Topic: Preview 2.23: Redesigned group panel

When you say you’re done, I hope that means the track header changes are postponed, not scrapped. 🙂
If you keep the selection frames, I think you “must” use the new proposed layout. The frame doesn’t color the “group level strips”, and it would look strange if the frame extended downwards to encompass tracks inside the group or associated parameter tracks.

About the menu redesign:

It’s generally a good idea, but there’s one thing that strikes me as strange, as it has many drawbacks.
For one, it’s impossible to create mixer parameter automation lanes if you disable source selectors on track headers. It’s also awkward that you’d have to set up level automation from the source menu on a track only processing audio files.
There are other situations too, where this would force the user to take a few extra steps. For example, you’re on the editor page, want to create an automation lane for a track and edit it right away – simple. But you won’t be able to do this in the arrangement view, since the tracks are naturally sized so small that they don’t show the selector buttons. You have to switch profiles, zoom in, or open the right inspector panel to get access to the parameter menu.

For these reasons, I’d say it’s better to keep the most important options (source, input and automation) in the track header menu, always quickly available in every situation.

Other things:

– Why does the source selector right-click menu contain settings for inputs? If it’s for when you have the input selector hidden, then I think it’d be placed in the general track menu (see above point).

– What’s the topmost greyed-out menu entry that says “Track: “? Isn’t it pretty obvious on which track you opened the menu?

– If you set the mixer options for ‘gain/pan fader: show value in separate field’ and ‘control type: slider with value on knob’ then the pan value won’t be displayed at all.

– If there’s no instrument assigned, selecting ‘automate parameter’ from the source right-click menu brings up the parameter list of the first effect in the chain.

– I think the ‘default track color’ setting is ready to be retired. With the default opacity settings, it messes everything up if you select anything but shades of grey.

– Gain/pan faders could probably be removed from the track panel in the inspector. You can enable faders in the rack panel instead, providing far better use. Most of the time the track panel faders would be unavailable anyway, as the track panel (by nature) only displays things relevant to the selected track, thus rightfully not following the fader position in the chain.

– Are you happy with how the selection frame looks in the mixer – I mean the SMR buttons & mixing grid being over/underlapped? I know it’s nice to have them glued to the edge, but this just doesn’t look very good, in my opinion…

Edit:
– The bypass buttons on the new selectors do not update to a newly selected mute color until the UI is refreshed (like closing and reopening the inspector.

– If you open the mixer and then select a track in the arrangement view, the mixer strip uses the active selection font color instead of the inactive one.
Also, this is unrelated to 2.23 however, if you select a phantom copy item in the arrangement and set keyboard focus to the mixer, for example, the + icon next to the event name still uses the active selection font color.

@Zynewave wrote:

Sure. Probably coming in 2.24.

Otherwise known as Podium 4.0! =P~

@Zynewave wrote:

– I think the ‘default track color’ setting is ready to be retired. With the default opacity settings, it messes everything up if you select anything but shades of grey.

Can you clarify?

Um, I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee that my explanation will make sense to you! 😆
For reference, example 1 has 2.23’s default color settings: overall color opacity 100%, track background opacity 20%, some random track colors and no default track color assigned.

Before 2.23, you could select a default color and still override it when you set per-track colors, provided you set opacity to 100%.
Now, the strips are always colored, even if you set rack/header/strip opacity to 0. Even on higher opacity levels you don’t override the default track color but can only add various track colors to it instead. So you have a choice between all track backgrounds being pretty much shades of the same color (ex. 2, low opacity) or getting a real color mix (ex. 3, high opacity), like in previous versions, but coloring the whole strip this time. All in all very bright compared to the default settings. (Edit: It can of course be dark as well – I meant to say it’s quite intense.)
Setting the default color to a shade of grey is a little more useful, as you can make tracks appear generally brighter or darker, if moderately applied. (Edit: Sorry, this is of course not correct. It can be achieved by setting a lighter or darker shade of the panel background color! It’s just that I always use grey…) 😉

Hey there, it’s late here but I thought I might just contribute a just a couple of notes:

The state of the track headers no longer changes with the tabs (I liked this behavior a lot).

As mentioned I’d like the state of the inspector and browser to be stored/recalled across tabs as well.

Clicking on a track in the rack doesn’t highlight the corresponding track in the mixer or track headers (ie. Group track).

Adding output gain and output panning to and effect in the rack sets the fader at two locations on the mixer strip (two active squares) and shows additional Pan & Fade controls in the mixer

Also,

Would it be possible for the new track menu to stay rolled out and change focus as you click on different tracks in the mixer? As it is now I still prefer to right-click the track. Clicking anywhere else would close it of course.

I like the grid as is thanks

@Zynewave wrote:

My intention is perhaps clearer in beta12, where there is a new “Track” menu button in the edit toolbar. I think showing the track name as a greyed out title helps as verification that you are editing the correct track. Try out beta12 and let me know if it still is strange. If it makes sense, I would similarly add a title line to the edit menu, listing details about the current event selection.

I don’t like too much that thing, because I would never use “Track” menu and I don’t think that it would be a problem have a mistake: we have undo function and it’s difficult fail selecting the track. I would say that it clutters the menu.

I imagine you want release asap 2.23 so I’ll avoid make request 🙂

Cheers!

Hello Frits. I’m a little confused with new hierarchy, specially when you select a group track. It seems that it’s a “children track” instead a group track. Maybe you could do something to fix this as allow that selection frames take more space to the left.

This is the little piano roll bug I said before:

Best regards 🙂

edit: I’m also getting tons of freezes exiting podium, when the system ask if I want to save the project and I say ‘no’, around 1 each 3 times. I don’t know how to replicate.