Reply To: Preview 2.23: Redesigned group panel

@Zynewave wrote:

I’ve implemented a new “slider with value popup” control type, which I’m considering making the default, as shown in the screenshot. Moving the mouse over for example a send slider will show “Send: -3.20 dB” in a popup above the control. Often you don’t need the full decimal value indicated all the time. I think it helps clean up the UI.

While I agree that you’re better off not seeing numbers (and thus maybe mixing by them) all the time, I don’t understand why it would be better to have them (re)moved in the mixer. Since the faders’ numerical values are represented there at all times, they might as well be right next to or on top of the faders themselves. I see no need for separate fields dedicated to just this. That being said, it seems 9 out of 10 sequencers have been doing it this way all along, so there must be something I’m missing.
If it stays like this, I would propose to rotate the volume fader head by 90° (and maybe round off its corners). Since the numbers are gone, and you don’t have to click directly on the fader to move it anyways, I don’t see a reason for it to be as long/big. Also, the dB scale wouldn’t be overlapped anymore like this.

I’ve tried adding some space between the strips (again), and drawing a frame around the selected strip, similar to the key focus frame drawn around list boxes. Eventually I would like to do the same with the track lane headers. Any opinions on this new style?

I think we’ve gotten to know the frame as just that – an indicator of which list receives keyboard focus in Podium. The actually selected item within the list would still be highlighted with a fully colored box (you can tell I don’t know UI design terminology!). In this case however, the mixer strip is the item… A little confusing, maybe, but I do like how it looks, so please continue. 🙂
Perhaps it’d be worth a try to have the strip background itself receive just a small amount of the focus color along with the frame. On the other hand it might become a total wash with three colors mixed together.
It would also probably be good if the change over to ‘selection framing’ on the track headers would appear in 2.23 already, for consistency’s sake. Also, I wonder if you’re thinking of applying this to items in the arrangement too, seeing as they don’t have any visible controls that would suffer from being dyed.

Other comments on the latest screenshot:
– Personally, I still prefer those faders shaped like pills (elongated beans? :D), with or without value display. The round ones seem so small, especially since the BSMREX buttons just got bigger.

– I find the horizontal fader grooves are too dark, as in too much shadow. The vertical ones look nice, as does the new box around the peak display. The ‘glow’ inside the grooves looks blurry for my tastes, compared to the perfectly sharp 1-pixel glow in previous versions.

Little addition to the buglist:
– When you drag-and-drop an instrument from one track to another, the “drop here” box overlay on the track becomes stuck.