Greetings from Portland, video friends. January (and now most of February) have delivered some frustrating setbacks for both work and personal life. We had our furnace in the home/workshop go out for 10 days in January, followed by me getting sick for a couple of weeks. This kept me off the Chromagnon workbench, but I used the time to make more progress with the firmware.

Currently in the workshop we're scrambling to build the last few module restocks required to put a few Double Vision systems on the shelf. If you want one, they will be available soon!

The Chromagnon Core RevH board has been reviewed, and I'm now making a few changes for RevI. Since I'm aiming for this to be the production version, I'm being careful to review every line item on the BOM against current supply chain availability, and find alternates for a few components that are more costly than they need to be.

During my firmware sprint in January, I wrote a desktop app which communicates over USB with our hardware, allowing remote settings editing and monitoring. This is a big feature boost for Chromagnon, as it means I can enable user control over many advanced settings that aren't accessible via the frontpanel or Chromagnon's rear 16-position DIP switch. I have been integrating the communications library into other projects as well, and the plan is to release the desktop application as a general purpose utility for interacting with all of the LZX embedded hardware in greater detail.

Jonah and I have also been wrapping up the details on a few new modules that have been in development, and trying to "close all our open tabs" in this regard. Here's a list of modular projects we've finalizing.

Analog Computing Operators

• PGO, Programmable Gain & Offset (4HP) - available now!
• PRM, Precision Rectifier & Multiplier (4HP)
• PAB, Programmable Active Buffers (4HP)

Passive Utilities

• MLT, Passive Multiples (8HP)
• LNK, Passive Links (4HP)
• P, Passive Potentiomter (2HP)

Other Projects

• New video encoder designs, including digital outputs
• A slim new audio envelope/low frequency event generator module
• Expedition Mk2 releases such as a new War of the Ants and Sensory Translator
• EuroRack +/-12V power supply expanders for the Vessel 168/Vessel 84 cases.
• The Vessel 208 case, which will feature a high quality latching lid for travel

Also in the past few weeks I have been working with graphic designer Ramin Rahni, who has been developing illustrations for the Gen3 modules for our documentation website we launched with PGO back in October. I'd also like to shout out Gary MacLeod, a community member who has helped immensely with solving issues with our website -- which now loads much faster, and has better product galleries. We have Aaron Ross, a beloved community member and instructional designer, lined up to help with content editing and development too. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with these pros in a bartered exchange for modules -- as our budgets are quite slim going into Chromagnon season.

In parting, I received a note recently that expressed frustration over having not received an apology for the run-on-sentence that has been the Chromagon project timeline. To be clear and quite frank: I am deeply sorry for the wait, and I take full and unequivocal responsibility for it. I feel the sorriness of it deep in my bones each night as I'm trying fall asleep. I feel it deep in my gut every time I pause to think about the number of artists who made a purchase with their budget for creative equipment they do not yet have in their hands. This project has been the exact opposite of the scenario I wanted with LZX, and the biggest project planning/timing blunder I've ever made in my life. I also feel quite guilty I can't just lock myself in a room 24/7 until it's done -- the business has to be run, kids have to eat, rent has to be paid, so products still have to be developed alongside. I'm continuously rotating through projects, and moving Chromagnon forward with as many resources as I can give it. I'm really looking forward to delivering on the promise of this device, and ending this chapter in our shared story. Despite it all, thank you for believing in the dream of Chromagnon. You have all been very understanding and I owe you my gratitude. I can't speak for all of you, but I know for some it will have been more than worth the wait.

Love and light, I look forward to writing again soon,

Lars

Happy New Year from us here at LZX! We are grateful for an opportunity to be part of your creative lives and wish you triumphant returns on all of your endeavors in 2025. It is our fifteenth year of offering tools to you, and our eighteenth year of developing analog video synthesizers. I feel very excited about our point of view on our existing and future projects at LZX, and 2025 should be fun year.

The requested Chromagnon recap: 2024 started off strong, with the launch of this production blog, and a new redesign of the Chromagnon Core assembly: RevF. This assembly was designed to put all the remaining assembly work onto a single board, so that we could finally start shipping the project. Our plans moved strongly thru the RevF review, but there were still several functional changes that needed to be made. Then we got hit with the unexpected: sales slowed drastically this year, forcing us to downsize.

Moving into the Summer, we lost a few months of Chromagnon time scrambling to update processes and keep the business flowing. By the end of the Summer, this task was done, and the second Chromagnon revision for the year was in review: RevG. During the late Summer and into the Fall I wrote Chromagnon's firmware, as RevG was complete enough to write all the firmware functionality. But there were still a few issues to resolve with the hardware, so in October I heavily into the RevH revisions. With this revision, we also needed to integrate Chromagnon into our workflow outsourcing SMT assemblies.

The RevH order was sent in November, and review of the RevH prototype has been ongoing (and successful) since early December, with a couple of bumps in the road that required us to pick it up and put it back down a couple of times while waiting for parts. So, going well, but not going fast. The review is almost complete, and after it's done I'll make another blog post about what's next. We are close to our "ship unit one" milestone, which is when a complete hardware unit goes to a beta tester. That might be RevH, or it may be RevI -- not positive yet.

What else did we do in 2024? We launched our new 6U case design, and our first packaged system: Double Vision. We also released the utility module PGO, and we said goodbye to Vidiot, with a limited run of 24 units using our remaining stock of enclosures.

What else will we do in 2025? We have a few new module designs nearing readiness we are excited to introduce. We will also keep building and expanding on the documentation website, and providing some fresh content for existing modules.

What would you like to see from LZX this year? We'd love to hear all about your needs.

Talk again soon, Lars

Hi Vidiots & Vidiettes! We're happy to say we got the shipping notification for the Chromagnon Core PCB prototypes mentioned in the last blog today. The next update will focus on that -- in this one I wanted to provide a few updates about projects we are working on to keep the company running as we get through the final milestones with Chromagnon.

The first is a new module, PGO, a 4HP Programmable Gain & Offset processor, which is now available.

This module is the first in a new series of modules titled P Series, which will focus on core utility modules that are available in both assembled and DIY forms. We have also used PGO to prototype a more complete approach to our product documentation, and you can see what that looks like here at https://docs.lzxindustries.net/docs/modules/pgo. P Series can be considered the successor to Cadet series, as well as Expedition modules providing raw functions, such as Bridge and Arch. We have a few more planned, and we'll release them over the upcoming months.

PGO may not appeal to every video synthesist -- it is a raw function, and is the kind of module you can use as a building block in patching more complex custom functions. For myself, I'm very excitd to have 16 of them in their own rack, and using that rack for future development ideas. For existing Gen3 owners, you could use it this way -- or in a few other contexts as well. Check out the docs linked above for more on that topic.

In other news, we have a few new variations for the Double Vision System available. The first is the option to purchase Double Vision with our 168HP modular case, allowing 84HP of empty space to grow into.

The second is an expanded Double Vision system including 168HP of Gen3 modules.

The third is an expander for existing Double Vision owners, allowing you to upgrade your existing Double Vision to the 168HP and 84HP of new modules.

We have stock of these variants available now.

Let's answer your questions!

Van Ta asked, "Those 4Q multiplier submodules from the last entry look really exciting. Are you planning to sell them as well for DIYers?"

I'd like to! I'm not sure what form that will take yet, in light of the P Series DIY modules, and our next development plans. The next P Series module is a programmable comparator, switch, and multiplier combo function. Since it is a 4HP module, I'm going with an IC based multiplier for the first prototype. The discrete cell designs are probably most practical in the context of a DIY rotator or matrix multiplier module. If I don't do something specific with the boards I developed, I will consider releasing the designs so others can dig in.

Asjave asked, "Does the Double Vision system have everything in the Chromagnon and more, or are there features in Chromagnon that don't exist in the Double-Vision system? Thank you!"

Double Vision and Chromagnon are entirely different video synthesizers, with different internal functions. They are similar in that they can both process an SD/HD analog video signal, and perform various shape generation, pattern synthesis, feedback, and colorization effects. But the specifics are quite different. The biggest functional add for Double Vision is its open ended patchability and being able to mix and process two external video sources. You could consider Chromagnon a video processor, and Double Vision a video mixer.

Sig asked, "Any chance the new TBC2 VGA expander comes with an EDID chip? If not, would you consider this for a future version? I think it would be a really nice feature."

Hi Sig, no -- the VGA expander doesn't have an EDID chip, but that is an interesting proposal. In its current architecture, TBC2 is designed to auto-detect the incoming video format and, if supported, lock to it. An EDID chip would allow the transmitting device to read the supported input formats and present those as valid options to the user. Since you can see the supported TBC2 input formats in our documentation, you should be able to configure your device appropriately as it is -- but I can understand why the EDID chip would be a nice thing to have.

Pat said, "Hi! I just finished reading the latest monthly journal entry (November). It sounds like you guys are making some great progress but I'm a little confused with all the technical talk and where Chromagnon sits along the timeline of being finished. Would it be possible to include some type of metric in each post for the layman? Say, like a percentage of completion where 100% means the unit is ready to ship? I appreciate all the details but it's hard for me to figure out what it all means in the big picture."

I understand -- I appreciate that the jargon may be frustrating to read when you are looking for an answer to a simple question. At the beginning of the year on January 5th's blog, I outlined 3 milestones to completing this project:

• Production ready
• Ship unit one
• Ship all pre-orders

Since there are so many moving pieces involved in the project, it would be difficult to quantify percentage complete in terms of the overall ongoing project. For example, most of the production work is already done, since Chromagnon's control board assembly went into production back in 2021-2022. Going into this year, the "Production ready" milestone includes finalizing parts design, PCB design, and firmware. Compared to where we were in January, parts design is 100% done, PCB design is pending 100% done, and firmware is 95% done. We were at this state back in August too, but the most recent PCB design needed more work, and it took a few weeks to make that revision. So in other words, if no more hardware revisions are neccessary on this incoming prototype -- we will be moving past the Production ready milestone finally, before the end of the year. The leap from Production Ready to Ship Unit One is not so big, and much easier to estimate. It will happen right after production ready, as most of the tasks involved in prepping for that next milestone have already been completed. I hope this helps you understand better where we are with the project.

Dan asked, "Do you think Chromagnon will be shipping by Christmas 2024?"

It is quite possible we will reach the Ship Unit One milestone (see above reply to Pat) before the end of the year. Sometime in December, after reviewing the next incoming PCB prototype, I will know for sure.

Thanks for reading -- please write in using this form if you have questions: https://wkf.ms/47lhPPA

Hello video fiends -- we hope everyone had a spooky Halloween!

Per my last missive at the beginning of October, I was focusing in on revisions to the Chromagnon Core RevH board. The plan was to have those revisions complete and the board reviewed before the end of October, and I was developing multiple discrete submodules to aid in that task. I'm happy to say that the board is now ordered, but with a few weeks of hassle -- both in the revision process, and the coordination process with our external vendor.

A discrete quad multiplier subassembly and testing jig

After racing between various solutions, I was able to settle on one that did not require submodules at all, in order to fit the full circuit onto the existing assembly -- which is a good thing, for Chromagnon.

Chromagnon Core RevH

The board's BOM is so big it was causing issues with the vendor's system initially -- thankfully they were able to resolve that, but it cost us over a week. I wanted to hit this milestone before publishing a new blog. It's nice to be writing this one knowing that assembly is underway, and that I'll be able to begin testing RevH immediately when it arrives in the latter half of November.

Despite being behind where I wanted to be at the end of October, this milestone is quite exciting. With the off site assembly process flowing smoothly, we have the stage set for formal production when it is go time. I look forward to writing another update about Chromagnon toward the end of the month.

In other news, in the time in between Chromagnon tasks, I have been working on our new documentation website at https://docs.lzxindustries.net. You may be there already, as it is the new location for this blog. Most of the content is hidden from public view for now, but I'm quite happy with how the illustration and writing process is going so far. We'll be migrating most content from our current website to this new static site soon -- including all module documentation, resources and articles.

Finally, here's a teaser of a new module we have been working on. It will be available as a DIY project as well as assembled.

We'll tell you more about it and more about the docs site in the next update. I have a little over a week before my Chromagnon board arrives, to make some progress in these areas.

Other news: more Double Vision systems are being built this month and are available to order now. We have healthy stock of most Gen3 modules, if you're looking to pick up something new for your system this Fall.

Thanks for reading -- please write in using this form if you have questions: https://wkf.ms/47lhPPA

September flew right past us here at LZX, with steady (if tedious) progress toward Chromagnon production on my end, and multiple longer term production projects wrapping up in the workshop.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Summers and is looking forward to the Fall. For me, this time of year has always meant getting ready to learn, whether that was in my prior career in e-learning development, with my kids starting the next grade, or in my own educational goals. This year it will mean entering a period of content creation for LZX-- documentation, videos, tutorials, and any other resources that serve your own learning and creative pursuits in making video art.

Over the past several weeks I have been writing Chromagnon’s firmware, and I’m happy to say that I now have a complete version ready for testing. I wanted to reach this milestone before I wrote a new blog, as it represents my exit from the Code Cave and back into the workshop. So let my eyeballs readjust – this blog will mostly be about the software.

Dear video friends,

June has seen a lot of projects landing at the workshop and some significant pushes in firmware development. Over the Spring we have transitioned into outsourcing SMT assembly of our modules in smaller batches, in an effort to keep things stocked and flowing, and those efforts are running smoothly.

Hello on Tuesday. I hope everyone in the States had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Lots to cover in this update, so I will be terse.

Black prototypes of the Chromagnon plastic pieces and enclosure arrived, and the test fits are looking great. The pieces below aren't final for the enclosure, but should give you the plan on how it all fits together. Now that all the dimensional constraints are confirmed, I can make any cosmetic tweaks (rounded corners, for example) and order an initial production quantity.

Wow! April flew past, here at LZX HQ. Our improvements to operations and inventory have allowed us to process a large number of tasks in the ongoing effort to keep modules and stock while taking steady steps towards Chromagnon's launch.

Hello, video pals!

We are pushing through April! The current primary focus is on preparing our resource planning system for Chromagnon and smoothly flowing the production of our other projects.

Hello, Chromagnonites and other video freaks.

March has flown past here at headquarters. The last 3 weeks have been dedicated to a spring cleaning of the workspace and an inventory data update, in preparation for Chromagnon and continuing module production. There were some shifts in team schedules which have required me to focus most of my time on this project, so I apologize for missing some blog posts.

Hello everyone,

I apologize that we missed last week's update. I was dealing with family visiting from out of state, a dental emergency, and a busy week of high school musical performances (my child Kat was in a production of Grease.) We did meet several goals however --

A quick update for last week.

Good afternoon, video folk.

This past week were happy to celebrate validation of the analog circuitry on the Chromagnon Core RevF board -- and we're close to fully integrating the changes into RevG.

Hello, Chromagnonites.

It's been another productive week validating the Chromagnon Core assembly. The video output is looking good (see below), but it required some complex rework to get there.

Hello friends,

It's nice and sunny here in SE Portland. This week was another steady week of Chromagnon testing and firmware updates for the new core assembly, with a few foibles. (My trusty lab laptop needs a new power jack installed.)

Hello Chromagnonfolk,

We had a busy week here, catching up on activities after being iced in last week. I spent most of the week reviewing the Chromagnon Core PCB RevF, and am relieved to report the assembly has passed everything in the 42-step test plan I mentioned in the last blog post.

Hello visual artists and Chromagnonites -- this week has been a bit crazy. Here in Portland we have all been iced into our homes since the holiday on Monday, so the typical workshop crew is working abroad. We've focused that on getting ahead on content creation for new videos and social media posts -- a project that is going well and should buy us some free days in February. I'm thankful everyone in the shop also has systems at home, or else this would not have been possible.

Howdy Chromagnon-folk. It's Friday and the week has been productive at LZX HQ. We're expecting snow over this upcoming holiday weekend here in southeast Portland.

Greetings Chromagnonites.

We’ve had a great start to the year here in the workshop. A handy form was provided in the last journal entry and you sent in a lot of questions! This post will be focused on answering all of them.

It's Friday... howdy! As promised in the last post, here is a list of notable milestones we reached at LZX in 2023.

It's the last Saturday of 2023, and it's been a busy week. With some LZX teammates out of town and under the weather, I've done my best to mind the shop and ship your orders.

It is a Monday: the 18th of December, 2023. At LZX we are wrapping up an exhausting year, and probably our most challenging yet. It has been difficult to speak publicly on our ongoing plans and projects with a mammoth in the room: Chromagnon is multiple years overdue, and I have failed to accurately estimate the shipping date a few times now.