Engine Builder

Create brings together your engine’s sound, artwork, and controls. Start with a supplied core and visual parts, then make it your own.

Follow the step-by-step lessons →

Engine, core, and preset

• Engine: a saved instrument design containing its sound recipe, visual parts, layout, and details.
• Core: the sound-processing foundation of an engine. A user core is an editable recipe based on a supplied algorithm.
• Preset: a saved set of playing controls. Saving a preset and saving an engine design are different operations.

Your first engine

1. Open Create from the main plug-in toolbar, then open Engine Builder. Choose New Engine in the engine library.
2. In Setup, choose One Core for a simpler first project, or two cores for two switchable sound states.
3. Choose a sound from the Choose Core dropdown. In a two-core engine, choose both Core 1 and Core 2. Preview selects the lane for auditioning; Inspect shows its stages; Modify makes an editable copy of a factory recipe.
4. Continue through Setup: choose the panel size, then the panel artwork. Keep the supplied artwork for your first engine. If you import a panel, its PNG dimensions must match the selected size exactly.
5. In Visuals, open each visual group, select the part you want, and press SELECT. Check the main knobs, Mix knob, and slider thumb; two-core engines also expose switch artwork.
6. In Details, give the engine a recognisable name, thumbnail, description, and tags.
7. In Review, resolve every blocking issue and check the polish notes. Save the engine into your library, then select it to use it.

Finding your way around

The new-engine wizard has four stages: Setup → Visuals → Details → Review. Setup contains several smaller steps. The editor’s main toolbar uses Home, Setup, Look, and Sound: Home opens the libraries, Look edits the appearance and positions, and Sound opens the sound-design workspace. These are different navigation levels.

Choose a core

The 17 supplied cores are organised into five families:

• Clean Width: Lagrange 3rd, Lagrange 5th, Cubic, and Thiran.
• Vintage Memory: BBD and Tape.
• Motion Field: Phase Warp, Orbit, Flange, and Barber Pole.
• Density: Ensemble, Multi Rate, Granular, and Formant.
• Spectral / Chaos: Linear, Stochastic, and Phase Vocoder.

The core switch selects between two sound lanes; its off position does not bypass the plug-in. Use your DAW’s bypass for a processed/unprocessed comparison.

Build a reusable core recipe

1. Choose a factory core in Setup and use Modify, or open a factory core in the core library and choose Duplicate to edit.
2. Your copy appears in Your Cores. Factory recipes remain unchanged.
3. Select a sound stage to inspect its controls. Tune the exposed values and replace a component only where that stage allows it.
4. Audition one change at a time with audio playing through Choroboros. User-core edits are saved to the recipe; save the engine draft separately when its design is complete.

Create edits the supplied DSP building blocks and their supported parameters. It does not compile new DSP code or load arbitrary third-party effects.

Shape the sound

Sound exposes the selected recipe’s stages and tuning controls. The available controls depend on the core and selected stage. A curve may describe modulation or a control mapping, not an equaliser. Read its axis labels: frequency labels belong to the spectrum, while a control curve may use percentages. The live spectrum needs audio passing through the plug-in.

Add artwork and controls

Use the supplied parts first, or browse the custom asset collection. For your own files, select the intended role before importing. An asset imported into the library still needs to be selected for the engine.

• Panels: the background, including recessed tracks, value wells, and lamp artwork. Match the chosen canvas; the standard Choroboros body is 1400 × 725 pixels.
• Main knobs: separate Rate, Depth, Offset, and Width sheets. Each PNG is 3132 × 3132, with 100 frames of 300 × 300 and 12-pixel padding.
• Mix knob: its own 1632 × 1632 PNG, with 100 frames of 150 × 150 and 12-pixel padding.
• Switch: a 2560 × 2560 PNG with 25 frames of 512 × 512. Assign the appropriate state artwork.
• Color slider thumb: a 200 × 400 PNG. The recessed track belongs in the panel artwork.
• Thumbnail: a square PNG for the library card.

Imports must be valid PNGs no larger than 24 MiB. Keep transparency around movable controls. Use the supplied sheet layout as a template; stretching a single knob photograph into the full sheet will not create an animation.

For a two-core design, check both panel and control states. Align controls with the artwork, keep value text inside its wells, and check the longest displayed values as well as shorter ones. Preview at the actual plug-in size before saving.

Save, export, and import

Save keeps the engine in your local library. Export creates a signed engine file: .kzn for an engine using supplied assets, or .kzn.zip when user assets must travel with it. Signed export needs an active saved licence or trial and access to the signing service. Saving locally and exporting are separate steps.

Use the engine library’s import action to load an exported engine. Import also requires an active trial or paid licence. Keep the complete bundle together; do not send only the internal .kzn file when its artwork is in the ZIP.

Troubleshooting

• No audible preview: use Choroboros on an audio track with playback running. Selecting Preview chooses a lane; it does not generate an example sound.
• Controls are cramped: open the detached Builder window and enlarge it. Some editing controls need more room.
• PNG rejected: check the role, dimensions, and file size above. Panel dimensions follow the selected canvas, not the knob sheet size.
• Export fails: check your connection and licence/trial status. Your locally saved engine is separate from the export attempt.

Need help? Contact support@kaizendsp.com with the app version, macOS version, DAW, plug-in format, and the step that failed. Never include your licence key in a public screenshot.