Topic: Preview: New project start page

Another issue:

I have tried to bypass the JCM effect by setting the vst folder 1 level deeper by focusing on the Zynewave effects…

I set it as follows:
c:Program FilesZynewavePodiumVstpluginsZynewave Effects

But when I hit create the plugin import dialogue box indicates the following:
c:Program FilesZynewavePodiumVstplugins

It would also be good if you could use multiple folder pointers.

@Zynewave wrote:

When using the new “New Project” setup is it possible to disable the plugin scan when creating the project.

Hmm, not the most beatiful solution; but you could hit the abort button just after the import dialog appears.

I would think if it was an option that could be set when hit the create button. I would love to just let it run but when you run into some problematic VSTs it would be nice to just bypass the import function.
With Tracktion you have the ability to flag certain vsts to be skipped in a scan pocess. This might be something that would help as well in working through vsts that behave badly with the import.

😳
Ahhh… never mind… I understand… The JCM plugin is still causing problems but I can work around that not that I realized I’m an idiot… 🙂

@Zynewave wrote:

Btw. I don’t have problems scanning and importing the JCM900 plugin. I don’t have the other plugins in the suite installed, so maybe that is making a difference.

You are correct. It must be one of the others… Let me check this out some more… get back to you soon.

@Zynewave wrote:

These menus are all available on the start page through the round context menu buttons. The button at the top left corner has the setup and view menus. The project menu button has the file menus. The edit menu is not relevant on the start page, as this was specific to the browser page.

I think this was a good idea. Works well.

I tried first to keep the toolbar from the browser page on the start page, but it seemed like a waste of space to me and I wanted to maximize the available height for the list panels.

I think this is fine.

Is it a problem that the start page menu buttons are round? I could try to show the standard square menu buttons instead, but I don’t think it will look good.

I prefer the round TC electronics look. Very stylish. 8)

Couldn’t this be solved by using folders? Currently the plugin import will place plugin mappings directly in the device list root. If you have your plugins sorted in folders on the disk, then these will be imported in folder objects in the project. Would you prefer plugins were put inside a ‘plugins’ folder instead of the root?

Personally I think the folder idea could work.

Some suggestions…

1. Stickie notes for the first two columns: The New project and Arrangement and sounds columns have no stickie notes. I would like to be able to include notes for those columns.

TOOLTIPS.
Podium has come along way with these. Much better than it used to be but…

2. Tooltips. (E Button)
Many areas in Podium could do with some tool tips to avoid needless head scratching.

Right now it’s diffcult to go wrong with the ease with which a new project can be created IMHO, but…I noticed that the E button still has no tooltip when the mouse cursor rolls over it. Yes, once a new project is created a message is displayed that tells a user what it does (great addition) but still I think a tooltip that will appear when a mouse cursor is over it, will also help. “Click the E button to open plug in Editors (Short cut E)” very short and simple…this text is taken from the other new message shown after a new project is made. I still think the E button should be changed to VST, FX / INST or GUI as they are more descritpive than simply E. ?!?!?

3. Track header tooltip. Arguably the biggest difference with Podium and every other host I know is the necessity to wrap a track within another if you want to use more than one FX on it. Really by now I think Podium should have some sort of Tooltip that gives new users some sort of hand holding in one of Podiums most flexible and as a result most radical areas.

Definitely for me the single most likely place to cause confusion for new users. Were back to the users reading the manual anyway first issue, but with a quick demo it will not happen 99% of the time. The tool tip could simply give one or two lines that explain how to add more than one FX to a track.

This is essential IMHO. I think Acousmod made a comparison with Tracktion in the 1.66 release thread. I agree with his use of Tracktion as an example because both are cheap (Podium costs even less) and will likely attract new users who might have little or no experience with hosts. Hand holding with tooltips I think is very important. Tracktion does this superbly. It is very difficult to get lost at any time. Ableton Live uses an info box placed at the bottom left of the session view (main page).

4. B Bounce button tool tip: This is one of Podiums most powerful features, especially when used in real time but some simple lines to explain what it does and how to use it, would help in a very big way. Placing the mouse cursor over this provides no information at the moment.

TABS (with Logical groupings)…
I think with all the space next the HELP and LIST buttons really, more can be done to make things more visible. If the suggestions below are implemented then maybe an option to remove tabs / buttons could help keep everyone happy.

5. Help Tab with logical groupings.
The current HELP button only switches tooltips on and off. This should be put to far greater use. The Podium guide should be accesible from this button.

This is the most logical place to go for the Podium guide IMHO. So the HELP button can stay as it is, but when clicked the first option could be Podium Guide the next item in the drop down menu would be Switch off tooltips, followed by Switch on tooltips, then Visit the Zynewave community and the last About Podium.

This is a far more logical arrangement of information within Podium. Surely the HELP button is the first place a new user will go to solve a problem. Maybe this is another reason why people have struggled with Podium. In any case I think this will lower the difficulty level another notch along with the other recent improvements. 😉

6. A SAVE tab next to HELP. Again with logical grouping of exisiting save options. The button would have SAVE on it with the following drop down options…Save Project, Save Project as, Save all Changes. Many applications have a save button in addition to the File > Save as option. The Save button helps to make such an very often used feature clearly visible.

7. I still think once the arrangement is created and a user is taken to the Editor / or arrange page, that this message should greet them first…

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? (Yes /no option should be visible as well)

I still think it is not a good idea to switch it off by default for new users especially. New blank projects are highly unlikely to have any mappings so having this on by default avoids confusing a new user when there is no sound. Yes a message (thanks for that 8) ) does explain what to do just after creating a project now, but still I think the message above should be displayed once the arrange page is visible as well.

8. Icons for Arrangements and sounds. Right now there appears to be no way to differentiate between the two. A simple A for arrangemnts and S icon for sounds would really help. Also VSTFX and Instruments could have separate icons. Right now they all look the same. This is a bit strange.