ZIP is also attached for anyone who only wants the bonus.

Compatibility: Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14 or later, Audio Unit host. Used locally in Ableton Live and passes Apple's AU validation; testing in an actual Logic Pro session is still pending. No Intel Mac, Windows or VST3 build is included. Both app and AU are locally signed beta builds, not yet notarized by Apple.

Update ABJEXT

Choose Settings → Updates → Check for Updates, download the DMG, save your project and quit ABJEXT, then replace the app in Applications. Install the optional AU separately using its included instructions. The updater verifies the DMG's SHA-256 checksum. Existing projects and media remain in place.

Feedback: abjextstudio@gmail.com. Public downloads contain binaries, licenses and user documentation only; application and plug-in source remain private.

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.6-beta.20261025.194005

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.6 beta — Export audio sync hotfix

Fixed an export timing issue that could make audio play approximately 44 ms late in FFmpeg-based decoding, even when it aligned correctly through Apple's decoder.

Huge thanks to @mvbrtr for finding and reporting this. Your testing helped us reproduce the problem and improve exports for everyone.

What changed

• Soundtrack audio is now encoded directly into the finished movie, preserving the encoder-delay information that decoders need for correct synchronization.
• Rendered video is copied without re-encoding, preserving its quality.
• Corrected a related AAC-source edge case that could trim valid audio from the end of a soundtrack.
• Added regression checks comparing Apple's decoder with FFmpeg for full and trimmed exports, H.264 and both ProRes formats, MP3/AAC sources, and 44.1 kHz source audio.

Existing projects remain compatible. This fix applies to new exports; re-export an existing project if you need a corrected movie. No manual 44 ms offset is needed.

Update

In ABJEXT Studio, open Settings → Updates → Check for Updates, download the DMG, save your project and quit ABJEXT, then replace the app in Applications. You can also download the Apple Silicon DMG below.

Apple Silicon · macOS 14 or later. Beta build, locally signed and not yet notarized. This release includes the features from 0.9.5.

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.5-beta.20261025.142946

ABJEXT Studio 0.9.5 beta

The first October 25 build brings the latest creative tools and pool workflow improvements to beta testers.

• Video Gristleizer: one, two or three coupled oscillators; amplitude chopping, spatial filtering, drive, folding, scan fracture, beat sync and seeded instability. Find it under Effects → Add → Video synthesis. Try Discipline, Hostile circuitry or Total refusal. Works with presets, FX steps, locks, macros, audio mappings and export.
• Pattern Timing ½× / 1× / 2×: run the visual sequence slower or faster while song tempo and clip playback speed stay unchanged. Pause to change it beside Sequencer BPM.
• Random start positions: set a minimum/maximum start range on a clip or mask lane, or override it per step under Source → Start position. Each successful hit can play a different part of the same source; retriggers, recording and placement are supported.
• Prepare footage in the large viewer: select media while playback is stopped, then scrub, Mark In/Out, type exact times, audition source audio, open Appearance or place the marked source beneath the main picture.
• Group pool editing: Cmd/Shift-select media or random-pool rows. Right-click removal and Delete/Shift-Delete/Command-Delete apply to the selection. Move media to project folders; drag selected random-pool rows onto a lane header or step to move them into its pool with their weights. Undo restores the entire move/removal. Source files are never deleted.
• Fixed one-frame source-mark rounding and made pool weight fields directly editable without Delete reaching the list.

Apple Silicon, macOS 14+. Includes bundled VCR font. Existing projects, presets and mappings remain compatible. This is a beta; save a copy of important projects.

Install/update: save your project and quit ABJEXT; open the DMG and drag ABJEXT Studio.app into Applications, replacing the previous copy. Settings → Updates can check and download the installer with checksum verification; replacement is manual.

The README now includes walkthroughs for all of these additions, installation, first-video creation and troubleshooting. Feedback: abjextstudio@gmail.com.