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Old 09-09-2021, 08:45 AM   #1
Gaetano
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Default Is it possible to customize the meter color?

Hello Reaper friends!

I finally made the decision to switch to Reaper from Cubase Pro a couple of months ago. Now I am trying to figure out how to setup the Reaper's meter colors like I had in Cubase. Whoever is familiar with Cubase may know that there is a function in preference to customize the colors of pretty much anything easily, including the meter colors. However, in Reaper it doesn't look like is that easy to do so.

Thanks to White Tie sticky post I was able to make the meter colors editable, but not as I would like to, and I can't find any info about it anywhere.

Here is how I would like to set the meter colors:

Green up to -12db, Yellow from -12db to -6db, Orange from -6db to 0db

Is it possible to customize the meter color and assign at what db to change color? If so, how? Am I the only one that would like to do such a thing? I can't find any info online.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gaetano

Last edited by Gaetano; 09-09-2021 at 09:41 AM.
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Old 09-09-2021, 08:50 AM   #2
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Yes it is possible. What theme are you looking to change? There are different ways that different themes achieve the same result.
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Old 09-09-2021, 09:25 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post
Yes it is possible. What theme are you looking to change? There are different ways that different themes achieve the same result.
Thanks for the fast reply! Default 6 theme it's fine for me, I just want customize the meter colors.

Thank you!
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Old 09-10-2021, 04:52 AM   #4
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The Default 6 theme uses images for its meter colours, and to get to them you'll need to learn how to unpack a theme from the 'Required knowledge' section of This Sticky.

Once you're inside the theme you can either replace the images by making your own (instructions here) or by stealing (just copy and paste!) them from another theme with meters you like.

The final option is to use the old code meters, which are what you see if you remove all of the meter images. You set their colours using the theme development/tweaker window, which you search for in the actions window (Actions > Show action list).
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Old 09-10-2021, 10:00 AM   #5
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White Tie, thanks a lot for the reply. Although all the good info and guidelines that you gave me, I still have hard time understand how to do this:

"Green up to -12db, Yellow from -12db to -6db, Orange from -6db to 0db"

I understand the info of replace images, but what images? And How do I edit to achieve what I want to do? I appreciate all your help, but it doesn't look like it's an easy thing to do for someone like me that never done it before.
I wish there was a video tutorial that explain step by step what to do and how. Or even better if someone made a Script that allowed to change color and db change options etc.
Maybe I am dreaming, but coming from Cubase Pro that this options were available to be changed easily in "preference", it's very difficult for me to adapt in Reaper.
I wish there is an easy way to do it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Script? video tutorials?

Thanks in Advance!
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Old 09-10-2021, 10:59 AM   #6
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Unzip the Default 6 theme, I'm assuming you read how to do that in White Tie's stickies.

Go into that now viewable content folder, it should be within the "ColorThemes" folder of Reaper and named "Default_6.0_unpacked" and you will find within that folder a couple image files.
"meter_strip_h.png" and "meter_strip_v.png" Rename them so the theme no longer recognizes them. As WT described the Default 6 theme is using those image files for the meter colors and you could edit those files in an image editor to create your own custom color images as well. However, by renaming them, Reaper will now use the meter colors defined under the theme tweaker settings....similar to what you're familiar with doing in Cubase.

You will need to restart reaper or temporarily switch to another theme and then back if Reaper was running when you renamed those image file, so the default theme refreshes and doesn't load those image files that you now renamed. Then go to the actions menu in Reaper and type in "tweak" to the search bar and run the theme development/tweaker item that shows. That is essentially the script you're looking for.

In the search bar type in "VU Meter" and all the VU meter color assignments will be listed. Change those colors to satisfy your heart's content. Once you have what you like, then click on "Save Theme".

Since you're a new user, I would suggest getting familiar with the Actions Menu. Each item in that long list is essentially most every function inside of Reaper, where you can then create custom toolbars, and buttons to provide yourself easier access to those actions. So if you wanted a similar preference adjustment of changing the meter colors, you could assign that theme tweaker action item to a button and stick it on the main user interface and/or you can also customize the menu layouts in Reaper and populate the menus which ever action you wanted if you wanted the theme tweaker to appear under a menu list. That includes the right click contextual menus as well.

Yes, it's not as easy to customize as other DAWs but once you get the method behind the initial madness of Reaper, you start to realize you can make common functions in other DAWs work the same way in Reaper. It just takes a little more initial effort to set it up to the way you want it to work.
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Old 09-10-2021, 11:25 AM   #7
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Hello, Gaetano. Have you checked out the sticky that White Tie linked to in a post? See that sticky and follow the instructions for unpacking a theme, then look for meter_strip_v.png. That is the vertical meter for the mpc. If I can find instructions for uploading pics, I have one that has worked for me the way you want. Wait, all I had to do was scroll down for instructions.
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File Type: zip meter_strip_v.zip (149.9 KB, 196 views)
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Old 09-11-2021, 08:14 AM   #8
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Thanks Redroll for the info, what I find a little confusing and tricky is make the color change at the desire db and no fade. I don't think that the tweak function from action script allows to make those changes. All I could do using the "theme development tweak" from Action, is to change the top color, middle color, bottom color, or peack from vu meter but it doesn't let you choose at what decibel change the color, and that is the tricky part for me. Also, it changes the color with a fade from one color to another. Maybe I am missing something, but most likely that part can only be done by editing the images.

Thanks also to oneonmonday for the meter that you made, it's what I wanted to do. I have tried to follow the instructions, but to change the color at the desire db it still a mystery for me, where are those direction? Maybe I am dumb, maybe I read the wrong thing, who knows. I read again every steps and I will see if I missed something.

Thanks to you all.
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Old 09-11-2021, 12:28 PM   #9
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I don't quite understand. Are you saying you unpacked the default theme and swapped my meter_strip_v.png (it needs to be unzipped first, by the way) for the default one and it isn't behaving like you desire? Or do you mean that you don't understand how to unpack a theme? The sticky that White Tie linked to is the instructions for unpacking a theme. As far as changing colors at the desired decibel level, it took some playing around with the image to get it right. Good luck.
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Old 09-11-2021, 02:33 PM   #10
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Because Reaper's VU meters are adjustable (Options > Preferences > Appearance > Track Control Panels) there is no defined relationship between the meters and their colours, other than how they might be as default. All you can do is feed it a test tone of a certain level, take a screenshot and measure some pixels.
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Old 09-11-2021, 08:49 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oneammonday View Post
I don't quite understand. Are you saying you unpacked the default theme and swapped my meter_strip_v.png (it needs to be unzipped first, by the way) for the default one and it isn't behaving like you desire? Or do you mean that you don't understand how to unpack a theme? The sticky that White Tie linked to is the instructions for unpacking a theme. As far as changing colors at the desired decibel level, it took some playing around with the image to get it right. Good luck.
Yes, I did unpack the theme and I replaced (after I unzipped) the meter that you made, so now the meter shows the color change at the db that I wanted. Thank you! The part of unpacking the theme I understand and it is clear explained, but there is no step by step explanation on how to assign the color at the desired db. Anyway I got it now. Thanks!

Last edited by Gaetano; 09-12-2021 at 03:44 PM.
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Old 09-11-2021, 09:11 PM   #12
Gaetano
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post
Because Reaper's VU meters are adjustable (Options > Preferences > Appearance > Track Control Panels) there is no defined relationship between the meters and their colours, other than how they might be as default. All you can do is feed it a test tone of a certain level, take a screenshot and measure some pixels.
Thanks White Tie, now it's way more clear on how to do it. Unpack the theme and making the meters editable and change color was explained clearly. But obviously assign the color at the desire db it's not that intuitive, as you said "set a test tone, make a screen shot, measure some pixels", I can't find the directions for all of these steps, and they are the things difficult to understand if you never done it.

However, after I search for hours I found this video that kind explains (in Spanish) what to do, I hope that could help a lot new users like me.

https://youtu.be/ipxQmV8oT-0

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it!
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Old 02-22-2023, 08:44 PM   #13
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That's a cool video. Luckily, I could extract the meter png assets from a theme that behaved how I would like reaper's meters to act for me.

Green from -infinity to -18db
yellow from -18 to -6db
orange from -6 to 0db

That works well for me. I have to remember to unpack a theme, copy over my two meter png assets, and repack the theme. A bit of a pain, but I don't change themes often. I wish there were an easier way.

It is so useful to have custom colors related to DB when setting recording levels. It is also useful when it comes to mix time. It lets me get into the ballpark really fast.
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Old 02-23-2023, 03:30 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superfly76 View Post

Green from -infinity to -18db
yellow from -18 to -6db
orange from -6 to 0db

That works well for me. I have to remember to unpack a theme, copy over my two meter png assets, and repack the theme. A bit of a pain, but I don't change themes often. I wish there we
It is so useful to have custom colors related to DB when setting recording levels. It is also useful when it comes to mix time. It lets me get into the ballpark really fast.
Yes, just one of many aspects which demonstrates the individual developing Reaper’s GUI never worked with audio where poor design decisions then get made. Thank goodness we are able to fix it or go back to the Reaper v3.8 theme before the de-evolution of Reaper’s UI began.

Last edited by Rednroll; 02-23-2023 at 03:47 AM.
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Old 02-23-2023, 03:54 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superfly76 View Post
Luckily, I could extract the meter png assets from a theme that behaved how I would like reaper's meters to act for me.

Green from -infinity to -18db
yellow from -18 to -6db
orange from -6 to 0db

That works well for me. I have to remember to unpack a theme, copy over my two meter png assets, and repack the theme. A bit of a pain, but I don't change themes often. I wish there were an easier way.
This is an old thread, since then I've released the WT Theme Assembler Script which does that and a lot more too...



Enjoy!
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Old 02-23-2023, 05:22 AM   #16
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If anyone is interested, here are some quad-colored meters with color gradient transitions I created.

They have the following intended dB to Color level settings.

-Inf to -36dB= Green
-36dB to -12dB= Yellow
-12dB to -3dB= Orange
-3dB to 0dB= Red

TCP Peak_Meter


MCP Peak_Meter


Should display as such when placed in a theme:

Last edited by Rednroll; 02-23-2023 at 05:30 AM.
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