White Tie asks : what next? - Page 2

Jae.Thomas · 07-29-2007, 03:18 PM

well if you go for functionality, I say simpler is better. And #1 and #2 are better for simplicity.

happymonkey · 07-29-2007, 03:32 PM

Well.... a long time ago I mentioned in a post that I thought the original Troublemaker was a bit busy or distracting or something (which I still believe), but under the more restrained realm of what's possible with the current layout I think the new sketch of it is really nice and not that obnoxious at all. Might even use it for a bit myself......

The other two are nice as well but, since you put them out there, I would vote to have them all finished eventually in this order:

1. Troublemaker
2. Quiet Life
3. None more Black

hm

Billoon · 07-29-2007, 03:40 PM

None More Black would be a perfect replacement for Midnight Apparitions, very stylish(IMO)....match my hardware too.

The Spark · 07-29-2007, 04:12 PM

I watched too much Spinal Tap growing up.

None More Black.

Jae.Thomas · 07-29-2007, 04:13 PM

oh heck yes.

Dstruct · 07-29-2007, 04:28 PM

finish them all.

jaydottcomm · 07-29-2007, 04:42 PM

None more Black is crazy son....i would watch out on that light into black fade. Your loosing the beauty of the fader characteristics. You cant really see whats going on in the fader slots..I would use a much more subtle fade cuz that black is getting so dark at the bottom of the channel strip that you cant make out the shape of the faders.

alex zonder · 07-29-2007, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydottcomm

None more Black is crazy son....i would watch out on that light into black fade. Your loosing the beauty of the fader characteristics. You cant really see whats going on in the fader slots..I would use a much more subtle fade cuz that black is getting so dark at the bottom of the channel strip that you cant make out the shape of the faders.

but as WT wrote : "Incidentally, both of these first two themes work with Reaper's built-in VU colours, so the user can teak with ease"

so it's a matter of adjusting (or disabling) the gradients to your taste

likenokevin · 07-29-2007, 04:52 PM

I would love to see all three of these completed but since I had to pick just one I went with None More Black.

mac · 07-29-2007, 05:17 PM

Hi WT.

First,thank you for sharing your fine work! I like all those ideas but if one needed to be completed before the others-definitely "Trouble Maker"

Solar · 07-29-2007, 05:41 PM

I love Troublemaker since day one WT showed to us and the possiblities.. especially if it will come with All the features that WT have suggested like having Eq implemented in each Track channel etc.. that would be amazing!! BUt its true all of them are great !!!!

Thumbsup WT as usual!!

Tranquil · 07-29-2007, 05:47 PM

WT your work is really great---Hey, 'Quiet Life' is not a fair name :-D

i'm excited with the simplicity of the crystal clear design of QL/Quick Life ;-)

i hope to install it before 'Troublemaker'...

Shan · 07-29-2007, 05:49 PM

Trouble maker.

Hmmmm....then again, I cant decide.

Shane

White Tie · 07-29-2007, 05:53 PM

Thanks so, so much for the kind words. Right now it looks like the forces of Darkness are edging into a lead...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TONDOG64

BTW can you tell how you get access to the background panels a such? The giudelines don't tell anything about dimensions or pixels. Just file names.

Whatever you do will stretch to fit, so there is no prescribed size in the specs. I do them at 71x340px but it doesn't really matter. With the TCP backgrounds it matters even less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orfilinn

And what about the button of " 1. Quiet Life " with the background of " 2. None More Black " ?

I'm definitely definitely definitely not going to even think about doing more than one for now, or any alt button sets, because my mind would go *pop*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallisman

does this hold up with the pan fader at the top?

more-or-less, there's some problems with pan text readability :

[img]http://img516.**************/img516/9696/troubleattoprm0.png[/img]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoffeeMilkshake

Super Stuff as usual!!!!

1. No More Black - Super stylish!!! Just one thing to be perfect, the shape of the fader button should (if I may) be like Mykatik's Marck One theme here

Perhaps you're not aware that you can do this yourself? It no hardship; you just grab the pics you like and stick them in the folder of the theme you're using. Mix and match away, though you may want to back up first...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dandruff

finish them all.

No

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydottcomm

that black is getting so dark at the bottom of the channel strip that you cant make out the shape of the faders.

With the greatest of respect, I think my monitor is better calibrated than yours. I can see all the detail at the bottom... try
THIS

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex zonder

so it's a matter of adjusting (or disabling) the gradients to your taste

You've misunderstood me there, Alex. Those aren't the Reaper gradients on the background, just on the VUs. However, there's nothing to stop Jay loading the mcpbg in Gimp and tweaking it for his monitor'o'gloom...

alex zonder · 07-29-2007, 06:17 PM

WT do you have a preference yourself? Since you're attached to REAPER both as a designer and a user I propose you got say 5 votes in the poll...

Having said that - if it will indeed be the classy None More Black, we expect a big TroubleMaker on the occasion of Justin launching REAPER 2!

James HE · 07-29-2007, 06:22 PM

Quiet Life is very very nice. I would love to see that one realized to completion. I'd like to see the folder icon not be a solid object, just a symbol with a transparent background - something that flows with the track numbers. Love it.

*edit* I just noticed that that particular folder icon is also in another theme, so I'm assuming you simply hadn't gotten around to making one for this.

larrygates · 07-29-2007, 07:07 PM

Quiet life is the super shit. Please let's get that. Great addition with the Youn theme. Its the shit

cAPSLOCK · 07-29-2007, 08:24 PM

Looks to me you will have to do all of them eventually.

And you may get to cast the tiebreaking vote for which goes first...

Any way it turns out, I look forward to your work.

mysteryman · 07-29-2007, 11:31 PM

White Tie!

You have just got to finish troublemaker! That one scared the hell out of the graphic departments of some big players, I can assure you.

MM

happymonkey · 07-29-2007, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Tie

more-or-less, there's some problems with pan text readability :

[img]http://img516.**************/img516/9696/troubleattoprm0.png[/img]

This has been a big WTF? for me for some time now and maybe I should post a FR.....

There should be color selections available for selected track text and text shadow colors. I'd like to see additional ones (seperate from the main window text) for non-selected track text and text shadow too, but for now this would be a huge step forward. The current "one color for all" setup really limits your theme color choices - pick white text and your selected track can't be too light or it disappears (like in your example above) and the reverse is true as well (black text on dark selected track).

In your sample above, the selected track should have either black or soft black text. I think R-64 G-64 B-62 would look great in this case. Like this....

[img]http://img249.**************/img249/1872/tracktextdisplayfixxc3.png[/img]

Also.... While I'm nitpicking.... I'd love to see the track db and pan % on two separate lines. In the sample above, pan should sit above db so they are next to their respective GUI element. When the pan control is at the bottom, the text should be above the pan control and db should sit on top of pan. Having them together on one line just looks awful. It would only cost a few measly pixels in height to fix this and make the whole thing more readable at a quick glance. Like this....

[img]http://img525.**************/img525/1653/splittextnr6.png[/img]

You're the man when it comes to graphics around here. Maybe you can make it happen

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Tie

With the greatest of respect, I think my monitor is better calibrated than yours. I can see all the detail at the bottom... try
THIS

Well, no offense, but the problem with this response is that a lot of us are using less than optimal monitors in less than optimal lighting conditions, so a wee bit of wiggle room here might be a good thing.

hm

happymonkey · 07-29-2007, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by happymonkey

This has been a big WTF? for me for some time now and maybe I should post a FR.....

I've added two threads in FR for these - one for the text color and one for the db/pan % display. Please feel free to chime in over there.

Thanks,
hm

maa · 07-30-2007, 01:49 AM

Well they are difficult to choose between as the poll shows!
Great work white tie.

One thing for Justin and co. :

The Pan controls should be round - its much easier to visualize a mix with round pan knobs - especially with limited space like this.
(I don't mean round in mouse function....)

Cheers

M

Art Evans · 07-30-2007, 04:05 AM

I've just voted Troublemaker - despite being in the vanguard of those who howled when it was first mooted. I just think it would be good for Reaper to have WT do this one, which is particularly suited to his expertise and graphic style. The others (to my amateur eye) look more the kind of thing that others could do.

(I suspect I've just insulted a whole lot of people - not intended!)

alex zonder · 07-30-2007, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Evans

I've just voted Troublemaker - despite being in the vanguard of those who howled when it was first mooted. I just think it would be good for Reaper to have WT do this one, which is particularly suited to his expertise and graphic style. The others (to my amateur eye) look more the kind of thing that others could do.

OK, case closed!

Well said Art, as always.

Looking forward to some big Trouble!

Phil Aiken · 07-30-2007, 05:18 AM

QUiet Life seems like the easiest to use for a long period of time without burning out on it.
They are all nice, though!!!

White Tie · 07-30-2007, 05:24 AM

Oh lord - this isn't going to end well, is it? With currently only 2% separating the candidates my great plan to find out what the users want is actually going to end up with 2/3 of you dissatisfied...

If no ones in too great a rush, I'm going to let it run a little longer to see if we can get some more votes in and maybe a clear winner will present itself... here's hoping...

Meanwhile, here's Quiet life with the None More Black background and VU, which to me (if you look past the obvious cock-up with the chrome buttons) manages to be both great and crap at the same time. Heh.

[img]http://img505.**************/img505/395/quietblackqk5.png[/img]

darjama · 07-30-2007, 06:14 AM

can I change my vote? When this thread first loaded for me, the troublmaker image didn't load, so I thought it was the 2nd image for NMB. So take a point off of Quiet life and throw it troublemaker

Jae.Thomas · 07-30-2007, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Tie

Oh lord - this isn't going to end well, is it? With currently only 2% separating the candidates my great plan to find out what the users want is actually going to end up with 2/3 of you dissatisfied...

If no ones in too great a rush, I'm going to let it run a little longer to see if we can get some more votes in and maybe a clear winner will present itself... here's hoping...

Meanwhile, here's Quiet life with the None More Black background and VU, which to me (if you look past the obvious cock-up with the chrome buttons) manages to be both great and crap at the same time. Heh.

[img]http://img505.**************/img505/395/quietblackqk5.png[/img]

the solution of course, is to make all three

gradually

Bubbagump · 07-30-2007, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

troublemaker

Yup! Though Troublemaker would be even sweeter with some super deep fader grooves.

In all though, they rock.

efaithfarm · 07-30-2007, 06:46 AM

I say Troublemaker. As someone said above, it's the one that no one else has tried.

alex zonder · 07-30-2007, 06:52 AM

Next proposal. Let's call it a (white) tie and choose the trouble for its seniority.

happymonkey · 07-30-2007, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Tie

Meanwhile, here's Quiet life with the None More Black background and VU, which to me (if you look past the obvious cock-up with the chrome buttons) manages to be both great and crap at the same time. Heh.

[img]http://img505.**************/img505/395/quietblackqk5.png[/img]

Stop dangling carrots!!!

I really like this one. If it was one of the original three I probably would have picked it. However, if I were making it I would have a couple of small changes:

1. The style of the lower buttons should match the style of the upper buttons. I'd probably also make the M & S buttons the same color as the I/O button in their unlit state - there are just too many colors there ATM for my taste.

2. I would change the track text to a lighter, more legible color because right now, that bottom line may as well not even be there.

3. I would add to the photorealism a little bit more by adding a small track in the center of the fader groove. Right now it looks like it just floats which seems a bit off to me. Either that, or use the fader track from None More Black.

As a side note, I'd really like to see TCP mockups as well but I guess at that point you're not far from just finishing the themes!

hm

eepyikes · 07-30-2007, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efaithfarm

I say Troublemaker. As someone said above, it's the one that no one else has tried.

Ditto. I think Troublemaker really opens up the field of possibilities and should be done if only for the sake of branching out. Also, I think that it was White Tie's first inspiration months ago and if people hadn't given him a hard time, we would probably already have this as a finished product.

I also like the new Quiet/Black hybrid as a compromise between those two. Maybe you could make Troublemaker and the Quiet/Black hybrid? My only qualms about Quiet and Black are that they both seem a little unfinished and conventional as well. Otherwise great ideas.

One last thing, someone mentioned that the Vol and Pan text should be on separate lines...+1 for that.

happymonkey · 07-30-2007, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eepyikes

One last thing, someone mentioned that the Vol and Pan text should be on separate lines...+1 for that.

That was me. I opened up a feature request for it so please add your +1 over there too!

Thanks,
hm

antiClick · 07-30-2007, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Evans

I just think it would be good for Reaper to have WT do this one (TroubleMaker), which is particularly suited to his expertise and graphic style.

Agreed.
I voted for Quiet Life, but I also suspect that WT's style is more towarded to TroubleMaker, wich is also very fine.

What I don't like about most of his work are the giantic faders and overshaded panels.
Faders doesn't need to catch that much attention, but the metering does! (to me Silver2a meters are the best)

Thanks for working it

antiClick · 07-30-2007, 10:02 AM

me again

Shades and shadows are beautyfull at first sight, but sharper object borders are more workable.

how about the troublemaker schemma but...
- a bit lighter and less shaded background
- a tiny bit darker mute/solo buttons when not engaged
- the older traffic light fx buttons were great
- meters: whatever you choose, it should catch your eye when going higher than 12dB.
Maybe a light grey going to dark red with no transitions?
At least should be very usable when adjusting preamp gain
- pan pot could have more contrast
- fader could be 2 or 3 pixels thinner, as well as the fader rail
- no mouseovers, please

Maybe the meters I'm posting turns this particular theme a bit toyish.... but it's a very rough aproximation of my comments:

CloudStreetsMusic · 07-30-2007, 05:32 PM

My favs are 1. & 2. That said, my ability to change to advanced themes has just vanished, LOL, and I have no clue how to get it back...I reinstalled and nothing changed.

I will have to post a thread on it if it continues.

JPV · 07-30-2007, 05:38 PM

Quiet Life

Jae.Thomas · 07-30-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPV

Quiet Life

hey i know who you are.... mr. john vulich, no?

rockin' nice to see ya here

i have a pic for ya ill pm you.

bologma · 07-30-2007, 06:16 PM

Troublemaker = happiness maker imho.