Larger visualizition ticks

[lianergoist]

I play loud electric guitar, and I would like to have a larger visual tick. Could you make background of the two cirkels flash? Maybe the entire background? Maybe different colors for different type of nodes? And of course, "extended" tick visualization could/should be optional.

[thetwom]

Thanks for the interest in the app.

The reason, why the visualization is just at the bottom corner is to avoid redrawing the whole screen all the time. But on the other side, I never measured if the battery drains faster or not. So maybe it is worth a second thought. I understand, that if using purely the visual feedback, large areas can be helpful.

[lianergoist]

I think you could add it as a nondefault option, with a warning about possible battery drain, and let the user choose.

[thetwom]

You can have a try with this version: v4.8.0-rc1. You have to enable it in the settings, though. I didn't introduce different colors to stay with the current color scheme.

[lianergoist]

Thanks! To be honest, I don't think I like the fading. I think it will be more "clean" and easier to "read" the tempo, if it is a more simple flash. Have you tried a simple flash? Anyway, it is your app, so the choice is yours. But is much better now, with the blinking circle. Thanks.

Den 29. januar 2023 21.52.45 CET, thetwom @.***> skrev:

You can have a try with this version: v4.8.0-rc1. You have to enable it in the settings, though. I didn't introduce different colors to stay with the current color scheme.

-- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/thetwom/toc2/issues/66#issuecomment-1407766729 You are receiving this because you authored the thread.

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[thetwom]

The difficulty with a flash is, that you will experience two signals: when turning color on, and when turning color off. That is why e.g. for the bottom-bar animation there is also no "flash", but alternately appearing lines.

But maybe it is worth trying around a bit, like making the color fade much more quickly, or also alternate colors between different regions, ... .

[lianergoist]

Sorry, bad english. When I say flash, I just mean light on and off for a short time, with no fade. I think it is worth trying something with other areas and colors. It is really nice to be able to able to "see" first beat in a bar.

[thetwom]

I guess, I understood correctly. "Light" is switched on when the note starts, but quickly afterward "light" must switch off again. This switching off can be misinterpreted as another event, without being one.

However, not so important. Here is a test version v4.8.0-rc2, which fades much much faster so you should get more that flash-feeling. Also, I coupled note volume to the intensity. So by turning down the volume for all notes but the first one, you will be able to "see" the first beat better. I am not so much friend of having much more colors, since it only would be consistent, if one could easily map notes and colors. And I really don't want to draw different notes in different colors :-).

[bigboipete]

@thetwom could you elaborate, why do you consider the fades so important for better beat perception? I agree with @lianergoist, I can't see a benefit by fading the beat indicator in and out.

Another point I do not understand (or maybe misunderstand), is the following:

The difficulty with a flash is, that you will experience two signals

From what you write, I get this as your picture:

Beat      |      |      |      |
Indicator
On        |¯|    |¯|    |¯|    |¯|
Off       | |____| |____| |____| |___

But you could easily consider the off-time as a valid indicator:

Beat      |      |      |      |
Indicator
On        |¯¯¯¯¯¯|      |¯¯¯¯¯¯|
Off       |      |______|      |___ 

Could you clarify?

[thetwom]

thanks for the visuals. Your pictures clearly show it ... if you take the first one, you "experience" a signal at switch on and one at switch off (similar to your second picture). If you fade out, you don't "experience" the "off"-signal. But to be clear, you don't have to fade slowly, but can fade very quickly, which is done in the latest rc.

You are right, that we could switch to the second picture, which avoids the problem. But I would guess that it also leads to confusion, since switching on and switching off can be perceived quite differently. I would think that the intuition of most people is, that the flash should switch on when a note starts, and then they would (at least slightly) be confused if only each second beat they are getting the expected signal ...

[lindoman]

I started using this app recently, and "larger visualization" was the first thing I thought of.

The way I see this - the visual appearance of the screen is taken up mostly with the "settings", and the visual tick really is quite small, unlike a real traditional metronome. I tried the "animated circle area" and it did not add to the experience for me, in fact with the combination of both visual cues I found it distracting. My favourite visualization style is "bounce" because it feels like a real metronome to me, and the "anticipation" of the click / beat feels very similar to the real thing.

In light of this preference, I would love to see something like the screenshots attatched, to allow some of the settings to be hidden when necessary (I don't need to change the "pattern" of the rhythm after I press play, I am playing my instrument at that point)

I created a mock-up visual of what I would love to see, just as an idea for discussion, I hope the images speak for themselves.

[thetwom]

Thanks for the suggestions and also the mockup.

the visual appearance of the screen is taken up mostly with the "settings", and the visual tick really is quite small, unlike a real traditional metronome

I understand your point, especially if you really rely on visual feedback, not on sound feedback. Up to now, I mostly focused on sound and thought the visuals more as a support. But as we can see by the existence of this issue, visual feedback seems more important than expected by me.

I tried the "animated circle area" and it did not add to the experience for me, in fact with the combination of both visual cues I found it distracting

Fully agree. Maybe, the current "animated circle area" is a too quick solution to improve the situation, and not really consistent. Maybe I should switch off the bottom animation, when the circle is animated. Regarding your preference of using "bounce" animations, I am glad to hear that this is helpful. One could of course also think to bring a similar effect to the circle.

I created a mock-up visual of what I would love to see, just as an idea for discussion, I hope the images speak for themselves.

Thanks again for the mockup. In the end it would mean some modular screen for the user to hide/unhide specific areas. I understand the intention to allow the user to choose between importance of different views. But I am a bit reluctant to make the screen modular at this point. Adding modularity, I would prefer to do it right, allowing to adjust all elements. But this if course very labor intensive, rewriting a lot of the ui. Also I wonder if we can't get stronger visual feedback in an easier way, as animating the circle in different ways.

[lindoman]

Regarding your preference of using "bounce" animations, I am glad to hear that this is helpful. One could of course also think to bring a similar effect to the circle.

Interesting idea! I would love to see that. The circular motion might be even more reminiscent of a real metronome!

Adding modularity, I would prefer to do it right

Totally agreed :) I appreciate that is a lot of work.

[thetwom]

Here is now a version, where the circle-animations follow the visualization type, as given in the settings. Also the bottom bar animation is switched off, when the circle is on: v4.8.0-rc3

[lianergoist]

Much better. Really like it. Thanks!

[lindoman]

I really like what you did with the circular bounce animation, good enhancement :)

[thetwom]

Thanks a lot for testing. Will take a bit for release since I am still trying to improve the tap in ...

[thetwom]

New version is now released: v4.8.0. Should be available on fdroid and google play soon. Thanks again for the feedback!