[LAU] FOSS DAW recommendations

[David Kastrup]

Thorsten Wilms <self-FGF0TiJ1GBKCqcdZnNZY/wC/G2K4zDHf at public.gmane.org>
writes:

> On 17.11.2017 19:11, David Kastrup wrote:
>> Robert Edge<thumbknucklerocks-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>  writes:
>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er7OeIFALN8
>> Ah, so "(region name)/edit/make mono regions" does not actually edit the
>> region.  Nor does it make it mono.  Nor does it create mono tracks.  But
>> it adds two mono regions to the_region_  _list_  (which is rather
>> inconspicuous and somewhere else on the screen, by default not at all)
>> from where you can then fill newly created mono tracks.  It doesn't
>> bother mentioning what it does in something akin to Emacs' echo area,
>> though: "copied mono regions to region list" would have been a great
>> hint.
>
> A few years back, I had a similar issue the first time(s) I tried to
> bounce. Yes, there's a problem with the visibility of the outcome,
> yes, it's a need-to-know thing. With any kind of notification, you
> have the issue of it being noticeable enough, without distracting
> those who already know what and how it will happen.
>
> I would have liked a bounce-in-place just like you might desire a
> split-to-mono-and-convert-to-2-tracks feature. There's something to be
> said for "atomic" operations though, not doing 3 steps in combination
> while not offering any one of those steps in isolation. If you add
> both single operations and each
> do-that-and-replace-the-input-with-the-result variant, you likely end
> up with (even more) unwieldy menus.
>
> There's also the aspect of a region-level operation having
> consequences on removal and addition of tracks, those again having
> consequences on routing.

I don't have a problem with the workflow.  Merely with that it's
completely undiscoverable since it says "make mono regions" instead of
"create mono reagions" (which would clarify that _new_ regions are
created), because of not having any mouse-over hint over the menu,
because of not highlighting or raising the region list in any manner,
because of not giving any notification or clue of what it actually does.

Of _course_ everybody and his dog will chime in and say "boy, are you
stupid, it's like with any other DAW you should already have used, and
you can just do this and that".

I was not complaining that Ardour is useless for expert workflows.  I
was complaining that it makes it much harder than necessary to discover
said workflows.

-- 
David Kastrup