MuLab & MUX UI Looks
-
- KVRAF
- 3154 posts since 28 Mar, 2008 from a Galaxy S7 far far away
-
- KVRist
- 427 posts since 24 Feb, 2015 from Stockholm, Sweden
Disclaimer: I'm not a MuLab user but love Mux and use it in Reaper (4.x). I have tried MuLab free for an hour or so a few months back.
So these comments come mostly from looking at the images posted and my experience with Mux.
I'd still like to chip in since I agree the GUI does not look very mature to my eyes.
Of the A and B comparison I think B is a lot better, with the alternative font. Much easier to read. The other one had very strange character spacing, looks uneven.
There are a few things in MuLab I find does not really do it visually justice.
I know, opinions are cheap, but here are mine
The top toolbar.
The black border makes it seem like the space is not used effectively. I don't really like the rounded edges of the buttons and areas. Buttons could be grouped together in many cases instead of having a lot of space in between. Same with each panel. With the current panels it looks like buttons on buttons.
Look at the Bitwig buttons. Buttons are either grouped together or spaced in a logical way.
Mux as a similar problem, the toolbar is unnecessarily large with a lot of dead space.
The use of LED backgrounds for the transport and selected "thingy" seems dated. Looks a bit like old iOS. Better with the new font but still looks off...
I find it a strange decision to put the record button between the information fields. It disrupts the flow slightly. Surely it should be group with the transport buttons...?
The logotype on the right just takes a lot of space and honestly looks like something out of a 90's Amiga program.
I don't get why there's a keyboard up there but if you dropped the logo you could instead extend the keyboard.
This is perhaps more in the usability field, but the menu buttons should have something distinctive to make it clear they open up a meny, perhaps a small down arrow after the text.
Track listing
Again: Dead space. They just don't look right, surely there could be something more there? Looking at all other DAWs they at least have some rudimentary track controls and meters in this listing. It almost looks like this aspect of MuLab is not finished.
The mute and solo buttons look out of place and especially seeing them on a automation track is strange...
Iconography.
I note this when working with Mux that I often click the wrong buttons because the icons are not clear and distinct. Save, load, save as, favorites, new folder look way too similar. Considering how much dead space there are in the tool bar of each Mux you could just as well have text in these... Or a combination.
Also, perhaps have the option to choose for each Mux which icon to show in the racks and other places (if this is not yet implemented)?
I'm looking at the examples posted and the racks are basically just filled with Mux:es which makes icons pretty useless
Top of window.
I don't like having a custom title bar and Close/Minimize/Maximize buttons. I think it'd be a good idea to let windows be windows and OSX be OSX in this regard.
Knobs
I don't really like the look of the knobs and faders in Mux and Mulab. It's a bit hard to pinpoint but compared to the Bitwig ones, which are closest to Mux, they're less clean. It's the little details here that make all the difference, I think. Why does the ring around the knob go all the way around when only perhaps 300 degrees are lit up? Little things like that. I saw the mock ups from the other thread and I didn't think anyone really hit home. Knobs are hard, I guess
Buttons
I wrote this already but I don't like the rounded edges, and this goes not only for the buttons. Also most buttons seems to be on the larger side and the combination of rounded and large makes it look made for kids. The mute and solo buttons are ugly. I think it's mostly because the black outline is unproportionally large. All small buttons and other outlined elements suffers from this in my opinion.
The general impression i get from the GUI would be "Dated", "Immature", "Unfinished".
Someone mentioned old Java-applications, I'd be more inclined to compare it to first or second generation iOS.
(I know I've also touched on "usability" rather than only "looks" but I believe they're very much connected)
Good luck with this! GUI is hard to do right and of course, nothing you do will please all, but it's certainly an important aspect to attract users.
Of the examples you posted I really think Bitwig looked the best. Clean, consistent, logical. Most differences are subtle but they just seem to have made most of the small things right. I rather like the new Reaper look as well (haven't bought 5.0 yet though so still on 4.x), although it's a bit messy at some places... I hadn't seen Studio One before, it looked like a total mess
So these comments come mostly from looking at the images posted and my experience with Mux.
I'd still like to chip in since I agree the GUI does not look very mature to my eyes.
Of the A and B comparison I think B is a lot better, with the alternative font. Much easier to read. The other one had very strange character spacing, looks uneven.
There are a few things in MuLab I find does not really do it visually justice.
I know, opinions are cheap, but here are mine
The top toolbar.
The black border makes it seem like the space is not used effectively. I don't really like the rounded edges of the buttons and areas. Buttons could be grouped together in many cases instead of having a lot of space in between. Same with each panel. With the current panels it looks like buttons on buttons.
Look at the Bitwig buttons. Buttons are either grouped together or spaced in a logical way.
Mux as a similar problem, the toolbar is unnecessarily large with a lot of dead space.
The use of LED backgrounds for the transport and selected "thingy" seems dated. Looks a bit like old iOS. Better with the new font but still looks off...
I find it a strange decision to put the record button between the information fields. It disrupts the flow slightly. Surely it should be group with the transport buttons...?
The logotype on the right just takes a lot of space and honestly looks like something out of a 90's Amiga program.
I don't get why there's a keyboard up there but if you dropped the logo you could instead extend the keyboard.
This is perhaps more in the usability field, but the menu buttons should have something distinctive to make it clear they open up a meny, perhaps a small down arrow after the text.
Track listing
Again: Dead space. They just don't look right, surely there could be something more there? Looking at all other DAWs they at least have some rudimentary track controls and meters in this listing. It almost looks like this aspect of MuLab is not finished.
The mute and solo buttons look out of place and especially seeing them on a automation track is strange...
Iconography.
I note this when working with Mux that I often click the wrong buttons because the icons are not clear and distinct. Save, load, save as, favorites, new folder look way too similar. Considering how much dead space there are in the tool bar of each Mux you could just as well have text in these... Or a combination.
Also, perhaps have the option to choose for each Mux which icon to show in the racks and other places (if this is not yet implemented)?
I'm looking at the examples posted and the racks are basically just filled with Mux:es which makes icons pretty useless
Top of window.
I don't like having a custom title bar and Close/Minimize/Maximize buttons. I think it'd be a good idea to let windows be windows and OSX be OSX in this regard.
Knobs
I don't really like the look of the knobs and faders in Mux and Mulab. It's a bit hard to pinpoint but compared to the Bitwig ones, which are closest to Mux, they're less clean. It's the little details here that make all the difference, I think. Why does the ring around the knob go all the way around when only perhaps 300 degrees are lit up? Little things like that. I saw the mock ups from the other thread and I didn't think anyone really hit home. Knobs are hard, I guess
Buttons
I wrote this already but I don't like the rounded edges, and this goes not only for the buttons. Also most buttons seems to be on the larger side and the combination of rounded and large makes it look made for kids. The mute and solo buttons are ugly. I think it's mostly because the black outline is unproportionally large. All small buttons and other outlined elements suffers from this in my opinion.
The general impression i get from the GUI would be "Dated", "Immature", "Unfinished".
Someone mentioned old Java-applications, I'd be more inclined to compare it to first or second generation iOS.
(I know I've also touched on "usability" rather than only "looks" but I believe they're very much connected)
Good luck with this! GUI is hard to do right and of course, nothing you do will please all, but it's certainly an important aspect to attract users.
Of the examples you posted I really think Bitwig looked the best. Clean, consistent, logical. Most differences are subtle but they just seem to have made most of the small things right. I rather like the new Reaper look as well (haven't bought 5.0 yet though so still on 4.x), although it's a bit messy at some places... I hadn't seen Studio One before, it looked like a total mess
-
- KVRAF
- 13862 posts since 24 Jun, 2008 from Europe
Thanks mehum and everyone else contributing to this topic! I'm reading all this with great interest. And eventhough i'm focused on another M7 aspect atm, further improving the looks still is an M7 working point. I'll certainly reread and digest all posts and try to distillate nice improvements. (time-balanced with other working points)
To be continued.
To be continued.
-
- KVRAF
- 13862 posts since 24 Jun, 2008 from Europe
-
fluffy_little_something fluffy_little_something https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=281847
- Banned
- 12880 posts since 5 Jun, 2012
My computer was broken, now that it has been repaired Mulab runs without the audio issues I used to experience, so it has become an alternative again
I don't think there is anything really wrong with the interface. Sure, it is simple and much more 2D than other modern interfaces, but that is not necessarily bad.
Still, some things that I notice when looking at it:
- There are lots of menus for my taste, so lots of reading
- Buttons with labels on them might be using established symbols instead, for instance
a blue globe symbol on the Mulab button
a yellow file symbol on the Project button
a musical notes symbol on the Compose button
a pen or scissors symbol on the Edit button
This way you would also gain some space and might add a panic button to kill off the audio immediately. I know there is such an option in the menus, but it should not be hidden in menus when your speakers are disintegrating.
For people with poor vision the existing symbols for browser and mixer look similar, maybe a magnifying glass symbol for the browser would do.
The master rack should look clearly different from the others in my view.
There should be a way to reset mixer controls to zero, like Shift-click or Ctrl-click.
The keyboard home key should set the position bar to the very start.
The kind of font as such is hard to read, no idea which font that is. Letters look so weak and fragile. The big R for instance as in L+R looks like a P to me.
The symbols in the scrollbar corner are very tiny. I assume you are rather young and still have 20/20 vision, but many people don't.
I don't think there is anything really wrong with the interface. Sure, it is simple and much more 2D than other modern interfaces, but that is not necessarily bad.
Still, some things that I notice when looking at it:
- There are lots of menus for my taste, so lots of reading
- Buttons with labels on them might be using established symbols instead, for instance
a blue globe symbol on the Mulab button
a yellow file symbol on the Project button
a musical notes symbol on the Compose button
a pen or scissors symbol on the Edit button
This way you would also gain some space and might add a panic button to kill off the audio immediately. I know there is such an option in the menus, but it should not be hidden in menus when your speakers are disintegrating.
For people with poor vision the existing symbols for browser and mixer look similar, maybe a magnifying glass symbol for the browser would do.
The master rack should look clearly different from the others in my view.
There should be a way to reset mixer controls to zero, like Shift-click or Ctrl-click.
The keyboard home key should set the position bar to the very start.
The kind of font as such is hard to read, no idea which font that is. Letters look so weak and fragile. The big R for instance as in L+R looks like a P to me.
The symbols in the scrollbar corner are very tiny. I assume you are rather young and still have 20/20 vision, but many people don't.
-
- KVRAF
- 1925 posts since 29 Mar, 2013
Hi fluffy,
Right click the Play button to see the Panic option or easily assign a shortcut for it.
Again the Home key can easily be assigned as the shortcut to "Goto Composition Start"
The font is being changed for the next version
Right click the Play button to see the Panic option or easily assign a shortcut for it.
Again the Home key can easily be assigned as the shortcut to "Goto Composition Start"
The font is being changed for the next version
Beauty is only skin deep,
Ugliness, however, goes right the way through
Ugliness, however, goes right the way through
-
- KVRAF
- 3154 posts since 28 Mar, 2008 from a Galaxy S7 far far away
Very nice, but too big and there's too much free space!
This seems to be copying many aspects of the Reaper themes!
This seems to be copying many aspects of the Reaper themes!
-
- Banned
- 1256 posts since 22 Feb, 2014
Thank's for the comment it was only a rough idea. Yeah i already know about the Heightsl23 wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:04 pm Very nice, but too big and there's too much free space!
This seems to be copying many aspects of the Reaper themes!
but people are right about one thing. Mulab does look Basic and time for a Change
-
- KVRAF
- 3154 posts since 28 Mar, 2008 from a Galaxy S7 far far away
But that basic look is part of MuLab's charm. There are some minor things that could be improved graphically, but I don't want a clone of FL Studio or anything else. MuLab looks bloody good just needs more options for colouring the knobs and faders as the monochrome look they currently have is a little bland.
I for one don't want want all the buttons and indicators that almost all other DAW's have, it's too distracting.
I think the only real enhancement you should add Jo, which is sorely missed by myself, is the little took box that muzys had. That made editing much faster
I for one don't want want all the buttons and indicators that almost all other DAW's have, it's too distracting.
I think the only real enhancement you should add Jo, which is sorely missed by myself, is the little took box that muzys had. That made editing much faster
-
- KVRAF
- 24414 posts since 7 Jan, 2009 from Croatia
Having important information about the track right there in the mixer is not distracting, it's useful.
-
- Banned
- 1256 posts since 22 Feb, 2014
@123 I don't intend to copy other daw's looks. But look how professional Cubase Studio one even Luna's look's great. Also Logic Bitwig Even N-Track got a upgrade look As well as Mixcraft