Project timer

Cubase
,
#1

A project timer that stores all the dates and times we have worked on a project and the amount of time for each instance with a running total time spent on the project at the end.
Even more useful with a pop up question at project startup that asks if the project timer should be started!
Also, a new menu item allowing us to start and stop the project timer at will with each start and stop noted in the data files.
The timer data is stored with the project files and exportable in csv.

This would simplify time and billing and provide for accurate representation of actual time spent working on a project.

#2

HOFA do a freebie plug-in that appears to do most of what you want: http://hofa-plugins.de/en/plugins/4u/

I can see that it could be useful if it kept a log of dates + times too… though if I’m honest, it’s rare that a job will use Cubase exclusively, and there’s a lot of time I’ll have a project open without actually working on it!

#3

Project inactivity is the point of menu item to start and stop timer at will.
And I already have the HOFA plug.
It’s a pain.

#4

Ah… OK… what is wrong with the HOFA thing? (Just trying to get my head around what this new facility would offer that this doesn’t)

#5

WORKFLOW SIMPLIFICATION = This is Cubase PRO version!

Lots of people design plugs and add-ons etc etc.
Very FEW of them really get that workflow-ease is, in the end, the name of the game!
Melda for example has some of excellent sounding plugs on the market and I find I only use them rarely because their workflow is quite messy.

Designers need to note the capitalist axiom-
Bigger or smaller, better, faster, ** SMARTER **.

Fabfilter is a great example of a company that designed a product well and thought about the ease of use and workflow along the way.

Any Designers reading should also note:
If you “MUST” open a manual to use the product (ie: not intuitive) it should go back for interface redesign.

If you look well over the vast musical marketplace you will find that in almost all cases (where there’s not a multi-million dollar marketing campaign convincing users otherwise), Quality-Product A with an easier to use interface will always win out over Quality Product B with the complicated interface.

#6

OK, fair enough… you want a project timer built in. I could see it being useful… I’ll give a +1 to that.

Actually, if it could work as an alarm too – to help you avoid straying into listening-fatigue territory – that might be cool.

Strangely, though, seeing as you mention it… Melda stuff is perfect for me: very intuitive, no manual required, lots of useful extras that I don’t have to delve into. Whereas Fabfilter stuff sounds superb but I find the interfaces rather fiddly! It would be a boring world if we all agreed on everything :slight_smile:

#7

too true!

#8

[quote=“MHoughton”]OK, fair enough… you want a project timer built in. I could see it being useful… I’ll give a +1 to that.

Here too. +1
{’-’}

#9

+1 please Steinberg. This would be an excellent ‘pro’ feature I think. The log should be saved with (or in) the project file.

Years back I wrote a plugin like this but it’s not compatible now :frowning: It did everything the HOFA plugin does but also when inserted in the main output bus it used the audio level passing through to guess whether you were really using cubase or whether you’d left it idle and gone for lunch (i.e. no audio, stop the clock). While it worked it was very useful for estimating how much time a session had actually taken.

Another tool I once wrote looked at the save history of my projects (I always save as a new version) including the autosave backups and did a rough calculation to estimate session time over the project history… It definitely wasn’t an exact science but it gave me a rough idea, certainly of the dates.

Mike.