finish attaching the UI to the engine

My wish list..............

These are what I persoanlly consider very URGENT fixes:
 
1) Control Bar needs to be redone, as the one in X1 is, in many cases, 
     unusable:
     Its "Modules" must be customizable, and all visible/usable at once  
     on screens of ANY size/resolution, just as it used to be.......

2) Take those old-fashioned multi-level menus AWAY, whose features
     must be set to specific tools/buttons to be placeable on above
     mentioned Control Bar "modules", welll, just as it used to be....

3) Features removed from the Track Headers, now available only
    within the Inspector, must be also placed, possibly as an option, at
    their original place... yes, as it used to be...

4) GUI's colors must be fully customizable, and dark skins are highly 
     requested (also proved by Panup's Mods success...) and, again, as
     it nicely used to be....


The following is not very urgent, but would be nice...:

4) give the SONAR logo BACK...
    "identiity" is what makes anything recognizable... 


THANKS for attention....

gothic.angel


  Take those old-fashioned multi-level menus AWAY

I work in software development. Usability testing has shown again and again that this is the most hated UI workflow.

But... practically speaking, a sensible design makes good use of screen real estate by putting things you need a lot on the top level UI, and things you don't need to use that often on lower levels. I can't think of any truly deep application that wouldn't be a horrible sea of buttons if everything was on the top level UI.

So the issue is inevitably more detailed than "get rid of the menus". It's more a question of, "what's tucked into a menu that should be within easier reach?" I can think of a couple of offenders in X1; auto crossfade, for example, really should have a top level always-visible indicator.

What specifically does everyone else feel is inconveniently placed? I know you could say "make everything customisable", and that's a fair enough thing to want, but talking in terms of a general default arrangement, what's too buried for people?

As more a keyboard & control surface user there's nothing that's really tucked away 'cos just about anything can be assigned to a button press.

Having said that I can see why a user who prefers the mouse won't be as impressed. Buttons are the only real way to go for mice, everything else menus etc is more work but as you've rightly pointed out if you make everything available on a button you end up with a sea of buttons.

Customisation is the answer. IMHO of course

To supplement this.. I would suggest if this aspect is a major annoyance to some folks to take a leaf out of the gamers notebook..
 
Gamers have been customising for a long time.. If you use a gaming keyboard like the G11, or a game controller like the belkin nt52e then you get extra buttons, macros in abundance... over 100 key/macros with this combination.
 
Dont like using the keyboard for shortcuts?.. the nt52e alone gives 60 assignable buttons/macros without moving your left hand one inch... and DRAMATICALLY improve your productivity  :)
 
FastBikerBoy


As more a keyboard & control surface user there's nothing that's really tucked away 'cos just about anything can be assigned to a button press.

Having said that I can see why a user who prefers the mouse won't be as impressed. Buttons are the only real way to go for mice, everything else menus etc is more work but as you've rightly pointed out if you make everything available on a button you end up with a sea of buttons.

Customisation is the answer. IMHO of course

FastBikerBoy


As more a keyboard & control surface user there's nothing that's really tucked away 'cos just about anything can be assigned to a button press.

Having said that I can see why a user who prefers the mouse won't be as impressed. Buttons are the only real way to go for mice, everything else menus etc is more work but as you've rightly pointed out if you make everything available on a button you end up with a sea of buttons.

Customisation is the answer. IMHO of course

I think customisation is an answer, but not the only one, and in many cases not even the best one. It still matters to have a default arrangement that gets most people as far as possible.

I do think people who feel they prefer the mouse are cursing themselves to a generally slow workflow that a bit of learning keyboard shortcuts could radically improve. That's a general point about using computers, not specific to Sonar, though Sonar is an application where learning the shortcuts is an immense benefit. I think was true even prior to X1, when there were a lot more things as top level clickable buttons. 

i still think changing the ui, and as a side effect introducing a new and different, more rigid, less flexible workflow, isn't a good thing

That is why I harp about full customization. Because not everyone likes using just a keyboard or mice really.  Never mind the idea that one can even imagine a touch screen as interface...

Why it should be Either/Or is beyond me.