SynthMaster 3 Official Thread: SynthMaster 3/Player v3.4.9 Rev 17271 update

[robert_p]

P.S. Check out u-he Zebra or Hive (if you have it installed) to see how computer's keyboard (up, down, left, right arrows) interacts with the browser when switching between presets.

[kv331]

P.S. Check out u-he Zebra or Hive (if you have it installed) to see how computer's keyboard (up, down, left, right arrows) interacts with the browser when switching between presets.

My bad Just realized that if we have a 2D list of course we need to enable up/down/left/right keys I will introduce that in 3.4.2, along with vertical/horizontal option for the presets list. Some users on our facebook group also asked for undo/redo functionality for preset load (user pressed random button by mistake for instance, without saving his edited preset. might want to press undo to go back to his previous edit), I will try to add that as well in 3.4.2

[robert_p]

I will try to add that as well in 3.4.2

Wonderful, thank you!

[whassup]

P.S. Check out u-he Zebra or Hive (if you have it installed) to see how computer's keyboard (up, down, left, right arrows) interacts with the browser when switching between presets.

My bad Just realized that if we have a 2D list of course we need to enable up/down/left/right keys I will introduce that in 3.4.2, along with vertical/horizontal option for the presets list. Some users on our facebook group also asked for undo/redo functionality for preset load (user pressed random button by mistake for instance, without saving his edited preset. might want to press undo to go back to his previous edit), I will try to add that as well in 3.4.2

These are great additions, Bulent! Thank you!

[seangm]

Another thanks for adding the arrow key navigation

[Held]

1. New layout for the Preset Browser

How do I get the good Browser back?

You mean the one that only shows 20 presets without having to scroll and scroll and scroll? At least now we can see 63 presets at a glance without scrolling. That's an improvement.

I can only listen to one preset at time, so what's the point of having so many on the screen? If I'm looking for a specific one, I type in the name.

I prefer browsing by categories, and the new category selection is is a pain. I don't like it. The scrolling across columns is confusing. Some people mentioned horizontal scrolling. That might be okay.

The browser was already on of the best on the market. Odd choice to spend time on that instead of addressing the more fundamental issues. But I guess if people on kvr complained about it, it must be high priority and increase sales.

[Teksonik]

On the subject of scrolling, vertical scrolling makes more sense than horizontal. Since moving the mouse wheel up and down moves the preset list up and down and not right and left (sorry Mac users, get a proper mouse). But an option to allow either vertical or horizontal would satisfy everyone.

Scrolling vertically causes preset numbers to jump to different positions in the 3 columns.

I'm not sure what you mean. The preset numbers stay in the same position when scrolling vertically here.

I hadn't updated SM3 on my studio computer yet. I just checked the previous version and it scrolls vertically as well.

Example 1: Zebra browser
Example 2: Spire browser

EDIT: You picked two of my most hated browsers.......

[Teksonik]

Again the probelm I see with SM3's browser efficiency now is that the sound designers are using too many Instrument Types and Attributes when tagging their presets. That causes presets to show which don't really have anything to do with the original search term. (see my previous post)

About that, I am trying to come up with a solution, however, since our team has dwindled now, I don't know how to cope with editing 7750 presets. I can start off with SM3 presets maybe.

My solution is, when editing categories / styles / attributes for a preset, I can add a "relevance" field, between 1-10 for instance. 10 is most relevant, 1 is least relevant. This way, we can sort most related categories I guess. I am open to suggestions here. The relevance amount is displayed on the right hand side of the row displaying the category / style / attribute. (a relevance range between 1-10 might be too broad, maybe 1-5 might be better)

I wouldn't spend any time on the issue to be honest. No one else has noticed it and that makes me wonder how many people actually use the Instrument Types when searching.

Maybe just mention it to anyone making new presets not to add too many attributes otherwise it makes finding good search results less accurate.

[Teksonik]

I can only listen to one preset at time, so what's the point of having so many on the screen? If I'm looking for a specific one, I type in the name.

And what if you don't remember the name? Being able to look at a large list of presets makes it much easier (for me at least) to find the patches I'm looking for. Since all my patches and most of the ones in the SM3 factory banks are pre-tagged that makes searching for categories unnecessary. They're already categorized. ARP, BAS, LED, SEQ, etc.

The point of having more presets on screen is to eliminate the need to scroll which can consume more time than a browser can save over the long run.

What is it about the new category selection that's makes it a "pain"? If you can articulate that it may help your case. Seems pretty easy to use to me. Everything is a mouse click away.

I think Bulent is working on a "player" version for SM3 so maybe all the browser work should go into that since anyone using it will be looking to find presets not to make them.

[Held]

I think Bulent is working on a "player" version for SM3 so maybe all the browser work should go into that since anyone using it will be looking to find presets not to make them.

I guess that makes sense, since the player mostly consists of the browser. I still find the 3 column scrolling confusing, but maybe that's just me.

[zvenx]

No it isn't just you.

rsp

[Teksonik]

Ok let's look at the old versus new browser:

Old:

SM3 Browser Old.png

New:

SM3 Browser New.png

What is "confusing" in the new browser? How can vertically scrolling through 63 presets be any more confusing than vertically scrolling through 20 presets? Every pull on the mouse wheel brings another 30 presets into view in the new version, only ten in the old version (depending on the wheel settings in your OS). It's the same action, you just get more bang for your buck in the new version.

In the old browser you're forced to give screen space to Instrument Types, Attributes, and Styles at the same time whether you plan to use all of them or not.

In the new browser you can choose which one shows. Author, Attribute, Style, and Type are all just a single mouse click away.

I think the new browser is a big improvement. Others seem to disagree which only goes to show there is no perfect browser.

[zvenx]

"I think the new browser is a big improvement. Others seem to disagree which only goes to show there is no perfect browser."

This!!!
rsp

[zvenx]

I have been working with SM One and 2 for years and I am accustomed to these old browsers.
Now I have to remember, I have to go to the left to choose attributes, and type etc and oh, there is no drop down menu for them.. I click on them then adjust to the right to choose from that sub choice etc...
I guess if the types and instruments were allowed drop down menus I could get accustomed to it quicker.. maybe..?

rsp

[seafire]

I'm amazed people still use the 'DJ' prefix