Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

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This forum is for seeking solutions to technical problems involving Digital Performer and/or plug-ins on Windows, as well as feature requests, criticisms, comparison to other DAWs.
Zarathustra
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Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by Zarathustra »

I'm trying out the demo of DP8 on Windows 8. The most annoying thing for me is the almost unusable font display. There is no ClearType and the fonts are so tiny. Is it normal or only I have this problem? Is there any way to make fonts look clear/better? Thanks.
kdm
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by kdm »

I would be interested too if anyone found a way to improve DP8's visibility.

Same problem here - the text is just way too small. Some of it is pretty much unreadable without getting on top of the screen, which is bad for one's eyesight. As much as I wanted to give DP8 a shot for at least some work where it could excel, this was the deal breaker for me. Unless the GUI visibility changes at some point, I'll be staying with my previous DAW.

But if there is a solution I would like to spend a little more time with DP. I somewhat doubt it though since some of this is tied to the size of the GUI itself, which is too small in many areas (some buttons and icons, portions of the mixer, etc), not just the fonts.
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bayswater
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by bayswater »

This is a problem on the Mac version too. Especially for those of us with aging eyes. After a while you just know where everything is, and zooming the screen is not that difficult. But it should be addressed.
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Gibby
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by Gibby »

DAW shopping and ran across this prior to my downloading the demo..oh boy!
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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Why don't my 59 yr old eyes see this problem? And I don't wear glasses!

How far away are your monitors?
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Wolfie2112
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by Wolfie2112 »

I have a pair of 24" LCD's in front of me, I agree the fonts are terrible. You can't even enlarge the mixer when placed in its own monitor!!!
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by James Steele »

Thus spake Zarathustra:
I'm trying out the demo of DP8 on Windows 8. The most annoying thing for me is the almost unusable font display. There is no ClearType and the fonts are so tiny. Is it normal or only I have this problem? Is there any way to make fonts look clear/better? Thanks.
Okay... nothing... I just wanted to attribute the quote that way. One post and now follow up though. Well, I hope, Z, that you were able to work with it. Besides that issue, there are many good things about DP. :)
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Wazatron
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by Wazatron »

I just came across this and had to add a reply as well - hopefully get some MOTU attention to this.

It really is a pretty nasty usability issue. I run DP on a Win8 machine with a 24" monitor and on a MacBook pro with a 15" monitor. I have no issues at all reading anything on the MacBook but on my big 24" monitor I can barely make out some of the smaller, non-bold text.

C'mon MOTU it's 2014 - these types of resolution issues are mind boggling. I just downloaded the 8.06 patch and had hopes that it would be addressed there... nope. Oh well. Maybe in version 9 they'll get the Windows environment sorted out. Maybe.
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frankymax
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by frankymax »

So, two thoughts that you guys I'm sure have already checked but in case you haven't:

1- the main Tracks Overview window can be resized larger both vertically and horizontally to make it bigger by using the + and - buttons on the right bottom corner.

2- you can change screen resolution on your Windows monitor and make it larger there as well if needed.

Again, I know these are obvious but I thought I'd mention them in case you weren't aware of that. I am on Win 7 with a 30" Dell monitor and my 55 year old eyes (which are really going bad from years of all this computer sh*t) can still read DP pretty darn well. I hear eating lots of carrots can improve vision too!! :wink:
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wilcofan
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by wilcofan »

Image
Image

I showed this side-by-side comparison Mac/PC in a bug report and got a good response from MOTU tech support.
They admitted they had some work to do.
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hamburski
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by hamburski »

Fabulous, Frank! The vertical + maneuver has done the trick for me. Thanks!
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HobbyCore
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by HobbyCore »

I'm glad I found this thread. I decided to try DP8 in windows 8.1 and the fonts are absolutely terrible. Unreadable in many cases.

I really am curious how you guys in windows either don't notice, or don't have this issue. :surrender:
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frankymax
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by frankymax »

HobbyCore wrote:I'm glad I found this thread. I decided to try DP8 in windows 8.1 and the fonts are absolutely terrible. Unreadable in many cases.

I really am curious how you guys in windows either don't notice, or don't have this issue. :surrender:
I'm on Windows 7 but I really don't think there should be a difference in fonts.

What do you mean that the fonts are unreadable- which fonts are you talking about- the Tracks Names, Event List fonts, Quickscribe music fonts, or what?

Is it the size that you're having a problem with or are the fonts not displaying correctly? If it's a size issue in the Tracks Overview window as I mentioned above use the "+" button on the bottom right side of the TO to make them larger. If it's the size in Chunks, Event Lists, etc wait for DP9- I'm hoping that will be resolved then! :) Quickscribe music should look fine unless the Quickscribe X font isn't loaded. If that's the case get in touch with Tech Support- they'll get that fixed for you.
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HobbyCore
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by HobbyCore »

frankymax wrote:
HobbyCore wrote:I'm glad I found this thread. I decided to try DP8 in windows 8.1 and the fonts are absolutely terrible. Unreadable in many cases.

I really am curious how you guys in windows either don't notice, or don't have this issue. :surrender:
I'm on Windows 7 but I really don't think there should be a difference in fonts.

What do you mean that the fonts are unreadable- which fonts are you talking about- the Tracks Names, Event List fonts, Quickscribe music fonts, or what?

Is it the size that you're having a problem with or are the fonts not displaying correctly? If it's a size issue in the Tracks Overview window as I mentioned above use the "+" button on the bottom right side of the TO to make them larger. If it's the size in Chunks, Event Lists, etc wait for DP9- I'm hoping that will be resolved then! :) Quickscribe music should look fine unless the Quickscribe X font isn't loaded. If that's the case get in touch with Tech Support- they'll get that fixed for you.
See wilcofan's post above. His image looks much nicer than what I'm seeing here, but the difference between OS X and Windows is the same.

The fonts in all windows for writing text are blurry, small, undefined and many bits of text are cutoff by other UI elements. Quickscribe is the only font based thing that looks remotely clear here.

Thanks for the tracks windows tip above btw. I didn't realize you could make the tracks that large there!
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frankymax
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Re: Horrible font display in DP8 on Windows 8

Post by frankymax »

Yeah, I've been in touch with tech support about making the text size bigger and easier to read for old dudes like me, and I believe they are hearing us and will be working on that- btw, guys in OSX also complain about the size of text in Event Lists etc so I know MOTU is aware of this!
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