DP: A Gallery of Themes

[Shooshie]

This thread was inspired by another in which we have been examining the clarity of the DP interface and its font readability, etc. Themes can make a difference in clarity and appearance as well, but it's hard to compare themes to know what works for you. Maybe this will help a little:

Click on the picture to see another view of that theme in the Consolidated Window.

• MOTU's Light, AmpGUI's Clean, MOTU's Classic
  Note four different settings for fader display:
  Play, Mute, Record, Solo

• • Motu's Light looks nice at first glance, but AmpGUI's Clean imparts more information at a glance, such as the status of each track merely by the style of the fader.
  • The buttons in Clean seem less cluttered, too, and the fader readout is more prominent (in bold, light-faced font).
  • I've also included Classic, which is essentially DP 6. I found that interface overly bright with a lack of color or shadings to guide your eyes. This fatigues my eyes and gives me a headache if I use it for long.
  • Classic was the interface that inspired independent graphic designers such as AmpGUI to come up with "mods" that became so popular that MOTU added Themes to Digital Performer as a permanent, user-modifiable feature.

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• • • Technological Romance and Gotham

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• • • Deluxe and Oxidized

• • Here we attempt to match tones and colors. There are only similarities between these themes, but I think they serve essentially the same function: to provide a warmer, darker interface.
  • These are some of my favorite themes.

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• • • Savannah and Mellow Gold

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• • • • None More Black and Sleek

• Unfortunately, Sleek is only fully functional in DP7. It will run in DP8, but certain graphic elements are missing, most notably the tabs on the main windows. Perhaps AmpGUI could be persuaded to update it.
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• • • • Plasma and Sharp

• • No comparison between these two; they're just interesting, and I wanted to include them.

There are many more, but that should do for a while. It's interesting to compare this way. You can COMMAND-CLICK on each picture to set up the larger pictures in tabs which you can zip through with keyboard commands or trackpad gestures. It's kind of enlightening.

NOTE: The themes above are from MOTU and AmpGUI.com.

Shooshie

[Guitar Gaz]

Nice reply Shooshie. I like a couple of my own themes for clear viewing

[bayswater]

I modified three things in Motools to get what I want. Not pretty like a lot of other custom themes, but functional for me.

The mixer shows track status:



I made the column header background lighter than the column backgrounds, rather than darker, so the text in the is more distinct. This affects the folder track background too:



The active tab is highlighted, and if the panel is in front the highlighting is green and covers the entire tab strip. Helps when using the "next panel" shortcut. The default highlights are too subtle for me:



If the panel is not in front the tab highlight is yellow and only covers the tab itself. This just makes it easier to find specific things quickly in the CW:



And I use those big velocity icons in the MIDI Editor someone posted here a few years ago.

[Guitar Gaz]

And I use those big velocity icons in the MIDI Editor someone posted here a few years ago.

That would probably be me.

[williemyers]

This thread was inspired by another in which we have been examining the clarity of the DP interface and its font readability, etc.

Shoosh (and all others), I'd like to pose a question directly related to this...here goes.

The place where I have the *most* problem with DP's interface is in the MIDI Editor window. As I continue to put "mileage" on my eyes (!), I'm losing the contrast between the MIDI notes and the MIDI Ed. window background. Makes it very hard - sometimes impossible - to pick out short duration notes in the editor.

I wrote to AmpGUI about this way back when custom GUI's came about. He kindly responded that that was an area that he could not modify. So every time new custom GUI's become available - from MOTU or other sources - I search for one that has distinct clarity between the MIDI Ed. notes and the background. Of course, changing note colors will help sometimes, but then you run out of colors with great contrast and are left with colors that just blend in to the bkg.

Anyway, I thought I'd pose this and see if any of the rest of you have this prob. and have, perhaps, found a workaround?
thanks

[Shooshie]

This thread was inspired by another in which we have been examining the clarity of the DP interface and its font readability, etc.

Shoosh (and all others), I'd like to pose a question directly related to this...here goes.

The place where I have the *most* problem with DP's interface is in the MIDI Editor window. As I continue to put "mileage" on my eyes (!), I'm losing the contrast between the MIDI notes and the MIDI Ed. window background. Makes it very hard - sometimes impossible - to pick out short duration notes in the editor.

I wrote to AmpGUI about this way back when custom GUI's came about. He kindly responded that that was an area that he could not modify. So every time new custom GUI's become available - from MOTU or other sources - I search for one that has distinct clarity between the MIDI Ed. notes and the background. Of course, changing note colors will help sometimes, but then you run out of colors with great contrast and are left with colors that just blend in to the bkg.

Anyway, I thought I'd pose this and see if any of the rest of you have this prob. and have, perhaps, found a workaround?
thanks

The controls that MOTU has given us really alleviate that problem, Willie. On the one hand, you've got themes. With themes, you can go light, dark, in between; as well as cool, warm, and lots of shadings. That's a starting place. Find the themes that you like, and go from there. Personally, I like the warmer, darker themes. Not so much on the bright, cold looks. For me, if the background is too bright, I find it too hard on my eyes. I know that paper is white, and I rarely tire of reading, but books do not glow like a fluorescent or LED 27" monitor.

Next, I spend time selecting colors. I set up a batch of QuicKeys for going through about 36 color schemes in a hurry. Using dual ("sticky") keyboard commands, I can run through the entire numeric keypad under two separate starting commands. Then (for audio) I can set the background/foreground ratio in brightness and saturation.

If any track lacks contrast, I can almost instantly find a color scheme that makes it easily visible. I switch color schemes often, because it's so easy to do.

Using Color Schemes in DP (video)

• (Best at full screen)

The video isn't the greatest, but it gives you some idea of how quickly you can switch colors. What may not be obvious in the movie is that different color schemes sometimes require you to reset the lightness and saturation for full effectiveness in audio tracks.

With all those controls, you're guaranteed of be able to find something that makes your notes stand out. The pastel color schemes don't work so well on light backgrounds, but they're outstanding on dark ones, in dark themes.

Here are two of my favorite themes/color schemes combinations:

• AmpGUI's Gotham theme with DP's "Pottery" colors
  AmpGUI's Oxidized theme with DP's "Pottery" colors

MIDI looks even better.

Some MIDI track contrasts:

• AmpGUI's Gotham with the Calico color scheme
  Gotham with Pottery
  Gotham with Yum

Pastel data has a place when using a dark theme:

• MOTU's None More Black with Pastels1 color scheme

Sometimes colorful means clarity:

• Gotham & Rainbow

Regularly I am drawn to about a dozen other combinations ranging from the bright and colorful to monotone. At all times the number one concern is to avoid eye strain. The 2nd concern, but still a serious one to me, is for it to be aesthetically pleasing. Over time you start figuring out what you like and what's possible.

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

Of course, changing note colors will help sometimes, but then you run out of colors with great contrast and are left with colors that just blend in to the bkg.

Set up QuicKeys (or other shortcut macro) to run through many color schemes, quickly. When you have trouble seeing a track, switch to a color that enables you to see that track better. You can switch back when you're done. For example, Pottery and Calico color schemes are very similar in tone, but Calico offers darker colors where Pottery has light ones. Switch to Calico when you need to see a light track, then switch back when done so that you can tell your tracks apart better.

It's always a battle between discerning which note belongs to which track, and being able to see ALL tracks. Light tracks look good in ensemble, because you can follow each track fairly easily. When they're all dark or contrasty, the tracks blend together too much. So, use some colors for viewing the ensemble and other colors for viewing single tracks.

The bottom line: instead of setting colors and themes then forgetting them, learn to be flexible and change colors and themes often, as needed.

Shooshie

[Guitar Gaz]

[frankf]

Of course, changing note colors will help sometimes, but then you run out of colors with great contrast and are left with colors that just blend in to the bkg.

Set up QuicKeys (or other shortcut macro) to run through many color schemes, quickly. When you have trouble seeing a track, switch to a color that enables you to see that track better. You can switch back when you're done. For example, Pottery and Calico color schemes are very similar in tone, but Calico offers darker colors where Pottery has light ones. Switch to Calico when you need to see a light track, then switch back when done so that you can tell your tracks apart better.

It's always a battle between discerning which note belongs to which track, and being able to see ALL tracks. Light tracks look good in ensemble, because you can follow each track fairly easily. When they're all dark or contrasty, the tracks blend together too much. So, use some colors for viewing the ensemble and other colors for viewing single tracks.

The bottom line: instead of setting colors and themes then forgetting them, learn to be flexible and change colors and themes often, as needed.

Shooshie

I never thought of this. Thanks. Not being able to discern which notes belong to which track is one of the reasons I use the Sequence Editor for MIDI editing. I'll have to give it a try.


Frank Ferrucci