Update I/O plugins for 7.1

[ardour-manual] / include / io-plugins.html

diff --git a/include/io-plugins.html b/include/io-plugins.html
index 7a2d952ea693de5e5192bd003cd073fdb94877f3..2a76031903744af01324f0fce021d27dd50bf245 100644 (file)
--- a/include/io-plugins.html
+++ b/include/io-plugins.html
@@ -11,8 +11,17 @@
   number of tracks or busses in Ardour. This is a lot like doing some of the
   processing with a chain of guitar pedals, then feeding the signal to an Aux In
   port on a mixing console or an input port on a multi-effects digital
-  pedalboard. The rationale for pre-processing with I/O plugins is that it's a
-  more lightweight way to do it as compared to busses.
+  pedalboard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+  The rationale for pre-processing with I/O plugins is that it's a more
+  lightweight way to do it as compared to busses. Much of that is because busses
+  have automatable parameters such as fader and panner positions, as well as
+  plugins' parameters. Evaluating parameter automation (even when there's none)
+  adds additional load to the CPU. However I/O plugins are not automatable, so
+  there's no evaluation happening. As far as Ardour is concerned, they are
+  almost like JACK audio server clients running alongside Ardour.
 </p>
 
 <p>
@@ -22,6 +31,11 @@
   IP to a receiver for broadcasting.
 </p>
 
+<figure>
+  <img style="width:50%;" width="50%" src="/images/io-plugins-ndi-input.png" alt="NDI Input plugin loaded as a pre-processing I/O plugin">
+  <figcaption>NDI Input plugin loaded as a pre-processing I/O plugin</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
 <p>
   It's also possible to use the post-processing section to load plugins for room
   correction or signal analysis (VU meters, spectrum analyzers etc.).
@@ -87,3 +101,15 @@
   <img style="width:50%;" width="50%" src="/images/io-plugins-new-track-from-io-plugin.png" alt="New track connected to an I/O plugin">
   <figcaption>New track connected to an I/O plugin</figcaption>
 </figure> 
+
+<p>
+  On the <kbd class="window">Audio Connections</kbd> dialog, the ports of pre-
+  and post-process plugins are listed on dedicated tabs
+  (<kbd class="tab">I/O Pre</kbd> and <kbd class="tab">I/O Post</kbd>),
+  separately from all other ports.
+</p>
+
+<figure>
+  <img style="width:50%;" width="50%" src="/images/io-plugins-in-audio-connections.png" alt="I/O Plugins in the Audio Connections dialog">
+  <figcaption>I/O Plugins in the Audio Connections dialog</figcaption>
+</figure>