Re: AU interface consistency
Re: AU interface consistency
- Subject: Re: AU interface consistency
- From: Jim Wintermyre <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 22:10:20 -0700
I have to say that I agree with Urs on this...
John wrote:
You say many good things, but I think the main problem with it is that
you're viewing the AU interface as independent from the rest of the
operating system. As much as it sounds nice to think of the AU
interface as some audio component not bound to interface design
consistency, we can't forget that this is all on a computer and not an
audio component.
But as a *user* who is trying to *make music*, I would probably
rather have my vintage synth plugin UI look like that vintage synth
hardware, because of what Urs said - I immediately know how to use
it. I don't want to have it look like a prefs panel. Having said
that, there are also cases where it is nice to see all the parameters
laid out in a standard view (but in my work I'd say that's the
exception rather than the rule). Also, don't forget that like it or
not, there are a ton of VST plugins out there that people are already
used to, and they're not going to be happy if the UI changes on them
in the AudioUnit versions for no apparent good reason.
Because music software may have special needs doesn't mean we throw all
guidelines out the door and have a free-for-all. The design of an
interface needs to take into consideration the conditions in which it's
going to be used - as it doesn't exist in the world by itself. Even
when developing custom interfaces, how it fits in with the rest of the
system is vital.
I would say that these guidelines should be applied towards the
general "controls" view, a la Logic. Let the user have the best of
both worlds, and make the controls view standardized across different
hosts. Currently every VST host's version of the "controls" view is
different.
My $.02.
Jim
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