remmet wrote:Just curious: Am I the only one who desperately wants the "record enable," "play enable," and "solo" buttons put back in the event MIDI edit list windows?
I use the MIDI event lists exclusively for editing. I write a lot of orchestral music, and using the graphic editing windows would be impractical for the extensive editing involved.
That being the case, I am constantly opening up these event edit lists, and when they are open, they cover the other windows - like the track overviews window. Therefore, whenever I'm working on an event list (or multiple lists) and need to put one of them into record or play mode, I have to go back to the the tracks overview window to do it. I can't do it from the event list I'm working on. So when I click on the T.O. window to access the record or play enable buttons, my event lists get covered up. So after dealing with the T.O. window, I have to do more clicking and hunting to find the event list(s) again.
Doing this for 10 hours in a row is exhausting being belief. Is no one else bothered by this?
(I realize you can access the record and play (and solo) enable buttons from the mixer window, but on my system, that's on another monitor and would still require more work than having direct access from the event list windows themselves.
And in a related issue, what happened to the "move to back" buttons on windows? Their absence complicates the whole process of relocating the event list windows.
Please tell me if I'm missing something here.
Richard
It's perfectly reasonable to want the transport controls on the Event List window. I don't know why it's not there. But in the short term, you would do well to learn the keyboard command for cycling through windows, and to become friends with the Exposé commands. Also, Spaces might be usable for you.
First the
Cycle Windows command: COMMAND ~ (command key and the tilde key, the one right under the escape key) If this does not work, then it's either because you've got it turned off in the Mac keyboard preferences, or you've got some other shortcut command overriding it. That's one of the ones you should leave the way OSX originally sets it.
Next,
Exposé: I think the Mac's defaults for Exposé are F9, F10, and F11. I changed mine to F1, F2, and F3. Those are infinitely useful in a multiple window environment, where every window needs as much space as it can get. Using Exposé becomes 2nd nature, and you can quickly switch windows with it, without even touching the mouse. (Invoke Exposé, then use arrow keys to focus on desired windows)
Finally, there is
Apple's "Spaces." I don't remember when this was added to OSX, but I think it was there in Tiger. In any case, it works great in Snow Leopard. There's a post on it in the DP Tips Sheet on page 5.
http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 45#p199845" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I've grown to depend on Spaces when working in DP. It is one of the greatest things that ever happened to DP, and it was Apple who gave it to us! If you follow the instructions for setting it up, it only takes a few seconds to do it when you first open a file. If you don't do it as per the instructions in that post, it can take much longer and be frustrating. The way I describe it is actually a built-in shortcut that Apple's programmers gave us.
Finally, I just want to comment on the usage of Event List and Graphic Editor windows. I've been using DP since the Performer days, version 1, when there was no graphic editor window. Everything was Event List or nothing, basically, though you could do some of the coarse stuff -- moving blocks of MIDI data -- in the Tracks Overview Window. I had to learn to do everything in terms of numbers, including accents, crescendos, voicing of chords, and so forth. It was helpful in teaching me the "underbelly" of MIDI, so that now I have a deeper understanding of what's going on in the Graphic Editor Window. Almost all of my work now and then has been classical, orchestral and chamber music, though I did make my living for nearly 20 years in the rock/pop field.
But what I'm getting to is that there is no comparison between the Event List and the Graphic Editor Window. The Graphic window makes orchestral editing amazingly easier and faster. If you have not found that out, I suspect it's because you haven't given it a good try. Use the manual and learn about the drawing tools for the Graphic Editor window. They are outstanding, and I don't think that any other DAW has tools that even come close to the ease of use, fast and efficient workflow, and the power of these tools.
They are more suited for orchestral music than any other style, IMO, and were a godsend for me when they arrived back in about 1991 or so. Trust me, if you haven't spent time in the Graphic Editor Window -- especially since it became possible to see all tracks in one window -- then you're not doing yourself any favors.
But if the Event List remains your preference, by all means it should have transport controls like the other windows. It surprises me that MOTU removed them. Their recent goals have been to make all windows behave more alike than differently.
Good luck, and I hope you find a working method that works for you.
Shooshie
