DP 6 GUI - What do you think of it?

[robiedobie]

MOTU has made DP 6 totally user unfriendly and downright tiresome to use.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

MOTU has made DP 6 totally user unfriendly and downright tiresome to use.

Well, not totally user unfriendly. Some of us still can use it quite well. But I also had a fairly emotional reaction until I took the time to learn some of the new parameters. It's not all that 'bad' in fact it's not bad at all, just different.

Way different!

[sdfalk]

After a few hours of use here's my thoughts;

The "white" backdrop really gives me a headache,
the mixer redesign is aesthetically awful (as is the control
panel/transport)
Both (especially the control panel) examples of HUGE wastes
of space.
The comp tool is brilliantly executed and has worked flawlessly
in my workflow.
I love the Proverb, and the new limiter.
As for responsiveness vs 5.13, it appears DP6 is much MUCH snappier
on my dual core Macbook with 4gb of ram.
I have been reading that people have found it more sluggish vs 5.13...
seems great for me so far.
I'm fine with all the mini menus either moved, or just gotten rid of
I guess.
They could have left them, and I would have been fine with that as
well.
Shame the scoring hasn't been improved at all.
I've kept 5.13 on my system, and so far it hasn't caused me any problems.
The only third party plugins I have installed are pluggo, Izotope, and
some linplug stuff.
No problems thus far.
Motu REALLY needs to give users actual options for the "overall color scheme" of the interface though.
After a few hours, I found it very fatiguing on the eyes.
I just get the impression the developers couldn't make up their minds
on how DP should look.

Anyway..sorry that wasn't all about the interface..

[TheHopiWay]

I Like it. Both the features and the look.

[James Steele]

MOTU has made DP 6 totally user unfriendly and downright tiresome to use.

Hmmm joined today... and first post ever? You'll fit right in.

[Tonio Ruiz]

MOTU has made DP 6 totally user unfriendly and downright tiresome to use.

Hmmm joined today... and first post ever? You'll fit right in.

well whatever it is, DP has never been exactly user friendly, myself coming from Protools I find it hard to handle, call it DP4, DP5, or DP6, it's not too friendly, but is efective, plus, I already bought it, I have no other choice, so I better dig it and grow with it, other wise I'm screwed

[MIDI Life Crisis]

MOTU has made DP 6 totally user unfriendly and downright tiresome to use.

Hmmm joined today... and first post ever? You'll fit right in.

well whatever it is, DP has never been exactly user friendly, myself coming from Protools I find it hard to handle, call it DP4, DP5, or DP6, it's not too friendly, but is efective, plus, I already bought it, I have no other choice, so I better dig it and grow with it, other wise I'm screwed

There is definitely a learning curve to DP as there is to any sophisticated software. Have you ever tried Finale? Now THERE is a fun program to learn.

But DP is paid out in a fairly logical manner. The windows are dedicated to what they actually do (sequence, soundbites, MIDI, etc. so where is it that you think it is "unfriendly?"

[Tonio Ruiz]

There is definitely a learning curve to DP as there is to any sophisticated software. Have you ever tried Finale? Now THERE is a fun program to learn.

But DP is paid out in a fairly logical manner. The windows are dedicated to what they actually do (sequence, soundbites, MIDI, etc. so where is it that you think it is "unfriendly?"[/quote]

Well, here is my point of view, I started about 12 years ago with PC software such as Cakewalk and stuff, I realized that is was very limited when I saw older friends working with DP the old versions, I thought DP was a great and far advanced software, then I went to Protools and I learned it quite fast, so I got used to it, then I turned to DP and realized that PT is like as I always say "foolproof", (me being the fool of course) everything is like more in your face and easier to find, now working with DP must of the times you have to do a extra "thing" to get what you are looking for, once you know how to do it it becomes easy and friendly obvouisly, but is not as intuitive as others, and as I said, it is very efective, I just don't like to have to go through that much of menus and extra sfuff, silly things if you want, like grouping, you can group tracks allright, but it takes longer to do it, that's my point

I'm getting used to DP by the minute, it's very powerful, but as other users have said Motu should take good ideas from other DAW's that would make DP the best of the best

sorry for the long speach!!!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There is definitely a learning curve to DP as there is to any sophisticated software. Have you ever tried Finale? Now THERE is a fun program to learn.

But DP is paid out in a fairly logical manner. The windows are dedicated to what they actually do (sequence, soundbites, MIDI, etc. so where is it that you think it is "unfriendly?"

There is definitely a learning curve to DP as there is to any sophisticated software. Have you ever tried Finale? Now THERE is a fun program to learn.

But DP is paid out in a fairly logical manner. The windows are dedicated to what they actually do (sequence, soundbites, MIDI, etc. so where is it that you think it is "unfriendly?"

Damn this place has some kind of echo. Capitol Records, look out!

[Khursor]

The new GUI is a huge step backwards in visual ease-of-use. The fonts are hard to read, they're too small and the whole scheme is very neutral, with very little contrast. All the depth and elegance of DP5s first-gen 3D GUI is gone. You really notice if you're running two computers and one has DP5 and the other DP6. Kind of reminds me of the first generation of ICON hardware that DIGI put out. You can't read anything on the mix surface unless you're right on top of it and the buttons look like jellybeans. They must have thought that mixers work in cleanrooms or something, not dimly lit studios and stages. Enough users complained and they're finally making them look like a real mix desk. Very hi-contrast, easy to read, dark surface. DP5 had a great GUI and it looked pro. The new one looks like a consumer-grade product, much like Live or GURU or something like that. Flat, boring, too bright and hard to read. It's great that they finally added track resizing, but it still doesn't affect the sidebar windows with their itty bitty fonts. I have to squint and lean in to see my marker descriptions now. It's a drag. I get eye fatigue looking at the main window over the course of a normal workday. This is especially aggravated on 30" monitors. Having the extra real estate makes managing this GUI more DIFFICULT, not easier. Cubase's new GUI looks fabulous. Hell, Garage Band's GUI kicks the stuffing out of DP6.

I don't know who MOTU hired to make this GUI, but they failed miserably. The least they could do is offer some kind of "skinning" kit to mod the GUI to a user's taste. Or some way to adjust font sizes and colors. Even a few global design schemes would help immensely. More contrast is paramount. Everything is so damn light and bordering on grayscale-ish. I tried simply using Universal Access on my Mac to look at it in Inverse which made it WAY easier to see, but made all the VIs impossible to read.

Everyone at MOTU must have raptor-sharp vision (look at Mach Five's main page - that IS impossible to read). Guess they didn't take into account that everyone else doesn't.

I'm considering switching to Logic or Cubase at this point just because it's easier to look at! But I'm stuck for now because I"m on a deadline.

A COLOSSAL DISAPPOINTMENT.

[Khursor]

HOW ABOUT MAKING THE CONTROL PANEL ABLE TO FLOAT? In a busy window you have to keep finding the control panel over and over and over and over. It should be integrated permanently into the consolidated window.

AND WHERE'S THE AUTO-SAVE ALREADY??????

[martian]

and where's the auto-save already?


echo-ing you but quietly....


( float control panel - yeah why not?

maybe all that space on the control panel is to leave it less cluttered

the info bar in the SE is also a bit annoying as it jumps about - hard to "train" your eye - ie to glance extactly and quickly to spot info like SOUNDBITE GAIN - altho it is a very welcome addition to me to actually see the info there... brightness for me no big deal I think


the only major thing I miss from dp5 is the fact now that I cant see a name AT ALL some times - cos truncating leaves it with 2 dumb dashes... exp is enough of explosion for me to guess what it is eh?

[Brian Middleton]

well whatever it is, DP has never been exactly user friendly, myself coming from Protools I find it hard to handle

Coming from DP, I find Pro Tools hard to handle. But I don't think that's due to any inherent difficulty with PT.

I've always found DP to be superbly user-friendly, ever since I first booted up 1.8 or whatever it was. To me, the mark of a user-friendly app is that you have to remind yourself to consult the manual now and then in case you're missing something, because you rarely need to open the manual in order to get the job done. And that's been the case for me with DP.

But I still don't like the DP6 look.

[martian]

infact a floating FX window might be ok too

often wish that for EQ and surround panner -

or if they can included in a consolidated window..

ideally a chasing channel strip scenario - whereby I click a chall and get that channels insert FX and panner - in prime position and so I can pan it etc..

( i have a feeling this might work if I had 2 mons of same size- allowing for embedded mixing strip - 1 I must try?)

[monkey man]

What's been happening lately? Has the Emperor fired up his Ray Gun of Trolldome and zapped us?
Why all the angst? I'm sure MOTU's heard the noise by now.

I thought this was a pole, not yet another opportunity to vent. Having got that off my chest, I'll get down off my high horse now. Anyone got a ladder?