New development perspectives.
- KVRAF
- 5530 posts since 5 Aug, 2006 from UK - The Mudway Towns
Well, I don't really know the world of vst, but have been using Zyn in it's full form on linux. The GUI is incredibly complex, but that is because Zyn's capabilities are incredibly complex.
I agree that it could look nicer and be more consistent in behaviour. Also 'knob' entries would benefit from having spin boxes (some of my apps do this if you double click on a knob). I don't really see how you can simplify it without losing features.
Personally I don't generally like the idea of parameter changes on the fly, with the exception of modulation. I would prefer a note to finish as it started.
Having said that I am very pleased that there is renewed interest in it, and fully accept that not everyone thinks the same. As far as I am concerned it is a unique synth, and is the only one that a lot of my compositions use.
I agree that it could look nicer and be more consistent in behaviour. Also 'knob' entries would benefit from having spin boxes (some of my apps do this if you double click on a knob). I don't really see how you can simplify it without losing features.
Personally I don't generally like the idea of parameter changes on the fly, with the exception of modulation. I would prefer a note to finish as it started.
Having said that I am very pleased that there is renewed interest in it, and fully accept that not everyone thinks the same. As far as I am concerned it is a unique synth, and is the only one that a lot of my compositions use.
It wasn't me! (well, actually, it probably was) - apparently now an 'elderly' so maybe I forgot!
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- KVRist
- 274 posts since 24 Nov, 2006
Yes, it is also listed on the Sourceforge page, directly below the development package ->Windows Distribution 2008brok landers wrote:is there a compiled version as a dll or an installer?
if so, where is it?
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- KVRAF
- 6168 posts since 26 Sep, 2003 from right here, as you can see ...
thanks, found it already ...
still buggy here (win xp sp2, ext 1.41), causes some drops-to-desktop here now and then, though it's way more stable as it used to be ...
still buggy here (win xp sp2, ext 1.41), causes some drops-to-desktop here now and then, though it's way more stable as it used to be ...
regards,
brok landers
BIGTONEsounddesign
gear is as good as the innovation behind it-the man
brok landers
BIGTONEsounddesign
gear is as good as the innovation behind it-the man
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- KVRAF
- 10816 posts since 26 Nov, 2004 from UK
Hmmm,brok landers wrote:thanks, found it already ...
still buggy here (win xp sp2, ext 1.41), causes some drops-to-desktop here now and then, though it's way more stable as it used to be ...
the old beta 5 was like that for me,
this one has been fine so far (not that i have gone to deep in to it yet)
core2Duo 2gig ram,
Subz
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- KVRAF
- 6168 posts since 26 Sep, 2003 from right here, as you can see ...
hmmm ... athlon xp thunderbird, win xp pro, sp2, 2gig ram here ...djsubject wrote:Hmmm,brok landers wrote:thanks, found it already ...
still buggy here (win xp sp2, ext 1.41), causes some drops-to-desktop here now and then, though it's way more stable as it used to be ...
the old beta 5 was like that for me,
this one has been fine so far (not that i have gone to deep in to it yet)
core2Duo 2gig ram,
Subz
well, i've been diggin' a bit deeper i suppose, played around with the padsynth ...
regards,
brok landers
BIGTONEsounddesign
gear is as good as the innovation behind it-the man
brok landers
BIGTONEsounddesign
gear is as good as the innovation behind it-the man
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- KVRAF
- 9133 posts since 6 Oct, 2004
Hey, when you just teed off on the first hole, and nearly killed the guy on the 9th green, Tiger Woods walks up, and says, 'You know, I think I can help you fix that slice...some folks have all the luck!matterblue wrote:The UIs look great!!!grymmjack wrote:i'd love to help you with the UI on this. please click my sig to view my work and contact me if you want my help.
Especially the 'SilverBox'.
Did you took a closer Look at Zyn yet?
This synth is huge! There are many internal windows and an entire battery of parameters. It is even multitimbre (on 16 MIDI channels). So it's in principle an entire Audio Workstation itself !!!
Designing and implementing a new GUI would be really HUGE work for all parties...
That isn't made in a few days...
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And thanks for your hard work, there is a lot more cpu available with your new builds! And the interface seems much much snappier too! I'm
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- KVRian
- 1335 posts since 23 Sep, 2003 from ocation: cation: ation: tion: ion: on: n: :
Holy Molly, it's really happening! Zyn is finally gonna be transformed from the ugly duckling that it is into a beautiful swan with a grymmjack GUI
That's great and long long awaited news! I'm sure I'm not the only one that would pay for a native Windows, SSE optimized version of Zyn with proper GUI, patch handling and automation support!
That's great and long long awaited news! I'm sure I'm not the only one that would pay for a native Windows, SSE optimized version of Zyn with proper GUI, patch handling and automation support!
the the impotence of proofreading
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- KVRAF
- 2901 posts since 26 Jul, 2005 from dun unda
The main focus now should be to universalize the structure of ZynAddSubFX. At the moment, the VST plugins still don't refer to file directories properly (or anything in the defaults config for that matter.) Other than that, it's been much more stable for me as far.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 32 posts since 13 Mar, 2008
Tabs are OK.grymmjack wrote:brok; you know that ease of use and comprehension are my two #1 goals. but i cant speak for matterblue about the migration from windows -> tabs -- this is something only he can say.
My plan is to build an UI Designer application for you. Where you can put the widgets straight on the Windows and design an entire user interface for Zyn on the fly... it also generates source code for me then...
But I am still thinking about the GUI framework. One option is to use VSTGUI 3.5. But I do not know, how that integrates into the existing code yet. That's a matter of blue (errrm testing). *smile*
Of course we need all in ONE window.
And we need PNG images (with alpha transparency support).
We need also a lot of alternative controls and displays. (Not only standard knobs and sliders, you know? I think for the FFT functionality for instance.)
And we need a platform independant code for the GUI. Finally this must be compilable into an Audio Unit for the Macintosh...
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- KVRAF
- 8519 posts since 7 Apr, 2003
i've offered, and aside from his reply in this thread, no communication. so it isn't official.Paulie Phonick wrote:Holy Molly, it's really happening! Zyn is finally gonna be transformed from the ugly duckling that it is into a beautiful swan with a grymmjack GUI
That's great and long long awaited news! I'm sure I'm not the only one that would pay for a native Windows, SSE optimized version of Zyn with proper GUI, patch handling and automation support!
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- KVRAF
- 8519 posts since 7 Apr, 2003
so you want my help then matterblue? is it official?matterblue wrote:Tabs are OK.grymmjack wrote:brok; you know that ease of use and comprehension are my two #1 goals. but i cant speak for matterblue about the migration from windows -> tabs -- this is something only he can say.
My plan is to build an UI Designer application for you. Where you can put the widgets straight on the Windows and design an entire user interface for Zyn on the fly... it also generates source code for me then...
But I am still thinking about the GUI framework. One option is to use VSTGUI 3.5. But I do not know, how that integrates into the existing code yet. That's a matter of blue (errrm testing). *smile*
Of course we need all in ONE window.
And we need PNG images (with alpha transparency support).
We need also a lot of alternative controls and displays. (Not only standard knobs and sliders, you know? I think for the FFT functionality for instance.)
And we need a platform independant code for the GUI. Finally this must be compilable into an Audio Unit for the Macintosh...
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 32 posts since 13 Mar, 2008
The 'DeveloperPackage' download is removed now. Developer access is exclusively via SVN (Subversion Source control).brok landers wrote:yeah, of course ....
i was just finger-dreaming, so to say ...
btw, do i have to download the whole developer package from sourceforge?
or is there a compiled version as a dll or an installer?
if so, where is it?
There are two Windows distributable packages: 2005 (old - but most used - J&H distro) and the new performance optimized distro (2008).
And yes, there were some workarounds for the VST - configuration file (finding the directories) anywhere. It would be nice to write something on the website https://sourceforge.net/projects/sonicports/ , so ppl can find information about.
Macintosh packages follow soon.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 32 posts since 13 Mar, 2008
Well, I am a bussy developer head.grymmjack wrote:
so you want my help then matterblue? is it official?
I can't surf in fora all the time. *smile*
You may start with some designs. I am graphic designer too (doing much in the direction). So I actually know that a good design needs alot of time and preparation.
It needs some time to provide the code base for any integration now. So I do not need concrete things (like images or so) yet.
I think, we all would like to see some 'how could it look' impressions first.
Maybe a voting or such? Please do not go into details yet (exact parameters and so on). Rather try to build some impressions.
My vote goes for something like "SilverBox" !
Something clear and cool and ergonomic...
Important:
Due to the complexity of Zyn I do not plan to make it skinnable. The graphics will probably be hardcoded into the application. So the decision for any design is somehow final then.
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- KVRAF
- 8519 posts since 7 Apr, 2003
ok i'll work on some mockups and junk. design by committee eh? hooboy.matterblue wrote:Well, I am a bussy developer head.grymmjack wrote:
so you want my help then matterblue? is it official?
I can't surf in fora all the time. *smile*
You may start with some designs. I am graphic designer too (doing much in the direction). So I actually know that a good design needs alot of time and preparation.
It needs some time to provide the code base for any integration now. So I do not need concrete things (like images or so) yet.
I think, we all would like to see some 'how could it look' impressions first.
Maybe a voting or such? Please do not go into details yet (exact parameters and so on). Rather try to build some impressions.
My vote goes for something like "SilverBox" !
Something clear and cool and ergonomic...
Important:
Due to the complexity of Zyn I do not plan to make it skinnable. The graphics will probably be hardcoded into the application. So the decision for any design is somehow final then.
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this should get interesting.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 32 posts since 13 Mar, 2008
Some technical speakin:
Zyn GUI is designed on base of FLTK (pronounced: 'Fulltick'). That's a quite old but FINE GUI library widely used on Linux. But there are ports for all platforms available. And it is a Fast and Light ToolKit meaning it is really not that bad.
But the integration as a VST instrument complicates things a little bit, because VST does not support full featured window GUI frameworks for some reasons. Merely graphic based widgets inside a single window provided by the host application.
So I am currenly on search for a way to integrate VSTGUI (a widely used framework for VST, now open sourced) into the codebase to not to break the standalone applications of Zyn. This means the new GUI has to share the mechanisms for the new VST GUI, so that it looks the same with both and on all platforms (Windows, BSD, Macintosh and Linux).
Also there is currently a big problem with VST automation. The Widgets must be remotable by the host application and vice versa. This requires a complete rewrite of the internal parameter stucture used by Zyn.
Also the external sound patches method of Zyn meight make som problems for a fully integrated VST version...
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Zyn GUI is designed on base of FLTK (pronounced: 'Fulltick'). That's a quite old but FINE GUI library widely used on Linux. But there are ports for all platforms available. And it is a Fast and Light ToolKit meaning it is really not that bad.
But the integration as a VST instrument complicates things a little bit, because VST does not support full featured window GUI frameworks for some reasons. Merely graphic based widgets inside a single window provided by the host application.
So I am currenly on search for a way to integrate VSTGUI (a widely used framework for VST, now open sourced) into the codebase to not to break the standalone applications of Zyn. This means the new GUI has to share the mechanisms for the new VST GUI, so that it looks the same with both and on all platforms (Windows, BSD, Macintosh and Linux).
Also there is currently a big problem with VST automation. The Widgets must be remotable by the host application and vice versa. This requires a complete rewrite of the internal parameter stucture used by Zyn.
Also the external sound patches method of Zyn meight make som problems for a fully integrated VST version...
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