Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Avinash Meetoo

Please don’t distort people in your photos!

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I have noticed that a lot of photos published online now suffer from volume deformation. The above photo, courtesy of DxO, shows what happens when a group photo of people is made with a wide-angle lens (e.g. a 24mm equivalent) and time is not spent correcting the volumes. In this case, the ladies on the two extremities are deformed compared to the one getting married in the middle. The solution is to use software to correct the image. Personally I use DxO Optics Pro and DxO Viewpoint.

In our era of amateurs taking photos with their mobile phones (which tend to have a fixed wide-angle lens), the above shot is becoming more and more commonplace. I guess people are so used to this volume deformation that they don’t care. Or, maybe, they have no clue how to use simple software like Snapseed to correct the photo before sharing it with their friends. But, well, they are amateurs after all.

But what if we’re talking of professionals? The above shot is in fact on the frontpage of the BBC News website at this very moment and I can’t understand how the BBC finds it acceptable to publish such a deformed photo online. The lady who is voting is stretched and this is an eyesore.

The BBC should have use some volume deformation correction software.

Should they? What do you think?

Five players who can make Liverpool compete with Chelsea

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I wonder who Liverpool is going to buy in the next transfer window. Rumours indicate that Jürgen Klopp has been given a substantial amount of money (of the order of 200 million pounds) to strengthen the team.

It is clear that the defense has leaked too many goals and not all of them can be blamed on goalkeepers. Virgil van Dijk would be a very good centre back to buy but will not come cheap as he is having a great season in Southampton and is considered to be among the best in his position in the Premier League. James Milner is neither a defender nor left footed and, even though he has performed admirably this season, he is really a central midfielder. A very good left back is Stéphane Sessègnon, who currently plays for Montpellier, but who has played five years in England already. I was mistaken. Liverpool is not looking at Stéphane Sessègnon, who is an attacking midfielder, but rather Ryan Sessegnon who is a 16 years-old playing for Fulham in the 2nd division. He played 23 times this season scoring 5 goals and, according to online sources, is one of the top targets for Liverpool for the next season.

The midfield of Liverpool is already very capable (with players such as Henderson, Can and Lallana) but looks a bit thin. The youngsters in the first team are still very young and oldies like Lucas are on the verge of departing. An excellent central midfielder is Naby Keïta who currently plays for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. He is a box-to-box midfielder, passes very well and scores too (similar to Steven Gerrard). Another good acquisition would be Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the dynamic Arsenal player who already has played 25 times for England. He is a powerful winger who can provide cover for players such as Sadio Mané.

Finally, as Daniel Sturridge is most probably leaving, Liverpool needs a goal scorer. Alexandre Lacazette would be close to perfect but won’t come cheap. He has been playing for Olympique Lyon for the past seven years and would most probably be interested to try his luck in the Premier League. He is a potent striker with 96 goals scored in 200 matches. Of course, the French leagues is far from being as competitive as the Premier League but Alexandre Lacazette has bags of talent.

To summarise, here are five players who can make Liverpool move up one level and, dare I say, become as strong as Chelsea: Virgil van Dijk (CB), Stéphane Ryan Sessegnon (LB), Naby Keïta (DM), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (AM) and Alexandre Lacazette (FW).

How many of them will Liverpool get? No one knows. Might be 0. Might be 5. And anything else in the middle…

Bundles of Waves plugins

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I love playing and composing music and I have released three albums over the years. I generally use Logic Pro X as my digital audio workstation, sprinkled with a few Waves plugins which I love (e.g. the H-Comp Hybrid Compressor, H-EQ Hybrid Equalizer, H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb, H-Delay Hybrid Delay, Bass Rider, Vocal Rider, L2 Ultramaximizer, Dorrough Stereo and WLM Plus Loudness Meter).

I find Waves plugins amazing. I tend to mainly use the ones created from scratch by Waves (like the one I have mentioned above) but I don’t mind using the ones modeled after classic hardware components from time to time (e.g. the API 2500, CLA-2A/3A/76 Compressor / Limiter and the SSL E/G-Channel).

Here are the various waves bundles (collections of plugins) with a list of plugins comprising them:

Silver Bundle ($599)

  • C1 Compressor
  • DeEsser
  • Doubler
  • Enigma
  • IR-L Convolution Reverb
  • L1 Ultramaximizer
  • MaxxBass
  • MondoMod
  • PAZ Analyzer
  • Q10 Equalizer
  • Renaissance Axx
  • Renaissance Compressor
  • Renaissance Equalizer
  • S1 Stereo Imager
  • SuperTap
  • TrueVerb

Gold Bundle ($799)

All the plugins in the Silver bundle with the following added:

  • AudioTrack
  • C4 Multiband Compressor
  • Doppler
  • Eddie Kramer Drum Channel
  • Electric Grand 80 Piano
  • eMo F2 Filter
  • eMo Generator
  • eMo Q4 Equalizer
  • GTR3 Amps
  • GTR3 Stomps
  • GTR3 ToolRack
  • GTR3 Tuner
  • H-Comp Hybrid Compressor
  • H-Delay Hybrid Delay
  • MetaFlanger
  • MV2
  • PS22 Stereo Maker
  • Renaissance Reverb
  • Sibilance
  • UltraPitch
  • V-Comp
  • V-EQ3
  • V-EQ4
  • Vitamin Sonic Enhancer
  • VU Meter
  • Waves Tune LT

Platinum Bundle ($1999)

All the plugins in the Gold bundle with the following added:

  • Greg Wells ToneCentric
  • L2 Ultramaximizer
  • L3 Ultramaximizer
  • L3-LL Ultramaximizer
  • Linear Phase EQ
  • Linear Phase Multiband Compressor
  • MaxxVolume
  • MetaFilter
  • OneKnob Driver
  • OneKnob Pumper
  • PuigTec EQs
  • Renaissance Bass
  • Renaissance Channel
  • Renaissance DeEsser
  • Renaissance Vox

Diamond Bundle ($2999)

All the plugins in the Platinum bundle with the following added:

  • Center
  • Cobalt Saphira
  • L3 Multimaximizer
  • L3-LL Multimaximizer
  • Morphoder
  • NLS Non-Linear Summer
  • OneKnob Filter
  • Q-Clone
  • SoundShifter
  • Trans-X
  • WLM Plus Loudness Meter
  • X-Click
  • X-Crackle
  • X-Hum
  • X-Noise
  • Z-Noise

Mercury Bundle ($7599)

All the plugins in the Diamond bundle with the following added:

  • Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter
  • API 2500
  • API 550
  • API 560
  • Bass Rider
  • Berzerk Distortion
  • Brauer Motion
  • BSS DPR-402
  • Butch Vig Vocals
  • C360 Surround Compressor
  • C6 Multiband Compressor
  • CLA Bass
  • CLA Drums
  • CLA Effects
  • CLA Guitars
  • CLA MixDown
  • CLA MixHub
  • CLA Unplugged
  • CLA Vocals
  • CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter
  • CLA-3A Compressor / Limiter
  • CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter
  • Codex Wavetable Synth
  • dbx® 160 Compressor / Limiter
  • DeBreath
  • Dorrough Stereo
  • Dorrough Surround
  • Eddie Kramer Bass Channel
  • Eddie Kramer Effects Channel
  • Eddie Kramer Guitar Channel
  • Eddie Kramer Vocal Channel
  • Element 2.0 Virtual Analog Synth
  • eMo D5 Dynamics
  • F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ
  • GEQ Graphic Equalizer
  • Greg Wells MixCentric
  • Greg Wells PianoCentric
  • Greg Wells VoiceCentric
  • H-EQ Hybrid Equalizer
  • H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb
  • IDR360 Bit Re-Quantizer
  • Infected Mushroom Pusher
  • InPhase
  • InPhase LT
  • IR-Live Convolution Reverb
  • IR1 Convolution Reverb
  • IR360 Convolution Reverb
  • JJP Bass
  • JJP Cymbals & Percussion
  • JJP Drums
  • JJP Guitars
  • JJP Strings & Keys
  • JJP Vocals
  • Kramer HLS Channel
  • Kramer Master Tape
  • Kramer PIE Compressor
  • L3-16 Multimaximizer
  • L360 Surround Limiter
  • LFE360 Low-Pass Filter
  • LoAir
  • M360 Surround Manager & Mixdown
  • Manny Marroquin Delay
  • Manny Marroquin Distortion
  • Manny Marroquin EQ
  • Manny Marroquin Reverb
  • Manny Marroquin Tone Shaper
  • Manny Marroquin Triple D
  • Maserati ACG
  • Maserati B72
  • Maserati DRM
  • Maserati GRP
  • Maserati GTi
  • Maserati HMX
  • Maserati VX1
  • MDMX Distortion Modules
  • MultiMod Rack
  • MV360
  • NS1 Noise Suppressor
  • OneKnob Brighter
  • OneKnob Louder
  • OneKnob Phatter
  • OneKnob Pressure
  • OneKnob Wetter
  • Playlist Rider
  • Primary Source Expander
  • PRS SuperModels
  • PuigChild Compressor
  • R360 Surround Reverb
  • S360 Surround Imager & Panner
  • Scheps 73
  • Scheps Omni Channel
  • Scheps Parallel Particles
  • Smack Attack
  • Sub Align
  • Submarine
  • Torque
  • UM225 / UM226
  • Vocal Rider
  • W43 Noise Reduction Plugin
  • Waves Tune
  • Waves Tune Real-Time
  • WNS Noise Suppressor
  • X-FDBK

Of course, if money is no object and you run a very profitable studio, get the Mercury Bundle. For mere mortals though, get a lower bundle or, maybe, buy the plugins you really need individually. For example, if I had to buy my favourite plugins individually, the amount I’ll have to pay would be:

  • H-Comp Hybrid Compressor ($179)
  • H-EQ Hybrid Equalizer ($179)
  • H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb ($349)
  • H-Delay Hybrid Delay ($179)
  • Bass Rider ($99)
  • Vocal Rider ($249)
  • L2 Ultramaximizer ($299)
  • Dorrough Stereo ($199)
  • WLM Plus Loudness Meter ($399)

for a total of $2131 which is more expensive than the Platinum Bundle! Maybe it would be more intelligent to wait for Waves to do sales (which they practically always do) or get the Platinum Bundle and try to make use of its plugins to the full.

In any case, have fun.

PS: Waves is not the only audio plugin manufacturer who offers quality plugins. Others do.

PPS: As a Logic Pro X user, I tend to use the Logic Compressor and the Logic Channel EQ more than their Waves counterparts (H-Comp Hybrid Compressor and H-EQ Hybrid Equalizer) because they integrate better in the Logic mixer. I would love to have the same kind of integration with the Waves plugins though. Waves? Apple?