[LAD] [LAU] boxyseq: Re: opinions from (potential) user perspectives wanted

[Philipp Überbacher]

Excerpts from James Morris's message of 2010-08-17 03:17:01 +0200:
> On 17 August 2010 00:54, Philipp Überbacher <hollunder at lavabit.com> wrote:
> > Excerpts from James Morris's message of 2010-08-15 03:21:38 +0200:
> >> On 5 July 2010 09:27, Patrick Shirkey <pshirkey at boosthardware.com> wrote:
> >> > On 07/05/2010 06:15 PM, James Morris wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> really it is far too early for users to take any interest in this
> >> >> program. but sometimes I just need some feedback about some of the
> >> >> ideas i have before I can proceed further in its development.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > I think LAU/LAD are good for that until a project gets a large enough user
> >> > base to warrant it's own list.
> >> >
> >>
> >> Ok, after some considerable time it's now in the first steps of having
> >> consequences of user interactions...
> >>
> >> Meaning, you can drag a blue square around and the events in the
> >> pattern are sequenced into it (when you release the mouse button that
> >> is). As you should by now know, the position of the events is
> >> translated into pitch and velocity.
> >>
> >> It's enough to play around with for a few minutes :)
> >>
> >> I recommend Will J Godfrey's 'Sweep Saw' Zyn/Yoshi patch.
> >>
> >> Try it out:
> >> git clone git://github.com/jwm-art-net/BoxySeq.git && cd BoxySeq &&
> >> make && ./boxyseq
> >>
> >>
> >> Just don't expect too much. You cannot edit the pattern unless you're
> >> willing to experiment with C code (lines 63 to 84 of main.c for event
> >> pattern, lines 87 to 105 for boundary settings) and recompile and
> >> restart the program.
> >>
> >> you'll need jack, glib, and gtk development packages installed beforehand.
> >>
> >> still very early days here.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> James.
> >
> > Hey James.
> > I'm just giving it a try, and it's fun. I found a feature you didn't
> > tell us about, rightclick+drag to resize/reshape the box.
> > I gave three different zynaddsubfx/yoshimi patches a try, and it's fun
> > with all of them. I can imagine that it's already useful, at least for
> > adding random bleeps or whatever to pieces.
> >
> > Nice work so far.
> > Regards,
> > --
> > Philipp
> 
> 
> Hi, thanks for your comments. Yes I added the resize the following day.
> 
> The CPU usage of the graphics has been bothering me. It was using
> Cairo which can do some funky stuff, but it comes at a price. My
> latest commit has removed the Cairo code and replaced it with GDK. GDK
> is 'closer to xlib' and is less funky, but performance is much better.

Indeed. I noticed that it took about 30% here, even when not running.
Now it runs at about 3%.

> This version is using two boundaries fed by a single pattern.

Did you read my mind? I thought some more boxes would make it
more interesting.

> I need some ideas about the user interface. The way you can manipulate
> the boundary box positions and dimensions around is good. But I'd like
> the user to also be able to change the scale and key of the events
> placed within the boundary with as much ease.
> 
> Being able to make selections will be important too.
> 
> Though I imagine there's going to be a whole lot of icons with boxes on them!
> 
> An icon to make selections
> An icon to define a boundary
> An icon to redefine a boundary (repositon+redimension in one foul swoop)
> An icon to define a block (a block blocks events from being placed where it is)

I'm no big fan of icons, buttons and clicking around in general.
How about using modifier keys+mouse? You could place a listing of
available commands somewhere, so the user sees it at one glance. Yes,
the Traverso GUI influenced me *slightly*.

> very boxy indeed.
> 
> Cheers,
> James.

Regards,
-- 
Philipp

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und alle Fragen offen." Bertolt Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan