Zebra 3.0 released

[mindlessgenius]

@u-he Congratulations on the release, looks and sounds magnificent!
@Linux users: Did anybody get the wavetable import to work or knows how to copy and paste SVG? Currently on Fedora I can't drag&drop and it seems to be impossible to copy & paste outside of the same Zebra3 instance, let alone outside of Ardour or Reaper. I'm wondering if I have to tweak some permissions to access the same clipboard.

[ThoughtExperiment]

I'm sure I read in one of these threads that waveform import was still an experimental feature.

[psychedelicspaniel]

I'll have to check whether daw automation animates anything else (filters etc).

Just tested and yes, pretty much everything is animated when controlled by daw automation.

It's bugging me that the visual feedback & hence ability to quickly see what is happening in a complex patch is simply not there by default - or even hidden behind an option to toggle animations. I get that some folk don't like too much movement / flashiness (the spaceship analogy), the you 'don't hear with your eyes' argument and that there may be possible performance implications - hence the option to toggle animations.

But for me (and I'm guessing there are others) a bit more visual feedback would ramp up the usability of this amazingly powerful tool to a much improved level.

[exmatproton]

I'll have to check whether daw automation animates anything else (filters etc).

Just tested and yes, pretty much everything is animated when controlled by daw automation.

It's bugging me that the visual feedback & hence ability to quickly see what is happening in a complex patch is simply not there by default - or even hidden behind an option to toggle animations. I get that some folk don't like too much movement / flashiness (the spaceship analogy), the you 'don't hear with your eyes' argument and that there may be possible performance implications - hence the option to toggle animations.

But for me (and I'm guessing there are others) a bit more visual feedback would ramp up the usability of this amazingly powerful tool to a much improved level.

I was assured this is being worked on.

[Urs]

We’ll be working on showing polarity of modulations, but we have no plans to have jiggly modulation indicators circling around knobs.

[ThoughtExperiment]

... we have no plans to have jiggly modulation indicators circling around knobs.

Thank gawd for that

[HAJIME KOURIKI]

I've noticed the discussions regarding modulation animation, but to me, that feels like a minor detail. Real modular hardware doesn't move, though I agree that having small indicators move could be a nice touch for software.
My main priority would actually be better metering for modulators. We can see the waveform in the scope, but without clear voltage levels or a 0–100 scale, the precise behavior is hard to track—particularly for constant signals. If the scope had an option to show Max/Min values like many other rack-based soft synths, it would make the workflow much more transparent and intuitive.

[psychedelicspaniel]

We’ll be working on showing polarity of modulations, but we have no plans to have jiggly modulation indicators circling around knobs.

Out of interest, would there be a way within templates/scripting (any hidden apis perhaps?) to allow users to add movement or other forms of visual feedback?

[exmatproton]

I've noticed the discussions regarding modulation animation, but to me, that feels like a minor detail. Real modular hardware doesn't move, though I agree that having small indicators move could be a nice touch for software.
My main priority would actually be better metering for modulators. We can see the waveform in the scope, but without clear voltage levels or a 0–100 scale, the precise behavior is hard to track—particularly for constant signals. If the scope had an option to show Max/Min values like many other rack-based soft synths, it would make the workflow much more transparent and intuitive.

That is one of the benefits of working with plugins; there you finally can have visual feedback.

[Urs]

I've noticed the discussions regarding modulation animation, but to me, that feels like a minor detail. Real modular hardware doesn't move, though I agree that having small indicators move could be a nice touch for software.
My main priority would actually be better metering for modulators. We can see the waveform in the scope, but without clear voltage levels or a 0–100 scale, the precise behavior is hard to track—particularly for constant signals. If the scope had an option to show Max/Min values like many other rack-based soft synths, it would make the workflow much more transparent and intuitive.

Level indicators and all that stuff may actually happen.

[Urs]

We’ll be working on showing polarity of modulations, but we have no plans to have jiggly modulation indicators circling around knobs.

Out of interest, would there be a way within templates/scripting (any hidden apis perhaps?) to allow users to add movement or other forms of visual feedback?

Nothing in there right now.

I am thinking about pairing a scope-type overlay with the Target Finder (which I hope you have switched to "Tentacles" for fast overviews). A scope-type overlay will give you a good indication of what a modulator does, if it is a moving modulator. Works well with fast movement and slow movement. Could happen with Target Finder as well as some kind of "Source Finder", which we're tentatively thinking about.

Indicators on knobs can either be isolated to the current modulation, or compound with all modulations added on top of each other. The isolated version is clearly beaten by the scope-type overlay since it not only shows a moment (or nervous gibberish). In a compound modulation indicator, fast modulations are easy to perceive but slow ones are not, i.e. you wouldn't see the slow movement if masked by fast stuff. Furthermore even with all the movement around the knobs, you still don't know the source. You see "oh, it's that parameter" but you can't see "oh this is doing it".

A compromise is to have as many balls in orbit of a knob as there are modulations on it, with colour coded indicator of source. I don't find that attractive.

So my conclusion is: Balls in orbit of knobs either don't communicate the source or the full picture, and therefore fail to do what they are supposed to do. Yes, they give you the parameter that is afflicted by whatever seems to trouble. But not the source. Or, you already know the source and then a plain depth indicator does the trick just as well.

Therefore, the better modulation indicator is always a time based, scope type thing that shows some movement history. The better indicator shows the source and the target.

[Akanomad]

We’ll be working on showing polarity of modulations, but we have no plans to have jiggly modulation indicators circling around knobs.

Showing the polarity of modulations would indeed be a welcome change. That’s nice to hear

[maschilli]

Is NKS Support planned for Zebra3?

[Eluwei]

...

[Urs]

Is NKS Support planned for Zebra3?

Still looking at where NKS is headed...

(NI situation is a big blow/concern to us, we know too many people there and we have many close ties)