DP 6 GUI - What do you think of it?

[qwerty]

Just a thought for DP which I might send off to MOTU - what if the fader knob would be the normal whitish color for playback, but go red for record mode, orange for mute, yellow for solo (all as a preference of course)?
:

At first glance, this seems like a very cool idea (as a preference of course). By all means ~ suggest it to MOTU (as a preference of course)

[derrell]

James,

First point: My bad on the name, slipped right past me. That was my very first post to this site, sorry.

Second point: Virtually everything I commented on in my first post related directly to DP's new GUI and has been said for the most part in other posts here on this site. That was the question you were asking. I was simply adding my two cents just as everyone else here is doing.

So, why is my opinion the only opinion not welcome by you? Twelve years of day to day use of DP in my business should count for something. I also know that MOTU reads these and other similar posts. I believe all our opinions is what makes the program better. And, I also felt my opinions would be better served posted here instead of suggestions@motu.com as everyone would be listening, watching and waiting rather than just MOTU.

But, again, that's just my opinion. Just let me know that my opinions concerning DP are truely not welcome by you here and I will not post any more.

Thanks.

Derrell Brown

[derrell]

After all that has been said I still forgot to vote. I told you I was new to this posting thing. : ^ )

I give DP6/6.01 new GUI an (E).

Thanks.

Derrell Brown

[jmc]

Overall I like the new design, but it is DEFINITELY a bit on the bright side. I'm definitely enjoying the variations that some people have come up with; I haven't installed one yet, though. It might be a good idea to consolidate the user mods in a sticky.

[James Steele]

James,

First point: My bad on the name, slipped right past me. That was my very first post to this site, sorry.

Second point: Virtually everything I commented on in my first post related directly to DP's new GUI and has been said for the most part in other posts here on this site. That was the question you were asking. I was simply adding my two cents just as everyone else here is doing.

So, why is my opinion the only opinion not welcome by you? Twelve years of day to day use of DP in my business should count for something. I also know that MOTU reads these and other similar posts. I believe all our opinions is what makes the program better. And, I also felt my opinions would be better served posted here instead of suggestions@motu.com as everyone would be listening, watching and waiting rather than just MOTU.

But, again, that's just my opinion. Just let me know that my opinions concerning DP are truely not welcome by you here and I will not post any more.

Thanks.

Derrell Brown

I think you miss my point just a little. What confused me is that you addressed this letter to the board, but then it sort of read like a letter to MOTU. I think if you left out the "Letter to Unicornation" part it wouldn't have felt weird to me. It made me feel like clarifying that to be most effective a letter that is telling MOTU what they need to do might be best written to MOTU directly also.

[James Steele]

Just let me know that my opinions concerning DP are truely not welcome by you here and I will not post any more.

Uhhh... yeah, Derrell... your opinions concerning DP are not welcome here. Let's not get too dramatic, okay? It's starting out your post as "Letter to Unicornation" that sort of threw me. You could've started it out "Open Letter to MOTU." After all, I'm well aware that this is the favorite place to come to for such open letters and complaints. I still think you might want to send this off to MOTU as there is no guarantee somebody from MOTU will indeed read messages intended for them here on this board.

[nadeama]

My opinion on the GUI: in general I actually like it quite a bit, in fact more than DP 5.x. A few things though that annoy me:

- In the mixing board, I don't like the fact that they mixed 3D faders with otherwise more 2D elements. They should really be consistent IMO, and choose one or the other. I've fixed this however by installing a user mod for the faders.

- The rounded corners of the Control Panel are badly anti-aliased (if at all). This seems like a bit of lazy work, or like it was somehow forgotten. Not really important, but as a friend of mine once said, if you're gonna look at something for 8-10 hours a day, it would be nice if it looked good.

- The same sort of anti-aliasing problem appears in 6.01's Track Inspector info bar that can be enabled in various windows like the GE or SE. If you look at the small circle surrounding the letter "T", it seems to not be as well anti-aliased as the similar circles from other elements of the info bar. Weird...

- I have a problem with some of the fonts. While many look fine to me, there are some places in the applcation where the letters are all "squished together". This is usually done in other apps when there otherwise wouldn't be enough space to display the entire word(s) in a text field, but in DP 6 it sometimes happens even when there is enough space. For example, load an effect that has a very short name in a mixing board insert. The letters of the name will be all "squished" together even though there would be enough space to display them normally. Same thing for the tab names in the Transpose window. And in effect windows, the letters of the words "Bypass off" or "Bypass on" are all stuck together. Of course that's a case where there might not be enough space in the button field, but then they should have made the button just a bit wider, since this is a permanent field where the words won't change (so they knew in advance how much space it would need).

This last point is not just a cosmetic issue, but a functionality problem as well, because it can make certain text fields very hard to read.

Finally, I'm now just fine with DP 6.01's slightly darker color scheme.

[bOing]

I can live with 6.01. Not the prettiest, but boy can she cook.

[shuvel]

looks like crap! I'm back to DP5.13.

[gaucho]

I second the motion to reintroduce the arrow button which forces the current window to the back. That was such a clever solution to a busy work layout. THis seems easy to reincorporate.

Also, Mr. MOTU, please consider one of Vision's good ideas. When a track is play-disabled, it should appear as a pastel, or even grey in the tracks overview window. If one has a 21-inch or wider screen, it is difficult to tell who is play enabled if they all look the same on the MIDI overview.

Seems stable so far.

[gaucho]

More ideas:
I used to be able to select 3 or 4 tracks, click on the graphic editor icon (or shift-double click one of the the tracks), and see them all in the graphic editor. I don't know if it's a bug, but there's no way to see more than one track in the graphic editor unless you select them from the track selector after its opened. That's an extra step. It was so much faster to be able to quickly select tracks and shift-double-click (or click the icon).

Also, it seems I cannot solo from the graphic editor any more. I must leave the window (which is bad because of the above reason), set up the solo configuration in the tracks overview, and then return to the graphic editor (and RESELECT the tracks I want to see!!).

[dpdan]

nadeama, thank you for posting an accurate description of some things
that are still a real problem in 6.01.
The whole abbreviating everything is so rediculous.
Pro Tools does not have these problems at all. I hardly ever uses PT,
but I never have a problem reading the track names in Pro Tools.

You speak of aliasing, I am not sure but I think that means certain things
are not aligned properly with regard to exactly where they are relative to other things.
For instance, the tops of all letters and numbers in the control panel are chopped off.

There are just so many things that need fixing in 6. GOSH!
and to think I paid 200 bucks for a broken UP grade ?
I still prefer it over any other DAW though.

I do really appreciate the folks at MOTU for what they do.
I don't appreciate the folks at MOTU that allow
unfinished work to go public.
Dan

[melenko]

+1

[Tomas E]

I don't like it, F. I feel lost, especially in the counter window. I think they should have left it alone. Too small fonts makes it difficult to read.

[screensound]

No problem here with small font. It is equally as bad as DP5. On my 42" HD LCD it's bearable. My colours are now set to Calico-it gives the best visibility for me-otherwise the waveforms are lost in the low contrast on the track colour scheme.

Track Selector-p*ssed me off until I discovered it floats. That's better.

The C and E in the top of the SE? useless. Just screws with my layout.

Multiple windows open-especially effects-impossible to find when in background. They all look the same and it is really hard to tell which is which.

Why does it still change my timeline to Bars and Beats!!! I want it to open each project the same as I saved it.

Some core stuff in terms of audio engine is definitely better. We'll get there by 6.12.

Give it 6 months or so of pain.

Overall 3 out of 10 for me. Seems like they got some kid with a design degree and fancy ideas but no clue.