ReSpire, resized

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fieldframe
RE Developer
Posts: 1037
Joined: 19 Apr 2016

21 May 2017

There's a lot to like about Reveal Sound ReSpire, even in its early-access "Preview Edition." One thing that's not quite so great, though, is its interface. A lot of Spire's more advanced functionality has been swept into a tiny corner, where you have to select screens with a pop-up menu, sometimes navigating between screens just to edit a single feature, like the stepper.

Chalk it up to limitations of the RE format? Yes and no. The thing is, there's actually plenty of space in 9U if you use it wisely. And ReSpire spends a lot of its space on some huge honkin' knobs. Don't get me wrong, they're great looking knobs! But Reason's 9U limit only works if you use Reason-sized controls.

And so, I propose a solution to ReSpire's space problem: Fix the knobs. As an experiment, I did a bit of photo-editing on a screenshot to see how the the UI might work if all the knobs were 25% smaller, keeping the same size for all the labels. After some re-shuffling (and lots of fun with layers), I got back about 1U of space, which was enough to move a few other pieces and blow up the tiny display at the bottom to something much more substantial.

This new display makes two things possible: No more split pages (a stepper can be all on one page), and only one click to change screens, instead of having to rely on a pop-up menu. And in Reason 9.5, RE usability is more important than ever.

Before:

Image

After:

Image

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eusti
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Posts: 2793
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

21 May 2017

Nice! I like your version much better... I probably would have made both the pitch as the mod wheel go all the way down (as in stretched them longer) to end of the rack to fill the space better.

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darkmaer
Posts: 32
Joined: 30 Apr 2017
Location: Greensboro, NC

21 May 2017

YES!!! I'd be even cool with tabs so match the LFO and ENV tabs and put them in between those tabs as well, but yes. This would make me very happy.

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decibel
Posts: 974
Joined: 07 Mar 2015

21 May 2017

the first version had the master volume knob strangely positioned on the back, now it seems missing all together ? perhaps it could be re positioned under the mod/pitch wheels

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esselfortium
Posts: 1456
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
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21 May 2017

Your version looks a lot better! Much more effective use of space -- the oversized knobs in the released version really do it a disservice by forcing the interactive display into a cramped corner.
Sarah Mancuso
My music: Future Human

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fieldframe
RE Developer
Posts: 1037
Joined: 19 Apr 2016

21 May 2017

decibel wrote:the first version had the master volume knob strangely positioned on the back, now it seems missing all together ? perhaps it could be re positioned under the mod/pitch wheels
Perfect!

Image

Also a good place to use one of the big knobs. :)

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FlowerSoldier
Posts: 470
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

21 May 2017

Nice fieldframe! That looks really good.

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selig
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Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

21 May 2017

Big improvement overall IMO - nice!


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miscend
Posts: 1955
Joined: 09 Feb 2015

22 May 2017

Email it to Reveal sound

Breach The Sky
Posts: 212
Joined: 14 Jul 2015
Location: Sweden

22 May 2017

Yeah that's a lot better!

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Loque
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Posts: 11175
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

22 May 2017

Make the wheels as knobs and you save even more. Nice design!
Reason12, Win10

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dioxide
Posts: 1781
Joined: 15 Jul 2015

22 May 2017

Agreed this is a big improvement to the layout. Good work!

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svenh
Posts: 180
Joined: 21 Apr 2015
Location: Lund, Sweden
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22 May 2017

+1 Huge improvement! I assume that you also have notified Reveal Sound about this possibility?

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Kategra
Posts: 327
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

22 May 2017

I too prefer the look of smaller knobs and more accessible in one menu.
I upgraded to R9.2 and bought Spire. Even with all the effects disabled in the back for each patch, they sound cool.

One the more aesthetic stile of the interface, I would like it if the front panel and knobs could resemble metal and plastic more than it does rubber.
59 euros seemed like a fair price if they never fix the bugs, but it would be a bargain if they fix them all at no cost.
800 patches is also very good. I don't like (or know effectively) to program presets, most of the time I only make small tweaks.

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artotaku
Posts: 652
Joined: 09 May 2015
Location: Munich, Germany
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22 May 2017

+1, very good proposal.

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Carly(Poohbear)
Competition Winner
Posts: 2871
Joined: 25 Jan 2015
Location: UK

22 May 2017

Very nice, that will improve workflow, as others have said flag it to Reveal, let them know that others are really up for that...

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PadShifta
Posts: 92
Joined: 23 Jan 2015
Location: Germany
Contact:

22 May 2017

Great redesign folks! It would be huge if Reveal Sound did actually listen to us on this matter!

Hey Reveal Sound Team, if you´re reading this, you are an important part of our community now and we cannot thank you guys enough for your time and manpower on the ReSpire project! Since you are new to REs and the paradigms that somewhat limit the freedom in programming Plugins for Reason and with all due respect, I´d like to suggest you stay in touch with us on this forum. This community knows the edges and limitations well and we´ve got some brilliant minds that have good and feasible solutions to the problems that you might run into (like rack space).
If you haven´t already, please consider taking a look at the redesigns above that adress a good deal of graphical issues (=workflow issues) that just don´t feel right to us or could be done better in order to maximize the experience and the workflow. We all love ReSpire and will support you anyway but a few changes of the GUI will make ReSpire a bestseller on this platform, guaranteed!

Thank you Reveal Sound!

Cheers, Andy :-)
Last edited by PadShifta on 22 May 2017, edited 1 time in total.

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Faastwalker
Posts: 2281
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: NSW, Australia

22 May 2017

I like your version much better. It's a small change but it looks a lot neater & more i line with other RE's in terms of knob size.

borracho
Posts: 39
Joined: 19 Jun 2015

22 May 2017

Reveal Sound, please redesign it. Right now UI is really hard to work with. FX/Stepper/Matrix menu is terrible - I have around 100 REs -and it is worst design from the usability point of view. Redesigned UI suggestions are waaaay better

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

22 May 2017

I think I'll probably end up buying €59 ReSpire, so if the OP has no objections, I'll email them with this excellent redesign (and point out the master volume knob!)
I suggest anyone else who thinks it's a good idea do the same ;)
A front-panel on/off for every effect is a must, too.

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theshoemaker
Posts: 595
Joined: 21 Nov 2015
Location: Germany
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22 May 2017

fieldframe wrote:There's a lot to like about Reveal Sound ReSpire, even in its early-access "Preview Edition." One thing that's not quite so great, though, is its interface. A lot of Spire's more advanced functionality has been swept into a tiny corner, where you have to select screens with a pop-up menu, sometimes navigating between screens just to edit a single feature, like the stepper.

Chalk it up to limitations of the RE format? Yes and no. The thing is, there's actually plenty of space in 9U if you use it wisely. And ReSpire spends a lot of its space on some huge honkin' knobs. Don't get me wrong, they're great looking knobs! But Reason's 9U limit only works if you use Reason-sized controls.

And so, I propose a solution to ReSpire's space problem: Fix the knobs. As an experiment, I did a bit of photo-editing on a screenshot to see how the the UI might work if all the knobs were 25% smaller, keeping the same size for all the labels. After some re-shuffling (and lots of fun with layers), I got back about 1U of space, which was enough to move a few other pieces and blow up the tiny display at the bottom to something much more substantial.

This new display makes two things possible: No more split pages (a stepper can be all on one page), and only one click to change screens, instead of having to rely on a pop-up menu. And in Reason 9.5, RE usability is more important than ever.

After:

Image
reveal_sound wrote:
Please have a look at this! High performance/ workflow boost with this proposed design
:PUF_figure: latest :reason: V12 on MacOS Ventura

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alex
Posts: 397
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Italy
Contact:

22 May 2017

Great job fieldframe, I didn't mind the bigger knobs either, but your new redesigned looks better to me and the bigger panel/display helps in improving the workflow! :thumbs_up:
The best things happen after reading the manual. ;)
:reason: :re: :refill: :ignition:

stp2015
Posts: 323
Joined: 02 Feb 2016

22 May 2017

Looks fantastic!

Maybe the FX on/off buttons can now also be moved to the front?

scratchnsnifff
Posts: 1423
Joined: 21 Sep 2016

22 May 2017

While they Are at it maybe they could have an env already routed to he filter like in the vst :p I now see what some of the RT community meant by comparing spire and expanse, both can create similar sounds but have different ways of getting there, just wondering how likely do you think it is for them to re size a little bit? It'd be huuuge
Mayor of plucktown :evil:

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Karim
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Posts: 957
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Location: Italy
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22 May 2017

Absolutely I signed and confirmed the solution! Genius!

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