Graphical User Interface; help...

[josha]

hi,

I am doing a college project about alternative DAW design to the usual Pro tools/ logic/cubase GUI. I found some info about a globe based virtual mixer designed by david gibson which looks pretty radical. Does anyone know of any other designs for mixing recording software that uses unconventioanl designs/ ways of controlling the software? Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

cheers,

josh

[theblue1]

Sounds pretty interesting.

As it is, what were once quite divergent systems have grown more alike.

Much of that is a natural evolution and adoption of modalities that work for users, of course.

Users tend to cling to familiar UI paradigms that work for them. But when a new UI comes up that really offers advantages, it can be amazing how quickly it's adopted. However, most 'bright ideas' come and go with a flurry of sympathetic press-release re-writings from the bozos who pass for the tech-press.

[DAWgEAR]

In the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise uses some 3-d see-through "screen". I don't know what that technology is called, but I remember thinking how cool it will be when that type of technology eventually becomes accessible for the masses.

YouTube - Minority Report at CeBIT 2008

If you serach You Tube on Minority Report Screen, there are other clips.

It might not necessarily be what you are looking for, but I thought I'd throw it out ...

[DAWgEAR]

Also, related to the Gibson globe idea, imagine a device worn on the head (like the light-on-a-headband that miners wear). It beams a signal at your monitor screen and the monitor is equipped with sensors.

You select a track and look to the right and the sound pans right. You roll your desk chair back and the track fades into the background of the mix. You look up and the highs are brightened.

Kinda goofy, maybe. Oh well. it's fun to brainstorm ...

Another area to investigate might be computer accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

Good luck with your research.

[theblue1]

Don't forget 3D space interactivity systems (like those used in some DJ oriented controllers) that allow hand or other gestures in 3d space as well as cameras reading eye movements and that sort of thing.


Mind you... I have enough trouble with some of the mouse gesture aspects of my own DAW (Sonar), particularly with regard to fade type selection gestures (Sonar tries to minimize tool switching)... I still sometimes end up momentarily getting the cross fade when I want the simple fade, etc.

[Geert van den Berg]

Originally Posted by josha

hi,

I am doing a college project about alternative DAW design to the usual Pro tools/ logic/cubase GUI. I found some info about a globe based virtual mixer designed by david gibson which looks pretty radical. Does anyone know of any other designs for mixing recording software that uses unconventioanl designs/ ways of controlling the software? Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

cheers,

josh

Can you provide link to info about that globe based virtual mixer, or isn't that info available on the web? It sounds interesting. Thanks.

[Fredrik]

Ableton live have a pretty different approach in their non linear clip view where loops, even of different length can run simultaniously and be recorded to a timeline. The fact that the whole structure of a song can be made and captured on the fly sets it appart from the others. This you might or might not know already ofcourse, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Other than that I think it makes sence for a user interface to look and behave as somthing that people are familiar with i.e faders, knobs, score sheets etc.

I remember a post here a while ago whith a youtube link that showed physical knobs that could be attached directly to the screen but I couldn´t find it now.

[josha]

hi guys,

thanks for your input- all good.

There seems to be a lack of research in this area- might be a hard project. I think some of the alternatives to the conventional DAW can come across as a bit wacky and i haven't made up my mind whether they will ever catch on, but it must be said the traditional designs can make the creative processs pretty uninspiring.

This is the link to david gibson's virtual mixer;

Globe Audio Recording and Production Classes

[travisbrown]

There is lots of research into HCI (Human Computer Interface). A lot of it is proprietary research, however, so you might have to dig deep for source material. Look at some of the academic and trade industrial design journals.

Are you looking specifically at software GUIs, or hardware interfaces as well? There are some cool advances in DAW control. Look at what some of the DIY guys are doing too.

Here are some of my favourites, some hardware only, some GUI/hardware:

Reactable is pretty damned cool.
Jazzmutant Lemurs and Dexters are pretty innovative.
Yamaha's Tenori-on
Kromatron
GypsyMIDI
reacTogon