Reaper is not an ugly duckling anymore !

[bullshark]

Why are the top left icons so big in the newer version ?

Cheers
Fots

Justin incorporated some kind of resizing option in one of the latter build which some peoples made use of in their skinning effort. Don't really care for it myself.

[Klemperer]

Personally I think it's a bad idea incorporating such sophisticated skinning support - especially that is reliant on bitmaps. [...]I have a load a skins for eXT that were developed and looked fantastic but no longer support the features of the later versions so are unusable and I can see this happening with Reaper as well - we will become increasingly reliant on a handful of people with the best skills for making skins and graphics elements to keep them up-to-date and I wonder if this is likely to happen. My own preference would be to develop a good interface once and for all and only have the option to change features like colours and layout - I suppose something like Ableton Live, Tracktion and even Cubase have. [...]The last thing I want is to get used to a certain interface and then find it's outdated by the new version but no-one is around to update it (and no I'm not going to do it- I can change a few colours but I have neither the patience or motivation to make new icon sets etc)

I understand this perfectly well. Just that I always loved the way you could load really *big* pictures (bmp) as background into the main window of Massiva and EnergyXT1. Now you can do this in Orion too, and I love this. You take a bmp (or jpg or png in Orion) that inspires you - import it, and use a skin that suits me best.
Even if some older skin I liked in EXT1 wasn't working right anymore, and I still had my big bmp-pic, I just took the one that was in a way similar to the older one around it and it was okay .
Then again in Tracktion (still 2 here) I sometimes switch colours, skin otherwise remains the same, and I like it too.

[koolkeys]

While we could go on forever debating if Tracktion or Reaper have a better UI, that's not my intention(and I don't believe it's yours either). I have tried Reaper so many times. And I AM aware of there being screensets and various ways of working. But for me, I'm spoiled with Tracktion in that it just works so logical for me, just as Reaper works perfect for many others. In Tracktion, I don't worry about screensets, tabs(for the most part, there is ONE tabbed properties screen), I don't have to change any windows. It's all just there. No mixer needed, nothing. And that's perfect for me. Now, as I said, I do own Sonar, and I like it. But it's not my favorite when it comes to UI. So I'm used to complex programs.

Another example though of what I want is with the other two hosts I own, Podium and EXT. Podium is just so smooth on UI, and KILLS everything else except for Tracktion in my own personal work. And it works in a similar way. All in one screen, with dynamic areas that change based on what is selected. It's all drag and drop, no extra windows, and everything can be hidden and brought back up without any extra windows. That is LOVELY. And it has screensets as well.

With Reaper, I don't want to use screensets. Sure, you CAN. But I just work differently, and Reaper doesn't fit that way at all. It's a fantastic program, and I'll not take away from it. I do understand Reaper(not as much as you obviously), but it's just not intuitive for me. I continue to check it out, but as it stands now, the UI does nothing for me, and is more work then I care to do, even with the shortcuts and screensets.

And just to say again what I said above, for me the FX panel does NOT change when I switch tracks. If I dock it, if it's a window, nothing. Am I missing that setting? I would prefer to tab it, but I rather dislike that compared to what I'm used to.

I like my program being dynamic, and getting out of the way when I don't need it, and without me having to micromanage. When I select an FX or instrument, I want it to pop up. When I select a clip, I want it's properties available for me. If I select a plugin in my list, I want it's interface and it's host properties(dry/wet, disable, etc.) right there. When I select another item, I don't want to have to do anything.

That's why I love Tracktion. It's very clean and doesn't waste space or get in the way in any way at all. Maybe Reaper will improve to that point some day, but like you said, it would take a pack of wild horses to get me to leave Tracktion.

It's all good though! I do need to wake up though. So as a disclaimer, if anything I wrote in this post doesn't make sense, it's due to the 2.5 hours of sleep.

Cheers!

Brent

[bullshark]

Option -> Preferences... -> Plug-ins

You'll find loads of options in there to change FX browser behavior to taste, including automatically opening FX browser on track selection change if browser is open etc...

[koolkeys]

Thanks. Next time I try Reaper, I'll look into those.

Although I doubt it will matter much, because of all the other stuff I mentioned and more. But any step in the right direction is good.

Brent

[Bevoss]

And just to say again what I said above, for me the FX panel does NOT change when I switch tracks. If I dock it, if it's a window, nothing. Am I missing that setting? I would prefer to tab it, but I rather dislike that compared to what I'm used to.

Again, Screensets rock!

Now about your fx window...this works for me:

[koolkeys]

Haha, bullshark beat ya to it! But you were more specific! So two points for you as well!

It's good to know that Reaper can be somewhat dynamic. But it's still more work then it HAS to be. But as always, I'll keep an eye out. I don't need another main host. But I'm never opposed to having another host in general. For instance, with Podium, I loved it so much that I just had to support the dev, even though it's not my main one.

I can rewire Reaper to Tracktion though. So we'll see. At this point though, there has to be major changes before Reaper will work. I wish I could explain it better, but it just doesn't "work" for me right now.

By the way, if anyone wants to help report Reaper news at the Audio Garden, let me know by PM. I'll give you the details. It requires nothing more then being registered there.

Brent

[Mutant]

What about this:

[Cabinfever]

So having done a complete Acid rip-off to get the app started, it's now maturing into a Sonar rip-off. Excellent progress. I am morally opposed to this app because of its shameless beginnings.

[sQeetz]

I don't think the people adapting designs from other applications are connected to Cockos at all. So the "Rip-offs" actually are IMHO a homage to the "ripped off" stuff and not any kind of intentional try to make the program they like look like a second-hand version of the original one.

[alex zonder]

So having done a complete Acid rip-off to get the app started, it's now maturing into a Sonar rip-off. Excellent progress. I am morally opposed to this app because of its shameless beginnings.

"What a shame!"

"Huh?"

"He's gone nuts!"

"Who?"

[Bevoss]

Of course, wild horses couldn't drag me from Reaper now...

You'd find this true of any tool that you've spent enough time learning and using that it became an extension of yourself, a tool that disappear in front of you and that you don't have to stop and think about how when using, you just do. It's a comfort zone that's hard to get out of, it would take something seriously wrong with the tool in question to drop it and start afresh with something new.

Well, I have done this before with Live, moving on to Reaper...there were times initially I thought 'I should just do this project in Live, then go back to Reaper'...but perserverance paid off handsomely for me, dedicating myself to learning the application I now have a much better workflow, a lot faster and more logical way of working, and an abundance of needed features...it helps you can Rewire either application to the other as host or slave, others should incorporate the same workflow (eg Tracktion would be worth a try to me if it slaved also...why not FR that Brent?). And I had used Logic, Digital Performer and Vegas before, and a bit of Tools, and although I had a fair understanding of them, none jumped out to me as the perfect fit...until Reaper.

But yeah, I fully understand people not wanting to leave what's a comfortable workflow...it's best to work it out early if it fits I reckon, there's a fair bit of work involved getting to that place, whatever the program.

[koolkeys]

Actually, Beno's number one feature request is to make Tracktion a Rewire slave. And since he is heavily involved in what makes it in, I would bet that you will see it during the T3 days. He has just said that it won't make it in the first release or two, and after that, who knows.

Brent

[Bevoss]

Actually, Beno's number one feature request is to make Tracktion a Rewire slave. And since he is heavily involved in what makes it in, I would bet that you will see it during the T3 days. He has just said that it won't make it in the first release or two, and after that, who knows.

Brent

Hey, that's great news! I'll probably grab it then for kicks.

[koolkeys]

Yeah, I've also asked for it already before. So I actually HAVE requested it as well.

No guarantees of how long to get it in there though, as I don't know when that will happen. But I'm also hoping for it, just for the heck of it(even though I wouldn't rewire it to anything myself).

Brent