Zooming in Acoustica 7

[Paulo-Brazil]

To the Acoustica developers,

I would like to suggest some modifications to the zoom controls of Acoustica 7. My review is based on Acoustica 7.0.24 Premium running on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit.

Zoom controls are located at three places: (1) the View menu, (2) a special button on the main row of buttons that includes the playback and stop buttons, (3) small buttons (zoom+ and zoom-) on the horizontal and vertical sidebars of the main waveform and spectrogram window. Zooming can also be achieved through mouse scrolling or keyboard shortcuts, which I will not discuss.

In my view, what is missing is a simple and quick way to return to the complete overall view after we have zoomed both horizontally and vertically, and also some simple and quick way to return to either a complete horizontal view or a complete vertical view, while keeping the view of the other dimension in a zoomed state.

Currently, when we zoom horizontally, the "View all" command returns the window to the complete view, both in the waveform and in the spectrogram windows.

But when we zoom vertically, either in the waveform window or in the spectrogram window, the "View all" command just doesn't work. The only way to return to a complete vertical view seems to be by repeatedly (how many times?) clicking the zoom- button on the vertical sidebar.

I think that (1) the "View all" command should make us return to the really complete, ground zero view, no matter what kind of zooming (horizontal, vertical or both) had been applied before, and (2) some means should be available to return to the complete view only in one dimension, that is, either horizontally (while keeping the current zoom level in the vertical direction) or vertically (while keeping the current zoom level in the horizontal direction).

Possibly, a zoom-zero button could be added to each of the sidebars, right beside the zoom+ button on the sidebar, in order to make possible a return to the zero level of zoom in one direction, without affecting the zoom level in the other direction. Also possibly, in the drop-down menu that opens when we click the special zoom button on the main row of buttons that includes the playback and stop buttons, besides the "View all" two other options could be presented: "return to the complete vertical view" and "return to the complete horizontal view" - the same under the View menu.

To return to the complete overall view, both in the waveform and in the spectrogram window, I think that a "View all" command actually operating in both directions would do the job.

Thank you. Regards,

Paulo

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

To the Acoustica developers,

I would like to suggest some modifications to the zoom controls of Acoustica 7. My review is based on Acoustica 7.0.24 Premium running on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit.

Zoom controls are located at three places: (1) the View menu, (2) a special button on the main row of buttons that includes the playback and stop buttons, (3) small buttons (zoom+ and zoom-) on the horizontal and vertical sidebars of the main waveform and spectrogram window. Zooming can also be achieved through mouse scrolling or keyboard shortcuts, which I will not discuss.

In my view, what is missing is a simple and quick way to return to the complete overall view after we have zoomed both horizontally and vertically, and also some simple and quick way to return to either a complete horizontal view or a complete vertical view, while keeping the view of the other dimension in a zoomed state.

Currently, when we zoom horizontally, the "View all" command returns the window to the complete view, both in the waveform and in the spectrogram windows.

But when we zoom vertically, either in the waveform window or in the spectrogram window, the "View all" command just doesn't work. The only way to return to a complete vertical view seems to be by repeatedly (how many times?) clicking the zoom- button on the vertical sidebar.

I think that (1) the "View all" command should make us return to the really complete, ground zero view, no matter what kind of zooming (horizontal, vertical or both) had been applied before, and (2) some means should be available to return to the complete view only in one dimension, that is, either horizontally (while keeping the current zoom level in the vertical direction) or vertically (while keeping the current zoom level in the horizontal direction).

Possibly, a zoom-zero button could be added to each of the sidebars, right beside the zoom+ button on the sidebar, in order to make possible a return to the zero level of zoom in one direction, without affecting the zoom level in the other direction. Also possibly, in the drop-down menu that opens when we click the special zoom button on the main row of buttons that includes the playback and stop buttons, besides the "View all" two other options could be presented: "return to the complete vertical view" and "return to the complete horizontal view" - the same under the View menu.

To return to the complete overall view, both in the waveform and in the spectrogram window, I think that a "View all" command actually operating in both directions would do the job.

Thanks for the elaborate description. I agree, the "View all" command is slightly confusing. I could imagine offering all three options "View All", "View All Horizontally" and "View All Vertically". One thing that you probably haven't noticed is that you can double click the scroll bars to zoom out fully -- both vertically and horizontally. It's something users will have to know, though, and offering menu commands as well would be a good thing.

Best,
Stian

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I hadn't noticed that a double click on a sidebar restores the zoom state (either vertical or horizontal) to zero - there seems to be no information about that in the Acoustica 7 manual.

The three menu options, "View All", "View All Horizontally" and "View All Vertically", would be fine. Zoom-zero buttons on each sidebar could also be considered, I think, since clicking on a button is always easier that looking for menu options.

Best regards,

Paulo

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I hadn't noticed that a double click on a sidebar restores the zoom state (either vertical or horizontal) to zero - there seems to be no information about that in the Acoustica 7 manual.

The three menu options, "View All", "View All Horizontally" and "View All Vertically", would be fine. Zoom-zero buttons on each sidebar could also be considered, I think, since clicking on a button is always easier that looking for menu options.

I'm a bit concerned that additional buttons will be a bit overwhelming. There are already many buttons there and two more might seem a bit cluttered. I'll think about it and see how it works in a mock-up.

Best,
Stian