5.0 first impressions
 

* Not happy about digi moving the key commands for changing mode and changing tools further away - not cool. Why was this done? (does anyone really show/hide a big timecode display window more often than they change tools???)

* Changing a fade now stops playback - in 4.3.2 you could do it and let playback continue. Again - why?

* 5.0 seems very finicky with the selector tool - often, clicking on the screen with the I-beam selects a tiny sliver of time instead of just selecting a spot - anyone else have this problem?

* The extra sub-menu for changing track views (waveform, automation, etc) is very cumbersome. Again, I fail to see the point?

Digi, please change these back! Why have changes been made that make the user experience slower and more cluttered?


Mike

Re: 5.0 first impressions
 

* The extra sub-menu for changing track views (waveform, automation, etc) is very cumbersome. Again, I fail to see the point?

Cumbersome and redundant, might I add. A few millimeters away you can adjust the track view the old way anyway. It gets in the way of the data display, but I'd like to hear if there is any other reason for its existence.

Another feature that I believe compromises accuracy is the size of regions borderlines. Although aesthetically an improvement, the thicker borders get in the way of editing precision.

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Marco Marinangeli
Magelic Productions, Inc.
Compression Records
http://www.compressionrecords.com

Re: 5.0 first impressions
 

Haven't had the time to really get into PT5.0 yet, but Mike makes a good point-Why are changes being made to the user interface which only makes the system harder and more cumbersome to use? It seems that Digi software engineers have been on this track for a number of years (ever since PT 3.2,which had the most elegant interface,IM-ever-so-humble-O).

Case in point-why was the finger changed to the ole'nasty finger in the hand tool? Did anyone request this? Some software engineer having a good time? Seems to have stuck, though. Also, extra menus like the one warning you that the region name you have typed has too many characters just require you to make another keystroke, when the simple alert sound worked just fine. (This one was answered that new users might be confused-well fine, they are probably confused for a little while anyway, but don't need to pay for their confusion forever after).

I predict that such suggestions to streamline will fall on deaf ears now just as they have in the past...

Bob

Re: 5.0 first impressions
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>Another feature that I believe compromises accuracy is the size of regions borderlines. Although aesthetically an improvement, the thicker borders get in the way of editing precision.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree entirely with Marco. I even prefer the aesthetics of the thin border to the new version.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>I predict that such suggestions to streamline will fall on deaf ears now just as they have in the past...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I disagree with that trak. It is because they listened that we now have 5.0 saturated with user requests, to the point of agony.


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Angelo Quaglia
AQ Productions

Re: 5.0 first impressions
 

mike_c writes:
"5.0 seems very finicky with the selector tool - often, clicking on the screen with the I-beam selects a tiny sliver of time instead of just selecting a spot - anyone else have this problem?"
I have this problem, big time! It has been a major annoyance from the first time I worked in 5.0. It seems that I have to consciously stop mouse motion before I can click. 5.0 is slightly slower to respond to mouse movements. If I work at the speed I used to, it seems that the click is recognized before the movement updates are finished.

"* The extra sub-menu for changing track views (waveform, automation, etc) is very cumbersome"
I completely agree.

Now that I am getting them under my finders, I prefer the function keys to change tools and modes. It is easier to hit a single function key than a two-findered combo.

Re: 5.0 first impressions
 

I have been making a real effort to get used to using the function keys to change editing tools. After much practice and now that I'm well used to it, I have to say I hate it. I am only half as fast I used to be and I always have to look at the keyboard to type the right key. Of all the things to change this was really ill advised. Could this change really be made by people who use ProTools every day? Please make the classic mode truely classic.

sm

[This message has been edited by Steve MacMillan (edited 12-14-99).]