not crazy about the white GUI

[Mr. Quimper]

I think I could live with the rest of the graphic changes if they'd just give the option to turn down the white areas to a more "DP 5 style" gray. I can deal with the rest. I'm not going to ask them to redesign the whole interface (though it'd be nice )....just allow some color options.

I don't know the specific difficulties in programming an interface, but I can't imagine it being that difficult just to change one color value.

Again, I'm just basing this off the user shots so far, but I honestly don't think I'm going to be getting 6 unless I'm sure I can modify the thing easily enough. It's just too bright to look at for longer than a few minutes and there are lots of other things that $200 can go towards.

Who knows, maybe it will be going towards Logic!

5.13 has been perfectly stable for me so I don't see any reason to upgrade in the near future unless a future update is significantly more attractive.

[grimepoch]

Okay, so I did a tiny bit of photoshopping comparison. DP5.13, DP6 and what I like (may not be what you like):




Wo while they removed some of the 3Dness of DP5.13, they actually made everything bigger! Look at even the plugin slots at the top, all bigger.

Tons of wasted spaced. And of course, at the bottom is the whiteish background (looks more like eggshell colored now that I've looked at it in photoshop).

I absolutely think the mixer itself looks nicer in DP6, hands down, but clearly I have some issues:

(1) Why is there no diving line that extends all the way down the channel?
(2) The background behind the fader needs to be darker so that the position of the fader pops up easier when looking.
(3) Why does everything take more room?
(4) Why did we make the mixing channel bigger without really adding anything to it?

The third image is my mock up of what I would have liked.

(1) Consolidated solo, mute, rec and input buttons. They should be bright when active (more contrast than what I show when dark)
(2) Less wasted space
(3) slider darker easier to see position!
(4) TWO LINES of text at the bottom for track name information
(5) Darker text below fader
(6) Background of mixer window gray!!!!!!

I may do a mock-up for the Sequence Editor as well (but not right now)

Discuss!

[Mr. Quimper]

Kudos on the mockup. The way you handled the track control and automation buttons is exactly how I would like to see it...better than my mockup.

dp6b.jpg

[kwiz]

Okay, so I did a tiny bit of photoshopping comparison. DP5.13, DP6 and what I like (may not be what you like):

Discuss!

Nice!!! I completely agree, the mixer channels take up to much room and like you, I now feel cramped even on a 30" apple display.
Here is my usual screen when in vocal tracking mode in dp 5.13.




Here it is in dp 6.



I hope they seriously take your suggestions into consideration and streamline the mixer window. Besides the washed out look and the extra space the automation mute etc. buttons take up, I think the new look is cool.

[Matcher]

The mixer really seems to handle the new GUI the best. In both of the screenshots of DP6 there is a white space at the bottom of the mixer window that seems to serve no purpose, is this the case or am I missing something?

[monkey man]

Looks like the windows haven't been resized to fit the board perfectly, Matcher.

[kwiz]

Looks like the windows haven't been resized to fit the board perfectly, Matcher.

You're absolutely right MM. Here is the revision.
Point being, the new mixer uses up to much screen real estate compared to 5.13.

[Matcher]

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

[grimepoch]

The white on the bottom of mine was to show it, nothing else, in comparison to the 5.13 background

[grimepoch]

Also important observation:

Look at the meters on the mixing board AND the meter bridge. Look how well the green pops out with all the other colors. You can VERY EASILY see the levels going on. with the blue, and the addition of blank space between the level bars on the meter bridge, everything is SO MUCH harder to see with all the other noise going on of colors (especially with the fader graphics)

[monkey man]

Very true (as if there're degrees thereof! LOL), GE.

Is it just me, or isn't there any sort of colour gradation above the null point (0dB)?
I like the semi-subconscious feedback the green->yellow area provides as far as basic awareness of levels is concerned.
I don't get this at all.

[ramadev]

Look how well the green pops out with all the other colors. You can VERY EASILY see the levels going on. with the blue, and the addition of blank space between the level bars on the meter bridge, everything is SO MUCH harder to see with all the other noise going on of colors (especially with the fader graphics)

Some folks don't see green all that well due to male pattern color blindness, so blue may actually work better for those folks...FWIW.

But yeah, green is better...

[Eleventh Hour Sound]

Also important observation:

Look at the meters on the mixing board AND the meter bridge. Look how well the green pops out with all the other colors. You can VERY EASILY see the levels going on. with the blue, and the addition of blank space between the level bars on the meter bridge, everything is SO MUCH harder to see with all the other noise going on of colors (especially with the fader graphics)

+1 This is my single biggest issue.

[Eleventh Hour Sound]

Okay, so I did a tiny bit of photoshopping comparison. DP5.13, DP6 and what I like (may not be what you like):




Wo while they removed some of the 3Dness of DP5.13, they actually made everything bigger! Look at even the plugin slots at the top, all bigger.

Tons of wasted spaced. And of course, at the bottom is the whiteish background (looks more like eggshell colored now that I've looked at it in photoshop).

I absolutely think the mixer itself looks nicer in DP6, hands down, but clearly I have some issues:

(1) Why is there no diving line that extends all the way down the channel?
(2) The background behind the fader needs to be darker so that the position of the fader pops up easier when looking.
(3) Why does everything take more room?
(4) Why did we make the mixing channel bigger without really adding anything to it?

The third image is my mock up of what I would have liked.

(1) Consolidated solo, mute, rec and input buttons. They should be bright when active (more contrast than what I show when dark)
(2) Less wasted space
(3) slider darker easier to see position!
(4) TWO LINES of text at the bottom for track name information
(5) Darker text below fader
(6) Background of mixer window gray!!!!!!

I may do a mock-up for the Sequence Editor as well (but not right now)

Discuss!

Thanks for your work GP. I like your shading behind the fader so you can see the thing. I wish they would lighten the background of the level meters so that it doesn't grab you eye until there some green audio level there!

I prefered the vertical solo, mute, record and input buttons because I could easily swipe right to left or left to right across a row of channels quickly. The DP6 version looks clumsy to me, but if they function the same way (being able to swipe across a row) then I would still prefer the vertical. The DP6 buttons seems to waste space, and the colour of the indicator light doesn't work for me.

[kwiz]

Is it just me, or isn't there any sort of colour gradation above the null point (0dB)?
I like the semi-subconscious feedback the green->yellow area provides as far as basic awareness of levels is concerned.
I don't get this at all.

No it's not you, that's another cool feature that seems to be lacking in the blue meters.
It's very subtle in real time because it happens in milliseconds but as you stated, the semi-subconsciousness of it keeps you aware of how hot your signals are.