Dark theme in Pro Tools 2020.11

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by simonchase

Man, a little widget that helped do this would be very popular

Sorry but my programming skills don't go that far. The hard part is figuring out what line in the file refers to what graphic element.


For those trying the tweak system I outlined keep in mind that entering three of the same values can give you a black to white scale. Three sets of 65535 will give you white while three sets of zeroes gives you black. Anything three of the same value in between gives you various shades of grey. Therein lies how Avid did the scheme.


My work is done all on my own with zero help from anyone here on the DUC or using any proprietary stuff from Avid or any help at all from Avid.

[TrentWilliams]

I'm unsure if anyone has brought this up? My biggest annoyance is the brown markers bar, anything close to red just disappears.

The workaround I guess it to place a dark blue marker at the head of the timeline, but it would be preferable if the whole bar is just dark grey, or even close to white.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by musicman691

each line entry has three numbers with the fourth being 65535. The first three numbers are RGB values.

The fourth number might be transparency. I'm basing this guess on the fact that "cClearColor" is (0,0,0,0,), and ClipTransparencyGridLineColor is (65535,65535,65535,13107).

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by daeron80

The fourth number might be transparency. I'm basing this guess on the fact that "cClearColor" is (0,0,0,0,), and ClipTransparencyGridLineColor is (65535,65535,65535,13107).

That could well be. I'm still working this out and if someone wants to turn this into a cottage industry go ahead - use whatever you want of my work on this. Just doing what I do to give back to the community that has helped me out in so many ways.

[itsjustmeee123]

The only thing about dark mode that bothers me so far is how hard it is to see the grid in the edit window. They could've given some option to change the color of them. Light gray lines on a dark gray background isn't the wisest choice.

[PhilSchroeder]

Originally Posted by NateAlexander

getting the sense that the people who don't like it because they "can't see" things... are, um, older.

enjoy classic then I guess, I think this looks great for a first real new dramatic redesign in a decade.

Nice. Did you think you were being cute? You too, my friend, will experience a time when your eyes aren't as sharp and your hearing not so crisp. At the same time, you'll be better than ever at your craft – and have a lot more money to spend on it – only to find that the companies you support don't care. It's bad enough that they don't...but do we have to put up with guys like you as well? Grow up.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by PhilSchroeder

Nice. Did you think you were being cute? You too, my friend, will experience a time when your eyes aren't as sharp and your hearing not so crisp. At the same time, you'll be better than ever at your craft – and have a lot more money to spend on it – only to find that the companies you support don't care. It's bad enough that they don't...but do we have to put up with guys like you as well? Grow up.

I'm old and have absolutely no problem with what Nate wrote. I'm 69 going on 69 next February and my ancient eyes find dark mode a LOT easier to deal with than 'classic' mode. If you can't stand hearing the truth then what can I say? I'd say you would do well to grow a thicker skin.


I still think it's more a case of people can't stand change. Who knows how many times I've railed against Avid and their inability to fix the MIDI event list bugs (which they have acknowledged exist) but this version of PT has me giving a hard look at updating from PT 2019.6 to take advantage of all the new things in it one of which is dark mode. I've found a way around some of the issues with the new look and will continue to work on it.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by itsjustmeee123

The only thing about dark mode that bothers me so far is how hard it is to see the grid in the edit window. They could've given some option to change the color of them. Light gray lines on a dark gray background isn't the wisest choice.

The grid in the edit window has never been all that easy to see.

[Lemoncel]

I like the dark mode as well, although I find it more useful with the earlier mentioned hack that allows you to put the waveforms back to their original color.

But at least those who prefer the old look aren't forced to use dark mode. Would hope to see some user options for contrast etc going forward.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Lemoncel

I like the dark mode as well, although I find it more useful with the earlier mentioned hack that allows you to put the waveforms back to their original color.

But at least those who prefer the old look aren't forced to use dark mode. Would hope to see some user options for contrast etc going forward.

I tried that and found that the MIDI notes in an instrument track in the edit screen were almost unreadable. Are you seeing that as well? I'm on a Mac and as I understand it Mac & Windows users are seeing different things wr dark mode.