Deleting notes with 1 mouse click

[MuTools]

Hello, I have tested the test version and I like the zoom/pan thing.
But I don't really love the gum ! It seem more natural to change the note start by default.

It's becoming clear the gum-on-note-head is not a good idea.

No prob, that's what a trash is meant for

I have no solution for the "one click" delete, but in 2 clicks : RMB and "delete" at the top of the context menu ?

Thanks for the suggestion.

Had the same thought but imagined it will be critisized for having a 'needless' extra click.

Just another wild thought: Drag&drop a note on the keyboard at the left will remove the note from the sequence.

[liquidsound]

Just another wild thought: Drag&drop a note on the keyboard at the left will remove the note from the sequence.

No Bad! Unless you've got a very large monitor...

Another way, please bear with me few seconds:
Some time we place a note and we realize that's not it and we still have the LMB down, you can just add RMB to delete, and of course you can do that with any existing note. It sound strange but after a minute is very natural: LMB+RMB, boom gone!

Just brainstorming...

Another one, and this works better in the Test version:
RMB+Drag right to left (selecting The Note), upon release, Delete automatically.
Very fast and has a Flow. It has the feeling of wiping it with your hand as on paper with the rubber.

In the 2.5.3 the menu pops up upon just pressing the RMB while in the Test file it pops up after the RMB release and so it makes this method possible.

I actually like the fact that pops up at releasing, it leaves you with an opening for optional action, clever indeed.

[MuTools]

Another way, please bear with me few seconds:
Some time we place a note and we realize that's not it and we still have the LMB down, you can just add RMB to delete, and of course you can do that with any existing note. It sound strange but after a minute is very natural: LMB+RMB, boom gone!

Just brainstorming...

Nice suggestion.

Though i'm personally not wild on it.

Another one, and this works better in the Test version:
RMB+Drag right to left (selecting The Note), upon release, Delete automatically.

Won't be possible as RMB-drag is reserved now for panning the editor.

Cfr the pan/zoom thread in this topic.

In the 2.5.3 the menu pops up upon just pressing the RMB while in the Test file it pops up after the RMB release and so it makes this method possible.

Actually that was just a little quirck in that test version.

MU.LAB context menus do pop up on RMB down.

[MuTools]

Some time we place a note and we realize that's not it...

I've found a solution for this:

In M3 when drawing a new note you but you realize you don't want to draw it, you can just shrink the note length to zero and then it won't be drawn

Works very good in the dev version here; will publish an update of that test version soon, so you can try it.

[MuTools]

Also think found a solution for quickly deleting a note with the mouse without the need for a modifier:

When the mouse hovers the head/tail of a note it becomes a pencil.

Then double-click the note with that pencil and note is removed

I think it fits MU.LAB's GUI concept and it works fine in the test version here, preview coming soon.

[MuTools]

I'm also experimenting with this method in order to remove the need for 2 tools:

When you click the background of the editor, then when you start dragging horizontally it will be interpreted as a draw-new-note action; But when you start dragging vertically it is interpreted as a lasso-select action.

The fun thing is that this fits the other change mentioned above where you can 'cancel' a note being drawn. So if we would accidently start a draw-new-note instead of a lasso-select, then this can be easily corrected.

Works all fine in the test version here, but this one may be more critical; already curious on your feedback on the preview.

The BIG advantage of a single mouse tool is that all tool switching hassle goes away! For me, this may have a little price of having to know how to start the drag, which is a more intuitive decission than choosing the right modifier, imho. But again, curious for your feedback.

[robenestobenz]

When you click the background of the editor, then when you start dragging horizontally it will be interpreted as a draw-new-note action

How about double click drag for this? The same price of a little bit of knowledge beforehand, but a little more intuitive than the horizontal/vertical method, IMO. Interested to try your next test version, and thanks -- it's really great of you to involve the users so much in the workflow development.

[MuTools]

Ok, here is a preview version for windows:

http://www.mutools.com/mulab/test/mulab ... 24-win.zip

This preview is about these aspects: (cfr discussed in this topic)

• You can now also pan the editors with RMB
• Double-click note with pencil = delete note
• Sequence editor: Start drag vertical = lasso select
• Sequence editor: Start drag horizontal = draw new note
• Sequence editor: When draw new note, you can cancel it by zeroing the length

The note editing aspects are only there in the sequence editor, but when accepted they'll also be applied to the composer.

Note that this preview version is totally unusable for anything else than previewing the mentioned aspects.

[pljones]

I think the drags of vertical=lasso, horizontal=draw, reverse-horizontal=erase sounds good.

Can I switch from draw to lasso by changing from horizontal to vertical, and then back again? If so, that's good. If not, escape needs to work as "cancel whatever" (rather than close the editor). (Actually, when hotkeys come in, a "cancel action in progress" key would be good, bound to escape by default. I don't like escape as close editor...)

[MuTools]

When you click the background of the editor, then when you start dragging horizontally it will be interpreted as a draw-new-note action

How about double click drag for this? The same price of a little bit of knowledge beforehand, but a little more intuitive than the horizontal/vertical method, IMO.

Mmm, yes, maybe that could be a more compliant way.

Then what would you put under the double-click: the draw-new-note or the lasso-select?

But please do try out the directional method as it works very easy imho.

I think this directional method may be more 'lightweight on the brain' than doing a double-click.

Interested to try your next test version, and thanks -- it's really great of you to involve the users so much in the workflow development.

Thanks for helping with finetuning these aspects!

I won't nag you for each and every step but i really need your input on these sensitive usability aspects.

[MuTools]

Can I switch from draw to lasso by changing from horizontal to vertical, and then back again?

No.

If not, escape needs to work as "cancel whatever"

Well, the draw-new-note can be cancelled very easily in this preview version. Just try it out. Cancelling a lasso-select is as easy as just releasing the mouse button

[liquidsound]

I'm finally back for testing. I was away.

My first shock was the RMB. It's not scrolling as the wheel in the first test.
It's locking into one direction. It's no longer a "FREE" scrolling.
I hope you go back to the first method. My hands are already sweating only at the thought of it...

I like the way you have eliminated modifiers with the Up/Down/Horizontal action.
It takes a while to calibrate your intention but is workable, unique and kind of elegant.

But if you need to show the Pencil AND then Double-Click, what is the difference in just Double-Clicking the note anywhere for that matter, with the advantage for small notes not to position the Pencil (20/20 vision) and kind of waiting for it to appear. (Edit: No really. It works well on small notes too...no bad!)

This may help some testers:
I found useful for selecting notes, being difficult to move vertically, all you have to do is to move in a circular motion like starting a circle going upward. I'ts used in CAD also, very natural. It tricks the brain/hand in moving diagonally which is the common way for selecting with a rectangle.

Jo you have managed to eliminate all modifiers for a normal use of the editor. Superb!

As far as I'm aware of, no other DAWs have done this.

[liquidsound]

BTW do you think the MW could be used exclusively for selecting?
I like what you did with the vertical motion. It really takes some good will for 5 minutes and to me, is close to second nature.

[MuTools]

My first shock was the RMB. It's not scrolling as the wheel in the first test. It's locking into one direction. It's no longer a "FREE" scrolling. I hope you go back to the first method. My hands are already sweating only at the thought of it...

Personally i don't like it when i want to pan in time (left/right) and then the tracks or keys move along a bit.

But no prob to make this a preference.

Now i just need to know from some other users what would be their default: Free panning or one-directional panning. With one-directional panning you can pan in either direction but only one direction at a time. For some this is an advantage, for others this is a disadvantage.

I like the way you have eliminated modifiers with the Up/Down/Horizontal action.
It takes a while to calibrate your intention but is workable, unique and kind of elegant.

Thanks. Yes i agree.

As a user, you have to do something anyway to distinguish between draw and lasso. Whatever the application, there will be something. Maybe a modifier, maybe a double-click, ...

I think this method is a very easy one.

But if you need to show the Pencil AND then Double-Click, what is the difference in just Double-Clicking the note anywhere for that matter, with the advantage for small notes not to position the Pencil (20/20 vision) and kind of waiting for it to appear.

Because double-clicking with the arrow normaly means 'open', 'edit', 'go into'.

And i want to keep things consequent enough.

[MuTools]

BTW do you think the MW could be used exclusively for selecting?

You mean the MMB?

It's used for panning the editor.