XHip--Please finish your synth!!

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aciddose wrote:"Would that be even possible if some random decided to skin XHip as a single-page instead of the multi-page system, with how it's currently constructed?"

i've designed the code to make this possible. anyone capable of working with c++ code can easily write a gui for xhip using the code i've made available. i'll include that and distribute it for the author under the conditions that:

1) the resulting code is released either to the public domain (only the parts you add) or to me
2) no external libraries are applied (in other words, you may only add code which you can hand over to me or release into the public domain. also i'd prefer to stick with the structure i already have, redesigning the whole thing from scratch doesnt make sense)

"Like, someone can make a skin, then the user can change between that skin that uses multi-pages, and the other one that uses just a single page."

that is what i've always had in mind. i could do it right now actually but you'd need to select the gui with an external application or by editing a config file. all i'd need to do is compile the 'editor' portion into a seperate dll - you could then select which dll is loaded on start up.

actually though it may be possible to allow dynamic loading of the gui dlls by working in an extra layer with a menu for this.

the 'gui' components would also be best put into a seperate dll which would allow the 'editors' to dynamically load that rather than having it statically linked.
The problem with using seperate DLLs is depending on whether or not they have VST headers in them which then the host would pick up, though I can see how this is avoidable, but in the case of a host 'attempting' to load such as a VST when it's just GUI data, would it crash or would it just be bypassed?

But anyway, that's great insight. :D

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:shrug:


I still prefer the dirty_oscillators.dll xhip GUI.







:hihi:

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they can be in some place like /my docs/xhipguis/ or vst/xhip/xhipguis

also they can be named .xhipgui rather than .dll

also, they wouldnt include any special vst code. they'd all be about 15k or so depending on how much stuff is in there.

actually i may as well implement some basic form of this to let us start working with multiple guis. the default gui will be statically linked into the xhip dll so that you wont need any external files if you prefer that one.

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not to start a fight here, but why is it taking so long for this synth to get a decent gui? aciddose, is it just that you don't have enough time to get down to it and get a gui working? or are you just being too particular about stuff that most people wouldn't care about? i've used xhip a little and really wanna use it more, but i can never figure out what the f**k is going on with the gui and i gotta put this file in that folder, etc., so i just give up.

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"is it just that you don't have enough time to get down to it and get a gui working"

i like the gui it has, what is wrong with the current gui?
nobody seems to know and this means i cant do anything about it. gsoto is working on a layout, it takes time. people say "it should have all controls on one screen" - in fact i'm implementing that right now and i should be done in a couple hours. you will not like the result though, it makes me head hurt looking at it.

if you cant handle this gui you'll never be able to handle any other sort of gui either - this is in my opinion the cleanest and easiest to understand of any gui ever written for a software synthesizer.

"i gotta put this file in that folder, etc"

it doesnt require any files at all. if you mean the bank loading feature, well that is an extra feature so if you want that functionality you have to take advantage of it yourself. it's only designed to help save you two seconds pressing "load bank" and selecting the file anyway so if it is so much trouble to put the bank into the proper place, just load it manually.

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http://xhip.cjb.net/xhip/releases/v0/b6 ... .14.8b.png
http://xhip.cjb.net/xhip/releases/v0/b6 ... .14.8b.dll

yikes, and in my opinion vertical will be worse since we're not used to reading vertically.

anyway these configurations take hardly any time so i'm willing to do them. what is next, a grid of knobs? who else has some bright idea :hihi:
Last edited by aciddose on Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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If we're gonna be all serious about it, I gotta cast my vote for a paged GUI. I was put off by it at first but quickly realized that it enables a completely different synth experience for me. Before you get all roll eyed, that statement is in the context of sound design.

xhip's gui seems, to me, to be laid out in an extremely user friendly and logical manner. I'm glad that aciddose wrote "the default gui will be statically linked into the xhip dll so that you wont need any external files if you prefer that one". No worries.

I do have a feature request. Would it be possible to have an occasional update to the dirty_oscillator.dll?

Image

If one saves an .adxi as .fxp one can import into Dirty_oscillators and focus completely on shaping the sound. It would be nice to have this as a little extra something as xhip continues to evolve.

Just a thought.

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it's already included, yes. that is why i mentioned i should implement the loading of user selectable guis. i'll do a quick compile of that right now. what do you think about adding the patch selector and load/save buttons as well? that will only take me a minute.

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aciddose wrote:http://xhip.cjb.net/xhip/releases/v0/b6 ... .14.8b.png
http://xhip.cjb.net/xhip/releases/v0/b6 ... .14.8b.dll

yikes, and in my opinion vertical will be worse since we're not used to reading vertically.

anyway these configurations take hardly any time so i'm willing to do them. what is next, a grid of knobs? who else has some bright idea :hihi:
that gave me a headache :help: :cry: :lol:

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bernhardtjeff wrote:not to start a fight here, but why is it taking so long for this synth to get a decent gui? aciddose, is it just that you don't have enough time to get down to it and get a gui working? or are you just being too particular about stuff that most people wouldn't care about? i've used xhip a little and really wanna use it more, but i can never figure out what the f**k is going on with the gui and i gotta put this file in that folder, etc., so i just give up.
+1 - and not trying to start a fight either. Love the sound of this - but it seems that the constant evolution of the feature set, no bad thing either, is resulting in any GUI updates never being completed. See page 1 of this very thread.

Sorry Acidose but I have to agree with Jeff here - ime there's a point in most projects where, for the completion of the whole, a line in the sand needs to be drawn under a particular part. No offence intended and looking forward to you completing whatever you see as the 'finished' article 8)

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now that is fugly!

think my brain just shat trying to work out what did what :o

Subz

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aciddose wrote:what do you think about adding the patch selector and load/save buttons as well? that will only take me a minute.
Thank you, aciddose. :D

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well not to start a fight either, and not to be a fanboy either, but i don't see how the current GUI prevents people from using it to it's full potential. it just feels like the user's priorities are a bit off center. don't get me wrong, I would totally welcome a nice GUI for xhip, the less pages/tabs I have to flip to program the better, but come on, the current GUI does not require a Phd to be used.

just me 2 cents..

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(regarding 'finished product') it's already finished :)

anything else i do is just v2.0, v3.0, v4.0. if anybody is complaining at this point they're basically crying "more more more". the last release was beta 6 years ago and there has been no other release since then. if you look at it in terms of releases, xhip doesnt currently exist and development is absolutely halted with no word of when the next version will be released. the way i run things you're just getting to look behind the curtain constantly - if you want a 'full' version wait for the next release.

when you're working on a project does somebody come along and say "hey you should finish this already. draw a line in the sand" :hihi:

i mean you're on the 3rd bar of whatever composition you've just started and you're not even nearly finished. you havent released anything other than maybe a preview of the first part of the melody - that is exactly what it is like with xhip.

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I feel like AD has already drawn a line in the sand.
He has posted a todo list. When completed we'll have the "finished product", but I have a feeling development for xhip will never stop.

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