Conquistador.
ConquistadorThe new Project Start page is a really big step up. This I think will really help new users settle in quickly and for me, provide a very classy screen to get in the way of music making In Podium! 😆
Staring at it for too long that is! 8)
However I think beyond this new page there are some key areas that will I think go most of the way to remove the “I heard it’s too difficult to get into” tag from Podium.
Quick set up needs to be the first thing that greets people after they click on New project. Of course an option to manually set up a new project is great, and should be offered as well, but really the quick set up option must have it’s own separate menu.
I think other difficult aspects of Podium that confuse people is having to switch it on after starting a new project. Yes a pop up will appear when entering the arrange page for the first time which says…
“Quick setup has created a new arrangement with a few tracks. To start auditioning inputs and to load any plugins or tracks the monitor switch in the arrangement editor must be activated.
Do you want to activate monitoring now?”
I think this is clear but frankly if the only way to access sounds in Podium (the biggest issue most seem to have) is to activate monitoring…why not make this the default behaviour in Podium? Really.
I do not know of any other host that asks you if you want to activate monitoring / activate the sound engine. 🙁 I guess people might be confusing monitoring in Podium with monitoring a recording or something based on the wording in the pop up.
Why not re word it this way…
Podium will now be fully activated.
Or
Podiums sound engine will now be activated.
I cannot think of any reason why anyone would not want this behaviour. They cannot access their plug in GUI’s without it, or a hear a pin drop if they do not activate monitoring / activate the sound engine anyway. 😉
I am saying this so that people do not get past the vastly (understatement) improved new Project screen only to get stuck scratching their heads when asked if they want to activate monitoring. The question is equivalent to getting into Live 6 and being asked if you want to switch on the audio engine with each new project.?!?!?
I think an even bigger problem for most is “how do I access my plug in GUI’s?” Most people like me, initially double clicked on the actual plug in entry on the track. The E button simply stared back at me. It never occured to me to click on this as it was not made very clear at all.
I would have the pop up screen that appears after a new project is set up and one enters the arrange to read thus…
Podiums engine will now be activated. Click on the E button (visible after dragging an FX or instrument to any track) to access your FX or instrument GUI’s. Go to the Map: properties area (left of screen) to access your FX and instruments. Drag to tracks or double click to add to any track that has focus / is currently selected.
Why not even call the E button VST, FX/INST, or GUI? Seriously. E means very little to me. I could not even find a pop up providing information on it when rolling the cursor over the E button! See what I mean?
It’s probably a head scratcher for most others as well. No doubt it just did not even cross most new users minds when the they tried and failed to access their Plug in GUI’s from within Podium.
Yes of course once you read through all the documentation e.t.c all this becomes clearer but the harsh reality is that it’s very unrealisitic to expect new users to search or read through the Podium manual just to find out how to bring up plug in GUI’s. Not saying you do as such but most people will give up anyway at this point.
Simply put, most new users simply expect such things to be very simple to do without reading how to do it. Especially when going through a quick demo of a host.
Yes they should read more, 😆 but new users expect things much quicker now. 😉
Just some friendly suggestions. 8)
Edit: I just expanded the pop up menu suggestion slightly… 😉
Podiums engine will now be activated. Click on the E button (visible after dragging an FX or instrument to any track) to access your FX or instrument GUI’s. Go to the Map: properties area (left of screen) to access your FX and instruments. Drag to tracks or double click to add to any track that has focus / is currently selected.
darcyb62@Conquistador wrote:
I cannot think of any reason why anyone would not want this behaviour. They cannot access their plug in GUI’s without it, or a hear a pin drop if they do not activate monitoring / activate the sound engine anyway. 😉
This has saved me a couple of times. I think it could be an option but for myself it would be one that would be left off.
I have a couple of instances where a combination of plugins has consumed the cpu to the point where Podium has become quite unusable. This has mainly been the result of too many plugins with too many advnaced features turned on. Ozone is the main culprit. If by default monitoring was turned on every time I started Podium than I would be in the same problematic situation everythime I opned this project. By having monitoring off at default I can go in there and mute problematic tracks, turn on monitoring than freeze tracks to regain resources. This is life saver for me.
Other ideas are pretty good though. I too was lost with plugin GUI and the E button. But having said that it seems other hosts use a similar concept. The 1st time I fired up Cubase same thing, how do you get the plugin gui? The only really mindless one was Tracktion.
Conquistador@darcyb62 wrote:
This has saved me a couple of times. I think it could be an option but for myself it would be one that would be left off.
I have a couple of instances where a combination of plugins has consumed the cpu to the point where Podium has become quite unusable. This has mainly been the result of too many plugins with too many advnaced features turned on. Ozone is the main culprit. If by default monitoring was turned on every time I started Podium than I would be in the same problematic situation everythime I opned this project. By having monitoring off at default I can go in there and mute problematic tracks, turn on monitoring than freeze tracks to regain resources. This is life saver for me.
Yes. That is a very good reason to have it switched off certainly 😉
I was however mainly referring to new projects that have no plugins at all though. Certainly making it optional for existing projects would be best. For new projects however IMHO if there are no plugs loaded they cannot overload a project but automatically activating monitoring will remove a currently somewhat confusing additional step for new users.
Some sort of global option is needed I think. Maybe Frits can bring a pop up message warning a new user when an existing project, user saved or even the Podium demo projects are opened that says…
Podium’s engine can be disabled allowing you to access the arrange page as normal. This is to avoid potential problems opening very heavy CPU projects. This is not a necessity but it it provides a user with an option to work on heavy CPU projects that might exceed available CPU resources. Would you like to enable Podiums engine /activate monitoring now?
Of course there are many ways to word this potentially, but I guess I would prefer the above wording as it does not sound like it’s a problem with Podium (which it clearly is not) but merely an additional helpful option for users trying to access very heavy CPU projects.
Other ideas are pretty good though. I too was lost with plugin GUI and the E button. But having said that it seems other hosts use a similar concept. The 1st time I fired up Cubase same thing, how do you get the plugin gui?
Not sure to be honest but if I am not mistaken there is a specific icon that can be accessed either at track level or in the VST instruments list option. If my terminology regarding Cubase sounds funny it’s because I am no expert. 😆 I agree with you though it was very fiddly and defintely not easy to find. Not an example for Podium to follow. 😉