Interest insight from another forum about Waveform...

[gesslr]

Hey folks,

In another forum someone posted the following. It wasn’t in a negative spirit, he was just making some observations. Let me post part of it, then share a thought.

At the first glance it looks like Wf9 offers many features and functions. But the UI layout seems to be a bit overloaded and not too consistent. Maybe that's my impression without trying it actually. Some of the functions would be nice to have in BwS, too but hopefully integrated in a smarter manner.

I really like these closing-workflow-loop concepts: e.g.
- bouncing audio <-> Slice-To-Drummachine
- dragging clips/time selections between clip arranger/launcher <-> recording to arranger/launcher
- saving modulators + nested device chains with presets
- saving scenes with devices <-> track groups <-> sending MIDI to group master track

some things that could be added
- freeze/real-time-freeze audio <-> audio preview in browser <-> restore MIDI in frozen clips
- clip fades+multiple audio-events in one audio clip <-> comping (multiple audio event layers in 1 clip)
- MIDI-player-device onto which I could drag note clips from the launcher
- 'note-bounce' for Note FX (faster then recording notes)
- audio-to-MIDI: extract notes with polyphonic micro-pitch/-amplitude expression out of audio
- seperating drums (like Regroover Pro)
- convolution device <-> create impulse responses internally from device chains (+with Hardware-FX)
- capture (like AL) <-> extract tempo automation from recorded audio/MIDI
- compensate swing from live-played MIDI recordings

I pointed out to him that many of the things in his second list are already there, etc.

But my observation is this: Many of the really neat innovative features that we know and love in Waveform are not talked about in any of the current material or walkthroughs. True, if someone goes through the various videos from T5,6,7,etc., you can find them...but folks don’t know that and probably won’t do that. The person who posted that is a really thoughtful creative individual...just the type who could become a customer. But he’s not going to dig through several layers of older videos and thus won’t have available a real picture of what W9 offers.

The current materials tend to focus on what’s new which is understandable. But how about something that talks about that PLUS the really ground breaking as yet unmatched stuff that exists in Waveform period? The freeze function, clip layers, etc.

That's one reason I really liked Molten Music's in-depth review of Tracktion 7. There was a lot of "a-ha" stuff in there once you got a picture of all of it...

Just a thought...

[gesslr]

This is the Molten Music T7 review...

[jochicago]

I watched that video. It was nice to find a long review but he spends half his time talking about how he is new to T7 and doesn't really know the features.

The video has its place for helping people like me look at T7, but it won't do much to help a seasoned DAW user look closer a Waveform's deeper features.

It would be nice to find a few 10-15min videos from experienced users really digging into the featureset.

Also, I was looking for info on the DAW Essentials bundle and it was pulling teeth. The only serious review I could find was an article in German. Google Translate helped me with that, but there should be an official video (or at least a serious community video) going over features of the bundle and showing some examples.

BTW, I've thought of posting some videos but I'm on T6 at this stage and I don't think that's helping anyone. I'll try to contribute when I upgrade to W9.

[jabe]

I've been wondering if there'd be any use for videos as short as 2 minutes long but with very specific titles. I did think it would be necessary to also do a lot of cross-referencing, either in the videos, or in the video descriptions.

[gesslr]

These are great suggestions.... I'll noodle on a bit more also.

TBH the hard part for me is how to think about them.

• On the one hand, way back in T4 Streamworks had a comprehensive set of Tracktion Tutorials, and Bill did some with Groove 3 for T5. (He also did a series on the updates to T7.) A similar thing is needed, but that's a big project that someone should get paid for.
• On the other hand, there are neat things that set Waveform apart that may have been around for a few versions and so don't get highlighted in current material even though they are still groundbreaking and unique (e.g., clip fx).

Bill has been suggesting the community get some videos out there....maybe we can create a list of short videos to supplement Bill Edstrom's efforts and try to get folks in the community to sign up for doing just one or two of them as time and desire permits. (Or add their own video on some other thing in Waveform they think is cool.)

Lastly, would doing any of this decrease the chance that a Streamworks or Groove3 would bring a professional set of tutorials and videos to market?

Just blue skying here....

[gigazaga]

These are great suggestions.... I'll noodle on a bit more also.

TBH the hard part for me is how to think about them.

• On the one hand, way back in T4 Streamworks had a comprehensive set of Tracktion Tutorials, and Bill did some with Groove 3 for T5. (He also did a series on the updates to T7.) A similar thing is needed, but that's a big project that someone should get paid for.
• On the other hand, there are neat things that set Waveform apart that may have been around for a few versions and so don't get highlighted in current material even though they are still groundbreaking and unique (e.g., clip fx).

Bill has been suggesting the community get some videos out there....maybe we can create a list of short videos to supplement Bill Edstrom's efforts and try to get folks in the community to sign up for doing just one or two of them as time and desire permits. (Or add their own video on some other thing in Waveform they think is cool.)

Lastly, would doing any of this decrease the chance that a Streamworks or Groove3 would bring a professional set of tutorials and videos to market?

Just blue skying here....

Very good and interesting thread. I know there is a need get more video updated video content out. I would like to hear your ideas on the priority of things to be covered.

It’s not hard for me to make short topical videos. I always feel like they need to be organized into several series. There are lots of new W9 features that need to be explained as well as all the core workflow videos that should likely be remade for version 9.

So far I have done the QuickStart series but am gearing up to make more. It would be a big help to get more thoughts on priority and format!

Bill Edstrom

[jabe]

Someone commented on another thread about another person who'd mistakenly claimed there were a number of things Waveform couldn't do when those things had been possible for years. I'm wondering how much of this would be turning your instruction manual into video format.

I mentioned videos of two minute duration (I was originally thinking of just one minute) came about because I've seen videos (not yours, Bill!!!) on YouTube offering instructions on a variety of topics that just don't get to the point, sometimes not giving me what I want at all, and I'd rather "waste" one or two minutes than 15 or 20. Succinct pre-planned commentaries are a must. I wonder whether my (British, regional) accent is easily intelligible to those for whom English is not their first language).

Also, I find videos with no commentary, just with a barely-visible mouse cursor inexpicably flying around, worse than useless.

[gigazaga]

Someone commented on another thread about another person who'd mistakenly claimed there were a number of things Waveform couldn't do when those things had been possible for years. I'm wondering how much of this would be turning your instruction manual into video format.

Right, that is a huge job that would need to develop over time. Maybe I can focus on those features that were assumed to be missing.

I mentioned videos of two minute duration (I was originally thinking of just one minute) came about because I've seen videos (not yours, Bill!!!) on YouTube offering instructions on a variety of topics that just don't get to the point, sometimes not giving me what I want at all, and I'd rather "waste" one or two minutes than 15 or 20. Succinct pre-planned commentaries are a must.

Getting right to the point is essential. Some topics just take longer to explain. I also agree that videos that lack voiceover explanation are disappointing in most cases.

I wonder whether my (British, regional) accent is easily intelligible to those for whom English is not their first language).

I wouldn't let that stop you from offering your insight!

[jochicago]

I would like to hear your ideas on the priority of things to be covered.

Bill, here is a thought on taking care of the basics. I think there should be an explanation for the basic line items of Tracktion. Like when I look at purchasing and deciding on a pack. What are:
Collective
Master Mix
How to use Melodyne Essential in Tractktion
T Daw Essentials
Imagina Loops

I know there are some pages on the site with some details, but take the DAW Essentials. How are the EQ and compressor better than free TDR plugins? As a consumer I'm looking for a plugin bundle designed to play well with my DAW, that uses low resources and has transparent output. It looks like that DAW Essentials might be it, but at this stage I feel I'm just guessing.

A video could show these plugins in action. Show that the output is transparent and display the lower CPU being claimed. Also, I imagine that many of the plugins have features that connect with Waveform in ways that other plugins wouldn't, so it would be inspiring to see that stuff being shown. Also, the article I read spoke highly of the Auto Filter plugin, but I'm having trouble visualizing how it works and how I would use it to enhance a track.

Beyond that I think that there should be one 15min video mixing a section of a song to show all the nifty track-editing capabilities. Something like a complex 5-track vocal section being edited richly by a Tracktion expert. This would showcase all the cool grouping, slicing, blending, track effects, etc, and the note and time shaping, including a quick pass over Melodyne. The idea being that someone that's not familiar with Tracktion can watch a clip and get a strong sense for all that's possible with the software. Then we can slow down and do research on some of the features we saw in the clip, but without having seen them we don't know what we are missing (or for existing users, what you might have but are not taking advantage of).