KVR Audio

Timfonie · Post by **Timfonie** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:09 am

Yeah I used to love the FM7 GUI. It would be cool if Dexed got that type of look.

Another vote from me for this idea.

An FM7-style GUI will suite Dexed since it's a rather faithfull DX7-recreation.

Spitfire31 · Post by **Spitfire31** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 1:23 pm

sfd wrote:Something user friendly would be preferable. After all a GUI is a working tool - not a painting.

The best GUIs are perhaps – both?

/Joachim

bftucker · Post by **bftucker** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:04 pm

Yes...a hammer is a beautiful object as well as a useful tool. But the important thing is that the form must not detract, but follows, from the function. See Louis Sullivan, The tall office building artistically considered (1896):

https://archive.org/details/tallofficebuildi00sull

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 4:16 pm

Maomoondog · Post by **Maomoondog** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:39 pm

+1 to the FM7 style GUI.

ras.s · Post by **ras.s** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:49 pm

For what it's worth, I'd like the interface to be resizable (vector based), and while it's no use to me right now, easy multi-touch operation might be something real sweet for those with touch screens (probably everyone in five years).

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:22 pm

+1000 for the vectorial resizable GUI, of course.

But I guess it is certainly not for tomorrow...

But at least if the plugin GUI was provided as bitmap with at minimum two sizes it would be... euh.... GREAT!

But what I really would like (no... love!!!) would be a skinnable GUI, by the background and the layers left as bmp or png image files. It would be... pfff... how can I say... an IMMENSE graphical enhancement!!!

Remember the incredible possibilities that it has left to the users with Chimera for example:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch& ... +skins+vst

asb2m10 · Post by **asb2m10** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:23 pm

Vectorial graphics is very cool, but this kind implementation needs a lot of work ! It needs a tight integration with the graphic designer and the coder. Let's keep the goal not big so we can make it... If this was my 15th VST project sure... but this is my first one.

A FM7 'style' would be very cool but :

1- It is a skin by Native Instruments. The last thing I want is a legal issue with them. I know it is far fetch, but it could append. Let's not forget that they actually changed the FM8 look.... maybe Yamaha has something to do with this. (FM7 looks better than FM8 to me...)
2- The DX7 doesn't have any knobs. Yeah, FM7 is really great looking but fitting 144 slider into one screen is simply not doable. To me one single screen (no sub-menu) is important.

The skin is already done by AZZZ. I'm coding it to integrate this into the current code. It does have a "DX7" feel, but it is more compact and lean to be more functional. To me, AZZZ actually nailed it.

Skinability would be great, but this should be done in the future. The source code will contain the original knobman and skinman file, so it will be possible to change the skin without having to change the code. You will need to recompile it tough.

Timfonie · Post by **Timfonie** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:27 pm

asb2m10 wrote:The skin is already done by AZZZ. I'm coding it to integrate this into the current code. It does have a "DX7" feel, but it is more compact and lean to be more functional. To me, AZZZ actually nailed it.

Sounds good.

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:13 am

Just to correct this point:

asb2m10 wrote:Let's not forget that they actually changed the FM8 look.... maybe Yamaha has something to do with this.

In fact no. I had read (in 2007, when Native Instruments made interviews for the promotion of FM8) that they had totally reworked the GUI because the tries they had made keeping the FM7 style with the huge number of new features introduced by FM8 presented two problems:
1. a GUI which looked very sad compared to the purpose of this synth (very dynamic and multifocused music) and compared to the competitors which were coming on the market at that same date.
2. a possible underestimation of the abilities of FM8 compared to FM7 in the mind of the potential purchasers. They could simply think that FM8 was just a "reworked FM7 with a few new features" while the differences between FM7 and FM8 was so numerous and so deep that NI preferred to not take a risk in keeping the FM7 GUI which could become counterproductive in the sales of FM8.

There had been no issue with Yamaha. Quite the contrary! NI had got a licence agreement from Yamaha.

That's the story.

electro · Post by **electro** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:33 am

Please...why not just wait till Dexed is 99% feature complete before pushing for a Graphics overhaul, the least important concern?

xenophobic · Post by **xenophobic** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:22 am

Can we see a teaser for the new GUI Please Pretty Please.

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:22 am

electro wrote:Please...why not just wait till Dexed is 99% feature complete before pushing for a Graphics overhaul, the least important concern?

It's not the actual making of a finished GUI which is important, but it is important to think the GUI at the same time than the features. Especially if the developer plans (or agrees with the users to plan later) a GUI switchable... and even more for a GUI skinnable.

Yes, the features are always the most important, but the interactions between the user and the features are important to take very early in account, and they are made optimal if the GUI is thought "close to optimal" at the same time.

Especially when the accent is focused on the usability... which is at term the most important.

Spitfire31 · Post by **Spitfire31** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:51 am

BlackWinny wrote:
electro wrote: Yes, the features are always the most important, but the interactions between the user and the features are important to take very early in account, and they are made optimal if the GUI is thought "close to optimal" at the same time.

I agree with this.

The GUI is very important – vital, in fact. I'd go so far as to say that the visuals of the GUI do affect the sound, or rather, our experience of the sound. And, of course, a good looking, well thought out GUI invites editing and manipulation in a way that a bare-bones one doesn't.

Case in point: Apple's range of excellent AU effects that come with the System, but are visually just a bunch of vertically arranged sliders on a white background. How many Mac users actually use them? I know I don't…

Another example: a few years back, Kirk Hunter released a great Kontakt strings library. The GUI had some quasi futuristic, brushed aluminium look and there was a collective outcry from customers. Kirk duly obliged with a revised GUI with a visual theme of warm wood. And, although the sounds were the same, the instruments actually sounded better.

An illusion, of course, but life depends to a large extent on illusions. /rant…

/Joachim

sfd · Post by **sfd** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:21 am

Considering the big amount of sysex files available I do hope that the patch browsing window will become more user friendly.

Personally I like the preset browsing window of Podolski and Tyrell N6.

On the left hand you have the banks and on the right you have the patches. You can use to arrow keys to go trhough the sounds very easy.

As for the GUI in general I'm still of the opinion that a user friendly GUI is preferable.

I would not feel comfortable flying a aircraft where the displays looks like SampleTank 2.

Free FM Synthesizer Dexed (VST Windows and Mac)