Ask Justin Frankel

justin = { main feed , music , code , askjf , pubkey };

Ask Justin Frankel
No reasonable question unanswered since 2009!

Suggested topics: programming, music, sleep, coffee, etc.

Note: please do not ask questions about REAPER features, bugs or scheduling, use the forums instead.

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[older questions]

Question: Watching the world cup?
Asked by Tony (125.237.128.x) on July 13 2026, 1:54am

Question: I'm trying to understand the precision of the @gfx graphics system. Does it use 8-bit integer or floating-point arithmetic internally for blending operations (like gfx_a)? how does it handle very low alpha values, such as gfx_a=0.01, does it get truncated to 8-bit?
Asked by 8-bit gfx? (102.176.101.x) on July 12 2026, 11:07pm

Question: THIS : github.com/RobKor77/ReaperDarkMode; life saviour for Windows user who are tired of staring the white bright lines and windows even in dark theme because of Windows legacy stuffs. Justin, you should include it in your installer haha. It's very good, almost feels like native. Just the EULA and Changelong in About window are white, other than these, all are dark. And by applying Reapertips Theme, REAPER becomes even more beautiful and appealing to look into, looks like a pure, dark theme softwa
Asked by Abhi (223.181.44.x) on July 11 2026, 5:58pm
Reply on July 11 2026, 6:24pm:

Problem is, that extension does a lot of really messy, dirty things to the OS, in order to make it work. We could do the same, but it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. My hope is that someday MS makes there be a clean way to do this stuff. Comment...

Question: Hello, to make a portable version, what can be added to the configuration file to change the status of these two settings? Show splash screen on startup and skip animation I tried several times and failed
Asked by kander (134.195.101.x) on July 11 2026, 11:03am
Reply on July 11 2026, 6:23pm:

It should work to set the preference after running it as normal? What OS? 1 Comment...

Question: Have you ever thought of implementing one of the popular REAPER scripts as a native REAPER feature
Asked by Mommy (89.45.90.x) on July 11 2026, 5:52am
Reply on July 11 2026, 6:23pm:

Not directly, but there have definitely been features that have been added because of a compelling script or extension 1 Comment...

Question: Hi Justin! I was wondering if you still have an old video you recorded back in October 2005 of you launching a RC airplane from Belboa Park, you mentioned it in one of your blog posts from the time and the link doesn't seem to work anymore. If you do have it, can it perhaps be seen once again by your audience, and if not, that's fine too... Have a good day!
Asked by Phoebe (75.221.165.x) on July 9 2026, 11:26pm
Reply on July 10 2026, 3:50pm:

hah sure, re-encoded it to mp4 and added some extra footage I had, updated the original post too.

new mp4

3 Comments...

Question: What do you think of this...youtube.com/watch?v=Bp2ai2MD4Mk
Asked by adam (134.195.101.x) on July 9 2026, 9:17am
Reply on July 9 2026, 1:59pm:

I get why people convert their software to a subscription model, but I don't like it. At all. Speaking of which I have a WinXP VM that I use for QuickBooks 2007, which I bought new and still use today. Comment...

Question: Can the path of REAPER Preferences/General/Paths use relative paths?I want to put all the project cache recordings and other content together with my portable version.
Asked by cats (112.225.225.x) on July 7 2026, 2:45pm
Reply on July 7 2026, 6:32pm:

Don't think so, at the moment, but will look into doing that. 1 Comment...

Question: Hello Justin, is there any chance I could get your YouTube handle @deadbeef?
Asked by Logan (161.216.164.x) on July 5 2026, 6:32pm
Reply on July 5 2026, 7:07pm:

Uhh nah I like it 2 Comments...

Question: If computers had never been invented, what other profession you would likely have gone into? Full time musician? Spiritual guide(because of the beard ;) )?
Asked by Mespotine (109.104.47.x) on July 5 2026, 6:31pm
Reply on July 5 2026, 7:08pm:

Probably something aerospace related, always enjoyed playing with R/C planes as a kid... Comment...

Question: Someone posted this: Do you think there’s such a problem? Lately I’ve mixed some live recordings and noticed that when doing multitrack mixing in REAPER, the sound while working in the DAW always feels like there’s a veil over it. The more tracks, the more obvious it gets. But after exporting, the audio is noticeably clearer and more detailed. After repeated testing, 32-bit float gives the best quality — nearly the same as the exported file — followed by 16-bit. The default 64-bit setting sounds a bit muddy
Asked by colors (112.225.225.x) on July 5 2026, 11:31am
Reply on July 5 2026, 5:39pm:

I think if you're going by feelings you're making a mistake... you should either quantify the differences using scientific process or A/B/X it to see if your perceptions are quantifiable... Comment...

Question: I once found the source code for your NetMon; now I can't seem to find it! Any clues?
Asked by MEAK (41.33.145.x) on July 5 2026, 8:25am
Reply on July 5 2026, 5:37pm:

It should be in the installer

here

Comment...