Help Wanted: Anyone who likes gui design like to help with making these modules look better?

[Strum]

Is there anyone out that enjoys designing GUIs that wants to help redesign the look of the modules?

I find it tedious myself and would rather focus on functionality.

[Strum]

@jonheal,

1 for 7 means substitute the tonic for the seventh in the chord making it effectively a 3 note chord not a 4 note chord,

That's for making simpler harmony if required or you can apply a random gate to it to add variation to the chords in the same way you can use the sus 2 , sus 4 and add 6 inputs.

There's lots of resources online for learning music theory, it's pretty simple really , though it takes a while to get the sounds in your ear and be able to recognise them. Part of what I do with vcv is use it as a practice tool to play along with and do ear training with.

I'm hoping that eventually a system will be worked out that will enable easy switching of skins and importing control positions from the .svg, then I'll be able to put up a range of skins and people can use the one they like best.

Thanks for your input.

[envelopegen]

this a first world personal problem, but the blue used in the displays turns almost the same color grey as the background when using a blue light filter like night shift or flu.x

[Strum]

@envelopegen, now that's a bug I never would have thought about.

Can I ask why you are using a blue light filter?

[jonheal]

Less red light at night interferes less with your circadian rhythms and it is postulated that this makes it easier to get to sleep easier after using them computer at night. This is a built-infeature of Windows 10, so it is probably not entirely snake oil.

On another note, I apologize, but I probably will not be able to get the time to work on designs for your modules.

-- Jon Heal http://www.theheals.org/ Have a nice day!

On Nov 16, 2017, at 9:26 AM, Strum notifications@github.com wrote:

@envelopegen, now that's a bug I never would have thought about.

Can I ask why you are using a blue light filter?

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[Strum]

@envelopegen

Why don't you just turn the filter off while you are using rack?

[Strum]

@jonheal, no worries, I'll get round to reskinning them myself eventually if someone else doesn't do it

hopefully rack with eventually support switchable skins so people can pick a look they like.

[envelopegen]

the light grey the nobs use would work well as a background, if you want to keep the blue... i'm happy to turn off the filter, but a first time user of the modules just might just be confused and turned off if they are using a mac with night shift. I'd love to contribute, i've been looking into editing svg files... i'll see if i can switch this myself, then pick up design where jons left off... any tips or tutorial links you could push my way @jonheal would be appreciated. any module you need prioritized @Strum ?

[Strum]

@envelopegen, how many people actually use these filters?

what colour would you suggest?, I actually like the blue myself.

start with whichever module you like, my only design criteria were to keep them small and have a consistent look across the modules.

[envelopegen]

anything light will work, i think the light grey from the standard minijack inputs will look enough like a lcd display (color hex is #dadada )... if you pointed me to the svg that is the background of the lcd i could mock up some greener/grainer backgrounds

i've been using flu.x for years, it does save eye strain but i really just use the computer for a few more hours, a lot less goofy then gamer glasses but same idea... High Sierra, as well as iOS, now has a feature called "night shift" built in.

[Strum]

@envelopegen , the background colour of the display and the colour of the text are set in the code not in the background graphics,

[envelopegen]

ah... is hex what you want or like a css color... rgb(218,218,218)

when testing graphics do I need to build each time or if I get the file size correct i'll be able to just replace the svg file?

[Strum]

@envelopegen, the background colour and text are in the svg all the controls are positioned in the code

[Strum]

@envelopegen, to change the background and text you only need to edit the .svg but to move controls you have to edit the code and rebuild.

[envelopegen]

would love to get the strum logo that @jonheal made... not set on the mental logo here (id like to make it look carved in) but added some labels to the masterclock... once i'm set on a design should i email you the .svg?

p.s. would love a reset output on this... :)

[jonheal]

I just typed it out in a font which I can't remember but can look up when I get home this afternoon.

-- Jon Heal http://www.theheals.org/ Have a nice day!

---

From: "envelopegen" notifications@github.com Sent: Friday, November 17, 2017 10:32 AM To: "Strum/Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules" Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules@noreply.github.com Subject: Re: [Strum/Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules] Help Wanted: Anyone who likes gui design like to help with making these modules look better? (#5)

would love to get the strum logo that @jonheal made... not set on the mental logo here but added some labels to the masterclock... once i'm set on a design should i email you the .svg?

- You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[envelopegen]

thanks, if you want to send me any svg's you've already worked on that would be awesome envgen72@gmail.com

[jonheal]

I only got as far as a few Photoshop mockups. No SVGs. Yer startin' from scratch, I'm afraid. :-)

-- Jon Heal http://www.theheals.org/ Have a nice day!

---

From: "envelopegen" notifications@github.com Sent: Friday, November 17, 2017 10:49 AM To: "Strum/Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules" Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules@noreply.github.com Subject: Re: [Strum/Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules] Help Wanted: Anyone who likes gui design like to help with making these modules look better? (#5)

thanks, if you want to send me any svg's you've already worked on that would be awesome envgen72@gmail.com

- You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[Strum]

@envelopegen, the bottom 2 displays of the clock read as a musical time signature.

the top number is the number of beats per bar and the bottom is the length of the beats

[Strum]

@envelopegen, external run/stop and reset for the clock would be handy, i'll add that to the list of bugs/features to fix/add.

[envelopegen]

did some work on the A/B switch... still not set on the mental logo will revisit across the whole pack, would like it to say 'mental by strum' so if you do create different folders or a future packs the 'by strum' logo can be the same. will work on recreating jons strum logo tomorrow.

note 'type' is unclear... shouldn't it be 'note value'? I can put 'length of beats', but i think the bottom note is what kind of note = 1 beat... so if its 2; 1 beat = a half note, if its 4; 1 beat = quarternote. I might try to make some graphical representation of a time signature...

i'm very happy to continue designing around the current placement of nobs and jacks, if i were to make a svg for jons design for 'chord' what would you need from me as far as moving the placement of the jacks. Also how would we handle new features. thanks!

[Strum]

@envelopegen, Any musician who can read music understands what a time signature is I don't think any text other than "time signature" is needed there,

the division lines are good.

adding a coloured circle or rectangle behind the jacks sockets was also part of my original design concept

have a look at what @phdsg is doing, he's made custom jacks and knobs which is much easier than changing each one individually in the background.

https://github.com/phdsg/struMMental

[envelopegen]

gate...

will do... i've thought some about custom nobs, i also saw screws in the components library... might mess around with some of these... are there any irl nobs or images of nobs you like i could base my design off? maybe do different jacks for in and out, and maybe different colors for cv or audio

[envelopegen]

ignore the template, but jack idea

should i start a repository to upload my working svg's?

also looked into editing the "widget code" i could make this work by changing the < PJ301MPort > to what ever the new jack file name is and then add that to the res files? (maybe have to run 'make' too) p.s. sorry if i'm learning out loud too much in this thread.

  addInput(createInput<PJ301MPort>(Vec(3, group_spacing * i +  60), module, MentalGates::INPUT + i));
    addInput(createInput<PJ301MPort>(Vec(3, group_spacing * i +  28), module, MentalGates::GATE_INPUT + i));
    addOutput(createOutput<PJ301MPort>(Vec(32, group_spacing * i +  60), module, MentalGates::OUTPUT + i));

[Strum]

@envelopegen, by all means make a repo if you want,

I'd suggest using strong colours to distinguish between inputs outputs and cvs rather than just slightly different graphics though.

[envelopegen]

k... i'll mess around with some different jacks... should there be in and out cv... in and out audio... so 4 kinds... is there a type i'm missing?

messed with the master clock some more... i did download lilyUPC but find the labeling is hard for the smaller stuff but will keep this the font for the module names. this will get easier once i learn editing the widget code.

would you prefer i "fork" the project or just start a repo with a res folder for you to access?

[Strum]

@envelopegen probably better to make a fork, you'll eventually need to change more than just the .svgs

i can merge changes later.

I'm hoping to set up a system where people can choose from a number of skins.

[envelopegen]

started a fork... should i have used pull requests on my own fork instead of editing the master? https://github.com/envelopegen/Strums_Mental_VCV_Modules

this is where its currently at... i'll try to center those counter nobs as my first code edit

[Strum]

@envelopegen, might be better to work on your own fork and we'll look at merging later on.

If the process of trying to reskin these modules gets you into coding then that's a good outcome regardless of the final result.

Music and coding go together I think.

[Atavic]

Not everyone uses night shift or flu.x, so if your blue isn't strong enough you can enhance it with the GPU drivers. Intel/Nvidia/AMD havre separate settings for Red, Green and Blue.

[Strum]

@envelopegen

Sorry I've not been focused on rack for a the last couple of months, getting back into it now.

I really like the look you've got going on there, have you made much more progress with it?

[Strum]

@Atavic That's a bit beyond my coding skills at the moment I'm afraid.

[Anthony-Lockwood]

Was just playing with an idea. All the best and thanks.

[Strum]

@Anthony-Lockwood , thanks Anthony, I'd prefer the look top be consistent across the whole set and I also think the background detail obscures the text a bit. Perhaps if you reduced the opacity on the detail use a background/text colour combination with high contrast it might work. Sorry it's taken a while to get to you, I've been busy with other things.