Week highlights: new releases of Kdenlive, Mixxx, and Giada; new features in GIMP and FreeCAD.

GIMP

CmykStudent implemented a simple palette exporter to KPL, Krita’s palette file format.

The other file format support they added is Over the Air Bitmap. Not sure how to comment on that. I guess if we all die in a nuclear holocaust, cockroaches will be exchanging those with each other on Nokia 3310, and they’ll need a way to open and export those? Well, that’s one way to future-proof GIMP then!

FreeCAD

Dave Carter finished adding initial support for external materials databases. The plan is to make it possible using external web services, for both downloading and uploading material definitions. The feature doesn’t seem to be built by default in weeklies yet, which is fine, as there are no external databases hooked up to the functionality yet.

In other news, the FPA’s general assembly approved spending earmarked EUR 5000 on grants towards various small fixes and improvements in TechDraw and PartDesign. The CAD Working Group will be distributing the bounties. Here is the full list of pre-approved issues to fix and features to implement.

Kdenlive 25.04

The new version comes with a major new feature: automatically creating masks to separate objects from their background. On the inside, the feature uses Meta’s Segment Anything Model 2.

Among other changes:

• Faster and more precise audio thumbnails
• Completely rewritten OpenTimelineIO import/exporting, should be more robust now
• You can now change the duration of multiple selected clips (right-click on the selection, choose Edit Duration, keep “Apply duration to all items” checked)
• Vertical zooming in audio tracks, with x1, x2, x4, and x8 presets
• Shift+Click now expands/collapses all effects in the stack

See here for full release notes.

Mixxx 2.5.1

The new version of Mixxx brings controller mappings for DJ TechTools MIDI Fighter Spectra, Numark NS6II, Numark Platinum FX, M-Vave SMC-Mixer, Hercules DJControl Inpulse 500, and Reloop Digital Jockey 2 IE controllers. It also adds a mapping for the M-Vave SMK-25 II controller (see here for how its controls are mapped).

The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 300 controller now supports toneplay, slicer, and beatmatch. Other mappings got updates, too. The full list of changes is here.

Giada 1.2.0

Missed this release of Giada a couple of weeks ago. The new version of the loop station allows MIDI input from multiple devices and ships various small fixes. For the downloads and the full list of changes, please see here.

Disflux

This is a new, barely tested free (AGPL 3.0) plugin for smearing transients. Comes in LV2, VST3, and CLAP.

Here is what the developer says:

Disflux is a wild audio effect plugin that takes your transients and smears them through time, adding serious punch and weight. If you’re creating Hard Techno or Rawstyle and need your kicks to hit like a freaking train, Disflux is your new best friend. We’re talking aggressive, distorted, gated kicks that smack like no tomorrow.

Here is my extremely quick demo:

Artworks

The Silence Atlas by IM_FreD, made with Blender and Photoshop:

Ancient Ruined Temple by RunBobFun, made with Blender:

Temple of the Goldenbeard by Olga Rozova, made with Blender and Photoshop:

The City of Others by Deltakosh, made with Blender and Photoshop:

Stylized Fantasy Victorian Environment by Daniel Peres, made with Blender, Photoshop, and ProCreate: