Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[Ralph [RZ]]

We could preload the current song name in the 'Save' dialog to take away the need to browse for the file. We could also split into 'Save' and 'Save As'.

I'll look into naming of revisions when the disk icon is clicked.

Ctrl-S and similar keyboard shortcuts are not possible since some hosts intercept keystrokes so it would be a slippery slope.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[nightscoper]

[frz]

[T-Break]

Hi Ralph, hi all.......

I don't post a lot, though I do make frequent visits to this forum. What's been going on in this thread however, makes me want to open my mouth for a change and offer a few words.

Firstly - that all JS users are a polite crowd when posting and seemingly well into their music. Fantastic! Also, that they all show a keeness to contribute to the continued evolution of this great piece of software. Also good.

Which leads to the second point - that its creator, Ralph, is a very rare breed amongst software developers, that positively encourages his customer base to write in with ideas regarding the creation of the next version and really does listen.

So, what's the deal?? Well, there's a dangerous fine line between Ralph requesting and we offering suggestions for the next version and Ralph posting a "this is how it's coming along" graphic and we hitting him with criticism (although clearly intended as positive criticism), to the point that some are suggesting 'better to scrap it now and start over, even if it means delaying the release again'.

The talk has been of functionality over eye-candy; greater ease of use with another specific drum package; how much screen real estate; top 10 actions accessed by single clicks etc.....

Any suggestion can prove useful, but some simply impractical or unrealistic or too subjective. For instance, how many programmers must Ralph have by his side to test drive JS with every other drum package out there. That screen shot of Zebra, is to me, a real put-off. But this is another story.

The reason I'm writing now is to urge Ralph NOT to post any further "work in progress" screenshots because the danger is, that no matter how well-intentioned we users are, the comments from those who are not happy with JS3 progress might delay its already delayed release or dent Ralph's enthusiasm. This would dissapoint those who are looking forward to it already, or devastate all of us if there was no JS beyond version 3. (I'm guessing Ralph is quite a strong-willed guy however).

In short, all the suggestions you nice people are coming forward with now, following Ralph's posting of JS3 screenshots should be aimed at JS4. What Ralph is doing with JS3 right now, is in reponse to your comments following JS2 release. He's already had to overcome a hurdle, what with Scott not being able to finish the GUI (and I'm sure many other hurdles).

What Ralph needs now is louder cheering to get him to the JS3 finishing post for November and certainly by Christmas. Try and focus on the stated improvements JS3 holds over JS2, keep making loads more music with JS2 in the meantime and yes, keep posting your thoughts on further improvements - but direct them now at JS4.

So there's a helpful suggestion Ralph - can you start up a JS4 suggestion thread right now, so that the remainder of this thread can be taken up with bloody loud cheers of encouragement.

Oh.... and P.S. Ralph - Can your graphics guy just spend 3 minutes as I did before writing this post, to go into Photoshop and select the chocolate brown facias in your GUI, use the hue slider to change the brown to a warm grey as well as turning down the saturation and then lighten those areas to get a warm silver finish. (More like the initial Scott Kane version). The choc brown doesn't look too good and too many colours. More understated chic with silver.

(OK guys, OK - this is only a 3 minute change I'm suggesting, not a 3 day code re-write).

I'll send you what I've done by e-mail as I don't know how to add the image to this post.

Hope none of you 'posters' feel got at by this. It's all good intention. Cheers.........

[TomR]

I like the gui overall. My suggestion would be to add another tab that is a bar editing tab. That way the bar editor and navigator would be the primary focus and could be made much larger. the song part could be made smaller and the bar navigation moved up and to the right. then the bar edit portion could be wider and taller...so my old eyes would not have to work so hard.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming release.
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Tom

[DaveElson]

I also like the gui - except that I would agree with the comment re the chocolate brown. A little too "dark" for me.

[charly1310]

@T-Break: see, 3 minute changes or not, but you have some, too

The point with criticizing the GUI was to make Ralph aware, that THIS redesign may not help to attract new customers. As far as I remember one of the important developing reasons for JS3 was a new GUI to gain sales. Design is certainly always a matter of taste. Some like brownish colors in a GUI, others prefer a warm grey (how can grey be warm btw.???). However a good Design should follow certain principles, but I can't seem to find them in the current work in progress. Scott Kane has been criticized for his design flaws many times over at KVR and it seems he made the same mistakes here. He surely has talent and I don't know what his task for JS3 was, but IMHO he didn't do a good job.

As stated by Ralph Jamstix can't (and shouldn't) look like the EZDrummers, BFDs, Addictive Drums and what not. Jamstix approach is different and therefore needs a different way to present its functions. Now that's exactly where a good design can help. At this point developers and designers need to sit together to work out a concept. In this case it only looks like graphic elements have been picked up from previous Jamstix versions, retouched in Photoshop and cramped together in a new frame.

Well, being in the graphics industry myself I'm probably too critical and perhaps the "average user" doesn't even care too much for those design flaws. Still I believe the current design should be reworked.

Anyway, I wish Ralph all the best with JS3 and I will surely upgrade when it's out.
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Cubase 5.0.1 (32Bit) / Windows 7 RC1 64Bit / Intel C2D E6400 / GA P35-DS3R / 4GB RAM PC6400 / ATI Radeon HD2600XT 512MB
RME HDSP 9632 + AEB 4-I / 2x UAD-1 / Yamaha KX25 / CME UF-6 / Korg nanoPad / PODxt Live / Presonus TUBEPre / M-Audio DX4

[srrvnnt]

Hey Ralph looks good. To me functionality is way more important than looks. This is probably impossible but.... I would love to see all the controls in the groove, accent, fill panels (Brain controls...not sure what to call it) on one page. The problem being, it would be great to see all the settings when a song is playing in real time. Now you have to scroll down to see certain settings (in real time), and by the time you get there the song has moved on. The only real way to see things (down below) is to stop the song browse to the bar or section scroll down, and observe or change if necessary. To me the more information that is available on screen at once the better. I think this would help promote more tweaking. Anyway keep up the good work.

J. R.

[funktional]

hi Ralph
IMHO jamstix should practice to play better but not to look better.yet the ugly system wants us look better and we feed on this ugly system.
i would like to have two keys to trigger the fill.one with crash,one with no crash.I like to play jamstix live and it would be great to see all automation options in one page with the knobs and sliders (groove,fill,accents)
I would like the see keyswitches option like in the jamstix1 .Anyway I am sure you will come up with a great drummer

good luck
peace

[xx_JPRacer_xx]

My main problem with the JS2 interface is it's too tiny, it's very difficult to read. Now that problem is solved! I think the new interface is great, I like interfaces that look like hardware even if this as anything to do with functionality.

[SciFiArtMan]

I appreciate the loss of the green and yellow tones, but for me the black is heavy-handed and even a little depressive - considering the amount of time I'll spend looking at all this!

Also little details like the marks beside the sliders are there for a reason - so we can hit approximate marks during adjustments. They are all but impossible to read at this point.

The odd use of old 1930s styled fonts just feels so wrong - cringe inducing even. Little things like the 3d drop shadow effect on the silver buttons designating the type is sticking out from the button instead of pressed in to the button, just feels so uneasy (no hardware has this effect as the paint would quickly wear off and it would feel annoying to press).

Wasted screen real estate for no real benefit, ANYTHING not totally and easily legible in the interface, eye fatigue generating contrasts and overall pointless darkness to the whole layout - some good work here, but so many blaring GUI problems - at least to my way of thinking.

Even the way the cymbal stands are so much brighter and therefore attention gathering than the drums and actual cymbals - why? Are we not going to follow the simple rules for graphic design and layout that have been well established for nearly a century now - i.e., the most important stuff jumps out first?

I hate to be a total bummer (too late!) but geez-louise this layout has some problems, and seems so poorly thoughtout - from the POV of musicians that are going to spend long hours working in this evironment. I have to agree with some previous posters about taking a look at what some others have done on great VSTi design - not to steal or copy from them, but to learn all the many things they did so right!

Pretty is one thing, functional is another, but good design combines both in a way that offers the HIGHEST functionality, easiest workflow, and is appealing to the mind (and in this case heart) as well.

Sorry to rag on the design (and designer(s) so badly, but from my POV many basic rules have been ignored and therefore the results are... less appealing.

Wishing you all the best! And still excited about the upgrade!

SciFiArtMan

[SciFiArtMan]

Just realized my "cymbal stands" comment above was based on a VERY early screenshot, and not applicable at this point. Um, nevermind...

SciFiArtMan

[zerocrossing]

[Ralph [RZ]]

Hiring a GUI designer in itself apparently doesn't make a difference (after all, Scott Kane worked on this for quite a while). Furthermore, a GUI designer who doesn't understand the workflow of the product cannot possible devise a good design unless he/she follows the functionality of a similar, existing product.

I also recommend waiting with final judgment until you can all get your hands on the Beta (using this GUI compared to just looking at screenshots). We will have a public Beta for all Jamstix 2 owners.

As soon as Jamstix 3 is released, we will start an official Jamstix 4 GUI thread where we can all debate various new designs.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[zerocrossing]