Hive 2 is coming!

[fmr]

there is another graphics person who totally redesigned it and bazille/diva i think (forgot his name)

You're probably referring to Plugmon?
https://plugmon.jp/

This guy is really good.

See how subjective this can be?

I find is skins not that good, and I never used (or ever wanted to) any of them.

Bad color choices, bad font choices, globally ugly... you pick.

i didnt say it was good or bad, just that it was technically a redesign

I aswered to Stefken

Yes, they are a redesign, and with some good ideas. Too bad the implementation fails...

[Stefken]

there is another graphics person who totally redesigned it and bazille/diva i think (forgot his name)

You're probably referring to Plugmon?
https://plugmon.jp/

This guy is really good.

See how subjective this can be?

I find his skins not that good, and I never used (or ever wanted to) any of them.

Bad color choices, bad font choices, globally ugly... you pick.

There is no design that will satisfy everybody.
( I do like his UX level better than his graphic level though).
Doesn't mean it's all subjective.
But it's not like physics where the acceleration of the apple is always the same.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

there is another graphics person who totally redesigned it and bazille/diva i think (forgot his name)

You're probably referring to Plugmon?
https://plugmon.jp/

This guy is really good.

See how subjective this can be?

I find his skins not that good, and I never used (or ever wanted to) any of them.

Bad color choices, bad font choices, globally ugly... you pick.

I love his Bazille skin. Makes it much, much easier to use. Big, functional and asthetic improvement over the original and gear porn skins IMO. AIKO is my next favorite. Much improved layout. Prior to the latest round of Zebra updates, his were my default Zebra skins too. Love the white and grey colors for panels. Don't always love the font choices, or his blurry black FX and Matrix panels (which I edit and flatten) but fonts are the thing I care least about in a GUI. The "massive" modulation system he uses for these synths really improves functionality and ease of use IMO. Same for how he'll hide non-functioing knobs in Zebra until a modulation has been assigned to them. No chance of wondering why a knob isn't doing anything. When it comes to Hive, I went back to the default skin, but his patch bank for a Hive by itself is worth the price of entry.

Anyway, I'm a big fan. For me, Plugmon usually hits a nice balance between clean asthetics and functional Improvements. Particularly with Diva and Bazille.

[chk071]

Maybe we should distinguish a bit. Of course a GUI design can be subjective, when you put pink ponies in it , nonetheless there are surely some basic things which should be done right, as yoji pointed out. I also don't think there are 2 opinions about the clarity of a design. Or that it is a good thing to orientate, and mimic hardware controls. If such basic things are already missing, or done wrong, then one can surely talk of a objectively bad GUI design.

Anyway, i don't think i see something groundbreakingly wrong about the Hive 2 GUI, in fact i think it is quite well done, and there are, if then, some minor things to fix, which surely will be done. End of story? Ah, wait, it's still a forum right?

BTW, i can't really share the enthusiasm about satyatunes skins. While they're pretty good, i must admit that i never found them to be really fantastic. There are skins/GUI's like the default Dune 3 one, or the Lancy Thackery Sylenth1 skin, or his default skin for Serum which are pretty outstanding in my eyes. Waldorf also has some great GUI's done by Axel Hartmann.

[Teksonik]

i dont think you need to be able to "do something better" to have an opinion about something, or more specifically, say you dont like it

im sure you said (in a hive thread with a sneak peek at the new gui) that you hated the pastel colours....

Oh yes I said the color scheme of the default is not to my liking (vomit inducing or something like that). I also said I would recolor it to my taste if it were released in that condition or buy one of Satya's skins and that I would most likely buy the upgrade no matter what the GUI. I never claimed to be a "color expert". I only know what I like and dislike.

But there is a difference in giving your opinion and attempting to give "advice" to someone who has been in the business since day one.

"I know all about design and you're doing it wrong". Ok show us how you would improve it then. Show us you're a wizard at GUI design. Perhaps we'll all love your ideas but otherwise you're just some guy talking smack on the internet.

while i do like his work, thats not really a new design. Everything is in the same place, just diff colours, new knobs and backgrounds.

I never said it was a new design. The current version of Hive doesn't need a redesign, it's perfectly functional. I simply offered Satya's work as an example of someone who does have the graphics talents to do a redesign if motivated. In other words I can see his talent on display. Other people all I see is words........

Anyway enough of this nonsense. Let's wait until we see the first release of Hive Version 2 and we'll take it from there. Urs has said there will be changes so let's see how it goes. No telling how the final GUI will look or function. Bottom line for me I trust him to release a highly functional GUI without the help of self proclaimed "experts". He's been doing it for a long time.

On the subject of the current Hive which is all most of us have access to at the moment I discovered today that if you own Dune 3 you can use it to make Wavetables for Hive. I'm sure someone else has noticed this as well but I don't remember seeing it mentioned.

So if you own Dune 3 you have a Wavetable Editor for Hive (other than Hive's scripting). I haven't taken the time to dive into scripting so this is a great way to make WTs for Hive and they sound quite good.

[Teksonik]

Of course a GUI design can be subjective...... i can't really share the enthusiasm about satyatunes skins. While they're pretty good, i must admit that i never found them to be really fantastic. There are skins/GUI's like the default Dune 3 one, or the Lancy Thackery Sylenth1 skin,

And there's a perfect example of subjective. I find Lance Thackery's designs to look cheap and plastic while I find Satya's skins to be professional looking. Hive's default looks and functions just fine but Satya's skins make some nice alternatives for a change of pace.

Anyway like I said let's wait to see what the first release or beta looks like when it's released. There will be plenty of time to pick it apart ad nauseam.

[spunkmuffin]

I like the pastel colours on the new user interface. It's not like there is an overwhelming amount of colour - actually it's 80%+ grey. I like it.

[Urs]

Just in to let you know that our UI wizard agrees with yoji on pretty much all points.

We're probably going back to a vertical alignment of oscillator (top) and filter (bottom).

[blutronic]

Would love to see U-he celebrate the release of HIVE 2.0 with a sale on the HIVE patches in the shop. I would buy them all. HIVE is one of those synths that really invites you to play with the sounds and not just hop presets so you really get a lot in the bargain when you buy well designed presets. Just a marketing idea....

[Urs]

We'll think about it... my head is currently somewhere completely different.

[joris.roling]

Where... Mr. Heckman, is your head (might I ask?)

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Where... Mr. Heckman, is your head (might I ask?)

I'm sure a few of us are hoping begins with a Z and ends with an ebra3.

[blutronic]

We'll think about it... my head is currently somewhere completely different.

Ah... thank you for your kind consideration. That's all anyone can ask.

Speaking of somewhere else completely different for the HIVE thread. Has the CAT project been shelved or maybe still a future project? I was really looking forward to that one. I know you guys have way to much on your plate but that is a good problem to have. Kind regards.

And now back to our regular programing....

[mrdoghead]

If Hive needs a wavetable editor, we'll have to wait another year or two.

It needs a wavetable editor.

It has wavetables.

Sorry.

[mrdoghead]

Dear Urs,
Please read until the end, and I'm glad if you consider it.

This is outstanding commentary. Thank you.