Question about plugin boxes

[amagras]

This might be a silly question but what's the point of having plugins with confortable GUI shapes if Pro Tools will surround them with empty spaces around anyways? The MAAT DRMeter is the perfect example of a plug you would want to have in a corner, that's why it has that shape. Well, apparently not in Pro Tools.

Am I missing something?

EDIT: please vote here: http://protools.ideascale.com/a/idea...a-tab-comments

[TNM]

Not a silly question at all.. it's happened since RTAS days.. unfortunately with pro tools there is a minimum width for every plugin, i personally think it has something to do with the menu system up top.. and any plugin that doesn't meet this width has grey borders added to whatever the extra space needed is..

I wish there was a way to get into the colours and at least make it black, which would be a bit more tolerable particularly around the metering plugins.

But yeah, long requested feature to fix. Kinda drives me a bit nuts, especially when you see how beautiful those plugins look in Logic, Cubase etc.

[amagras]

Thanks TNM, if there's an ideascale link somewhere in this forum I'm sure I will find it, vote it and share it here.
UPDATE:
Found this thread from 2011, added a few tags and voted but the title needs to be updated, it also has many comments from people who don't get it http://protools.ideascale.com/a/idea...a-tab-comments
Hopefully this won't go on for much longer, it's 2018, we are paying every year to see things like this solved.

[TNM]

Originally Posted by amagras

Thanks TNM, if there's an ideascale link somewhere in this forum I'm sure I will find it, vote it and share it here.
UPDATE:
Found this thread from 2011, added a few tags and voted but the title needs to be updated, it also has many comments from people who don't get it http://protools.ideascale.com/a/idea...a-tab-comments
Hopefully this won't go on for much longer, it's 2018, we are paying every year to see things like this solved.

we are getting folder tracks this year and i have heard from MANY people that answered they wanted in line pitch like melodyne built in to PT..(avid did a survey) so my gut tells me we will have that this year too.
What i mean is, glass half full.. avid listen and are improving PT all the time.

Where this plugin border really is an issue is on laptops, due to the limited screen real estate.. on large screens it's more tolerable.
Furthermore, if the plugin devs made a horizontal version of the meters, problem solved.. I prefer horizontal and besides waves dorrough there aren't many around that do it.

So yes, it's annoying, but personally i would rather some showstoppers be fixed like the alt-h move by sample being broken for example..or all the avid factory plugins crashing at rates above 48KHZ...
If they fix the plugin window it will just be a nice bonus. but i don't think it's as easy as we might be imagining it.. i think it will take quite some redesign and coding..
once again, let's start asking devs who make meter plugins to do horizontal options.. let's face it, it's meter plugins that are mostly affected.

PS just remembered , blue cat audio has some excellent horizontal level meters with their digital peak meter pro bundle.

[Drew Mazurek]

I'm curious, how do other DAWs handle this? What does that plugin look like in Logic for example?

If there's a minimum in the AAX SDK, seems the 3rd party dev is responsible for making their product show well in AAX.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

I'm curious, how do other DAWs handle this? What does that plugin look like in Logic for example?

If there's a minimum in the AAX SDK, seems the 3rd party dev is responsible for making their product show well in AAX.

I don't have Logic but do have DP which uses either vst or au in OSX. For instance the Brainworx metering plug has a nice slim gui but that same plug in PT has that extra added space on the sides. I think this is due to having to show all the stuff in the header like for automation and patch saving where PT doesn't use the plugin's own patch saving mechanism.

[TNM]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

I'm curious, how do other DAWs handle this? What does that plugin look like in Logic for example?

If there's a minimum in the AAX SDK, seems the 3rd party dev is responsible for making their product show well in AAX.

You just see whatever gui the dev intended without any extra space. Logic puts a preset and bypass menu on top but it adapts to any size.
Same with Cubase.

Basically as I explained above, i can say with almost certainty that pro tools having all that stuff at the top, standard for any plugin, takes a certain amount of minimum width.. so any plugins that don't meet that, get the borders added.

however, as you correctly pointed out, a dev could code it to make the aax version look proper within avid's mandatory parameters.

[Drew Mazurek]

So, these 3rd party devs are choosing to ignore these AAX standards, presumably to save time/money. PT's plugin window layout has been basically the same for 20+ years.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I don't have Logic but do have DP which uses either vst or au in OSX. For instance the Brainworx metering plug has a nice slim gui but that same plug in PT has that extra added space on the sides. I think this is due to having to show all the stuff in the header like for automation and patch saving where PT doesn't use the plugin's own patch saving mechanism.

Interesting so If I understand correctly in DP either you do not have the options available in the PT header bar, (except saving the patch) or they are very tiny , or you have to open another window to access them ?
If so then perhaps it's really only a different compromise, and basically either 6 of one or 1/2 dozen of the other ?

[amagras]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

So, these 3rd party devs are choosing to ignore these AAX standards, presumably to save time/money. PT's plugin window layout has been basically the same for 20+ years.

Is not as simple as ignoring standards to save time or money, the whole point of creating an oblong shaped meter plugin is to save space because meters need to be checked out often, if the PT header gets in the way it's time to change that and make it adaptable.