Zynewave's Forum Page

Beta 9 is up. I don’t have a specific changelog. There are just too many changes to list. I’m going to have a hard time writing the release note for 2.23. Maybe I should just release it as Podium v3.0 😉

I have not spent much time on testing the new mixer, so please wait with bug-hunting until the following beta, after I have verified all my code changes. With beta 9 you should however be able to see how the new mixer works, and so I would appreciate any feedback you have on the layout and behaviour of the mixer.

@kyran wrote:

I just think that the ‘E’ button functionality can be put into the general fx slot (clicking the fx slot opens the editor)

It already is. There are no separate ‘E’ buttons.

I’ll release a new beta later today.

@Conquistador wrote:

@kyran wrote:

As it stands now there is no quick way to bypass an effect using the mixer view (if I’m seeing things correctly).

I think the current Shift+Left click should not be the default as a user would not immeadiately know that combo. Its too important IMO to have a user go through any click + button combo just to bypass a plugin every time. :-s

A step backward here IMO. I personally think functions like this need to be as accessible and as simple to use as possible. I dont’t think having a visible bypass button crowds the mixer look and feel in anyway. That kind of button is needed IMO. There is only so much that can be hidden before it becomes a negative instead of a positive.

Is it really that often that the average user will be bypassing individual effects? I often don’t use bypassing at all. Perhaps other users can post whether they think single-click bypass is essential?

As I said earlier, there is a “show bypass buttons” option in the mixer options menu. You also have the possibility to keep the bypass buttons hidden in the mixer, and use the bypass buttons in the inspector.

@thcilnnahoj wrote:

@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.

It’s just the new default setting. You can still enable the “slider with value on knob” option in the mixer region properties. This will apply to all send/gain/pan sliders. My goal has been a cleaner default look, and I think removing the values from the knobs achieves that. The gain/pan value text display uses a larger font, and thus is easier to read. It also provides for a single-click access to the value input in the track properties dialog.

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. 🙂

And that’s the reason why I so far have colored the entire header/strip with the select color. But quite often it just doesn’t look good, especially with the new button style headers. I also found it annoying that you can’t see the track header update in realtime when using the color picker, as the header would always be painted with the select color.

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.

I plan to adjust the track lane headers before releasing 2.23. In fact I plan to experiment with changing the entire group bar hierarchy display in the tracks region, so that it matches the group header display used in the mixer. Try to imagine the mixer strips turned on the side. This means that the left edge of the track headers will no longer be offset horizontally according to their hierarchy position. This will ensure that e.g. all gain/pan sliders are aligned vertically, no matter what the hierarchy level the track is at. Any opinions on this?

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.

The slider can still be grabbed by clicking inside the entire slider frame, so it has not become harder to adjust the value. Having a smaller knob also means that the knob can travel a longer distance in the slider groove, resulting in greater precision.

I think I’m done with the mixer redesign:

Notice that the bypass buttons are now hidden by default. They can still be enabled with the mixer options menu. Instead the input selector turns into a big bypass button when an input is assigned, the same way that plugin selectors turns into editor buttons. Shift+click can be used to toggle bypass of the source/effects.

There are still a lot of unfinished things that needs to be coded, so it will still be a couple of days before I have a new beta ready.

@LiquidProj3ct wrote:

@Zynewave wrote:

My screenshot was using the “compact strips” option, so that is why the meter widths are not as wide as usual. The meters will be the same width as in previous Podium releases, and in fact I plan to remove the “compact strips” option once I implement strip width zooming.

Anyway, even with normal strips, I think they’re very thin, that’s the reason I suggest a semitransparent slider. Just an opinion.

I’ll implement wider meters once I implement strip width zooming.

Another ‘taste’ opinion. I don’t find very appealing the fact that when you have the cursor over any Podium control is highlighted. Any chance to remove this feature or do it switchable?

As you can see for me the ‘solidity feeling’ when I do music is very important 😀

The “mouse over” highlighting helps indicate that a click will start a drag operation and not select the track. Consider the large area where you can grab the fader. If there were no highlighting here, you would often click this area thinking that it would select the track.

@thcilnnahoj wrote:

– I see the SMR buttons are colored again… I got used to the ‘clean’ buttons in beta 8 and I’ve actually very much come to prefer it that way.

Glad to hear it. It was just an experiment. I’ve reverted to the non-colorized buttons.

– Speaking of, the B button still comes after SMR in the mixer, directly opposite to where it is placed on the track headers – strange, I think. If you’re concerned about the B button pushing the SMR ones out of line across all mixer strips, then maybe just moving them down a bit would help?

I’ve now tried to put the B button at the top.

I’m also yet undecided on the changed lighting angle of the SMR buttons in the mixer.

Another experiment. I didn’t like it either, so I’ve now gone back to the horizontal bump.

– Will the different fader style options still be available or are you planning to clean up and unify the design?

Some of the old options will be removed, but I haven’t decided yet what options should be kept.

– I find the half-circle button to be a little vague. In my opinion, it’s just not self-explanatory enough to realize what it’s supposed to do.

Click on it a few times, and you soon realize what it does :wink:. It also has popup help.

Below is a screenshot with the latest refinements. I’ve removed the 5-pixel shadow spacing between the strips. The strip separation is still good I think, now that the strips are colorized.

@Tony Bodoczky wrote:

Hi Fritz!
Integrating fixedly would be good the zynewave eq-t onto all of the channels of the mixer(as the inspector shows). The masterre too.

Fix integrating:cubase,sonar,nuendo,dp,record.

In a later release I will implement embedded plugin editors in the chain panel. This will be available in both the rack and the mixer strips. So you will be able to show for example a miniature zPEQ display with draggable curve handles embedded in each mixer strip.