tabithaj
I've seen about a dozen of the youtube videos that discuss the alpha and beta versions of VDJ8. Thanks for the early colored waveforms on 7.2 and for what is coming next!
I know you've added the ability to resize the browser text (thank you!), but some of the most important things are STILL hard to see or access without at least 1 click. Having to look all around the screen, click, type & squint makes us uncomfortable & somehow unconsciously aware that we are using the computer. The more it 'fits' us, the less aware we are that we are using it, like the original iPhone experience, it becomes so intuitive that you forget that it's there and then we can use it's features to enhance our show as we create & develop it...the computer then becomes one of our tools rather than an obstacle (that's how it feels when you are constantly having to work around it to compensate for something not fitting your needs). I know you can't make it perfect for every user, but some things are basic to most of us:
1 give us the ability to customize what we see in the left/right players...or add the important things for us in an concise but readily visible manner. Serato puts time and bpm right in the circles where they are the easiest to see to to look back and forth between them - it's one of the best things about that program I think. In VDJ now, the circles are essentially still 'unused real estate.' for me - always being able to see 3 things easily would be very helpful
- BPM (actual) AND what it's currently set at as it's most likely not the same
- Time: elapsed AND remaining - large enough to see, very hard to see now and not close enough together to look at easily
- make comments written into id3 tag / database at least optionally visible on the deck the song is loaded onto
currently, you can't see the song's original bpm or comments if it's loaded into the player and you've already searched for something else in effort to think ahead in your set. you have to go back and research for what's already loaded to see these things. this wastes valuable time.
2. Regarding cue points, aka POI's, I appreciate the effort in expanding this feature. Now, almost everyone uses them, if not a little, a LOT, and we shouldn't have to right click to access that screen. It should be available all the time...with minimal need to right click, as this is just slower. little drop down arrows or something maybe. Also, I don't know about others, but I heavily use the comment section to make notes of cue points & song structure to compensate for inadequate functionality of the current software. a better POI window will be helpful, but there didn't seem to be room to add comments, only a name...maybe I missed something, but that's important, again, ability to customize somehow that is simple but lets people add some data to help them in whatever style they like to perform that they see after the song is loaded.
While I have a list of other 'wishes', these are the ones that I'm constantly having to deal with live. DJ software has changed how we play. Song time is shorter, we have to prepare more and work faster. I'm not a fan of the effects & samples, as I think they are largely overly and incorrectly used (and honestly, I'm guessing 99.99% of the audience would agree with this). I wish less screen space was dedicated to these things, or again, was at least something we could customize. VDJ has so many powerful features that I think are unknown to many in the industry. And, I & love the overlapping waveform of the live mix which seems like such an obvious thing that everyone else has ignored. I think we're all excited about VDJ8, and I think it'll get people's attention. Please just ask the developers to remember that, in the end, doing the basic things 100% right are what's most important, getting fancy with the trim is fine, but not at the expense of building a strong foundation.
Thanks,
Tabitha
I know you've added the ability to resize the browser text (thank you!), but some of the most important things are STILL hard to see or access without at least 1 click. Having to look all around the screen, click, type & squint makes us uncomfortable & somehow unconsciously aware that we are using the computer. The more it 'fits' us, the less aware we are that we are using it, like the original iPhone experience, it becomes so intuitive that you forget that it's there and then we can use it's features to enhance our show as we create & develop it...the computer then becomes one of our tools rather than an obstacle (that's how it feels when you are constantly having to work around it to compensate for something not fitting your needs). I know you can't make it perfect for every user, but some things are basic to most of us:
1 give us the ability to customize what we see in the left/right players...or add the important things for us in an concise but readily visible manner. Serato puts time and bpm right in the circles where they are the easiest to see to to look back and forth between them - it's one of the best things about that program I think. In VDJ now, the circles are essentially still 'unused real estate.' for me - always being able to see 3 things easily would be very helpful
- BPM (actual) AND what it's currently set at as it's most likely not the same
- Time: elapsed AND remaining - large enough to see, very hard to see now and not close enough together to look at easily
- make comments written into id3 tag / database at least optionally visible on the deck the song is loaded onto
currently, you can't see the song's original bpm or comments if it's loaded into the player and you've already searched for something else in effort to think ahead in your set. you have to go back and research for what's already loaded to see these things. this wastes valuable time.
2. Regarding cue points, aka POI's, I appreciate the effort in expanding this feature. Now, almost everyone uses them, if not a little, a LOT, and we shouldn't have to right click to access that screen. It should be available all the time...with minimal need to right click, as this is just slower. little drop down arrows or something maybe. Also, I don't know about others, but I heavily use the comment section to make notes of cue points & song structure to compensate for inadequate functionality of the current software. a better POI window will be helpful, but there didn't seem to be room to add comments, only a name...maybe I missed something, but that's important, again, ability to customize somehow that is simple but lets people add some data to help them in whatever style they like to perform that they see after the song is loaded.
While I have a list of other 'wishes', these are the ones that I'm constantly having to deal with live. DJ software has changed how we play. Song time is shorter, we have to prepare more and work faster. I'm not a fan of the effects & samples, as I think they are largely overly and incorrectly used (and honestly, I'm guessing 99.99% of the audience would agree with this). I wish less screen space was dedicated to these things, or again, was at least something we could customize. VDJ has so many powerful features that I think are unknown to many in the industry. And, I & love the overlapping waveform of the live mix which seems like such an obvious thing that everyone else has ignored. I think we're all excited about VDJ8, and I think it'll get people's attention. Please just ask the developers to remember that, in the end, doing the basic things 100% right are what's most important, getting fancy with the trim is fine, but not at the expense of building a strong foundation.
Thanks,
Tabitha
geposted Wed 07 Nov 12 @ 6:05 pm
djdad
Almost everything that you have asked for , is already possible and available, but not in the default skin.
Most of us find your requests very reasonable and those should probably be part of the default skin as well. However, i suppose you already know that VirtualDJ is a skinable software and probably the most customized software out there.
What you you ask is already available in various skins. Have you searched in the Skin Download Pages and found no skin that covers your needs ?
If you find one that is close to what you are looking for and you still miss a couple of things, feel free to post in the Skin forums, asking for assistance on how to modify a skin and add what u need.
Most of us find your requests very reasonable and those should probably be part of the default skin as well. However, i suppose you already know that VirtualDJ is a skinable software and probably the most customized software out there.
What you you ask is already available in various skins. Have you searched in the Skin Download Pages and found no skin that covers your needs ?
If you find one that is close to what you are looking for and you still miss a couple of things, feel free to post in the Skin forums, asking for assistance on how to modify a skin and add what u need.
geposted Wed 07 Nov 12 @ 7:12 pm
groovindj
I think having skins is one of the big problems with VDJ as it stands now.
When someone asks "can I do this?", the answer is often "you can do it in another skin" - but why should users need to change a skin to get certain functions?
The problem is that skins are fixed things, and the functions on the GUI are fixed.......unless the user is skilled enough to edit XML files or modify bitmap graphics (basically redesign the skin), which is too much for most normal users.
Other software, that only has one skin or even no skin, just Windows GUI......can be changed to show only the parts the user wants to see - it's modular construction.
Look at the interest people have shown in The One software by EKS. Also in Traktor you can choose how many decks to see, the size of them, the features (basic, complex) and so on.
Even the old original version of PCDJ Red many years ago allowed the user to choose from seven different "modules" for screen arrangement, and allowed you to hide the onscreen mixer if you didn't need it (using an external mixer).
When someone asks "can I do this?", the answer is often "you can do it in another skin" - but why should users need to change a skin to get certain functions?
The problem is that skins are fixed things, and the functions on the GUI are fixed.......unless the user is skilled enough to edit XML files or modify bitmap graphics (basically redesign the skin), which is too much for most normal users.
Other software, that only has one skin or even no skin, just Windows GUI......can be changed to show only the parts the user wants to see - it's modular construction.
Look at the interest people have shown in The One software by EKS. Also in Traktor you can choose how many decks to see, the size of them, the features (basic, complex) and so on.
Even the old original version of PCDJ Red many years ago allowed the user to choose from seven different "modules" for screen arrangement, and allowed you to hide the onscreen mixer if you didn't need it (using an external mixer).
geposted Thu 08 Nov 12 @ 5:28 am
synthet1c
CSS3 esq.. responsive design vector ftw, but what your talking about groovin can be achieved with the skin sdk, it would just take a bit more coding of extra pannels, but I would love moveable resizable lockable dockable pannels.. say that fast three times LOL
geposted Thu 08 Nov 12 @ 7:25 am