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Frontpanel Desing Ideas and Layouts


Guest Pasquale
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Guest Pasquale

Hi everyone!

I'm new at this project but i find it interesting and a big challenge ( for me, cause i only know how to compose and mix music in my computer ;) )

I already started building the midibox64 ...

But i find it hard to make a usefull frontpanel  :'( and not just putting buttons and faders here and there.

So it would be nice from all of u who have make a midibox to help beginners and with panel layouts and ideas.

Keep on the good work guys. Its a good project and i hope it won't last.

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Guest Pasquale

U're right intosite!  :)

It's like getting a Quickbasic programmer to create a financial program in MASM!  ;D

But the whole thing is about  getting all the stuff in a usefull order.

What i mean is that when i saw the Midibox LC project, i got excited and i said ' Hey that's great! I'm gonna make one! '. But when i started designing the panel of my midibox with the Frontpanel Designer, i realised that there's something goin wrong.  ???

I noticed that i see a lot of buttons but no labels at all.

What's what there?  (except the faders and rotaries)

Then i saw the gallery stuff with a lot of beautiful midiboxes  :o and tutorials, but no explanation (or close pics) about the labels of the buttons.

So what's what again??? :'(

I think it would be good if the members who have created a midibox could give some info or better if they can upload the layout files of their midiboxes.

That would be great for us to understand the way the knobs,switches etc.. are organised on a midibox.

That way i guess everyone will try to be more creative on making a better layout and post it to the midibox site to help, encourage and make the midibox challenge be the greatest adventure we ever had.

P.S. Sorry about my english but i din't even get my lower degree certificate.  ;D

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Guest Pasquale

Thanx Raphael for your help!

But the thing is that if i create a nice midibox design, it would be nice to upload the (Illustrator,Corel Draw or whatever software) the template is made, so that others can use it or modify it on their own midibox.

I guess some of us are good in electronics so they upload the PCB templates, others are good in design etc...

The good about this project as i saw is that everyone is helping everyone.

I don't want my intentions to get misunderstood but i don't think that everyone is good in handling DTP or Designing software.

I saw some great midiboxes with no labels and graphical layout at all.

Wouldn't it be nice if we would exchange our experience this way (and avoiding to get deep into designing programs), get some ideas on already made layouts and modifiyng them the better way we can?

And when we get a good result create our own midibox and share the design template (file) with all the other midibox users?

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Hello Pasquale

I read every day through this forum since about 3 month and at this point I want to say, that I throw a big hand to Thosten and all of you making this possible and help each other! So I'm shure that you'll find some help for your needs.

On the other hand I'd like to encourage you to find your own design, exactly fitting you.

I work as a professional sound engineer and have the pleasure to work with Fairlight MFX/Fame. I'm so used to it that I hate working with ProTools/HUI in our Layout-Studio (actually I just hate it cause I'm so slow on it). So my design (which isn't even on paper yet:-) will be close to the MFX-Controller. The main difference between all the controllers I have seen here and the ones you can buy, will be, that the computer keyboard will be between the faders and the Jog-/Edit-/Play-Section. Since the keyboard with its shortcuts is the main editor interface for todays DAW systems, I want it right in front of me. 16 faders on the left, Jog/Play and another 8 faders on the right. I even think about placing a programmable keypad above the Jog www.xkeys.com (I bet Thorsten would be able engineere something like that with a PIC :-).

I don't want to offend you... NO, I'd to like ask you, that if you take all this work on you, why don't build the controller of your dreams, which design fits exactly your style of working with your DAW?

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Welcome, Sreaming_Rabbit!

 Interesting... a fairlight user... I tried to learn Fairlight MFX3+ and Prodigy systems, but got sick of it... it was wierd for me... hard to get used to remembering all those key commands, and the routing system in the fairlight prodigy is really strange IMO... so I went back to Protools, That was all at college (North Sydney Tafe), but at home, all I can afford is logic 5, on a PC... (what step next? :-/)

 So what software will you be using with your controller that you plan to build?

 

Sorry about the threadjacking, Pasquale ;)

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Hi Steven_C

Yes the MFX-Commands aren't easy to learn. But when you work daily with it, you get lightning editing speed. The big limit on MFX is, that it's not up to date anymore and you can't use a mouse in combination with the controller.

In my private tiny studio I work with Sequoia 7 (I just switched recently from Nuendo).

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Guest Pasquale

Hi Rabbit!

why don't build the controller of your dreams, which design fits exactly your style of working with your DAW?

I guess u've got a point here!

But as u said, u'r a professional sound engineer. That means that u have worked with many consoles and equipment.So you know excactly what fits to your needs.

But for me, the only equipment i've seen (and worked a little or at least tried to..  ;D ) is a Soundcraft Spirit.

I have no idea on how to organise all of these buttons of the midi controller just to fit my needs.

What i mean is that i would love to see a 'Design Section'  on  this site with uploaded paperworks or illustration stuff of the frontpanels so that a user can see,compare and deside on how to organise everything so that it fits his needs and create a stylish+usefull midibox.

Like i said, i don't want my intentions on writting these to be misunderstood (at least i don't see it as stealing or copying some others good work but as helping each other and improvising)

Best regards, Screaming and Steve  ;)

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