8.4 Preview r2193 - Smooth Scrolling Library

Archived development update discussion from past versions
Archived development updates.
Typhlosion
Posts: 82

Post by Typhlosion »

Nicholas wrote:
maccer wrote:Hm, I would rather have it remember my position than have the smooth scrolling.
Well... it's not really a trade-off. The last version had neither. This version has one of the two. Eventually we can get two of two.

There are lots of reasons it might not be on the same page. Two common ones: the library was still populating (in the case of lots of songs) when you picked your song. Or, you may have removed some files via something like iTunes File Sharing (on the iPad version) at some point since you were last in the library. (The lifetime of Synthesia on that platform can be weeks long because it just sits quietly in the background when you're not using it.)

Anyway, it's something I'll get to someday. Just not today. I am happy with the smooth scrolling though. ;)
I would just implement an internal SearchByID function into that list, then remember the song ID (should be a hash or something like that) and just search for that. Should be pretty easy I think.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

TonE wrote:Maybe problems with Midi Yoke appear, because some midi port .xml files were not updated after installing a few new midi ports? Is this possible as a source of the problem?
Do you mean Synthesia's xml files? Or Midi Yoke's? I don't actually know much about the way Midi Yoke works. I haven't had it installed in a few years.

So long as each device has a different name, there shouldn't be any problem on Synthesia's side that I know of. Were you able to get this resolved after messing around with input devices? I still haven't been able to reproduce it.
Typhlosion wrote:I would just implement an internal SearchByID function into that list, then remember the song ID (should be a hash or something like that) and just search for that. Should be pretty easy I think.
There are a few interesting points beyond that: snapping back to the previously-loaded song works when the song scanning process is already finished, but it's tricky when things are still populating. A song's group can even change (from not-categorized to being in some group, when the scanning process finds a .synthesia file). And if you're already navigating around in the library (maybe after any user input at all?) it has to be smart enough not to snap back to the previously loaded song or it might get frustrating to be taken away from what you were doing.

Granted, most of that is edge-case stuff that would hardly come up, but it's all work that has to be done before I can get the feature in there. That said, I definitely want to do it. It seems more correct to retain your list position.
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jimhenry
Posts: 1899

Post by jimhenry »

TonE wrote:
TonE wrote:My setting, tested version 2193:
In From Midi Yoke: 5
Out to Midi Yoke: 8
Somehow, it seems Midi Yoke ports are not handled correctly, the input is routed to the output automatically? Or vice versa, so it plays automatically perfectly? Great for achieving maximum score. :lol:
What is connected to the Midi Yokes at the other end? Is MIDI-OX involved?
Jim Henry
Author of the Miditzer, a free virtual theatre pipe organ
http://www.Miditzer.org/
TonE
Synthesia Donor
Posts: 1180

Post by TonE »

TonE wrote:Somehow, it seems Midi Yoke ports are not handled correctly, the input is routed to the output automatically? Or vice versa, so it plays automatically perfectly? Great for achieving maximum score. :lol:
Do we HAVE TO set the note range always? What if we do not set the note range? Can this be the problem, as I do not set any note range, I was assuming it would use all notes then?
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

You don't have to set a range. That's just to help auto-octave shifting and the "My Keyboard" zoom option.

If you don't set one (and turn off the software keyboard, which has an implied range), it should just treat things like you have all 88 keys, because it can't know any better.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

jimhenry wrote:You find it less irritating to
  • select an input device
  • test the keys and hear nothing
  • return to the settings screen
  • select an output device
  • test the output and hear something
  • return to the settings screen
  • return to the input device screen
  • test the keys and hear something
  • set the keyboard range
This feels like a straw man.
  1. The visual feedback is definitive. Sound doesn't confirm your input device is working any more than the visual feedback already does.
  2. The default on every platform is that output is set to an always-available synth. So "test the keys and hear nothing" doesn't happen in the wild.
  3. In the history of our species, anywhere the words "input" and "output" are present, input precedes output.
Beyond that, a million existing Synthesia users have already learned it the input-first way. 8.4 is already going to be a big enough change without swapping things around on them. I think TonE's feedback is a hint of things to come if 8.4 were to ship that way.

I'm going to roll the swapped device list change back.
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jimhenry
Posts: 1899

Post by jimhenry »

That list was not a strawman, it was a response to "This is not a good argument, to hear something you need to set anyway both, the question is only in which order." The answer to which order is that you have to set a sound output before you try to hear the output.

As to your visual feedback is as good as aural feedback assertion, my answer is that most people expect to hear a sound when they press a key on a music keyboard not simply see something happen on a computer screen. When I press a key on a keyboard I expect to confirm that everything is working, not just input.

I probably arrived at my point of view about the device setting order after something other than the default arrangement was in place but I frequently found myself in a position of making a keyboard setting and not hearing anything which I found annoying. I got in the habit of working from bottom to top on the music devices settings page. In Roman language based countries, I think top to bottom takes precedence over input before output.

If you are comfortable with the proposition that users will not normally find themselves in a situation where the music output is inoperative, then my argument for ensuring that the output works before setting the input is considerably diminished. I will agree that my configuration almost certainly changes more than for most people and I am far more likely to go to the settings with the music output device in a state that is unexpected than most people.

Go ahead and roll back the change, which if my memory serves you made before I suggested it. If people complain about not hearing anything while setting their music input device because the music output device was not set correctly, I reserve the right to say, "I told you so." I suspect you can live with that. ;)
Jim Henry
Author of the Miditzer, a free virtual theatre pipe organ
http://www.Miditzer.org/
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

jimhenry wrote:... which if my memory serves you made before I suggested it.
I think you had suggested it three or four times (over the years!) before I did it. ;)

But yeah, #2 in my list alleviates basically all concern, I think. If you do ever get to say "I told you so", it will be from feedback that I haven't seen yet in 6 years of input devices being listed before output.
sirknight
Posts: 75

Post by sirknight »

I don't have much to add, nothing seems to jump out at me other than the following...

where I am up to this point:

my reset of all the settings did nothing for my overly sensitive keys... I guess at this point I can only blame my own clumsiness, and maybe it's always been an issue, I'm just at the point that I realize I'm doing it.

After finishing a song, the song view seems to default to basic mode, rather than advanced, which is what I always had it set to. If someone mentioned it previously ('m sure someone would have by now, it's probably already been addressed, or explained) But I'm not sure if it bugs me yet. I can live with it if it means eventually starting on new helpful features sooner than addressing personal layout preferences :P

redoing the setup from scratch was easy... there isn't much after all, and going through all the options doesn't take long. If I were a new user, I doubt I'd have trouble as long as the hardware was all working properly.
ttc014
Posts: 2

Post by ttc014 »

Very cool! I have a question, can you make the key press and release animation? I think it's a little too bland without them.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

sirknight wrote:After finishing a song, the song view seems to default to basic mode, rather than advanced...
If you prefer to always return to the Advanced view, check the Songs section under Settings. There is an option there called "Song View". If you change it to "Always Show Advanced" it should behave the way it sounds like you want. Hopefully that helps!
davemac1
Posts: 32

Post by davemac1 »

Slightly off subject here but I am experimenting with a Yamaha EZ200 with lighted keys as my Yamaha GT2A has limited midi. Will the lighted key only work in melody practice , is there a way I can set them to come on in rhythm practice or watch and listen ? Working with IPad latest beta. Also any news from Apple yet ?
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