MOTU, please...

[Shooshie]

Guess I'm either lucky or dumb or both, I just don't use a lot of plug ins, nor a lot of tracks (see elsewhere on the board). Man, I'm just a simpleton.

Oh heck. That means you won't be able to appreciate the genius of my Escher Solution to plugins covering up other plugins. When MOTU implements this idea, and all plugins float in front of all other plugins, you'll be able to see an infinite number of plugin windows on a single monitor, all simultaneously. And at the same time, too!

Now to get back to that bridge in Brooklyn I'm about to buy. Genius, I tells ya. Genius!

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It's all about the horn!

[Killahurts]

Well, here's the thing: I need my plugins to float in front of EACH OTHER, so that one never gets in the way of another. I mean, how can I balance a mix in Waves C6, when the Altiverb plugin interface is hogging the screen, floating in front of the C6? And if the C6 is in front, I can't see Altiverb to know if I like the decor in the room I'm currently using to reverberate my mix. So, the solution is to have them float in front of each other! That way, I can open all the plugin windows I want, and none of them will ever hide another, because they will all be floating in front of each other!!!

I think the lack of this feature is holding you back, career-wise Shoosh. Think of all the time you've spent just moving plugs around the screen to make them nice and tidy.

These are moments you can't get back.. melodies forgotten, never to be enjoyed by listeners.

When all they had to do was float everything. What a shame.

MOTU, YOU MUST FACE..

We need everything simultaneously. I talked to a guy who knows a lady who's brother called MOTU, and they said it might be in the next version, but only for iPad. Gimme a break! Everybody knows that iPad has only a mono speaker, and won't play 64 bit sound files.

Maybe time to jump ship for Logic, who's current version is mature.. old in fact. They may not have the Escher Solution yet, but their stuff still floats like a turd in salt water.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

MOTU, YOU MUST FACE..

MOTU!

[otalgia-2000]

Greetings from Camp Workaround...

on OSX, i make as much use of SPACES as possible. some plugs don't like to be anywhere but Space #1 (however if you have more than one monitor, there can be multiple panes for Space #1).

but other plugins don't seem to mind, however, so i just park 'em around the spaces environment then and CNTRL-(L or R) Cursor to switch from space to space. unfortunately you can't tell plugins to remember Spaces assignments so with every new session you have to re-place them -- tho i haven't tried to see what happens when you assign their stand-alones to a Space.... hmmm....

anyway perhaps this can be of some help until Perfection is attained?

[Phil O]

An Escher Theme! Oh that'd be way cool. Shoosh you're a genius. Faders could go up and down at the same time, you could play a soundbite in both directions at once...the possibilities are endless.

But seriously, I've thought for a long time that a floating window option should be built into the OS. One little inconspicuous button on every window that toggles float on of off. Just sayin'

Phil

[Shooshie]

Greetings from Camp Workaround...

on OSX, i make as much use of SPACES as possible. some plugs don't like to be anywhere but Space #1 (however if you have more than one monitor, there can be multiple panes for Space #1).

but other plugins don't seem to mind, however, so i just park 'em around the spaces environment then and CNTRL-(L or R) Cursor to switch from space to space. unfortunately you can't tell plugins to remember Spaces assignments so with every new session you have to re-place them -- tho i haven't tried to see what happens when you assign their stand-alones to a Space.... hmmm....

anyway perhaps this can be of some help until Perfection is attained?

My forays into an Escher-inspired interface notwithstanding (where all windows float above all other windows, making them all accessible at once… yes, yes, there's just no off switch on genuine genius), in the non-Escher reality currently available in DP, I do manage to circumvent screen-space limits by using Spaces. I have two or more spaces devoted to just plugin and VI windows. Another space is devoted to the Mixing Board, which remains open to all tracks all the time. Another Space is used for the MIDI Edit Window, which is easier to use when you can see the entire MIDI range with space left over for the continuous data panel. And of course, an entire space is devoted to the Consolidated Windows, which usually means Tracks Overview, Sequence, Chunks, Markers, Channel Strip, and a few others as dictated by the situation.

Someday I'm going to make a video of setting up my spaces, showing how fast it can be done, and maybe then people will be willing to try it.

Shooshie

[otalgia-2000]

just want to clear up a point on which my original post was inexact:

some plugs don't like to be anywhere but Space #1

i really should have said: "some plugs want to share the same 'Space' in which DP resides," (whether that's Space #1, or 2 or 3 or 4).

i keep DP in Space #1 (natch!) but you all may have it parked elsewhere and some plugs will want to be wherever that is. i particularly had BFD2 in mind with this, it seems to get really unhappy if you move it out of the same Space DP is in.

O2k

[Shooshie]

i keep DP in Space #1 (natch!) but you all may have it parked elsewhere and some plugs will want to be wherever that is. i particularly had BFD2 in mind with this, it seems to get really unhappy if you move it out of the same Space DP is in.

Would you define "unhappy?" I haven't experienced this yet (but I do not own BFD). I keep all my plugins open all the time when I need access to them, unless they seem to be affecting processing power or timing, and they ALL reside in other spaces, away from Consolidated Windows, and sometimes away from the Mixing Board, too. If I'm working almost exclusively in the Mixing Board, I may keep my mastering plugs opened in that space. I don't really have any rules, but I haven't experienced any plugins making demands for such rules, either.

Shooshie

[otalgia-2000]

Would you define "unhappy?" I haven't experienced this yet (but I do not own BFD).

Shooshie

...happily!

it's been awhile since i found myself in this predicament because after the first couple of occurrences i started keeping BFD in DP's space and had no further trouble (on that score, at least).

but my recollection is that if you park BFD in a space other than the one occupied by DP, and then go to that space to make an adjustment within BFD, BFD freezes utterly and won't wake back up without closing and re-opening the project.

like'say it's been awhile, but i think i recall that it just zonks BFD without bringing the entire project to a halt - but i could be mis-remembering that. i do remember that i'd have to close and re-open the project, either to get drums back or maybe even everything.

it might be worth mentioning that my experience happened long enough ago that perhaps things would be different now under 8, with its access to acres and acres of RAM. but my sense of it at the time was that the loss of functionality would always come when you switched spaces to adjust BFD. somehow, doing that seemed to lock things up.

i wonder now if this had anything to do with the way i have BFD configured. i send about 13 tracks worth of individual outs from BFD to an equal number of individual AUX ins within DP, and perhaps my personal configuration is so convoluted as to resent much switchin' around.

best,

O2k

[Dan Worley]

Spaces is cool and everything but it doesn't do anything when needing a plug-in or VI window to float above the mixer and being able to adjust something on the mixer without the plug-in disappearing behind the mixer. Example after example of these kinds of things I run into every day. Simple stuff. I'm tired of workarounds at this point and would like to finally see a permanent solution from MOTU. Having a FLOAT button on each plug-in/VI window would be fantastic!!!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

A P-Rack for plug-ins only? Parkable in the CW like the Channel Strip?

How hard could it be?

[Shooshie]

Spaces is cool and everything but it doesn't do anything when needing a plug-in or VI window to float above the mixer and being able to adjust something on the mixer without the plug-in disappearing behind the mixer. Example after example of these kinds of things I run into every day. Simple stuff. I'm tired of workarounds at this point and would like to finally see a permanent solution from MOTU. Having a FLOAT button on each plug-in/VI window would be fantastic!!!

Indeed it would! Floating plugins should be a no-brainer. I'd like to see it go a step further and allow a key press to make floating plugins zip offscreen, just like Exposé does now with all apps. That way, the plugins can float, but when you need to reach through them, they can instantly be gone.

In the meantime, I still put some of my plugins in a separate space. They stay there nicely, easily accessed, and are instantly available at the touch of a key. This, too, should be a no-brainer until MOTU provides us with something better. I don't really understand the resistance to Spaces, but if I start a day without loading windows into Spaces, pretty soon I'm cursing the whole system, and invariably I eventually distribute the windows into Spaces. I really can't work without it anymore. It makes that much of a difference in my workflow. I keep saying I've got to make a movie to show how easy it is, but I never find the time. I'm going to try to do that today.

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Oh, baby! Can you make it rated at least R17 and can I score it?

The more I use full screen, the more I am tempted to jump into Spaces. I'm into a little down time as I prepare my taxes, so this would be the perfect time to master it.

[Dan Worley]

Spaces is cool and everything but it doesn't do anything when needing a plug-in or VI window to float above the mixer and being able to adjust something on the mixer without the plug-in disappearing behind the mixer. Example after example of these kinds of things I run into every day. Simple stuff. I'm tired of workarounds at this point and would like to finally see a permanent solution from MOTU. Having a FLOAT button on each plug-in/VI window would be fantastic!!!

Indeed it would! Floating plugins should be a no-brainer. I'd like to see it go a step further and allow a key press to make floating plugins zip offscreen, just like Exposé does now with all apps. That way, the plugins can float, but when you need to reach through them, they can instantly be gone.

Brilliant!!!

In the meantime, I still put some of my plugins in a separate space. They stay there nicely, easily accessed, and are instantly available at the touch of a key. This, too, should be a no-brainer until MOTU provides us with something better. I don't really understand the resistance to Spaces, but if I start a day without loading windows into Spaces, pretty soon I'm cursing the whole system, and invariably I eventually distribute the windows into Spaces. I really can't work without it anymore. It makes that much of a difference in my workflow. I keep saying I've got to make a movie to show how easy it is, but I never find the time. I'm going to try to do that today.

Yes, I learned how to use Spaces and Expose in combination from you and I was very grateful. For some reason I've gotten away from using them, though. I think something in Expose stopped working (how it deals them back out) after an upgrade and I got frustrated and haven't gone back. I should check it out again. I haven't upgraded to Lion or ML yet (need a new Mac before I can go to ML). Spaces is working correctly there?