Bugs - Issues - Suggestions

[EdgarRothermich]

I use the VI Special Edition for a few month now and I really like it. However there is always room for improvement and I want to list a few things here that I think could make the experience even better. Some of them are GUI suggestions, some might be bugs, and some might be even not an issue at all because I may have overlooked something. Here we go:

1) AU Concept
The whole idea of having an AU plugin and still running it as an independent app outside of the Logic is a nice idea and I'm sure that is the basis of some of the power that the VI has. However there is a major drawback about messing up the workflow in Logic. Whenever you make adjustments in the VI interface and then hit the play button - oops - you have to click on Logic to bring it to the foreground before it reacts to any key strokes. I hope the developers still working on that compromise. Look at Melodyne that also works kind of outside of Logic. It took them a couple of versions to figure out a better integration of their technology into the AU architecture.

2) Window Placement
When you open the VI AU from Logic, it displays only a small AU window with the "Show Window" button. Logic remembers the position of that AU window after you close it, even in a multiple screen setup. That makes it easy to organize your windows to suit your workflow. i.e. Monitor 1 for Arrange Window, Monitor 2 for Edit Windows, Monitor 3 for Mixer and Plugins.
It seems that VI doesn't pay attention to that very important detail. When clicking on the "Show WIndow" button, the VI Window should open right underneath the (still open) AU WIndow, kind of an extension of the AU window even if it is its own Window. Instead the VI Window will most likely open centered on the main screen and I have to constantly move it out of the way. The next time I open it, again move it out of the way, etc

3) Current Preset Display
I can't find any display that indicates the name of the currently loaded Preset. I started to save all my instruments as Preset and not Matrices because a Matrix doesn't store some Performance settings. When I audition different Presets (load Presets - listen - load another Preset - listen, ...) and I get interrupted, I cannot see what the currently loaded Preset is. Same thing when I open a Song. VI displays the loaded Matrices but not the loaded Preset

4) Middle C
The old standard problem, Roland vs Yamaha, is it C2 or C3. Would it be possible to let the user choose via a preference setting?

5) Save Preset path
When saving a Matrix, VI remembers the directory path of the the last save command. But this doesn't work with saving the Presets. Everytime you save a new Preset you have to navigate the file selector box to your preferred directory again.

6) Overwrite Dialog Box
This is a a very dangerous oversight in the UI. The destructive commands "Empty Preset", "Empty Matrix", "Overwrite existing Matrix, Patch" when loading" have no extra dialog box that warns you "Are you sure?"

7) Dangerous Enter key
Here is a dangerous situation. When you are on the Matrix Assign page, pressing the enter key on the keyboard will load the highlighted Matrix into the highlighted Matrix Slot on the left page. Nice little keyboard shortcut, BUT: If you switch back and force between VI and Logic (see topic 1) and working fast, it could happen (a lot) that you forget to switch back to Logic. Now my enter key in Logic is the play button. So I make my edit in the VI and press the enter without switching back and -voila- i just overwrote my Matrix Slot. If I would have an Overwrite Dialog Box that reminded me of that potential fatal action (see topic 6), at least I would have a warning. Or even better, let the key commands in the VI be disabled in a Preference setting.

[H] Map Control refresh bug
I'm in the Map Control page and do some configurations. Now if I load a Preset "MyStrings" (that has different Control settings), then the Map Control page doesn't update the settings that were stored with the Preset "MyStrings" . Selecting anything from the popup menu on that page will refresh the all the setting. This seems to be only a display bug because the control settings work properly. It is just confusing when the displayed settings are different from the actual assigned settings.

9) X for delete
This one is just a personal UI suggestion. Using the X sign for removing/deleting is in my opinion not as clear as having a little trash can icon. Also, the disk icon could mean "save" to disk or "open" from disk. So a little arrow to the disk would make the direction more clear. I know, I'm getting a little picky here.

10) Background Loading
Is it possible that the VSL server can perform the loading in the background. Opening a big Preset or even a Logic Song full of VIs can take some time. Usually I use that Wai......ting time and switch over to Safari to read the Forums or make some Sticky notes. But this is almost impossible because the VSL server acts in the foreground, even if its not really the active app in the Finder's menu bar. This is a really hit and miss situation when trying to type something in an application while VI is loading.

OK, that's it so far. Sorry about the long post but I think it might help to make a great product even better. If any of the topic has been resolved or if there is a workaround I'm not aware of, I'm sure more knowledgeable user will be happy to enlighten me.

[julian]

Hi Edgar,

Some good observations which have affected a lot of us Logic users. This is an excellent forum and VSL are a superb reactive organisation so I'm sure your comments, and others, will be carefully considered in the spirit of continuous development and improvement.

Julian

[golem]

thanks for valuable input.

some issues are already being addressed.

well, as for the key commands:

hosts tend to swallow all that kind of events, leaving a plugin to be
driven by mouse alone.

since (on OSX) we are running a complete separate application job, which has its own main loop, VI acts like a an application as such.

events from the user input devices are caught by the OS, and are being
stuffed into the event queue.
now an application checks this queue periodically and takes appropriate actions. only the foreground process has access to fetch these commands. these commands are being removed from the queue immediately afterwards. obviously to avoid confusion.

basically this is a major drawback of graphically driven User Interfaces.

watch yourself when you are typing into a word processor. all you want to do is typing - keeping your hands on the keyboard. now, honestly, how often do you have to grab the mouse to position the cursor?
(well, _if_ you type a lot, you will already have found the numerous shortcuts, that will keep your hands stay on the keyboard, however)

once you know that OSX VI _is_ a separate application you can use
the alt-Tab to switch over (this is XP shortcut, on OSX I presume it is 'apple-Tab')
once you got used to it - you can be quite fast. left hand - right hand tango.

especially when creating music, supplementary input devices would come in handy, like eye trackers, voice recognition and the like.

i'd prefer keeping my hands at the MIDI keyboard and issue commands from there. unless the big hosts like logic and cubase will come up with a 3rd party friendly protocol for user input dispatch, i can't see the light.

but remember the old days in the studio.

musician: " hey, steve, that was terrific. have you taped that?? "
steve: " Ah, what? The pizzas are here ! Want some? "



thanks

chrisT
VSL Development

[julian]

@golem said:

once you know that OSX VI _is_ a separate application you can use
the alt-Tab to switch over (this is XP shortcut, on OSX I presume it is 'apple-Tab')
once you got used to it - you can be quite fast. left hand - right hand tango.

This works when the VI is launched as a standalone but when you use it in Logic as a plug-in despite it being a seperate app the finder does not show it as an active programme so the apple tab short cut does not work in this case.

Julian