Bitwig Feature Requests~

[slackhead]

I often wonder how many new users trying out Bitwig for the first time get massively put off by the browser?

I guess if they new to DAWs they might just accept that this is the way it's done, but if you are used to another program and you just want to add a plain VST to a track, the amount of fustration and headscratching must be very off putting.
I needed to watch a couple of quite lengthy Youtube videos and then spend a couple of hours fiddling with the damn thing before I got it into a workable state, and I've been using DAWs for the best part of thirty years!

[perpetual3]

I had very little problem using the new browser.

[machinesworking]

I have both Live and Bitwig - the one thing I dislike about Live is the 2 window support is weak

This is so wrong, Bitwig just recently, I don't know what update it was? got decent two window support, and even then some key shortcuts are broken or changed.

Here's some reasons Lives two window support skunks Bitwigs, the tab key in Live switches the Arrange and Session windows between your two monitors, the normal commands to expand the edit windows work, the edit windows will also switch between the two windows in Live.

Bitwig on the other hand used to not allow the edit window at all in certain configurations, three monitor support is cool, but you're stuck with their decisions on which window goes to which monitor. Honestly Bitwigs multi monitor support is terrible compared to pretty much any DAW. It's a personal pet peeve of mine considering how great the UX in general is with Bitwig.

[machinesworking]

I’m a little confused by that. Are you saying the general folder/file OS browser is better than the contextual browsers internal to DAWs in choosing content, plugins etc?

Yes.

Lately DAW browsers have gotten better, but Live, Bitwig, Logic etc. etc. all have full categories I couldn't give a rats ass about. I rarely used loop libraries and have literally never used the included loop content from any DAW. I don't care about their presets etc. For the most part I want access to my own audio files and libraries and the plugins folder.

Even great DAWs like Bitwig, I see only presets from them and U-He, no one else has used their VST tagging system to any extent that lets Bitwigs browser read the presets in Mac OS anyway. So the amount of times I've decided to use presets based on a search in the browser is zero. I have something like 500+ plugins, and even then for the most part I think of the plugin I want to use first, not the preset type, because flatly all systems so far have failed to be universal. So you're only searching some portion of your library, but I for the most part know what kind of compressor I want, or synth or...

It's like they're all competing to be the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. You have to keep in the Bitwig etc. echo system, which again is far too small if you've collected plugins and audio files for years or decades.

[pdxindy]

I had very little problem using the new browser.

I like the new popup browser just fine. I liked the old one too.
85% of the time I have the device/plugin I'm looking for on the track in 4-5 seconds. I don't even have to look or touch the mouse.

I especially like the new side browser much more than the old one.
When I am working in the Grid, I have a key command that opens a collection with my most used Grid Modules and I drag them in from there.

With a different key command, I open the side browser to Note FX Devices and I can drag one or more into a track. If I have an Arpeggiator on a track and I want to swap it to a Stepwise, I drop Stepwise from the Side Browser on top of the Arp.

If I have the Device panel closed cause I'm editing a clip, I can drag devices from the Side Browser into the Inspector. If I am using Polymer and I decide to switch to Bazille, I use a key command that shows my favorite synths and I drag Bazille on top of Polymer in the Inspector and they are swapped out.

I also have a favorites collection in the sidebrowser with my most used IR's, Wavetables, etc. With a key command, I open those favorites and drag the IR I want into the project and it adds Convolution with that IR.

And so on. The Bitwig Browser takes a bit of setup to make best use of it, but once done, it is easily the fastest browser I have ever used.

[pdxindy]

So the amount of times I've decided to use presets based on a search in the browser is zero.

If you don't want to see presets, configure it so you don't see presets.

[slackhead]

The Bitwig Browser takes a bit of setup to make best use of it, but once done, it is easily the fastest browser I have ever used.

I agree. The problem is that figuring out how to set it up is not at all intuitive, which I suspect, is the reason for a lot of the complaints. You have to work at it. A lot of people want something straight forward and dare I say obvious. But then that's not the Bitwig way

[machinesworking]

The Bitwig Browser takes a bit of setup to make best use of it, but once done, it is easily the fastest browser I have ever used.

I agree. The problem is that figuring out how to set it up is not at all intuitive, which I suspect, is the reason for a lot of the complaints. You have to work at it. A lot of people want something straight forward and dare I say obvious. But then that's not the Bitwig way

Yeah? I find most of Bitwigs interface to be absolutely the most intuitive and obvious, the UX is generally good. Navigation is the best there is of the 8 or so DAWs I've sincerely dived into. The Browser is the main exception, and oddly enough time stretching considering its legacy as having been started by mostly ex Ableton employees.

[dellboy]

Is there any way to make the browser persistent? I just want it to be the same way as I left it when I closed it. Its very annoying to have to click back through it every time its reopened.I have found " snapshot," but that does not really save it as it was left. Another annoying thing is clicking on the three stripe thing on the track header to open a VST's GUI, only to have to click again at the bottom browser to open it. Give us the option to open it directly please instead of two clicks.

[pdxindy]

Is there any way to make the browser persistent? I just want it to be the same way as I left it when I closed it.

Yes... You can save it as default for that context.

[pdxindy]

Another annoying thing is clicking on the three stripe thing on the track header to open a VST's GUI, only to have to click again at the bottom browser to open it. Give us the option to open it directly please instead of two clicks.

Huh? The 3 stripe button on the track header is for automation.

You can select a track and in the Inspector you can open the GUI for any plugin(s) on the track.

[dellboy]

Is there any way to make the browser persistent? I just want it to be the same way as I left it when I closed it.

Yes... You can save it as default for that context.

Default? Where is that? For context,I do not use the side browser,I just click on the + sign to open VSTs. I never use the grid or any Bitwig stuff. All I want ever want to do is insert an audio track,or open a VST.

[ere2learn]

Default? Where is that? For context,I do not use the side browser,I just click on the + sign to open VSTs. I never use the grid or any Bitwig stuff. All I want to ever want to do is insert an audio track,or open a VST.

[dellboy]

Another annoying thing is clicking on the three stripe thing on the track header to open a VST's GUI, only to have to click again at the bottom browser to open it. Give us the option to open it directly please instead of two clicks.

Huh? The 3 stripe button on the track header is for automation.

You can select a track and in the Inspector you can open the GUI for any plugin(s) on the track.

I had no idea the stripe button was for automation. I have been using the same stripe button in Cubase and Studio One for years to open VST's. My request then is for a button in the track header to open VSTs, as I do not like having the inspector open.

[Chameleonman]

I'm 49 and I'm thankful of the GUI scaling because my eyesight has gone worse. But i would appreciate some improvements. The steps of the different scaling are quite big. Hard to find just the right one. And with the big zoom the empty space is getting in the way too much. It should be more intelligence than some mindless magnifying glass that makes also the empty areas too big. It's not even visually great GUI design with so much empty areas. Looks more like a toy DAW when zoomed in. The desing should work better with the other scalings too. I like very much how bitwig looks but I realized I've never used it how it's desingned to be visually. Obviously not desingned with the GUI scaling on.