We’re proud to announce the official release of DreamStudio Unity 12.04.2. DreamStudio gets better with every release and this is no exception. Here are just some of the newest features:

1. AUDIO INDICATOR – the second version of DreamStudio’s exclusive audio indicator features quick access to ALSA controls, JACK utilities, and software synths. Also, when starting JACK, settings are read from .jackdrc – this means that when you change settings in QJackctl (like your preferred sound card or sample rate), your configuration is respected by the audio indicator, so once you get a working setup, just start and stop JACK from the indicator for super easy use.

2. NEW NAME – DreamStudio OS is now DreamStudio Unity. Some of you may see right away what we’re up to with this name change, otherwise stay tuned!

3. HARDWARE SUPPORT – For those of you with Ivy Bridge processors, we now feature a dedicated install image with the 3.5 Linux kernel.

4. UPDATES – Many of DreamStudio’s major software packages, such as Blender, GIMP, and Inkscape have been updated to the latest stable versions, and hundreds of security updates to the base system are included.

Head over to DreamStudio’s downloads section to get the latest and greatest today!

Among professional content creators, proprietary software like Photoshop, Pro-Tools, and Final Cut, seem to be the de-facto standard. People often don’t feel they have any incentive to use open source software and open formats, citing the advantages they perceive in proprietary apps. The first advantage proprietary software often seems to have is its usefulness. If software allows me to do something i need it for (like airbrushing a photo), I’m likely to pay for it. However, if there are two apps that do the same thing, and one costs money, I’m more than likely going to take the free option, unless I need support.

As soon as something breaks, I’ll want someone to call to fix it, so I can get back to work.This has traditionally been the second advantage of any commercial software. Even if you don’t pay for a support contract, there’s an implicit warranty that comes with the knowledge that whoever took your cash when you paid for the software is probably still around to fix it for you (or at least you can track them down as long as they still have a company). What most people don’t realize is that open source software is actually easier to support, because the market for support is competitive. Imagine a world where your car dealer is the only one who can work on your car. Ever. You get a flat on the side of the road. Call your dealer. You need a new fan belt on a long drive when it breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Call your dealer. And I don’t even mean call the nearest dealer of your particular make of car. I mean the dealer you bought it from. That’s what proprietary software support is like in a nutshell. Your software supplier may be easy to reach, they may be knowledgable, but if they ever fall behind in either category, you’re essentially at their mercy, as nobody else can poke around in the source code and fix problems that aren’t a priority for them. With open source software, yeah, it’s usually free of charge, but it’s also free to be supported, maintained, and improved upon by anyone who has the skill to do so. Most of the people supporting proprietary software are regular company employees who are certainly smart enough to  just as easily be able to support open source software.

But what if you could use software that didn’t cost anything upfront, had free updates, and not only offered support, but by virtue of it’s openness, was easier for third parties to support? I can only think of one thing that would keep me from using it – interoperability. If I’m a graphic designer at an ad-firm, I need to make sure the print shop can use the same formats as I do, and the easiest way to ensure that we can both use the same formats is to use the same software. Fortunately, we realize that, which is why Dream Studio supports more formats out of the box than Windows, MacOSX, Adobe’s Creative Suite, Pro-Tools, and Final Cut combined. And unlike these proprietary solutions, we use Open Formats, so that even competing software vendors can read and write to the same formats your files are saved in. With Open Formats, you’ll never have to worry about reading old files that were created with software you’ve lost the disk for. Speaking of which, you can convert most of your old proprietary files to new open formats, so you won’t have to worry about them in the future, and for formats we can’t convert (because they weren’t open source or open formats), you can run most old DOS and Windows programs on Dream Studio if you do happen to have the install discs. Even new version of Windows won’t let you do that, let alone Macs. And unlike proprietary software – if you want to share a file or project with someone who doesn’t use open source software, you can give them a copy of the software itself.

Here are some of the formats we support:
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Adobe Flash
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Reader
Quicktime
CD Audio
DVD Video
Standard Audio Formats (wav, mp3, aac, m4a, aiff)
Standard Video Formats (avi, mpeg, mp4, mkv, mov, h.264)

Pirates

Now maybe none of what I’ve just said has swayed you. Maybe you use software that cost you nothing, that you don’t need support for, and that you know is interoperable where you need it to be, because it’s the leading software in its field, and everyone in “the business” uses it. Maybe, you’re a pirate. No judgement, but I would like to point out some of the reasons even a software pirate would want to use open source software like Dream Studio.

First of all, if you’re using pirated software, you know you won’t be supported. You may think you’ll never need support, but believe me, if and when you do, you won’t be happy having to spend money on a license for software, only to find out afterward whether or not there’s a fix for your particular issue. You see, no one will even tell you if they can support you unless they’re sure you have a proper software license. With open source software, you have available all the traditional free methods of support, like user forums and tutorials, with the distinct advantage that if you need full support, you’re getting the same treatment as every other user.

The second thing to consider is the cost of upgrades. When you pay for software, you definitely pay for upgrades, but when you use pirated software, you’re essentially at the mercy of the software pirates. If they can’t crack the latest version, or simply don’t bother to, you don’t get access to all the new features the paying customers do. And if that fact makes you consider buying a copy, you now have to pay full price, because you won’t get the upgrade discount on a package you downloaded from the internet. If you use open source software from the start, you never have to worry about situations like this, and it’s still no cost!

Consider also how many people get a computer virus from something they downloaded illegally. Sure, you can run antivirus scans on everything you use, but with Dream Studio even that’s unnecessary. There are no known viruses affecting Dream Studio. Zero. Even Mac users can’t brag about that kind of security. The very nature of open source software allows anyone to find, fix, and share security breaches. No more waiting for the second tuesday of each month to get a security patch.

Learning New Software

Now, I’ll be the first to admit, nobody likes having to learn how to use new software. This is the one final reason we sometimes hear from people afraid to make the switch to open source. We don’t want to have to learn a different way of doing things we’ve been doing for years, like making spreadsheets, moving files around, and editing videos. We’ve spent many hours learning how to do these things with the current tools, and it seems like a waste of time to have to relearn just to remain productive. The thing is, when our software changes, we’re forced to relearn things either way. Look at Windows 8, the last couple versions of Microsoft Office, Final Cut X. The proprietary programs we’re used to dealing with can, and often do, change the way they work radically. If you want up to date support, you’re eventually going to have to learn new software. You might as well start by learning to use open source software now, and make it the last switch you ever have to make.

When a proprietary program reaches its end of life, you lose access to it,  an even greater concern with software for which you’ve never had the installation files. And that’s exactly the direction proprietary software is heading. Both Microsoft and Adobe have confirmed that future versions of their software will be subscription only. It’s plain to see the problems that arise when you never have a personal copy of the software you use to do real work. When you switch to open source software like Dream Studio, you get a copy of the software and the source code, which allows you, or anyone you choose for support, to provide that support for all time. No more relying on your software vendor. No more production hours lost to an internet glitch. No more licensing audits. No more viruses. No more forced upgrades.

You see, all the advantages of open source software and open formats apply not only to the applications that you use to get work done, but even the very core of your computer – the operating system. Many people don’t like the changes in newer systems like Windows 8 and the latest OSX. With Dream Studio, you (or anyone else) can replace anything, from the login screen to the window theme. You can make it look like Mac, edit Windows files, and access it from your Android phone. And all because… it’s open.

If you’ve heard of Open Source software, and you’re thinking about giving it a try, you may be wondering why Dream Studio claims to be the best creative system available, when there are so many other options. First of all, I’m an artist. I’ve been a professional musician for 12 years, and I’ve been recording music for 17. I’ve been creating graphics like band logos, concert posters, t-shirt designs, and cd packages for 10 years, and I’ve been making music videos for the last 5. As such, I know at least what I want in the software I use, and because I believe in open source, I want to share the tools I use personally with the whole world, as so much software has been shared with me. Dream Studio, therefore, is the software I actually use, so explaining its advantages is easiest if I just try to explain what I want and need in a suite of software tools.

Firstly, I’m all about openness. Whether it’s open source, open formats, or open standards, I love open systems. Now I’ll admit, when I began using software to create things, there were some things that could only be done with closed source or proprietary software. It used to be that if you wanted to record multi-track audio, you had to use commercial software. The cheapest options were about $20, and were terribly limited. I, like many others, used pirated versions of commercial software because I couldn’t afford to pay for a full license, and there were no free or open source options available. Today things are very different. There is no longer a single thing I do, from drum programming to video effects – that can’t be done with open source software. Now, I realize that’s a personal preference, so you can always add commercial software to Dream Studio if you like, and sometimes I’d even advise it – Mixbus, the LinuxDSP plugins, and Nuke, for instance, are all excellent software, but Dream Studio, at its core, will always be open. And that’s the first thing that makes it great.

The next thing I need, and the second great thing about Dream Studio, is software availability. Because Dream Studio is based on Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is based on Debian, there is more compatible software available for Dream Studio than for any other creative distribution. Some Ubuntu software won’t work with Debian, and some Dream Studio software won’t work (or can’t be included) with Ubuntu. On the other hand, anything available on Debian is available on Ubuntu, and anything available on Ubuntu is available on Dream Studio. Since Ubuntu is the most popular general purpose Linux distribution, most software that runs on Linux is available in binary form for Ubuntu, so you don’t have to compile software yourself. Popular software like Google’s Chrome browser and Oracle’s Virtualbox release Ubuntu packages, which you can install seamlessly on Dream Studio, and software made for multiple distributions like the latest Ardour packages or nVidia drivers, as well as commercial software like Mixbus and the LinuxDSP plugins, also work great. If you really like to compile your own software, you can do that with Dream Studio as well (I usually do when testing out a new app to consider for inclusion in Dream Studio). Because I need to be able to test the widest variety of software available in the easiest way possible, I use Ubuntu as a base, and the result is that more creative software works with Dream Studio than any other creative Linux.

I also need a system that’s easy to use. It has to be easy to customize and configure, and it must be easy for me to replicate so I can set up new devices and repair old ones as quickly as possible. This is the main reason I started making a distribution to begin with, long before I released it. This is the second reason why Dream Studio is based on Ubuntu, and specifically the reason I chose to use Unity, the stock Ubuntu desktop. The Ayatana design team is doing a great job with the basic desktop, and Ubuntu’s clear documentation makes it easy to integrate with and extend every aspect of it. We’ve got media previews built into the dash, custom app indicators, keyboard shortcuts for everything, and the Heads Up Display, all making it the easiest desktop to use for complicated actions like managing multiple apps as one does with music production, or working heavily with menus as is often the case when drawing, animating, or editing photos and video.

When I began using the software that comes with Dream Studio, I was as new to it as anyone who’ll ever use it, so I needed it to be well documented and community supported. And that’s the third thing that makes Ubuntu the perfect base for Dream Studio. Having so many users, Ubuntu is well supported through forums, tutorials, and blogs. And since Dream Studio modifies as little of Ubuntu as possible, things that work on Ubuntu generally do so on Dream Studio as well. Wherever I can, I try to extend Ubuntu rather than modify it.

Sometimes, though, I may want to use Dream Studio packages on devices where Unity wouldn’t be appropriate. Because of this, Dream Studio for Ubuntu works on any Ubuntu based Linux distribution. Ubuntu Studio, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, and Linux Mint users can all use Dream Studio for Ubuntu to get the advantages of Dream Studio with their favorite desktop.

When it comes to creative software, I generally love playing with new features, like effects, workflows, and general improvements. That’s why Dream Studio uses a “semi-rolling” release schedule. While the Ubuntu core of Dream Studio stays in sync with Ubuntu’s LTS schedule, creative apps like Ardour, Blender, Inkscape, GIMP, Cinelerra, and many plugins are kept updated as new stable versions are released. As a result, core services like the desktop and hardware settings are kept stable, but you get the latest toys as well.

When I started using Linux for creative work (there used to be a distribution called “DeMuDi”), one of the things I struggled with was finding the most appropriate software given the many available options. You had to choose your desktop, your theme, your DAW, your video editor, and the only way to know which one was the best was to use it. So I used them. All. And I still use new software whenever I hear about it just to see if it would work well with Dream Studio. If you want to use extra software, like I mentioned earlier, it’s easier than on any other system. If you just want to know that you have the most capable tool for each job ( the UNIX philosophy), that’s what the default packages in Dream Studio are. Every time I’ve found something I wanted to do, I tried all the software I could find that does that job, and picked the best one. This is what I still do in Dream Studio, and the benefit is that Dream Studio users don’t have to do a bunch of sorting (though they can if they want to).

So, download Dream Studio and make us a masterpiece!

Check it out

The most exciting of these is our Live Instruction. Even if you’ve never used Dream Studio, we can walk you through every step of the creative process, from lighting and framing (in the case of photography and cinematography), to physical mastering (preparing your project for public release). Visit the official page for information on all the topics we cover.

In addition to personalized instruction, we also offer Live Support. If you need help with basic issues like setting up WiFi, or choosing a professional video card, we’d be glad to help.

For those of you who simply want advance access to the latest paid tutorials and applications, we offer a monthly subscription.

If you simply love Dream Studio and all the wonderful free services we make available, please donate to the project through the paypal button you’ll see on the right hand side of this site.

Here’s the video

Today marks the first official release of Dream Studio for Ubuntu. This GUI installer will automatically install all the software sources you need for a full Dream Studio install, and allows you to select which packages you’d like to add during installation. This makes it easy to install just the DJ packages, for instance, so you don’t have to remove a bunch of stuff you won’t actually use after installation. The installer has been tested on distributions that use Ubuntu 12.04 as a base, including Ubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu, and should also work on Linux Mint (this installer won’t install unity)

The installer will:

1. Add all the PPAs that Dream Studio comes with, then installs the base system (jack defaults, adds users to extra groups),

2. Give you a checklist for all the metapackages (audio recording, video editing, 3d graphic design, etc.).

3. Ask you what your default desktop is (unity, lxde, kde, or xfce) and installs desktop extras if you select any of the above.

4. Ask you if you’d like to install the default user settings for your user, and does so if you say yes.

Work has already begun porting this to an Ubuntu 12.10 base, so if you need to use Ubuntu 12.10, subscribe to Dream Studio on your favorite social network (use the links along the bottom of this site) to find out as soon as I can confirm that the installer works without fail on this non-LTS release.

click here to download

-Upgraded Base system, based on the Ubuntu 12.04.1 install disc.
-Many upgraded packages, such as Ardour, Blender, and Gimp
-The Dream Studio audio indicator by default, instead of QJackctl
-The addition of a hardware-specific software installer, for some audio hardware.
-The addition of all the KXStudio repositories
-The addition of slowmovideo by default, as well as a new graphics repository
-Many, many, small tweaks and performance upgrades.

This is the latest release in the 12.04 series for Dream Studio. Any current 12.04 users will be upgraded automatically.