mixmkr
isn't GUI choices coming up in the 2016 updates?  I think they even made specific mention about it...or I got an email, etc.  Maybe it will include this item to have better contrast.

Yup! There are a lot of custom interface updates coming. It would be great if we can go as deep as affecting the behavior of the piano roll windows. 

Jesse G
Hello All,
 
I am enjoying Sonar Platinum and I really have not found any problems with SPLAT until today. 
 
When I enter a Plugin into the FX bin in the Console View, it immediately turns bright blue (which is good) I can tell the FX is on. However, when I click another track or enter a plugin on another track elsewhere, the plugin turns grey and  I can't remember if it's on of off, especially when I came back to the project after a few days.
 
Some plugins appear light grey and some appear dark grey in the FX bin.  It appears tht the light grey plugins in the FX bin are the ones that are om while the dark grey one are the one I turned off. 
 
I believe that Cakewalk should have the color shown always when the plugin is on as it does when it's inserted into the FX bin, which is bright blue. 
 
Just my 2 cents. 
 

I agree with the premise of this thread, the color of the FX bin in Console bin "on/off" indicator is something that should be addressed . . . but it seems Cakewalk's somewhat recent history has been to adhere to the blue and grey color scheme, since they have locked down the ability to change the colors of almost every single button to whatever colour you want it to be. YES, I really liked it when they re-granted the ability to change the track and console backgrounds to those different multi pastel shades, that's very helpful to visually distinguish track and instrument groupings.
 
My theory as to why they blocked our overly creative colour tinkering: 
 . . . perhaps it's to avoid looking like a second rate DAW, and have all sorts of screen shots of cheesy rainbow coloured Sonar DAW all over the internet. "Blue + Grey" rhymes with "Professional" right ?
 
In fact, while we're on this . . .
 . . . in Track View, wouldn't it also be great to have the "freeze synth" buttons turn orange when engaged, instead of blue ?  . . . wouldn't it be great in Console View to have the "Bypass Rack" buttons to be Green or Red, to indicate if it's ON or OFF, instead of blue and grey ?  . . . what about the Prochannel ON/OFF buttons, why so blue and grey ?
 
Sorry, might be ranting now . . . but I really think being able to customize more colours gives the software more personalized visual cues, which helps clarify your own unique workflow.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

noynekker
My theory as to why they blocked our overly creative colour tinkering: 
 . . . perhaps it's to avoid looking like a second rate DAW, and have all sorts of screen shots of cheesy rainbow coloured Sonar DAW all over the internet. "Blue + Grey" rhymes with "Professional" right ?

my theory is that it takes more time and effort to implement a customisable colour scheme as opposed to a fixed one ;-)

skitch_84
On a somewhat related note, a few updates back they changed the behavior of the velocity bars in the piano roll view so that the color changes slightly depending on the velocity of the note. So, take a piano for example, you'll have a very light shade of whatever color the track is for the lowest velocity's sample, but as soon as you get to the next velocity that contains a new sample, the color of the bar will darken. This, in concept, is a wonderful idea since I wouldn't have to guess at what velocity I'll trigger a new sample, but the color change is so gradual that it's almost impossible to see the change unless it's between two velocities that are very far apart (like a velocity of 1 versus 128). I'd love it if Cakewalk could somehow make these changes either more drastic, such as actually switching to different colors entirely, or some other visual change that's easier to distinguish. 

Hmm.
 
I'll have to disagree with this.
 
It would work ok if you only ever work with 1 track in the PRV, but i frequently work with many more - 20+ is not uncommon, and I can only differentiate between them by having different colours for each track, so having a different set of colours for the velocity bars would seriously impact on my workflow.
 
I think the shading of the "base colour" works really well.
 
Just my tuppence worth

Absolutely agree with the OP. The fx bin on/off colours definitely some work. Here's hoping!

noynekker
My theory as to why they blocked our overly creative colour tinkering: 
 . . . perhaps it's to avoid looking like a second rate DAW, and have all sorts of screen shots of cheesy rainbow coloured Sonar DAW all over the internet. "Blue + Grey" rhymes with "Professional" right ?

 
If correct, I can see merit in the idea.  It keeps the 'look' of Sonar consistent across all views people will throw on the internet.  It also ensures that it doesn't look like one of those other daws.  Personally, I really like the colour options we have.  Subdued and rich.  I agree that some of the 'indicator lights' might be a bit dim.
 
Make sure screen intensity is at max and you're not in direct sunlight...
 
EDIT:  On a whim I just checked my monitor settings (on my monitor) and found my brightness was at 50% !
          Upped that to 70 and my world is suddenly brighter.
 

+1 I am on board with the original poster on this one. I am also on board for the free coffee cup. ;)