Piolit : yet, another 'Cubase like' theme...

[hopi]

Ok.... well now, I do realize this is a cubase theme... at the same time it IS a reaper theme, right? So one thought is to take advantage of reaper's layouts ability and include layouts for both TCP and MCP that are blank track separators. Now just to mention this can create some additional issues which I'll explain:

IF you use the MCP in one screenset as a 'track inspector', then the layout for a separator for the MCP needs to be the same width as whatever other MCP layout you have. Otherwise it messes up the way the 'track inspector' works. But at the same time, it is not great to have that wide a separator in the TCP.

The second part of that issue is IF you then switch to another screenset, with a floating MCP, you want the separators to become more narrow.

This of course is a bit of a PITA... personally I dealt with it by having both a wide and narrow separator layout for both TCP and MCP... and then made a track template for each, and then made use of the SWS actions to select and resize the ones in the MCP. I did this by making the action to select all tracks whose name is *, and then act on only those. So my template for separators is a track in the separator layout with * as it's name.

[Mak]

I just updated my Piolit Theme to 2.50 version.


Wonderfull work ! Keep on working on these very nice cubase like theme !

[cubic13]

Thanks, Mak... So, to fulfill your wishes, I just uploaded the 2.60 version of these. No big changes, actually, but :

- I enlarged the master mcp strip so that the peaks/RMS values can be more easily read.
- I made few cosmetic fixes, mainly concerning the alignment of all tcp left edges and the tcp index display which was slightly truncated on the left for track indexes > 19.

About the peak values, I'm only able to show them in the mcp master strip. In other cases, I'm stuck with the width of the meters against the size of the peak value display . Sorry...

Now, about the seperators... I often find myself struggling to keep as much tracks as possible in view. IMO, seperators go against this and require more layout definitions. I prefer avoiding their use, by one of these :
1) Using folders : not exactly the same thing but, for me, it's more logical, even if they also use added space.
2) Using the different track layouts of my theme to seperate different kind of tracks.
3) AFAICS, Another solution is coming with the new Reaper 5 color management, as the choice of one can be directly reflected both in the tcp and mcp without bias. I'm working on an adapted version of this theme and it seems that things are going nicely. FWIW, it will more or less be as shown as the screenshot that you can find here :

https://stash.reaper.fm/v/23466/PiolitFivePreview.png

It looks more and more as Cubase 5.5, I admit, but still... I think it's an easy way to avoid seperators usage.

Thanks for the feedback !

[TheWhistler]

Hi Cubic,

thank your for constantly updating this great theme.
It makes me happy to see that you are messing around with version 5 already.

Can I ask for some improvement (maybe for mor people using 2 displays).

Is there a way to restrict the mixer to only 2 rows of channels?

I always switch between piolit and piolitFM.

When dealing with bigger arrangements only one row for the mixer wastes display space for only the sends and inserts.
More than 2 rows shrinks the actual channels too much (imho).

I don´t want to be offensive, I like the theme very much.

[cubic13]

Hi, TheWhistler

AFAICS, you can get two rows without issue with the two versions. I even managed to get three of them with the version which have a changeable mcp panel height. But this is with a 1920x1200 display which is the only one I have. From which, I'm absolutely unable to test the two versions of this theme with a multidisplay setup, sadly.

Beside this, it also works with the mixer docked for this version, but not for the PiolitFM one : I can only get one row when the mixer is docked with it. From which, to use efficiently two rows of tracks, I think it's better to use the former one.

Now, to restrict the mixer as such, not exactly. Actually, it all depends of the height of your docker/mixer window, once you have chosen the Show multiple rows of tracks when size permits option for the mixer.

Hope it will help...

[TheWhistler]

Originally Posted by cubic13

Hi, TheWhistler

AFAICS, you can get two rows without issue with the two versions. I even managed to get three of them with the version which have a changeable mcp panel height. But this is with a 1920x1200 display which is the only one I have. From which, I'm absolutely unable to test the two versions of this theme with a multidisplay setup, sadly.

Beside this, it also works with the mixer docked for this version, but not for the PiolitFM one : I can only get one row when the mixer is docked with it. From which, to use efficiently two rows of tracks, I think it's better to use the former one.

Now, to restrict the mixer as such, not exactly. Actually, it all depends of the height of your docker/mixer window, once you have chosen the Show multiple rows of tracks when size permits option for the mixer.

Hope it will help...

OK, thank you. I thought there is a command that tells the mixer to build a fixed number of rows.
I have one 27" (16:9) display with my tcp and another 19" (4:3) that just shows the mcp.
Which imho is a good compromise to not let the monitor speakers to get to far from each other.
That would happen when working with two 27" displays.
It is not that much of a problem, just thought it would easily changeable.
Thank´s again for the great theme.

[Daveinnit]

Great work , thank you

[cubic13]

Thanks, Dave !

Version 2.70 of the two flavors just uploaded, which brings :

- Several little cosmetic fixes here and there, among them : better alignment of tcp and envcp controls and faders (especially in the tcp.master panel), redesigned mcp.master panel, few color changes, etc.
- Few toolbar icons added, for an easier creation of tracks with predefined layouts (with the bundled actions in the zip file), and basic lanes management.
- A fix : one of the bundled actions was not creating the right tcp layout for an instrument track : actually, it was creating a MIDI one...

I think I'm done with these two, unless something is still misbehaving : eventual further changes will be for new versions to be used with Reaper 5. These will probably be named differently : will have to choose another mountain name near where I live...

So, that's all, folks ! (for the Reaper 4 versions...).

As usual, feel free to report back here any comment or issue.

[vanhaze]

This is great Theme, as i stated earlier.

However, for me, the FX slots area and Sends area are way too dark, i can't even see the send knob.

Please have a look at attached pict.

[cubic13]

Hi, vanhaze

About the darkness of both the fxlist and send areas, this has been done purposely so that these can be easily distinguished from the fxparm one. Maybe I've been too radical indeed, but I like it like that, actually, as Cubase mixer is. Will try other tints, though, to see if I can get something a little brighter and maybe upload (another) last version...

The send knob is another thing : you can't see it simply because there is none. Only the area where the knob should be subsists in order to adjust the send level, of course, and the fake faders are here to be able to quickly see the send level value. Why so ?

- First, there is no send knob in Cubase mixer. All the send levels adjustments are done via faders, and I'm still waiting for Reaper bakers to implement a true fadermode for the sends and fxparms as it exists already for pan/width or volume, i.e.
- Second, removing the knob allows more space for the send labels and this is critical, IMO, especially for the 'Narrow' layouts of the mixer. So I don't want to implement it again, honestly, would it only be for this reason.

Hope this will help. Stay tuned for (eventualy) another version...

[vanhaze]

Many thanx for the clarification ! Makes sense :0)

[Daveinnit]

Again great work!, thank you very much for sharing Cubic13

[cubic13]

Thanks again, Dave...

OK... I thought that the previous version would be the last one but vanhaze comment made me think of the mixer again. So, as I was already changing several things in it for Reaper 5, I thought : "Why not implementing them right now ?". So, here it is... Piolit 3.00, which brings a redesign of the mixer :

- The pan/width controls have now a fixed height, no matter the trackpanmode value (pan law) used.
- The extmixer backgrounds have been redesign for a better (I think, at least...) viewing of the its different sections.
- Sevearl other cosmetic changes made here and there in the mixer, especially concerning the recinput control.

Feel free to comment the changes made...

EDIT - v3.01 uploaded : few little added fixes in the mixer...

EDIT2 - v3.02 uploaded for PiolitFM : fixed a misbehavior of both the meter & volume controls when some tracks were selected. Sorry...

[cubic13]

Piolit/PiolitFM v3.50 uploaded... Main changes :

- Optimized tcp panel behavior : think that I nailed it, this time, but who knows ?
- Changes in the mixer. Among others, I reduced the place taken by the fxparm knobs. This has allowed me to gain around 7 pixels for the labels, which counts, especially when 'narrow' layouts of 43 pixels width are involved...
- Several other changes : misbehavior when mouse hovering over the transport 'Record' button under 'auto-puch selected items' mode, swap of mute/solo colors (which are now 'Cubase' compliant), little fixes in the item, table and main toolbar icons, etc.

So, I'll keep on enhancing these, at least until Reaper 5 is officially released : at this moment, I'll upload compatible versions for it, which will be name differently.

Any feedbacks/comments are welcomed...

EDIT : PiolitFM 3.51 version just uploaded - Fix for an appearance misbehavior of the 'Narrow : MIDI' layout in the mixer...

[vanhaze]

This is highly appreciated, thank you very much for keep updating this great Theme !

[cubic13]

You're welcome, vanhaze. Thanks for the support !