I hate fancy GUIs

[rlahalla]

I still don't know what was said in the post with the pic of the girls... I kept getting distracted.

He was saying something?!?

[Hlis93]

lame I know...

[hibidy]

I love me some fancy gui's

[sys2074]

Which synth is this?






(and why are there no knobs at the places where they are supposed to be?!)

[kv331]

Yuck! ... gimme a rotten plank of wood ripped from an old shed, with a few knobs stuck on with chewing gum anyday!

If all GUIs were like synthedit default blue, we would be free of distraction and use our ears to determine whether a vst was any good or not!

So how do you rate the following GUI, is it simple yet functional enough ?

[hibidy]

Which synth is this?






(and why are there no knobs at the places where they are supposed to be?!)

The boing-pink plug? Yeah, just ordered one

[Mokafix]

Nice GUI.
Simple and effective.
Not sure I would date it if it turned into a girl though...
But as a synth it looks nice : clear, everything in its right place, and last but no least, not much contrast.
Contrast can make a UI overly flashy and hard to read.
Maybe it could benefit from a bit more color? but I can't tell where...
maybe the selected items in lists?
Or making left and top main zones very lightly colored (blue-ish greys)?

[Aziraphal]

Which synth is this?






(and why are there no knobs at the places where they are supposed to be?!)

I see four tweakable things. They must be ADSR.
So where do I plug in my mono unbalanced input?

[daz.diamond]

looking at those girls doesn't give me rotten wood ...

[Ja.x]

A good GUI, IMO, doesn't have to look like hardware. This one doesn't, still it's a 'fancy' one:

I think it's a very good GUI because everything is well placed, and it's very easy to 'read' and figure out. It's completly 'idiot proof' .

Just an example.

[Urs]

So how do you rate the following GUI, is it simple yet functional enough ?

It's haunting... it's been inflationary displayed anywhere I go...

On a serious note, I'd make it a bit bigger squeeze all oscs and filters on a single page. Too many tabs are a *massive* mistake (no pun intended) IMHO, no matter how tidy the single tab would be.

#---

Generally speaking and back on topic, one has to distinguish *style* and *usability*. Both can get in the way of each other. One similarly has to distinguish first impression from routine use. Again both can get in the way of each other.

The ideal gui looks eye catching enough to generate some sales while at the same time it is rewarding enough to keep the musician happy in the months thereafter. This also depends on the actual quality of the plugin of course, but the interface plays a big role in this.

What I mean with this is, some uis may be very easy to use at the beginning ("everything is explained nicely") but then all the "ease" gets on the users nerves once I sussed out how the damn thing works. In that case a slightly steeper learning curve might lead to a ui that can be operated faster and more intutive in the long term. My favourite example being Ensoniq samplers which were tedious to use as a beginner, but once one knew the Mode->Level-> Section sequence of buttons they were as quickly operated as anything.

Urs

[glokraw]

Nice GUI.
Simple and effective.
Not sure I would date it if it turned into a girl though...
But as a synth it looks nice : clear, everything in its right place, and last but no least, not much contrast.
Contrast can make a UI overly flashy and hard to read.
Maybe it could benefit from a bit more color? but I can't tell where...
maybe the selected items in lists?
Or making left and top main zones very lightly colored (blue-ish greys)?

The contrast on the large empty blocks of gray and white work the eyes needlessly,
and then a lack of contrast on the light gray text against darker gray background,
again makes the eyes to work too hard. The layout may be OK, but I would not consider it
for purchase, based on current visual ergonomics.
Cheers

[kv331]

The contrast on the large empty blocks of gray and white work the eyes needlessly,
and then a lack of contrast on the light gray text against darker gray background,
again makes the eyes to work too hard. The layout may be OK, but I would not consider it
for purchase, based on current visual ergonomics.
Cheers

Great feedback, thank you! So help us design our next skin (just give us ideas I mean for the coloring) and win a free license from us

For those of you who havent heard yet: SynthMaster 2.0 comes with a "Skin/Interface Editor" with which users can customize the GUI as they wish.

[MA-Simon]

I Think guis should be kind of fancy. Couse i have to look at them for long times. I have to work with them so why not making the working more fun and compfotable by looking at something "cool". If i wan't to see boring greyness, i would't do music. Music is colourfull! (i think)

[Mokafix]

I Think guis should be kind of fancy. Couse i have to look at them for long times. I have to work with them so why not making the working more fun and compfotable by looking at something "cool". If i wan't to see boring greyness, i would't do music. Music is colourfull! (i think)

"Music is colorful" :
as you go in that direction and as it seems this thread van be used to show personal stuff, here is some GUIs I did lately for upcoming products.
I thought that when a plugin is simple enough, why not make it look really different.
Then to me the coolest visuals related to music being LP/CD covers, adn some of the best covers being from bluenote records, i took inspiration there to make some really fancy UIs :


In both UIs, when you turn/move a knob/switch, it moves in any image where it is displayed.
Those are examples of very simple plugins that have few controls and simple workflow; No much need to guide the user.

It makes it pleasant to use to me, though I know these UIs have a strong character and might not please anyone.