Sphere Receiver
Version 1.3.0

Spatial panning plug-ins for Pro Tools, driven by
Sphere Flow on Apple Vision Pro.

Developed by reminitone.

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OVERVIEW

This package installs three AAX plug-ins:

SphereReceiver
  Receives object positions from the Sphere Flow app
  (Apple Vision Pro) over the local network and pans a
  mono or stereo track into 7.1.4 in real time.
  Insert it on a mono or stereo track: the track width
  becomes 7.1.4 and the object position drives the pan.

SphereConstellation
  Group receiver for 5.1 / 7.1.4 tracks. Keeps the
  channel layout as a "constellation" and moves it as
  one rigid body (position, yaw, pitch, roll, scale)
  driven by
  Sphere Flow's group mode or the six sliders. Same
  width in and out; at default values it passes the
  track through unchanged. LFE is passed through.

SphereDownMix
  Companion plug-in for the WRITE DONE workflow.
  Folds a 7.1.4 track back to its original mono/stereo
  width bit-exactly (no coefficients, no level change),
  so the Pro Tools native panner takes over again.

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FEATURES

* AAX, mono/stereo -> 7.1.4
* Wireless connection to Sphere Flow (Bonjour discovery,
  zero configuration; each insert appears in Sphere Flow
  as "<track name> - SphereReceiver")
* Manual X/Y/Z sliders - fully usable without Vision Pro
* X/Y/Z are regular automatable parameters
* WRITE DONE mode + SphereDownMix: hand the track back to
  the native panner with a bit-exact round trip
* ADM EXPORT (ADM REC): renders your pan automation to an
  ADM BWF donor file that spots itself to the correct
  timecode on Import Session Data
* SphereConstellation: group transform of 5.1 / 7.1.4 stems
  with seven automatable parameters
  (X/Y/Z/Yaw/Pitch/Roll/Scale)
* CENTER (HARD - PHANTOM): continuously blend the centre
  channel between the physical C speaker and a phantom
  image formed by L/R, in both plug-ins
* MOTION (TRAIL): optional motion trail in both
  plug-ins - energy lingers briefly in the channels a
  moving sound leaves, and a diffuse image follows
  behind fast moves. One switch; its lamp lights amber
  while active as a reminder that the sound is being
  rendered

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WORKFLOW (PAN TRANSFER TO THE NATIVE PANNER)

1. WRITE: Insert SphereReceiver on a mono/stereo track
   and write pan automation (from Sphere Flow or with the
   X/Y/Z sliders).

2. DONE: Switch SphereReceiver to DONE. The dry signal
   passes through untouched. Insert SphereDownMix after
   it: the track returns to its original width and the
   native panner is active again.

3. ADM EXPORT: Turn ADM REC on, play the range you want
   to transfer (multiple passes allowed, later passes
   win), then turn ADM REC off. The file is written to
   "<session folder>/Sphere ADM/".

4. In Pro Tools, use Import Session Data on the ADM file.
   The imported object track carries native panner
   automation at the correct timeline position. Copy its
   pan lanes to your original track and delete the donor
   track.

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

- macOS 12 (Monterey) or later,
  Apple Silicon or Intel (Universal binary)
- Pro Tools with 7.1.4 track support
  (Pro Tools Studio / Ultimate, 2023.6 or later
  recommended)
- Sphere Flow on Apple Vision Pro, on the same local
  network (optional - only needed for spatial input)

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NOTES

- While WRITE DONE is on, incoming position data is
  frozen and the instance disappears from Sphere Flow's
  receiver list (it returns when switched back to WRITE).
- SphereDownMix lights "WRITE DONE" when it detects the
  Receiver in DONE mode in front of it, and warns
  "PAN ACTIVE" if the Receiver is still panning.
- Pro Tools may show "does not meet Dolby specification"
  when importing the ADM file. This is harmless for the
  donor workflow - click OK and continue.
- Do not use pre-roll while ADM REC is on.

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VERSION HISTORY

v1.3.0

- MOTION (TRAIL), new in SphereReceiver and
  SphereConstellation: a single automatable switch that
  adds a sense of physical motion.
  * The channels a moving sound leaves decay briefly
    instead of switching off, leaving a short energy
    residue behind the movement.
  * A short diffuse image trails behind the moving sound
    and fades away as it stops.
  Defaults to OFF. When off - or while the sound is not
  moving - the output is bit-identical to previous
  versions. While active the button's lamp lights amber:
  the sound is being rendered inside the plug-in, and
  the effect is not carried into ADM EXPORT or the
  native panner after WRITE DONE - keep the plug-in
  inserted on tracks that use it. Buffers are cleared on
  locate, loop wrap and playback start, like a reverb.
- Refreshed button design across both plug-ins: engraved
  keys with status lamps (the active mode is always
  visible at a glance).
- SphereConstellation: Pitch and Roll now rotate around
  the constellation's own axes (aircraft-style
  yaw/pitch/roll). Previously they rotated around the
  room's axes, which felt wrong once Yaw was applied.
  Yaw-only, pitch-only or roll-only automation plays
  back unchanged; lanes that combine yaw with pitch or
  roll will render with the new, intuitive composition.
- SphereConstellation now also works as a mono-to-5.1/
  7.1.4 or stereo-to-5.1/7.1.4 insert: a mono input
  becomes one sphere at the Centre position, a stereo
  input becomes two spheres at L/R, and the group
  transform (position/yaw/pitch/roll/scale) pans them.
  At default values the sound stays exactly on C or L/R.
- Automation reliability overhaul: touch begin/end
  delivery is now monitored and retried, always balanced
  in touch/release pairs, and values are held until the
  touch is actually established - fixing passes that
  failed to start in busy sessions, writes that fought
  existing automation, and instances that stopped
  writing until re-activated.
- Protocol v0.7/v0.8: grab messages carry a sequence
  number, letting Sphere Flow re-arm a touch that the
  host dropped (e.g. after stopping the transport
  mid-grab) - with out-of-order network delivery
  handled correctly. Fully compatible with older
  Sphere Flow versions.
- Connection reliability: every instance now advertises
  itself with a guaranteed-unique Bonjour name (batch
  inserts and duplicated instances no longer disappear
  from Sphere Flow's list); copied instances no longer
  fight over a saved port - if a port is taken the
  plug-in falls back to an automatic one (shown in
  amber); and the OSC receiver survives conditions that
  previously silenced single instances until Pro Tools
  was restarted.

v1.2.0

  IMPORTANT - automation written with earlier versions:

  * SphereConstellation "Group X" lanes play back
    MIRRORED (left/right swapped). The lane polarity now
    matches the Pro Tools convention (up = left), the same
    as SphereReceiver's object X lanes.
  * SphereConstellation "Group Pitch" and "Group Roll"
    lanes play back at TWICE the angle. Both parameters
    now range -180..180 degrees (full rotation) instead
    of -90..90.
  Re-write those lanes after updating. Everything else
  (sessions, presets, Sphere Flow connectivity) is
  unaffected.

- CENTER control (HARD - PHANTOM), new in both
  SphereReceiver and SphereConstellation: continuously
  re-images the centre channel from the physical C
  speaker (HARD) to a phantom centre formed by L/R
  (PHANTOM). Constant-power at every setting; at full
  PHANTOM the C speaker is exactly silent. Automatable
  ("Phantom Center", 0-100 %). Default is HARD, which
  sounds identical to previous versions.
- SphereConstellation: Group Pitch and Group Roll allow a
  full rotation (-180..180, wrap-around, shortest-path
  smoothing). Sphere Flow still sends +/-90; full turns
  are drawn in automation lanes or with the sliders.
- SphereConstellation 3D view: front direction is now a
  clock-hand axis from the sphere centre (dimmed when
  pointing away), and a hollow marker shows the original
  zenith - readable at any rotation.
- Consistent value formatting everywhere: positions and
  scale show 2 decimals, angles 1 decimal (also in the
  Pro Tools automation readouts).

v1.1.2
- SphereConstellation (renamed from SphereEnsemble):
  - New 3D room view: axonometric camera, floor grid,
    height stems, group sphere frame with front arrow.
  - Pitch rotation added (seven automatable parameters:
    X/Y/Z/Yaw/Pitch/Roll/Scale).
  - Center can now travel beyond the walls: pushing the
    constellation into a wall stacks channels onto it,
    collapsing to a single point when pushed far enough.
  - Gold-toned interface; status chip shows WRITING
    while automation is being recorded.
  - Installing removes the old SphereEnsemble plug-in
    automatically.
- Automation reliability: gesture begin/end is issued on
  the host's main thread while values keep their own
  high-priority thread; editors repaint only when needed.
- Refreshed higher-contrast look for SphereReceiver and
  SphereDownMix; engine-activity indicators for the
  WRITE DONE pilot workflow.

v1.1.1
- SphereConstellation: the status chip now shows "WRITING"
  while a grab gesture is active, so you can see at a
  glance whether automation is being written.

v1.1.0
- New plug-in: SphereConstellation. Insert on a 5.1 or 7.1.4
  track and move the whole channel layout as one body
  (position, yaw, roll, scale), driven by Sphere Flow's
  group mode over the network or by the six sliders.
  Six automatable parameters, LFE passthrough, and unity
  passthrough at default values.
- Receivers now announce their type and layout to
  Sphere Flow on connection (/sphere/config).

v1.0.3
- Automation writing now runs on a dedicated
  high-priority thread, independent of Pro Tools'
  main thread. Lanes stay smooth even in heavy
  sessions where the UI thread is congested.

v1.0.2
- Stall gate for automation writing: when the incoming
  position stream pauses (e.g. periodic wireless stalls),
  the plug-in stops writing points and lets Pro Tools'
  linear interpolation bridge the gap, so lanes show a
  natural slope instead of a stair step.

v1.0.1
- Much smoother automation lanes when writing from
  Sphere Flow: parameter writes now sample the latest
  position on a 60 Hz timer and apply the same 30 ms
  smoothing as the audio path, so recorded lanes match
  what you heard during the pass.

v1.0.0
- Initial release

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LICENSE

Sphere Receiver is commercial software.

You may:
- use it in personal or commercial productions
- install it on computers that you own or control

You may not:
- redistribute the plug-ins or modified versions
- claim authorship of the software

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CONTACT

info@reminitone.com

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(c) 2026 reminitone
