Poll: Case for single window layout

We need to be able to maximize individual editors/views/windows against multiple monitors.

Call it what you will, but the current MDI floating window nightmare needs to go away.

Every other DAW is better than Cubase in this one respect. Try running Cubase across two monitors with slightly different maximum resolutions. Further crap behavior.

What is the MDI floating window nightmare ?

And if you have problems b/c you are running Cubase across two monitors with different resolutions, that is not something that needs to be addressed, and there is nothing for SB to fix there.

Fully agree here.

My point. ^^^ People say that as if it’s the norm, tabs for everything being forced on anyone. Reaper (for example) doesn’t force those on you, float them all permanently if you prefer windows floating all over the place like with Cubase.

i tried the demo of presonus and it was really annoying. do i want to be offered links to soundcloud when starting or opening a song? no. fluff is bad!
ed

Perhaps you’re talking about the song information screen that shows the artist’s album art, copyright info and web link which is 100% optional (?), to tell it (any individual song) to do that on launch or not if you share your S1 songs with others… like in the demo song that you’re likely referring to, to remind people that the material is copywritten and whom to contact for permissions to do anything with the tracks?

Again, it’s all (this recurring discussion, imo) one big straw man argument. At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect them all… I simply don’t understand (or see any rationale at all for) the reasoning.

the gui is probably the main thing that separates daws these days. so if the first impression of a daw demo is littered with all this rubbish, it will affect the user badly! sure it will normally be possible to go into options and get rid of it all. but it’s a pain. when i demoed sonar x1 on my laptop, on opening the demo song i was left with an arrange area of about 2 inches high by 5 wide! because all the tabs were populated. had to spend time fixing before i could even look at the thing! i’m too old for this sheet!
then again, some people love fiddling with tabs in the same way some people love changing their pc desktop every few days.
Ed
:wink:

Thanks to all those who’ve voted and as well as the extended comments… :unamused:

I’ve a pretty simple philosophy - opinion is like ears, everyone has at least one, but most have 2 :stuck_out_tongue:


Steinberg are known to modify software, not necessarily in the manner ‘most’ liked by regular users, however these preferred methods are often so different from person to person , that IMHO, it may help to offer straightforward numbers when someone from marketing asks " What do our users really want?"

thanks for the poll. good to see what users are thinking. ed

Ditto. If we all step back and take a deep breath we’ll see it’s really inevitable… that they will move to some kind of “consolidated” application design. I would agree that they’re not all created equal across various hosts and I don’t particularly like the way Sonar did it either, but Cubase is literally the only major linear DAW that hasn’t done it yet… so it’s coming whether you guys want it or not.

I’d bet on it. I’d also bet that there will be raving about it after the fact. If they do like Cakewalk and just stick it on top of old code, it will likely kinda suck. If they rebuild the UI, I suspect it will be quite nice.

I do agree with the opinion that says when (not if, but when, they will) I hope they do it in a good way, because there are multiple variations of “consolidated” UI’s. No two are exactly alike.

Thanks Eddie.

I agree with many comments in this topic, but I have a tough time voting on these choices. Mostly because if the main screen was a little more “organic” then the interface would be okies as is. My point, I guess, is that is not really about whether it’s single or multiple windows, but rather how flexible a management, how well it can be customized (and kept that way), etc.

Docking windows has their place, sliding docks are visually fancy but a pain to work with when on a roll. OnTop are okies when doing specific tasks, but nothing that couldn’t be done with just keeping them on a secondary screen, etc. Tabs are, like many pointed out, dependent on how they are implemented.
Like in the VST Connections window, the tabs are fine, but making that window into a docked window would be rather meaningless (better qualify that with FOR ME) since I don’t use those functions very often (bring it up, fix something, and back to work).

In Cubase there are two very annoying issues regarding the window management.

  1. The automatic restore of maximized windows, when opening certain other windows. Talk about a constant stream of DAMN-IT-like expressions.
  2. That some windows are hidden when switching to another application (like VST editors). Nowadays with multiple monitors, running many applications simultaneously is a common activity. Having the main application hide windows when switching really sucks.

Exactly!

I don’t mind the option to dock certain windows, as long as I can still set the window to the (customized) size I want.

For example I like to have a frequency analyzer from the master channel always set up in the lower left corner of the screen under my MediaBay window (which I also always keep open). AFAIK this is NOT something I’d be able to do with the dockable windows in other DAWs like Logic, Ableton, Studio One, etc…

Perhaps I’ve not understood what can be done in software that has a single-window layout?

If Cubase had a single-window layout, could you have the screen arranged like this? …

… sorry, rather rough, done in a hurry, not properly thought out, and not to scale :blush: . Just trying to illustrate a situation where pieces of several overlapping windows can all be seen at once and clicking on them brings them to the front. So, for instance, clicking on the MIDI tracks and then on the Key Ed would make both fully visible.

multiple windows was cool in 1996, but we have now 2012 :wink: Single window workflow is a must have for the next Cubase update.

Maybe one should not confuse the Window design with the annoying BUG of window resizing without any corresponding user action.

For all I care, everything can stay as it is, as long as no windows EVER move or change size unless I specifically tell them to.

ROFLAO!!! :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

{‘o’}

Why?

Why is it a must have?

Please explain in what way it is more helpful than multiple windows to people who want to switch quickly and often between two or more MIDI editors, the arrange page, etc?

Is the single-window workflow something that is benefecial for all the different kinds of uses that people make of Cubase, or does it improve the workflow for some and make it worse for others?

In what way do you find that the multiple-windows interface stops you getting on with what you’re trying to do?

And how would a single-window interface let you work faster?

The concept of a windowed computer interface (single OR multiple) has been around for a lot longer than that, mate. So it was pretty much “old news” already back in 1996. And a single window workflow was even around before a multiple window environment…

A single window workflow approach over several physical screens does not sound very optimal (I am not saying that it couldn’t work). I say there is nothing wrong with the concept of multiple windows. But hey, like you said, we’re in 2012, so why not make it better altogether, where for example docking (or some form of GUI linking of windows) would be possible even across applications, etc. And I am not refering to tiling the windows vertically or horizontally, but a more logical cross application window management, where the user can customize the workflow in a better way and still not be locked in any particular “mold”.

Anyways, just my two cents.
(And I agree with chase, who beat me to it! :wink: )

A general comment with regard to multiple monitors; these really work best in the studio - I would guess that most mobile (laptop) users only use a single screen as the whole point is be ‘mobile’ - single piece of hardware?

  1. Most DAWs have hundreds/thousands of users - some use the software regurlarly/heavier some not, but each legitimate user will want their ‘needs’ met… tall order ?!

  2. The best non-daw example I’ve seen of multiple window management within a available screen space is MATLAB. Docking and tiliing is totally flexible. A nice feature is the unfolding window when clicking on the tabs, which can be momentary or locked into place, should it be desired.

That’s the strawman that keeps coming up. If you want multiple windows, undock them. One thing isn’t mutually exclusive to the other except in Cubase which doesn’t optionally dock anything.

In what way do you find that the multiple-windows interface stops you getting on with what you’re trying to do?

In Cubase? For me…

Windows keep disappearing behind other windows. Windows are harder to manage, especially on a single screen. The window title bars for every single window take up vertical space.

And how would a single-window interface let you work faster?

See the above. I work much faster in Studio One’s UI… not even close. And I have two widescreen monitors in the studio. I usually only mostly use monitor two for larger instrument UI’s and full screen audio / midi editors. Everything else is on monitor one docked.

Again… people should stop assuming that if Cubase goes to a consolidate UI that you will no longer be able to have 1000 windows floating all over the place if you want… that’s likely not true. It’s a strawman. If you like windows floating all over kingdom come… do that.

Is this enough window clutter for you?

Cluttered enough or you need more? Ok… size and put detached windows wherever you want them and save screensets.

Haha, priceless! :smiley: