gmp

Caa2
If it the theme editor did not exist I would not even launch SONAR Platinum. The stock color scheme is too difficult for my eyes to view and the dark motif seems distasteful to my muse.
 
As it stands, I only launch Platinum on my laptop sandbox as I am still waiting for the Theme Editor to let me edit all the aspects of the Platinum GUI that it currently does not allow for.
 
In the mean time I continue to record music with SONAR 8.5.2 and find that it is extremely enjoyable to produce music in a long familiar environment.
 
My custom platinum theme...
 

 
...reminds me of the custom theme that I currently enjoy using:
 

 
I like these color schemes because I find them very easy to read and the warm color tones seem integrated with the warm colors of the wood work in the bright and cheerful studio that I work in. 
 
 
 
 
 
___________________________________________________________________
Sonar Platinum ∞ - Windows 7 Pro x64 - Canare Star Quad L-4E6S 

Have you uploaded your theme into Sonar-Resource?  http://forum.cakewalk.com/Sonar-Resources-and-Utilities-m3392713.aspx
 
If so what's the name? I'd like to try your theme.  I agree with you totally on the 8.5 theme. I feel like Platinum was a step backward in the clarity and practicality of what we see. (See my post on p.4)

I'm an enthusiast to the max on this theme.  Boo to the day-glow stuff !!

scook

mixmkr
 
I'm an enthusiast to the max on this theme.  Boo to the day-glow stuff !!

I am an enthusiast to the max on the sentiment expressed in the first sentence. No so much on the second though.

misprint...should have been "boob"...   ;-D

scook
You appear to have no appreciation for the effort some have gone through to create themes they freely share with others. There is no percentage in being so negative.

my apologies.  I DO appreciate the effort as I know it is time consuming.  Bad choice of words I guess on my part in trying to use [obtuse] humor.
Scook...you're at the top of the list of people that help as well.  ALWAYS read your posts, even if I don't comment in a thread.
thx and sorry again.

Today I modified polar blue theme to make the processor section more readable. Wasn't hard.

I would have liked to change the meter colors buy that wasn't a choice.

Too busy making music to spend time learning the theme editor then creating themes. It hurts my brain. Too me the learning curve is too big and I don't care enough about "looks" hardly at all compared to functionality.  
 
I use Tungsten/Mercury  - Mostly Tungsten - It would be nice to have more than two options on their part -- but ehhhh doesn't really bug me either - I love sonar plat 

I love the theme editor but boy is it time-consuming!!!
I am currently trying to complete a custom theme (complete, with all colours and icons modified), and use it as a model to  create some more. I'll make them available when they're ready. I'll need to complete them, then use them for some time and fix what doesn't look right (to me). Then let you have them when I think I've achieved what I was aiming for.
 
Yet, there are some flaws, lacks and inconsistencies in the tool. Some colors change several elements at once, and some items available in the editor are nowhere to be found in Sonar.
 
 
Here is a list of some items that I don't know what to do with, as I don't know where to find them in Sonar:
 
Global:
Dialog Box Banner Background
Alternative Text #1
Horizontal Sliders : Changes the sliders, but also the text color of the Sends text in the console view
Alternative Color #1
Drop Indicator
Quick Group
Enable/Disable Toggles

* * * * *
 
Track View :
Strip Background
Control Background
Track Icons Background
Control Icon
Slider Background
Track Name Outline
Track Inspector Background
Header Time Display
 
* * * * *
 
Track View / Track Pane :
Active track
Selected track
 
* * * * *
 
Console View :
Strip Background
Slider
Slider Background

The best Tungsten based theme for me so far is scook's 'Tuncury Light Green'.  The color choices don't fatigue my vision and everything appears clearly visible.
 
Don't get me wrong, there are several really good ones users have generously done and made available.

The fact that it's not WYSIWYG is definitely a pain, although you kind of get used to it. Open Sonar on one side, load a theme, open the editor on the other side, modify your stuff, save it, load your theme in Sonar, check the change, reload another theme so you can modfify and save your current work in the editor, make some more changes, etc.


One of the biggest difficulties is to know where to find a specific element (although most are logically sorted), and where exactly colors will apply.
 
Then it's also a matter of patience... and (good) taste. Spending hours of your time for ugly results is sort of discouraging.
 
The tool isn't perfect, but at least, there is one. We just wish it could get upgraded by the development team. That, and the staff view... Some day. Maybe.

I recently tried my luck at creating a SSL 4000 theme, but I don't think I have the skills to get a good result. Didn't get much past the fader caps :)
 
Intrigued by inspired-by-consoles themes, Logic and reaper has a couple!
https://logicxcasoriathemes.jimdo.com/
http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=116647
http://www.houseofwhitetie.com/reaper/imperial/wt_imperial.html
 

Ok, actually I opened the theme editor and fairly quickly managed to change one of the things about the Dark Aqua theme that I didn't like  (the loop markers were too light to be seen easily if you also had a selection covering the loop area in the timeline). Likewise, if can easily find the items for the fx bin and send enable/disable switches, I'd darken  and increase the blue saturation of the enabled state a bit, it's a bit hard to distinguish from the gray of the disabled state. 

Digging through everything to find the right item is a little difficult though, I can see that building a theme from scratch would be a hefty task. So thanks to you guys that have done so and made your work available to the community.

I'm definitely a theme user.  I downloaded a green one here and use it exclusively.  It's beautiful and easy to see.

I haven't delved into it and I probably don't have the time to get very involved in rolling my own.
 
Doesn't seem as if the editor is very intuitive going by others comments.. I plan to check out some of those offered. . I appreciate those who put in a lot of effort and shared it with us.
 
I seem to see darker contrasts better than slight differences in hues. The things I look at, i.e  fader knobs are difficult to see if they are almost the same color as the surrounding graphic.
 
For this reason I'm not in the " it really doesn't matter, I just want to make music" category. For me , it DOES matter.
 
I just ordered a pair of computer glasses. They are 1.5 mag. and RF blocking. My transitionals are made to read looking down and long distance straight ahead. 15 minutes behind a monitor ok, 6 or eight hours and man, you better have a plan to save those peepers. Some of these designs can go a long way towards making it easier to see/mix.
 
 

You should go live on Pluto, days last 6.4 Earth days there... But it's somewhat colder.

I've created a few, used a few user themes but im back to using Tungsten.
It's easy on the eyes and well put together.

Caa2
Thanks to this thread I finally got around to messing with my FX rack colors and now my Platinum them looks even  more like my everyday theme. Thanks! It's getting there.
 
I sure hope we can edit the horizontal slider colors and text after the next Theme Editor update. Having that ability will be a big step forward.
 

 
 

Gotta say this looks pretty great. Hope you'll be able to share it with us when it's done!