Re: Knob styles (was: AU host properties)
Re: Knob styles (was: AU host properties)
- Subject: Re: Knob styles (was: AU host properties)
- From: James Chandler Jr <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 11:29:35 -0400
We plan on adding the ability to select knob styles (vertical,
horizontal, rotary) to some our plug-ins.
Some "linear controlled" knobs auto sense either vertical or horizontal
movement-- The knob value tracks the direction of the greatest change
from the original click position, regardless of whether the drag is
vertical or horizontal. I guess this is a good idea, though I get
confused working such "two-way" controls.
Personally, I love rotary knobs... Anyway, just my opinion (my boss
disagrees :-)).
I used vertical-only knobs for a long time. Had to switch to rotary
knobs due to boss preference. For a long time thought rotary knobs were
an abomination, but after using rotary-control knobs for some years,
they seem "easier" than linear-control knobs.
Oh, one other thing...I've seen two styles of rotary knobs: one where
the position of the knob is absolute (i.e., a simple click at the
3-o'clock position moves the knob to there, and it tracks wherever
you point; the second is "relative", more like a real-world knob, in
that it only turns as you turn it, relative to the place you clicked.
I'm using the second option now, but does anyone out there use or
prefer the first (absolute position) method?
Option 1 is equivalent to a musical slider control whose thumb jumps
wherever you click. In a window scroll control, this thumb behavior
would be pretty awful, but for fast music control, it is nice to assign
a value with a single click, no dragging required.
With option 1, you can get better accuracy (when required) by dragging
"way out" away from the knob. If the knob thumb always follows the
mouse arrow, as you drag farther away from knob center, the effective
mouse drag resolution gets better (larger pixel drag delta offers a
larger number of angles that can be resolved). This can be useful on
knobs that have an impossibly large range, ferinstance a 20 Hz -> 20
KHz frequency selector knob.
I routinely pair a knob with a numeric textbox, so the user can either
drag approximate knob values or type-in exact values, without having to
remember to do anything unusual. The user doesn't have to remember
which Control-Key-Click combination pops up a "fine-control" dialog.
James Chandler Jr.
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