Why do you like/dislike consolidated windows?

[bayswater]

Yam, there is a preference to open the mixer in the side bar or in the CW centre. Just set that. As for other windows that don't open in the side bar, just open them as independent windows, size and position them where you want, adjust the CW to cover the rest of the screen and save it as a screenset.

There's a lot more flexibility in the layout than your post suggests.

Here's an example that covers a few of your comments.

[musicman691]

Yam, there is a preference to open the mixer in the side bar or in the CW centre. Just set that. As for other windows that don't open in the side bar, just open them as independent windows, size and position them where you want, adjust the CW to cover the rest of the screen and save it as a screenset.

There's a lot more flexibility in the layout than your post suggests.

Here's an example that covers a few of your comments.

What appears to be the meter bridge on the right side - is that a floating window? And if it is will it scroll to the channel selected like the mixer can when it's in a sidebar?

[bayswater]

What appears to be the meter bridge on the right side - is that a floating window? And if it is will it scroll to the channel selected like the mixer can when it's in a sidebar?

The meter bridge is in its own window, partly covered so only the meters themselves are showing. In this case, it is set to show the main outputs.

I think the OP was looking for a way to show a small number of "tall" channels instead of a lot of short channels, which is what you get if you have multiple rows in the centre of the CW. I think you can get around some of these problems by setting the meter scale to the range of concern, rather than using a long throw meter, but to each his own.

My main point was you can use a combination of the CW and individual windows to get just about any arrangement you want, within the limitations of the size and shape of your screen. You are not limited by what you can put in the sidebars and main body of the CW.

AFAIK, autoscroll does not work with the meter bridge. I've been hoping for some enhancements to the Meter bridge since is first came out, like the ability to hide the stuff at the left side of the window, a track selector, etc. As it is, the bridge is not well suited to quick changes in what it displays. But you can work around some of its limitations with screen sets and window placement.

[yamguitar]

Thanks for your help, Gravity Jim, but I wasn't talking about the mixer. I'm aware that you can have a channel strip in the vertical window that helpfully conforms itself to whatever you're focusing on. I was speaking about the meter bridge. ...And it doesn't really affect me as strongly emotionally as you seemed to take from my post, I was merely chiming into a discussion entitled "Why do you like/dislike consolidated windows?". Believe me, I'm very happy about the awesomeness of DP (just ask my wife, who has to listen to me crow about how cool it is every time I start a new project).

...and great suggestions, bayswater... I usually do use a combination of independent and consolidated windows. I've been trying lots of different combinations to see if there's a way I can make the CW in fullscreen work as well as just a series of independent windows.

[Rick Cornish]

Been using P/DP since very early on. Ever since I graduated from working on my Mac Plus to using a larger screen, I created templates with my own arrangement of multiple windows, each in their own place. Tried the CW after it was introduced, but didn't like it. Tried again when I migrated to DP8 and am now hooked.

Recently started using window sets, which has really boosted my speed and productivity. I get to have every window I need for a particular task (composing, tracking, editing, mixing)—and only the windows I need for each task—exactly where I want them. I only wish I could get windows for third party plugs I use in mixing (PSP Triple Meter, VPS Scope and ARC System 2) to "stick" to my mixing window set.....so they'd also pop up automagically each time I switch to that set.

Otherwise, now very happy with the CW.

[apanacci]

Wish I could shut it of all together. I know in preferences its says you can shut it off, but it does not.

[musicman691]

Wish I could shut it of all together. I know in preferences its says you can shut it off, but it does not.

The only problem I have once I unclicked each of the items in preferences so they wouldn't open in the CW is that the first time I open an old project it will open the CW even though I have that unchecked. So I close the CW and click on a window set I have made that doesn't use the CW and go about my work. Once I save and close that project every time it opens afterwards the CW does NOT open.

[apanacci]

Thank you sir, will try that !

[dpdan]

Wish I could shut it of all together. I know in preferences its says you can shut it off, but it does not.

I'm with you apanacci, my brain is already programmed from many years of using tons of shortcuts,
no matter what I do that fricken consolidated window rears it's ugly head and I have to waste time and hit control 1 to get rid of it, preferences makes no difference here either.
I would kill to not ever see that again.
I do respect the fact that a lot of newer folks to DP and seasoned users love it and that is completely cool for them but I can't stand that I see it every time I turn around.

[dpg4macman]

I'm a fan of the consolidated window. I use it and like it.

[Shooshie]

I have never gotten really comfortable with the consolidated window. I love its neat look, and I want it to work for me, but I frequently find that once a project has more than a dozen or so tracks, it means I have to constantly use the mouse to see what I want, as opposed to just jumping rapidly between several maximized windows with key commands... that seems a shame to me. I also feel I can never see enough of the sequence editor with it squished at the bottom of the screen in the lowest cell.

My biggest issue with the CW is that certain kinds of info can only be docked to horizontally- or vertically-oriented windows. For example, I like to have my meter bridge be the full height of the screen... much easier to see when I'm across the room trying to juggle a guitar, a bluetooth keyboard and a music stand. As I'm usually recording myself, I generally only need to see a couple of inputs on it at a time. It seems silly to me that if I use the consolidated window I'm forced to dock it in a horizontally-oriented window, in which I can see meters for dozens of unused inputs/outputs, but be denied the full height (and thus the full visibility) of the input meters when I'm trying to set levels. It's very rare for me to have more than four musicians maximum in the studio at a time, so having a zillion visible meters that give less obvious information is much less valuable to me than having a big, fat meter I can easily use for the other 90% of the time when it's just me tracking solo in the studio.

That said, I have been trying to use the CW for a while now, seeing if I can find a way in which it will help my workflow. So far, the most obvious is that I like having my desktop totally obscured by DP when I'm deep into mixing... somehow I find it less visually distracting and more satisfyingly console-like. (Not that I have ever really used a console that much.)

I don't know if you've fully explored the options for the CW. You can have any window popped out of it, made full-screen, even occupy its own virtual monitor in Spaces (Mission Control).

• Using Mission Control in DP:
  • Main Post in Tips Sheet Thread
    • http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 45#p199845
    You Tube Video:
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNSsG5gcKRw

You can have any combination of windows in and out of the CW, so there really aren't any limitations as you described, at least if I'm reading your post correctly. Take some time to set up the options. Maybe make some window sets, or try the above method for full-screen windows that remain open all the time their own spaces. (Keyboard switches to each window, either with DP command for that window, or with Apple command for that space)

With all the possibilities available, I cannot imagine someone being dissatisfied with DP's display options.

Shooshie

[yamguitar]

Oh, I’m not dissatisfied, really… I’m just saying I want to love the CW, but despite continuing experimentation I’ve never found a way of making it work as well as rapidly switching between individual windows with hotkeys. Mission Control is a great suggestion; I’ve never found it to be terribly useful in my workflow (I can TAB and tilde through things faster than I can locate them in miniature), but I’m always up for trying.

As I mentioned, part of the problem for me is that MOTU has decided that some forms of information are only appropriate for the vertically-oriented sidebars, and some only for the horizontally-oriented “main body” sections, and it seems like there’s always a lot of wasted space on the screen when I devote, say, a minuscule soundbites list to an entire sidebar, or a mixing board with only a few elements on it to an entire horizontal section. Even if I have only the control panel, the tracks window and the mixing board docked, I can’t see the full height of those latter two elements and wind up having to scroll them up and down. For me it’s just quicker to stab the key commands to flip between a full-height tracks window and mixing board. I do love the compacted control panel option, and how I can remove all of the irrelevant buttons from it… I use hotkeys way more than the mouse. As DP continues its journey, I’d love to see the option to dock more elaborate arrangements of elements in either the sidebars or main body to my whim.

Also, the CW has never quite integrated with Mac OS’s fullscreen options in what I consider to be an intuitive way. Undocked windows will not always appear after hitting their hotkeys when the CW is in fullscreen mode. So far my favorite setup has been having the tracks window docked in the CW with the compact control panel, and then having the CW maximized to cover my screen, but not actually in fullscreen mode, then hopping around to several other undocked windows with key commands. That way my other windows can be appropriately sized… and located… onscreen (I hate it when the mixing board opens in the CW and it’s all off to the left, rather than centered, for example). It’s just what works for me.

All that said, I’m not at all unhappy with the options available to me. I’m always looking for a better mousetrap, but I love that there are so many possibilities. I love obsessively refining my templates (seriously). I don’t really use window sets, because I’m typically only focusing on one window at a time, but I love the feature; it’s brilliant. I love that when I reopen a window with hotkeys, it’s automatically and properly sized, and right where I last left it onscreen. One thing I always tell people is so great about DP is how customizable it is to your own workflow, way more than any other app… DAW or otherwise… that I can think of. Believe me, after spending some time hopping around the windows in Reason it’s always a relief to come back to DP’s flexible setup!

[dpg4macman]

I solved my view concerns when I went to dual monitors. I use the CW and park my plugins/meters on the second monitor. I like the consolidated window because everything I need is only a mouse click away - I suppose that's true for separate window views - comes down to what you get used to working with and like. I'm a happy camper for now. My thoughts : )

[monkey man]

I just hope a single monitor will work well for me once I'm up and running; there simply isn't space for more than one.

I'll be checking out Shooshie's "method"; hopefully that'll be all I need. Mind you, if everything "swipes" off the screen every time I invoke another desktop, I'll be permanently dizzy; since I was a kid I've had that rolling-backwards feeling every time a forward-moving vehicle stops.

[amplidood]

I fought using it for a long time until I realized that everything seemed to work more efficiently and correctly while in it. The code for it is fresher, and I suppose having fewer layers of stacked editing windows that I switch between is better for the app. I still keep the Mixing Board out of it. It drove me crazy that I can't keep it from only showing the selection of tracks from whatever I had highlighted when I switch to it.

Oh, and I love the compact Control Panel on my laptop