Document Author: UnderTow (Available through PM on Cakewalk Forum. Username UnderTow).
Document Version: 03
Document Date: 19:07 30-1-2011
Sonar X1 PDF Reference Guide:
=============================
- The Sonar X1 Reference Guide PDF needs Bookmarks!!! (Tutorials should be in the Appendix. Having them at the front is sloppy).
Global:
=======
How come the default binding of U to "Restore Previous View State" was lost? Please restore as a default binding. (U and SHIFT U are not bound to anything). Sloppy...
Control Bar:
============
- C should ALWAYS show/hide the Control Bar. (If for instance you have Synth Rack selected, C will Freeze the Selected Synth).
- All Control Bar Modules should be detachable.
- Modules don't need Module names. (Waste of Space).
- Enable/Disable menu should reflect order of modules in the Control Bar.
- Snap To Grid Module has room for a Snap_To/Snap_By toggle button. (Long clicking on the enable/disable button is too slow).
- Alternatively, (A less nice option but could be used as a quick improvement) make Right Click toggle the setting instead of showing a menu with two options. That is needless and slows the user down.
- The button should also have Tooltip showing what state it is in. (It now has no Tooltip).To clarify, although the button itself shows the state, this might not be intuitive to new users. Having this redundant information just makes things clearer and more intuitive.
- Long clicking Snap-To time and dragging down the menu then releasing the mouse should set the Snap-To Resolution. Now you have to long click, let go of the mouse, click again on the right resolution and then let go. Klunky. The same goes for the Move-To/Move-By button. It should change when releasing the button on the desired menu item. Having to click again is a needless action.
- When you have musical time selected, the other selector (Samples/Seconds/Frames) should show the actual value equivalent automatically calculated based on tempo. So if the tempo is 120 BPM and you have the Snap_To_Grid set to a 1/4 Note and you left the second selector on Seconds, it will show: 0.500 Secs. Wouldn't that be nifty? :-)
- Loop Module: The Format of each value should be easily selectable by right clicking. (When working to film, you might want to loop based on specific SMTP times rather than musical times for instance).
- Loop Module should show Loop Length underneath the start and end times. (There should be room once you remove the word "Loop").
- Selection Module should be called Selection Module in Enable/Disable Menu (Not Select).
- Selection Module should show Selection length. Format (Musical/Absolute/Samples/etc) should be easily changeable by clicking or right clicking.
- Event Inspector should also display info on Audio Clips. (Start Time, Length etc) Now as it is, it is wasting space when you select an Audio Clip. It should also have buttons to toggle the Lock state of clips, Toggle Groove-Clip-Looping, V-Vocal Enable, Mute/Unmute... Make use of all that space! (It would have some redundancy with the info in the Inspector but that doesn't mean it is not useful, Especially if one has the Inspector closed).
- Event Inspector should have a little icon that opens the clip Colour changer. (Yes it has to be that easily accessible).The ability to quickly change a MIDI/Audio CLip's colour makes for more organised and easier arrangement.
Track View:
===========
- Add "Add/Delete Ruler" to the Right Click Menu of the Ruler. (It will make it easier for people to find).
- Allow to place Rulers anywhere in the Project just like any other Track. (Cubase has this).
- Add an Option to "Link Edit and Track Selection". With this enabled, anytime you select a clip or click in an empty spot in a track, that track is selected. This means one can select a clip, copy it and click in any other track and directly paste into that track without having to first click on the Track Header to select the track.
- Add an option "Selecting Clip moves Now Time to front of Clip".
- In the Edit Filter Menu, the Automation Tab should just be a delimiter and all the main track automation items in the Automation Menu should be right below "Clips" and "Audio Transients". As it is now, you have to do an annoying wrist wriggle with the mouse to get to any of the Automation features. This means one has to focus on that action. It is a needless distraction. (Keep the Plugin Automation in separate sub-menus as it is now or things really become too cluttered).
- Edit Filter should have an "All" option. (As in Show All). This would basically revert to the behaviour prior to X1.
- The Old Show/Hide Envelopes menu (Part of the Envelope Tool) should be returned. Probably under the new Track Views Menu.
- Drawing Loop at top of the TV is klunky if there is already a loop set. (Try drawing a new loop starting at the same point as previous loop but ending elsewhere. You end up grabbing the loop point). The PRV View does this well: The lower half of the Time Ruler selects Time. The Upper half selects Markers/Loop points etc.
- To unclutter the Time Ruler, remove the ability to drag move the Now Time. Just clicking at the right time is more than enough. As it is now you can end up selecting it when what you really want is to move a Marker (or a Loop Point).
- The Views Menu above the Track View should have the Icons Menu for the Inspector and Track Headers.
Editing Tools:
==============
- Selected and Move Tool should just be one Tool with one button to select it. The Select Tool is nearly pointless. Just call both tools together the Grab Tool and have it select clip sections when on the upper half of a track (Just like the Select Tool does now).
- Remove Timing Tool. It doesn't work on MIDI clips. It is unlikely to be used very often on Audio Clips. (Seriously, how often does one need to Time-Stretch Audio?) And you can already easily Time-Stretch by pressing CTRL while using the Smart Tool. You can move AudioSnap Transients with other tools. In other words, this tool does nothing really that other tools don't already do. Often better.
- Split Tool should get it's own button.
So to resume we have the following Tools left:
SMART | GRAB | TRIM | SPLIT | DRAW | ERASE/MUTE
- Some functionality is accessible through a modifier key when using the Smart Tool (Like ALT for Split and CTRL for Time-Stretch). Why not make those available for more tools? It hardly
adds any confusion or ambiguity because the user specifically has to press those modifier keys for them to be active:
- Grab Tool: ALT+CLick to Split; CTRL+Click on edge to Time Stretch.
- Trim Tool: ALT+CLick to Split.
Smart Tool:
-----------
- When clicking on the bottom half of a Clip to select it, the Now Time should move to the point where you click. This would mean you can then straight away press S to Split at that position (for instance).
- The way the Smart Tool trims Audio Clips with a fade is confusing. I would much prefer that the clip was trimmed regardless of where you select the edge. The means less thinking when trimming clips. The Fade can always be adjusted by dragging the little Fade triangle. (How often does one need to trim a clip but leave the end point of the fade? It happens but IMO bot as often as the existence of this feature suggests. This particular feature makes the GUI less intuitive and more cluttered feeling IMO).
- When you hover your mouse over the edge of a clip, the little edit triangles in the top corners of a Clip appear on _both_ sides of the clip. This is confusing and unnecessary clutter. Only the little triangle on the side you are about to trim should show up. This is how clear visual feedback should work. Don't give meaningless feedback that is NOT telling you what the tool is really doing. The same goes for the little square at the bottom corner of the clip. It should only show up there if you are about to trim the Fade and keep the Fade ending at the same point.
To Resume: - When trimming left edge of clip, show left hand blue bar and left little triangle only.
- When trimming right edge of clip, show right hand blue bar and right little triangle only.
- When Fade trimming the left edge of clip, show left hand blue bar and left hand little square only.
- When Fade trimming the right edge of clip, show right hand blue bar and right hand little square only.
- There is a tiny little horizontal blue line off of the vertical blue line when you hover your mouse on the edge of the clip to show the dilenation between Trimming and Fade Trimming. Add a similar red (or blue) line on the upper half to show the delineation between Trimming and Fading.
Clear and unambiguous visual feedback at all times!
Envelope Editing:
- The Smart Tool behaviour when editing Envelopes is Reversed! Ouch! (Top Half moves them, bottom half selects). This is highly unintuitive.
- When the Move and Select Tools are combined into the Grab Tool, dragging an Envelope sideways should also drag that envelope sideways for the selected area in other words, it should allow dragging horizontally and vertically. CTRL-Dragging to only allow vertical movement. ALT-Dragging to only allow horizontal movement.
Trim Tool:
----------
- The Trim Tool icon in the Control Bar and Tool HUD is not clear. What does a little spanner mean? Make it clear what it does.
- The little red bar at the end of an Audio Clip Fade and the little Fade Edit Triangle are very confusing. With the Smart Tool this only shows up when you have the mouse placed in such a way as to change the Fade. Having it the triangle and the red bar when using the Trim Tool suggest that the Fade is about the be changed. Especially if you are hovering your mouse over the little triangle.
- See Smart Tool for similar issues about ambiguous visual feedback.
Clear and unambiguous visual feedback at all times!
Split Tool:
-----------
- Allow lasso behaviour when not clicking on a clip. That would make splitting multiple Clips that are at the same point in time on different tracks (or layers) much quicker.
- Have a modifier like ALT+Click to split Clips on all Tracks. This would make it very easy to split a song into sections.
- Have an alternate mode which does multiple-splitting. Drag your mouse along a clip and it is repeatedly split according to the Snap To Grid settings.
- Allow lasso behaviour in alternate mode and let ALT-Click while dragging split all selected clips according the Snap To Grid settings.
Draw Tool:
----------
- Call this the Envelope or Automation Tool as that is really what it does. (Unless you plan on adding a pen tool function to edit waveforms).
- See Presonus S1 for an amazing implementation of a similar Tool. (And drool over the Transform Tool). (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSgBy6n9le4 )
Tool HUD:
---------
- Lack of Tooltip hints makes it unintuitive.
- Make the List reflect the suggestions I make above. (See Above)
Track View Pane:
----------------
- Moving the loop by clicking on the middle of the yellow line and dragging should Snap To Grid.
- When Moving the loop by clicking on the middle of the yellow line and dragging the AIM Assist bar should allign with the front of the loop.
- Add a Clip Colour Chooser to easily distinguish between different sections in an arrangement or different loops of the same length. Make it a Control Bar Module. (See how Cubase does this). Or add it to the Event Inspector.
- Clicking on lower half of a clip selects the clip but does not change the Now Time. This is confusing and it means that things like splitting clips takes too many clicks/keybindings.
- There should be an option to completely hide the Inspector, Browser and Multidock even when not undocked. Those thick tabs use a lot of space.
Track View New Menus:
---------------------
- The Tracks Menu should have all the Insert New Audio/MIDI/Folder functions.
- Meter Options should be under the View Menu.
Track View Right Click Context Menu:
------------------------------------
- When right clicking in a track I find the presence of the "View" menu unnecessary clutter. There are many ways to reach this views menu (or use keybindings) I don't think that right clicking in a track is a logical or intuitive place to look for this menu. I am also not entirely convinced that "Import Audio" or "Import MIDI" belong here either. The files menu seems a much more logical and intuitive place to put those. (Again, unnecessary clutter).
Currently, right clicking anywhere will show the menu based on what is selected (MIDI or Audio Clip) so you get strange menu items that make no sense based on the track you are clicking in. Also, when right clicking an Audio Clip you see MIDI related items and vice versa. This is messy, cluttered and un-intuitive.
So I suggest the following:
- Right clicking in an Audio Track (not on a clip) shows Audio Track related items like Track Layers On/Off/Rebuild or Create Envelope etc...
- Right clicking in a MIDI Track (not on a clip) shows MIDI Track related items like Clips/Notes View Toggle or Create Envelope etc...
- Right-Clicking on a clip selects that clip and shows the relevant Context menu.
- Don't show MIDI related items when an audio clip is selected or when right-clicking in an Audio track.
- Don't show Audio related items when a MIDI clip is selected or when right-clicking in a MIDI track.
- Restore the Track Envelope menu when right clicking on a Track.
- Restore the Clip Envelope menu when right clicking on a Clip.
- Restore the Clip Properties item to the menu! Restore the Clip Properties Window! (It is nice to have it in the Inspector but that is a very unintuitive place to look for it! Having both (or all three if you follow my suggestions for the Event Inspector in the Control Bar).
MIDI Notes view:
----------------
- Fix weird visual glitches where the selection _seems_ to change when hovering mouse over MIDI notes. It even shows partial note selections at times. Strange...
- Notes view Visual Grid in a MIDI track should follow Snap To Grid settings. Option: A toggle to let it follow Snap To Grid OR Event Draw Duration.
- Piano Bar in MIDI Track Notes view plays notes without the need to hit modifier. Use SHIFT modifier for vertical Zoom instead of the other way round like it is now. People will be inputting notes more than they will be zooming hopefully... At the very least reflect the changed behaviour when you press SHIFT. Now you still see the Zoom Icon. It only changes to an arrow when you actually click a note.(But reversing the behaviour would be even better and the Zoom Icon show show as soon as the modifier key is pressed while the mouse is over the notes. That makes things clear).
- SHIFT-Scroll wheel over a MIDI Track in Notes View should Vertically Scroll the piano roll inside the track.(This goes together with the SHIFT modifier when dragging the Piano Bar. Nice and Consistent).
- The double click on the Piano Bar to zoom out completely is annoying as it is easily triggered when quickly checking notes.If it were SHIFT double click it wouldn't happen by accident and would fit with the previous two suggestions).
- In MIDI Track Notes View, have Vertical Orange Velocity Bar continue to top of track in a faint (dotted) line to easily align with a track above the one being edited.
- When trimming the end of notes in MIDI Track Notes view have the Vertical Orange Aim/Velocity Bar show the end of the note. (Not the beginning). (Yes Aim Assist partially covers this but still...)
- When several MIDI notes are selected, trimming one note should only affect that note. CTRL/ALT/SHIFT modifier should affect all selected notes. (To easily adjust one note without losing selection).
- When Modyfing notes and then doing undo, the selection existing before doing undo should be restored.
MIDI Clips View:
----------------
- The Piano Roll Bar should also work in Clips View.
- SHIFT-Scroll wheel over a MIDI Track in Clips View should Zoom In/Out the Piano Bar. (Would be Consistent with the same behaviour in MIDI tracks in Piano Roll View).
- MIDI Clips should show Note boundaries. (If you have many notes one after each other that touch, it will look like one long note. There should be small vertical lines to delineate each note).
- When inputting notes, any newly added note should be the same length as the last added note. (Or Have a separate Note Length Snap To Grid setting with a "lock" option. When not locked, it would automatically change each time you resize a note so that the next added note is the same length. If locked, any newly added note would be of the length set in this dialogue).
- Muted clips should change colour (Light grey) to clearly indicate that they are muted even when you are zoomed in so that you can not see the front of the clip and the little mute logo or when there are many little clips that are too small to show the mute logo.
Audio Clips View:
- SHIFT-Scroll wheel over an Audio Track should Zoom In/Out the audio Waveforms. (Would be Consistent with the same behaviour over MIDI tracks).
Track Headers:
--------------
- Indent Tracks in Track Folders! The way it was before looked much better. This little dotted line to show it is a folder looks amateurish at best compared to how it looked before.
- Restore the Maximise Track height icon. I understand you removed the maximise icon to make things less cluttered but as it is now it is less intuitive than it was in previous versions: In every Windows window the minimise icon is to the left of the maximise icon at the top right corner. Everyone is used to this. In X1 I keep hitting the Layers icon when I want to minimise/restore a track. Also the previous icons were much clearer. Instantly recognisable for anyone that knows Windows.
- Restore the double click anywhere on header to open track properties window! (It now maximises the window).
- At the top there is a menu to select which Widgets are displayed. To the immediate left of this, (to the right of the time window) add a menu to hide/show track types. (Audio Tracks/MIDI/Instrument/Folders). Or a button to open the Track Manager. (Give the Track Manager a graphical overhaul. It looks dated).
- Clicking on the empty space to the right of the Time window should NOT change the time format. (Sloppy)
- Restore all Widgets.
- Keybindings for Edit Filter. (Without having to use the Mouse at all).
- Right Click Menu shortcuts need to be properly thought out:
Right-click-D on the track header adds a MIDI track. That is weird because right-click M is not assigned!
Right-click-A adds an Audio track (good).
Right-click-F does nothing. It should add a track Folder.
Right-Click-I does nothing. It should do make Instrument Track.
Right-Click-C does nothing. It should do Clone track(s).
Right-Click-L does nothing. It should open the Layers submenu instead of Right-Click-Y.
Right-Click-S does nothing. It should Save as track template.
Right-Click-D (now free) should Delete the select track(s).
Etc...
FX Bin and FX Chains: (Partly taken from a forum post)
---------------------
The FX Bin can not be resized. This means you can never see the full name of a Plugin. This looks very sloppy. I would be inclined to remove the On/Off button entirely and use a key modifier to enable/disable Plugins. CTRL+ALT+Left+Click. For ease of use for people that don't like to use keyboard modifiers, add an enable/disable option to the right click menu.
(Make this modifier a global modifier that works on everything: CTRL+ALT+Click on an FX mutes/unmutes it. Doing it on a clip will Mute/Unmute it. On a send will disable the send. On a track will Archive it. On a Instrument will enable/disable it. CTRL+ALT+Left+Clicking on a Plugin ion the Plugin Manager will Exclude it. Etc. Make it work in every view: Consistent, quick, flexible, powerful).
I am a bit surprised at how the FX-Chains have been implemented. I would have thought that dragging an FX-Chain into the FX bin would just add the FXs in the Chain to the FX bin at the spot where you let go of the mouse. Instead it adds an FX-Chain to the bin.
The first thing I noticed is that you can't tell the difference between a Chain and a regular Plugin. They could at least have given them a different colour or hue. Or maybe a line around it... anything to make it clear at a glance that it is not a regular Plugin. (And the fact that you can't resize the FX Bin doesn't help. A big omission IMO. Especially as so much space is wasted on that silly On/Off button [1]).
That said, why even make it a separate entity in the FX Bin? What advantage does this give over just adding all the FX in the chain normally to the FX Bin but in one step? Just drag the Fx-Chain into the Bin and all the Plugins in the Chain are added sequentially to the Bin. Now, if you want to see what is in the Chain or edit any of the Plugins in the Chain, you have to click on the FX chain which opens a new little window and then click on whatever Plugin you actually want to edit. I fail to see how these extra steps add anything to the process.
The only advantage is that you can quickly drag the whole FX-Chain to change it's order relative to other Plugins or Chains in the Bin. That is by far outweighed by the fact that you can't easily change the order of ALL the Plugins in a Bin now if you have a Chain. Say you have two normal Plugins, a Chain of three and then another Plugin. (Six total). You can't just drag the first Plugin to the 4th spot in the list without first extracting the other Plugins from the Chain. This is a needlessly convoluted process IMO.
Also the creation of a new FX chain lacks some flexibility IMO. You are now forced to convert the whole FX Bin to an FX Chain. This could mean extra steps if you want to create an FX Chain but want to exclude some of the plugins from the Chain. It means you first have to delete them from the Bin (and probably save the settings as a Preset to be able to get back to them) or drag them to another Bin then after you created the Chain you have to put the Plugins you wanted to exclude back in the Bin and then reload the relevant Preset. Again a needlessly convoluted process.
I would have much preferred if one could select any of the Plugins in the Bin with the usual Windows selection modifiers (SHIFT and CTRL) and then right click and have "Create FX-Chain from selected Plugins". Simple. Elegant. Flexible. Combine this with my proposed CTRL+ALT+Click modifier and you can Mute/Unmute selections of plugins in one go.
I also think my implementation would have been easier for Cakewalk and used less programming resources. Adding a Chain to the Bin would just be the equivalent of multiple calls to the function to add a single Plugin to the Bin. Then all we need is something to select plugins and a function called by the Right Click menu to create an FX-Chain Preset (which is really all it is in the end). Now they had to actually program a whole new thing: A nested FX-Chain Bin. Something that doesn't add any real extra functionality as far as I can tell and makes things less clear and more convoluted.
FX Chains++:
------------
- Dry/Wet knob.
Track Inspector:
================
I find the Inspector to be messy. If you click on Clip you get the Track/Bus Channel Strip and the little Clip Properties window. If you click it again the Clip Properties window closes. The same for the Track button. Messy.
There really should be three views here:
- Channel Strip View: Shows the Track and Bus strips.
- Properties View: Shows The Clip and Track Properties windows one above each other.
- ProChannel View: Shows ProChannel
An even better implementation IMO would have the following:
- Channel Strip View: Shows the Track Strip. (MIDI/Audio)
- Bus Strip View: Shows the relevant Bus Strip
- MIDI Details View: Shows the MIDI View details (The second MIDI Channel Strip).
- Properties View: Shows The Clip and Track Properties windows one above each other.
- ProChannel View: Shows ProChannel
At the top there should be five Icons that opens/closes each of these views and here is the clincher: You can display any single one, or any combination of or, all the Views at the same time one beside each other. It is then up to the user to determine how much space he/she uses. From no space at all, to a single Channel Strip to a Channel Strip and the ProChannel to the whole shebang. This is would be even more powerful now that the Inspector is detachable. One can have all the relevant data in one window placeable anywhere on the screen. Great!
Add a configuration option that determines how the Inspector behaves when you click on different track types: Should 1) redundant modules be closed (like the Bus Strip when selecting a MIDI track) or should 2) a place holder be used so that the Inspector keeps it's width and look. (Avoids needless window resizing etc). 3) Same as 2 but optimised: Bus Strip and MIDI Tracks Details View replace each other with the relevant tracks selected.
- Move the Dock/Undock Menu from the top to the bottom. (Beside the Display Menu which could easily be a bit smaller). (The Dock/Undock menu now resides in an awkward space at the top. This makes the top menu needlessly cluttered).
- The top menu should reflect the track that is selected: When a MIDI track is selected, the ProChannel tab should go or at least go to a lighter grey or something. (Unless you implement my suggestions above of course. Then you just have 5 neat little icons for each Inspector "Module".
- When the Browser is selected, I doesn't show/hide the Inspector
- The Inspector should not be part of the CTRL-TAB list of windows, ESPECIALLY if it has been closed by clicking the X in the top right corner.
ProChannel:
-----------
- The default setting on the compressors is bad. Threshold should be at Zero. It never sounds good when engaging something like this suddenly make the volume drop drastically because the threshold is way below the signal level and the compressor starts compressing hard.
- There should be a link button between the two compressors. I know they are not identical but many of the parameters are similar enough for this to work. The reason is that once one has dialed in a setting with one of the compressors, it would be very nice to be able to quickly hear what the other one would sound like. Now switching from one to the other is meaningless unless the user first painstakingly sets them up.
- Tube Sat selector button tool tip is ugly. (Type = 0,0 or Type = 100,0). I know this is reflecting some internal value but it looks amateurish. It should show say "Type = Pure Tube" or "Type = Double Tube". (Or do as the Compressor, show no Type in the Tool Tip).
Piano Roll View:
================
- After any change of Note Length, the Event Draw Duration should change to this new length.
- When a Note(s) is selected, Arrow Up/Down should move the Note(s) Up/Down.
- When a Note(s) is selected, SHIFT Arrow Up/Down should move the Note(s) Up/Down by one Octave.
- Muted Notes should be a bit darker grey. They are a bit hard to see.
- When opening the PRV by double clicking on a MIDI Clip, no notes should be selected. The most common action after opening the PRV will be to edit a single note, not all of them. The current behaviour, all notes selected, means that you always have to click somewhere to unselect notes.
- When opening the PRV by double clicking on a clip, the PRV should move to the point in time where the clicking was done. That is where someone will want to start editing.
- When opening a Frozen MIDI track, the Piano Bar should still show the Notes/Drum Map associated with the track. (If there is nothing associated, it should default to MIDI Notes). I often want to check which Notes/Chords a frozen instrument uses. The current behaviour makes it very hard.
- The Lanes Names at the bottom should be a menu to select which CC/NRPN/Velocity/Etc data is on that lane.
- When the Visual Grid is set to "Follow Snap Settings", it really should follow Snap Settings and update automatically. Currently it doesn't. (Very old bug).
PRV Tools:
----------
- Again, combine into one Grab Tool.
- Remove Timing Tool. It does nothing.
- Edit Tool becomes Trim Tool.
- Give Split Tool it's own Button and shortcut etc.
- ALT Scrollwheel over the Piano Notes on the left should zoom in/out vertically.
- When the PRV is selected, the Edit Tools options should reflect this. More specifically, the Draw Tool should only have Free Hand and Line Modes available, This means also changing the Edit Tools Control Bar module. Either that or allow the extra shapes for editing. Who knows, someone might want to add random notes or edit velocities randomly. Either way, don't show/allow options that do absolutely nothing.
Smart Tool Behaviour:
---------------------
- When inserting notes by ALT+Clicking and dragging, instead of the note moving to a new location, the note should not move but it's length should change. This makes it easy to instantly draw new notes of the right length without having to move the mouse to the end of the note and then drag it to the right length. There is no need to move the note if you just click at the right place to start with. Also the Event Draw Duration should change to this new note size.
Draw Tool Behaviour:
--------------------
- When inserting a note by Clicking and dragging, it shouldn't add multiple notes, instead, the Note Length should change. This way it is easy to quickly insert notes of the right length without having to do it separately.
- ALT-Clicking does nothing. ALT-Clicking should insert multiple notes.
Split Tool:
-----------
- ALT-Clicking does nothing. ALT-Clicking and dragging the Mouse over a note(s) should split the note(s) multiple times according to the Snap Settings.
Velocity Pane:
--------------
- When multiple Notes are selected, it should be possible to increase/lower all their velocities in one go from the velocity pane.
- When the Draw Tool is in Line Mode, the line should be visible when drawing over the velocities.
Browser:
========
Media Browser:
--------------
Some weird ideas here. A whole button wasted to go up a directory. No way to quickly browse around your harddisks. (If you are deep in a the directory structure of one disk you have to go all the way up to be able to browse another disk. This is very badly thought out). There are irrelevant icons like adding and removing Content Locations (Not something that should happen very often. Certainly not as often as other tasks) but relevant stuff that is constantly needed is missing. (Follow Project Tempo, Volume fader etc).
So, here are my suggestions:
- Replace the "Up one Level" button by a Windows Browser button. (Opens a Windows Browser to quickly navigate your harddisks).
- Add <..> at the top _inside_ the Media Browser window to go up a directory. (Why not use perfectly good standards that are intuitive and save space?).
- Add a Back button to go back one step when navigating the Media.
- Remove the very confusing Save and Delete buttons and replace by a Configuration Button. This opens a window in which you can
- Save a new Content Location
- Manage the order of your Content Location List.
- Delete Content Locations.
- Rename Content Locations.
- Set an option to remember the last Content Location Per Project/Global to show the Default Location and an option to set the Default Content Location.
- Configure View details (To set icon sizes and which info is showed in the details views (Dates, Sizes, Sample Rates, Bit Rates, Data Rates etc etc) Etc).
- Option to Show/Hide unknown file formats. (Don't show ZIP files if you can't play them).
- Add a View Type changer. (It is awkward where it is now beside the word Media).
- The Preview at Project Tempo Option should have a Button.
- A volume fader.
So to resume the top of the Media Browser now has:
Back One Step | Browse | Content Location | Views | Config | |Preview at Tempo | Volume Fader | Play/Stop [1]
- When Undocked, B will open the Browser but will not close/hide it again when re-pressed. It should
Synth Rack:
-----------
- By Default the Synth Rack should not have Icons. That wastes unnecessary space and just looks weird. Actually, The Synth Rack shouldn't have any Icons at all as all items are the same: Synths).
- Make sure the name of the Synth is in the blue window. Not overlapping the left hand grey bit.
- Use smaller fonts.
- Enable undocking of Synth Rack.
- Restore the Assigned Controls view that was previously available in the Synth Rack.
- Well basically restore the Synth Rack as it was! I am assuming the current state of the Synth rack is not final. As it stands, it is just not good enough. I doubt Cakewalk think it is good enough either so I will leave at that and assume Cakewalk have better plans for the Synth Rack.
PlugIns Browser:
----------------
- Add button on the right to open the Cakewalk Plugin Manager. Seems like a logical place. Better than under the little arrow IMO.
(I have suggestions for the Plugin Manager. That will come later).
- Add an option to show Plugin Path. (Makes it m,uch easier to see when one has more than one version installed or whatever.
- Add an option to see FX type. (DX/VST/Bridged/32 or 64 bit/Nr of Outputs/etc)
- Right clicking on a Plugin should open the Plugin Properties Window.
Project/OMF/AAF Browser:
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This doesn't exist yet. I would like to be able to browse an existing project or OMF/AAF file and drag items from there into the Current Project.
You should be able to drag the following things from existing Projects/AAFs/OMFs:
- Tracks
- Busses
- Entire Track Folders
- Audio/MIDI Clips
- FX Plugins / FX Chains / Instruments
There should be some options like whether imported tracks should remember their outputs and sends. Should Automation be included? Should Clips maintain their original time stamps, their location in the project they are being dragged from or be dropped where they have been dragged to, Etc etc etc.
This would be an extremely powerful tool.
Multi-Dock View:
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- When nothing is in the Multi-Dock, it should be able to vanish completely to save space. Screen real-estate is precious! It should be treated it as such.
- Option to synchronise Multi-Dock PRV and Track views: Synchronise Zoom, loop points etc.(So that things align with the track view for easy editing).
Keybindings window:
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- Window fully resizable!
- Searchable Functions. (As you type!) (Not Locate Key but Locate Function!)
- In the right hand window, show all default assignments so that you can see that a function is already assigned and to what it is assigned.
- Keybindings available for Snap To Grid "Measure" and Move-To/Move-By toggle. Actually, just make ALL functions available for bindings.
- More granularity in Bind Context. For instance in Track View, you should be able to select whether the context is the Track Headers or the actual Edit Pane etc...
Preferences Window:
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- Audio Meter: Add ALL Meter options like Horizontal/Vertical Meters etc choices to this window!
Navigation, Windows, Etc:
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- If you have the PRV window detached, floating and maximised on your second screen, When double-clicking on a MIDI clip , the PRV window resizes and loses it's maximised state.. This happens even when you click on the same MIDI track that is already being view. This should not happen.
- When Double-Clicking on a MIDI Clip to open the PRV, the now time should move to the start of that Clip for instant editing. Now the PRV will open with wherever the Now-Time already was. It is highly unlikely that someone double clicks on a clip and wants the Now-Time to be somewhere entirely different. Moving the Now-Time would mean quicker access to the MIDI one wants to edit or simply view.
- When the Multi-Dock is Undocked and maximised on the second screen. Pressing D just turns the Multi-Dock Grey. It doesn't close, hide or Collapse it. It would be very nice if pressing D would show/hide the Multi-Dock entirely.
- Very old issue: When a synth is frozen, the PRV shows Note Numbers instead of the actual Notes.
ScreenSets:
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- Switching is slow.
- At times elements that are docked in the Multi-Dock can get undocked.(For instance Plugins or Instruments).
- ScreenSets should NOT change the Snap To Grid settings in any way whatsoever. (A bug I assume)
I sincerely suggest Cakewalk look at how Workspace Local and Global Layout Presets are handled in Cubase:
- There are Project and Global Workspace Presets.
- Presets can be easily moved from the Local to the Global list and vice versa.
- All Project Presets are saved with the Project. This means that anywhere you open the Project, you have all the Project Workspace Presets available.
- There is an option to automatically copy all existing Global Presets to a Project Preset list when you open an existing Project or create a new Project.
- The combination of the above two means that one has direct access to all one's Workspace Presets Automatically anywhere we open one of our Projects without the users ever having to think about it.
That is what I call proper implementation of a feature.
(There are a few more details about Workspaces in Cubase but the essential part is the fact the user never has to import Presets or copy them or think about them in any way whatsoever).
Major Long Term Improvements:
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- Universal Track Architecture.
- Nested Folders
- Option to remove Bus Pane and place buses anywhere in a project. (Like inside a Folder for instance. So you could have your Drums Bus inside your Drums Folder. Etc).
post edited by UnderTow - 2011/01/30 13:08:54