more prominent multi band settings

[masitito]

Hi!

Many Melda plugins are multi band. At first I thought that's neat but a bit boring. Only after a long while I noticed that there are "special multi bands" which are not frequency bands.

So I was happy to get iZotope DDLY Dynamic Delay because I thought it was a novelty. Turns out that you can do that with Melda plugins (using MMultiBandDealy and MMultiBandGranular together).

I list the issues I had with setting up multi bands. They might be personal itches, my taste in UI design etc.

Problem 1 - finding setup:

No dedicated button for the multi band setup. I found out that right-click gets me options only by chance.

Problem 2 - mixing up configurations:

The pop-up title claims that you are configure the settings for just one band. But that's not true. Actually most of the UI elements affect all bands. This is confusing (I initially thought that could choose "analog" for band 1 and "analog LP" for band 2).

Problem 3 - messy all-in-one setup:

All three types of "multi band" are in one big list. A new user has no visual clue that starting with "level" the options are not related to frequency bands at all. I would like to see either a list with grouping or radio buttons to select box one the three types (freqency, level, stereo field). Each of the type has a single select box to define the sub-type (analog, etc).

Problem 4 - pause as option:

Pause is listed in the analyzer options. It should be either above or below the option list visually separated. Ideally the analyzer could be paused with having to open the band configuration.

Problem 5 - no analyzer for level and stereo field bands:

I found no way to let the analyzer show me anything for non-frequency bands. For level I imagine either a simple horizontal bar or (better) a vertical scrolling level graph. The stereo field types could be visualized by colour coded intensity also scrolling vertically.

And no, this is not a rant. I only find it a shame that good features are hidden by a non-intuitive UI. I'm not a professional UI designer, but being a software developer Melda's UI smells too me like a by-dev-for-devs design

Masi

[vectorwarrior]

I don't have any issues with the multi band feature at all. There are extensive YouTube videos that go over the features thoroughly, perhaps they should be more prominently featured on the website or help or something. Personally I wouldn't want a button added, it's just extra clutter when the existing functionality is fine, it's just discoverability that is the issue.

One thing, the level crossover type does have visualisation, similar to as you describe, but you need to set it up to see it, which makes me think perhaps you haven't? Again, check out the videos. Can't remember if the panorama or MS types do, likely due to complexity of the output, but I don't use them so am not sure.

[masitito]

There are extensive YouTube videos that go over the features thoroughly, perhaps they should be more prominently featured on the website or help or something.

Ideally you shouldn't need a video to figure out how to out configure the basics.

it's just discoverability that is the issue.

Too me the "just" isn't justified - what a pun . Seriously, the UI is only usable once after you have figured out how our mastermind and genius programmer thinks. IMHO that's not the sign of a good UI. Anyway Vojtech seems to love his fiddly UI with all it's bells and whistles so I don't really hope for a change.

One thing, the level crossover type does have visualisation, similar to as you describe, but you need to set it up to see it, which makes me think perhaps you haven't?

Probably. I assume I have to watch through the videos to get how it's done. But why do I need to do it? For the frequency bands I don't have to do anything. The visualization simply works.

Masi

[jmg8]

[MeldaProduction]

Masi, well, I agree that the GUI should guide you, but the thing is, one needs to put these rather advanced things somewhere and having buttons for specific settings etc. wouldn't really enhance the workflow. Now it is actually quite simple - everything crossover related is in a single window. And sure, you cannot know initially what a Level crossover is, but GUI can hardly teach you that. That's why there are videos and documentation. After all, this particular feature is so advanced, that the video is pretty much needed, because you also need to use modulators for instance. If you are ready for such advanced stuff, then you probably just need to expect to learn something new, from somewhere .

[masitito]

Ok, got it now.

Thanx,
Masi

[masitito]

Now it is actually quite simple - everything crossover related is in a single window.

That's fine.

And sure, you cannot know initially what a Level crossover is, but GUI can hardly teach you that.

Sorry to say, but that's not true. Using iZotope DDLY Dynamic Delay you grasp it at once. Granted, you cannot tweak the all the parameters as you can do with Melda plugins, but OTOH it simply works right from the start. Absolutely no need for a tutorial.

Setting up a level crossover is more complicated with Melda plugins than I expected it to be and more than I think it needs to be. The point is that you have to configure an envelope follower manually. You don't need to do this with iZotope's plugin. Tweakers with love the option to fiddle with the details, but a newbie is lost.

If the button that creates the default bands could also create a default modulator things were a bit easier.

Anyway, I'm glad that I know now how that stuff works, but I'm still not convinced that the UI decisions made are "right". I'm not complaining that the UI is complete crap, but some areas in the UI I really dislike and I'm not comfortable with. However I cannot change it and I must accept it as it is.

Masi

[vectorwarrior]

Okay, 2 things about that... firstly the reason it should be manually set up is because it doesn't have to be used with a follower... you could use an envelope generator, or random, or LFO, or pitch following. It probably shouldn't have been called 'level' as that's specifying the use when it's more a 'selector' that can be controlled by a level follower (or whatever)... which is just the most common use case.

Secondly, if it's something you do a lot, just make a preset for yourself. I have presets for EVERYTHING, huge time saver. The preset menu is pretty awesome, you can 'heart' your favorites, make sub-folders, search, add info tags, etc.

As I've said in another recent thread, Melda's strength is in their flexibility and power. But with that comes complexity. Audio production isn't simple and frankly I love the fact that their tools are not dumbed down at all. I appreciate your point that things dont have to be dumbed down to be effective, but once you get over the hump with Melda plugins you'll really start to appreciate them and they're actually make a lot more sense. Remember that one of the big advantages with melda plugs is that they all share the same functionality and UI... so everytime you learn something in a melda plug it's benefiting you for any other melda plug.

[MeldaProduction]

Masito, I must say I'm surprised you are surprised . I mean if you have a plugin that can do 1000000 things and then you have a plugin that can do only one of the 1000000 things (the one from iZotope), then obviously it will be easier to setup .