DP8 - Greyed out Commands

[jpmason]

Using DP8 (in either 64 or 32 bit modes) I have noticed a number of greyed out commands which don't work when you click on them.

I am aware that certain commands only operate under certain conditions and come "off" grey when those conditions are met ....but...

in the "Studio" tab "Tools", "Shortcuts" and "Audio Performance" are greyed out and never change and in the "Edit" tab "Merge" and "Merge Repeat" never come off greyed either?

I have been through the preferences (a couple of times) and the manual....am I missing something obvious here guys?

[Shooshie]

This is the "keyboard focus" bug. Keyboard commands quit working, menu items quit working (become grayed out), and the only fix is to reboot DP. Reboot, and they'll all work again. For a while.

Shooshie

[jpmason]

....sadly Shooshie for me, no amount of re-booting DP8 recovers my commands. I could I guess do a full DP8 re-instal from disc, but isn't that a bit excessive....and would it work anyway?

I am particularly keen to open my "Audio Performance" window to keep an eye on my "long in the tooth" iMac as I load up some Waves V9 Plug-ins. (Yes I updated too early and then couldn't use them with DP7...Doh!)

My only other irritation is that some of the edit functions have gone which, at this point, is annoying rather than terminal.

Let's hope MOTU get a fix out fast....and then I will just have to wait for my "iPhonecentric" friends at Apple to produce the new 27inch iMac I have been waiting for for even longer than DP8... Happy days...

[Frodo]

I can confirm that you both are correct. A restart does bring back certain dormant key commands, but I am also one who has never seen the DP8 Audio Performance option in anything but pale grey and unavailable for use.

Shooshie-- are you able to open your Audio Performance window at all?

[blue]

Frodo, is it possible you have Audio Performance enabled in a "docked" control panel, but that it's getting pushed off your monitor to the side? I've noticed this will happen if you have lots of controls selected to show in the half-sized control panel.

[Dan Worley]

Frodo and JPMason, what version OS are you running?

Is anyone with SL and DP8 seeing these Keyboard Focus issues? I'm sure not.

[Shooshie]

I can confirm that you both are correct. A restart does bring back certain dormant key commands, but I am also one who has never seen the DP8 Audio Performance option in anything but pale grey and unavailable for use.

Shooshie-- are you able to open your Audio Performance window at all?

Mine is always open in the Consolidated Windows. Yes, it's running as we speak. At the moment, there seems to be not a single grayed-out menu. Everything is working.

Shoosh

[Frodo]

Frodo, is it possible you have Audio Performance enabled in a "docked" control panel, but that it's getting pushed off your monitor to the side? I've noticed this will happen if you have lots of controls selected to show in the half-sized control panel.

My list of goodies which include the Event List, Chunks, Markers, etc., are all in a side panel and fully visible. Every option except for Audio Performance (including those options immediately above and below it) are dark and working just fine. It's only the Audio Performance that has gone pale.

Frodo and JPMason, what version OS are you running?

Is anyone with SL and DP8 seeing these Keyboard Focus issues? I'm sure not.

I'm in 10.6.8 because my MacPro is a Core Duo. (New computer from Santa, maybe?)

Mine is always open in the Consolidated Windows. Yes, it's running as we speak. At the moment, there seems to be not a single grayed-out menu. Everything is working.

Shoosh

Thanks for confirming.

I could chalk up an understandable bump or two to the nature of a point-zero release, but since I can't install 10.7 or 10.8 on my machine I'm two OSX versions behind. As software is updated, including DP8, I'm leaning towards the theory that Cocoa is being refined as are all things involving GUI development. In other words, I need to get my system up to speed before theorizing too much.

[blue]

Frodo, is it possible you have Audio Performance enabled in a "docked" control panel, but that it's getting pushed off your monitor to the side? I've noticed this will happen if you have lots of controls selected to show in the half-sized control panel.

My list of goodies which include the Event List, Chunks, Markers, etc., are all in a side panel and fully visible. Every option except for Audio Performance (including those options immediately above and below it) are dark and working just fine. It's only the Audio Performance that has gone pale.

It will grey out if it's already open in the control panel. If you're using a docked CP in a consolidated window, it's possible you have Audio Performance checked to show up there instead of in a sidebar.

[mikeka]

This is the "keyboard focus" bug. Keyboard commands quit working, menu items quit working (become grayed out), and the only fix is to reboot DP. Reboot, and they'll all work again. For a while.

Shooshie

This is so interesting to me. I'm wondering if it is OS specific? I've had 4 long days of intense work with DP8 now with no "keyboard focus" problems using 10.6.8. This is with DP either idling in the background as I use other apps or with overdubbing, editing, and mixing for hours. My only DP 8 issue right now is the inability to work to picture (I have to use 7.24) because loading a .mov file causes not only the vid window to be jerky but all DP windows.

[Frodo]

It will grey out if it's already open in the control panel. If you're using a docked CP in a consolidated window, it's possible you have Audio Performance checked to show up there instead of in a sidebar.

Thanks, blue. I see what you're saying and appreciate your insight. Checked or unchecked, docked or undocked, Audio Performance doesn't appear anywhere, neither CP nor sidebar.

I started with a clean drive and all new installs-- spent about 14 hours yesterday installing various VIs and fx. I think I might try a fresh re-install of DP8 just for safe measure. I've also lost the ability to double-click on the top of window frame to send it flying to the OSX dock, but the middle button in the far upper left corner of the window still does the trick.

It's not that big of an issue and certainly not a deal-breaker, but it would be nice to run some VI stress tests and compare the DP8 meters to those in the Activity Monitor. I'm sure it will all get sorted out soon with an update.

[blue]

@Frodo

Yeah, I figured it was a longshot. Bummer that it's not working for you.

[Frodo]

@Frodo

Yeah, I figured it was a longshot. Bummer that it's not working for you.

It wasn't much of a longshot. You gave me a few more things to consider, and I appreciate that.

First, the good news: a reinstall helped with certain mouse clicks. I can now access the Audio Performance in the sidebar. But "not" in the CP when docked?

I took your advice about seeing how far I could stretch the window with the CP docked. I even slid the window half off the left side of the screen to make more room. There is a limit to how far I can widen that window to the right, meaning, it just stops expanding at a certain point. Screen size is not a problem because I have a 30" Cinema.

What this means is that there is no way I can view all the options available for the CP when it's docked. There are only so many items that will fit at once. That is certainly the case when the CP floats because there are no view options when it floats. So, with a docked CP, I turned off half of the tools and the elusive Audio Performance appeared.

Okay, so it works. I just need to figure out how to make it workable.

[kgdrum]

@Frodo

Yeah, I figured it was a longshot. Bummer that it's not working for you.

It wasn't much of a longshot. You gave me a few more things to consider, and I appreciate that.

First, the good news: a reinstall helped with certain mouse clicks. I can now access the Audio Performance in the sidebar. But "not" in the CP when docked?

I took your advice about seeing how far I could stretch the window with the CP docked. I even slid the window half off the left side of the screen to make more room. There is a limit to how far I can widen that window to the right, meaning, it just stops expanding at a certain point. Screen size is not a problem because I have a 30" Cinema.

What this means is that there is no way I can view all the options available for the CP when it's docked. There are only so many items that will fit at once. That is certainly the case when the CP floats because there are no view options when it floats. So, with a docked CP, I turned off half of the tools and the elusive Audio Performance appeared.

Okay, so it works. I just need to figure out how to make it workable.

Hi Frodo
I wonder if this is a graphic quirk with DP8.
I have a 20" Apple display,I have the same issue,can't see the performance meter but never had this problem in DP7.
If people are having this issue even with 30" displays,I wonder if it's a GUI issue.
Regards,
KG

[Frodo]

Hi Frodo
I wonder if this is a graphic quirk with DP8.
I have a 20" Apple display,I have the same issue,can't see the performance meter but never had this problem in DP7.
If people are having this issue even with 30" displays,I wonder if it's a GUI issue.
Regards,
KG

Hey kg!

I still have DP 7.2x on my laptop, and there is a limit to how wide the TO window will expand to the right (even when scooting the window off to the left). So I'm not finding that in itself to be the real concern.

In fairness to DP8, we're not "really" dealing with the TO, but with the Control Panel's new feature of docking with the TO. The intuitive thought is that IF there are controls beyond the right edge of the CP, then it would follow that one could expand the window to see them until the controls ran out.

It seems to me that it's best to be frugal with what is displayed on the CP, limiting it only to what we need to see all the time. For example, I don't really need to have the Tools in the CP taking up space when I'm not doing any heavy editing. But, having the Audio Settings really is something that gets more than an occasional glance. Click, Audible Mode, and Solo buttons are also things I'd like to have on deck all the time.

Once the keyboard focus issue is ironed out, using key commands for most of the rest of the buttons will work very well for me. It will take some experimentation, but it is a nice feature to be able to customize the CP, and I'd like to put it to its best use.

That said, I'm reminded of DP5's CP with its telescoping panels. I thought that was a brilliant design.