Image-Line Software (commonly known as simply Image-Line) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

company best known for its

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integra ...

program

FL Studio FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is avail ...

and related

audio plugin An audio plug-in, in computer software, is a plug-in that can add or enhance audio-related functionality in a computer program. Such functionality may include digital signal processing or sound synthesis. Audio plug-ins usually provide their o ...

s such as Sytrus and Harmor. Image-Line was founded in 1994. In 2007, Image-Line introduced

Deckadance Deckadance (often referred to as DD) is a DJ console and mixing tool developed by Image-Line software and acquired in 2015 by Gibson. Initially released in May 2007, it operates on Windows and Mac OS X, and comes in a House Edition and Club E ...

, a virtual DJ console application. The company also produced EZGenerator, a template-based web editing program.

History

Early development

Image-Line was founded by Jean-Marie Cannie and Frank Van Biesen, who after seven years of creating stock market software for Pavell Software, decided in 1992 to branch into

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...

. Their first product was an adult video game based on ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet Union, Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute o ...

'', which they then offered on

floppy disks A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

in the ad section of ''Computer Magazine''. Around this time CD-ROM games such as

The 7th Guest ''The 7th Guest'' is an interactive movie puzzle adventure game, produced by Trilobyte and originally released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in April 1993. It is one of the first computer video games to be released only on CD-ROM. ''The 7 ...

were becoming popular, inspiring Van Biesen and Cannie to begin working with Private, one of the larger producers of adult video games at the time. Private released multiple Image-Line CD-ROM games including ''Private Prison'' and ''Private Castle''. The company officially adopted the name Image-Line in 1994.

Didier "Gol" Dambrin

Around the time they released the games for Private, IBM launched the "Da Vinci" contest where the first prizes were color laptops. Image-Line, which at the time had little money, won the contest in the multimedia category after reworking one of their game environments to fit the contest criteria. Image-Line took an interest in Didier "Gol" Dambrin, the developer who won the overall Da Vinci contest as well as the Game category. They hired the 19-year-old to work for them, and his first game for the company was the game ''Private Investigator.'' Dambrin's next project for Image-Line was the platform game ''Eat This'', a

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

game that involved killing aliens. Other Image-Line developers created products such as the

invoicing An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer. Payment ...

program Fact2000 and E-OfficeDirect, a content-based web tool that would a precursor to their later product EZGenerator. Image-Line also topped the Belgian game charts 4 years in a row with their CD version of the Belgian TV

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' Blokken.''

Audio software

In 1997 Dambrin gained an interest in music applications of the time such as Hammerhead and Rebirth 338, and developed a simple

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

-only drum machine in an effort to merge the two products into a

step sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...

that utilized both rows and steps. Dubbed FruityLoops 1.0, the program didn't fit with Image-Line's other product lines of the time. However, the demo version released in December 1997 became so popular that the number of downloads quickly overwhelmed the Image-Line servers. To gather income to support their servers, Image-Line had Dambrin develop an EJay clone called FruityTracks. Image-Line then served as the program's

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

for

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

. The program was released as Pro-DJ in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and the UK, and Radio 538 Music Machine in The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. Image-Line continued to develop the FruityLoops application from a simple drum machine into a large and complex

. FruityLoops was eventually renamed

for branding purposes and to avoid a prolonged trademark dispute in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

with

Kelloggs The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

. FL Studio is now one of the most popular software production systems in the world, and Image-Line's flagship program. A multitude of

plug-in Plug-in, plug in or plugin may refer to: * Plug-in (computing) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. ** Audio plug-in, adds audio signal processing features ** Photoshop plugin, a piece of softwar ...

s have been developed by Image-Line to work with FL Studio, including synthesizers such as Sytrus and

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a b ...

plugins Plug-in, plug in or plugin may refer to: * Plug-in (computing) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. ** Audio plug-in, adds audio signal processing features ** Photoshop plugin, a piece of software t ...

such as Maximus and Edison. In 2007 Image-Line released

, a DJ mixing program developed by programmer Arguru. Deckadance works as both a stand-alone program and as a FL Studio plugin.

Other software

Beyond audio products, Image-Line developed and distributed EZGenerator, a software program for website design and maintenance. EZGenerator has won multiple awards since its release.

Products

References

External links

*
FL Studio websiteDeckadance websiteEZGenerator website
{{Authority control Software companies of Belgium Belgian companies established in 1994 Companies based in East Flanders