Diva Redux

[drzhnn]

UPDATED

Download the latest version here.








==============================================
ORIGINAL POST

Hello

This project is currently work in progress. I'm looking forward for your comments and suggestions. If you don't like something particular about this theme, please let me know and maybe I can fix it.

[BasariStudios]

This would confuse the hell outa me and probably make me leave Diva in its folder for years.
I know Diva in and out and if someone gave me this...i'd probably would not know how to even
turn the Master Volume...lol. No offense meant.

[drzhnn]

No offense taken

The idea behind this theme is not to make Diva easier to learn, but to move all its parameters from different tabs to a single screen for faster editing. Sure one will need to invest some time to get used to the new layout.

[bmrzycki]

I, on the other hand, love this layout! I care less about what dinosaur inspired the module and more about consistency in UI design. Looking forward to using this one drzhnn.

[BasariStudios]

My opinion is not based on ,,wow it looks like a Moog'' its more of a bigger things and ,,right there''.
Now, once one gets used to this skin and figures everything out it might be even faster and easier.
And of course i will install it and try it out too and take it from there...never know before i try.

[maurone dj]

Me like that! Can't wait to try it

[murnau]

The idea behind this theme is not to make Diva easier to learn, but to move all its parameters from different tabs to a single screen for faster editing. Sure one will need to invest some time to get used to the new layout.

Love your single screen approach already! Thank you! It's always good to have a choice!

[BasariStudios]

Not necessarily...especially with women...i could've been making a lot more music now...

[pdxindy]

Cool idea...

I find the red on the dark grey very hard to read (at least at the size of that graphic)

[drzhnn]

Thank you guys! I updated the first post and added download link

[RedChameau]

Wow ! Almost missed that, a one page Diva, having on hand all those knobs, I'm already in love, many thanks !

[2ZrgE]

First look was very confusing for me as Diva has a very well designed factory GUI. Definitively takes some time to get around that design, but the single page approach is worth the effort.

How about a skin variation with color coding different regions (you already pointed at that with your second screen shot - that help makes the design instantly clearer).

That's what I love about your Zebra Redux, the Dark Horse redux variation where I color coded the elements to my taste.

[drzhnn]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to add User Colors section to the script and experiment with different panel textures/colors later on. But for now it's mainly layout testing and bug fixing.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

It's an interesting take on DIVA, but I'd like to provide some feedback on what I see as two issues with this UI approach, which other folks who find this skin confusing may be reacting to:

1. The Layout of Items From Left to Right, Top to Bottom Seems Unnatural to Me
In the west, we read from left to right, top to bottom. Our eyes naturally want to look for something to start on the top-left. In a synthesizer, this is where the most important item should (and generally does) go: the oscillator section. The next important item should go to the right, with less important items at the bottom.

A layout that would make more sense to me would be (top row from left to right): Oscillators, HPF, VCF, ENV1, ENV2, LFO1, LFO2 (maybe the VCA here, maybe even throw that in the bottom right in the end). Then move the bottom row up to the middle, since the effects and whatnot will have a bigger impact on the sound, and with those, move the Stack and Trimmers sections where the LFO's were.

I'm not sure how much flexibility you'd have to make these tweaks since the size of the modules, but I think it would make more logical sense, and probably make a broader selection of users more comfortable with this UI approach (if that's a goal). If you lack flexibility in terms of resizing objects, maybe take what you currently have, and move the Stack and Trimmers to the far right. So the order of the top row would be: Osc, HPF, VCF, ENV1/ENV2, VCA, Stack/Trimmer.

2. There's an Overall Lack of Contrast in Text and Sections
You're frequently using medium-dark grey text on a darker gray background, and there's no clear delineations as to where one section begins and another ends. Case in point: look at the oscillator shapes then look at the HPF drawings, at first glance, or a to a newbie, that could look like one big section. It's also hard to tell visually where the filter section ends and envelopes begin.

This feedback is solely meant to be constructive, and to maybe get you thinking about how to improve this further. You clearly put a lot of work into this, and it looks good. Nice job!

[drzhnn]

Thank you for such detailed feedback! Really appreciate it.

1. I completely agree with you and it's funny how we can see the same thing differently My approach was exactly as you described: from left to right, from top to bottom. I guess we just program sounds in dissimilar ways and that's why our priorities differ. For me the layout is separated into upper Generator sections and lower Modulation section. The Generator section starts with Global Settings (Voicing, Transpose, Glide, Stack, Trimmers) for the Oscillator that comes next, the sound from which is then fed into Filters and then controlled by Envelopes. And the overall level then controlled via VCA block. This section is where I usually set the base for the future sound. The second row contains more specific controls and starts just below the Global Settings and Oscillator blocks with correlated controls. Then we have secondary modulation knobs for Oscillator, HPF and VCF blocks (located above). The Clock, Arp and Voice Map is something that I perceive as an extension for the Envelope section, because all these blocks retrigger some other parameters in a time-synced fashion. The 3rd row... well, I wish I could find a better place for the LFOs

2. I agree. This needs to be fixed.