Outline Adds Bitfocus Companion Plug-In to Newton User Experience

Outline Newton, the patented FPGA-based digital signal processor, is about to ramp up its user experience with a Bitfocus Companion native plug-in the integrates with any Elgato Stream Deck hardware control interface.

"With application-specific features aimed at a simpler, quicker, and safer access to most relevant functions of Newton's workflow, users upgrading their setup to include any Elgato Stream Deck model device can now add one further layer of interaction rooted in both the physical and visual domains, complementing their desktop or tablet experience with the popular graphical push-buttons interface," says Andrea Ippolito, software development dean at Outline.

"As the plug-in sits at the crossroads of Newton's and Elgato's respective control protocols, the addition of any Elgato Stream Deck device provides a substantial improvement of operational safety, with a nod to the proverbial 'show-must-go-on' usage scenario: shall an asteroid ever hit Control Mothership between Newton and Isaac, any command imparted via Stream Deck push-buttons will reach Newton and produce the intended effect nonetheless," adds Paolo Calza, application engineer at Outline.

"Under close scrutiny, it's only fair to say that Elgato Stream Deck is but one of the many different control platforms that Bitfocus' Companion framework can effectively address and link, albeit arguably the most popular one; in this light, while a number of functions can be user-programmed also via the Elgato proprietary software suite, Outline's native Bitfocus' Companion plug-in is released at public level, hence realizing straight-out-of-the-box functionality with no tweaking or guesswork needed (for the presets included in the current release, of course)," says Gabriele Maucione, software developer at Outline.

Patch monitoring and re-arm, source- and clock redundancy, snapshot recall, as well as discrete action-feedback indications are but a few of the functions on offer: "It's a seamless, straightforward, transparent integration devoid of any coding or programming effort...not only is it like having a pair of extra dab hands at hand (pun intended) -- they're firmer, and safer, too," closes Ippolito.