Excellent post - you’ve summed the situation up perfectly!
The best solution would have been to give us the choice - let SB cut down the menu to whatever they think we “should” be using, but give us the option to restore anything that is removed. Unfortunately, a dynamic menu system would probably have been a bit too much work for them to implement, and let’s face it would probably have been horrifically bug-ridden.
And you’re right about them not backing down - being a Cubase user has felt like a pretty masochistic experience for years!
Haha yeah that text search has become such a timesaver for me too that I often forget it was a relatively recent addition - it’s another one of those things that should have been there for years!
Despite it being the obvious best option, customised menus would probably have been a bug-ridden nightmare, (although at least we’d be spending time debugging something we actually wanted!)
And can you imagine what a Steinberg-created AI would be like?! “Oh, you use the right click menu a lot, that means you want me to permanently delete every project file you last saved on a Wednesday, yes?”
Same. I only started using Cubase with version 9, and the first time I right-clicked I was like because the menu that appeared was so ridiculously long that I didn’t even want to look at it. This caused me to never use it. I like this new menu a lot more, particularly because when I right click on a track, chances are those are exactly the tools I’m looking for. Since updating to Cubase 10, I’m using the right-click menu all the time and am more curious to learn about the tools I didn’t already know about.
I definitely understand the frustration of people who’d gotten used to the other options being there, and it would be great of Steinberg to give users the ability to create custom right-click menus beyond the few tools they have available there now.
They back down on occasion. Remember the move-mouse-toward-edge and something pops up? Then a preference was added for it. Then, the feature quietly vanished.
Actually Features & Improvements That Died, would make fun reading.
Maybe it would be more productive to talk about (i.e. lobby for) the particular items you used the most and explain why they belong in the new right-click menu. There may be an 80-20 rule in effect where 80% of the time, you were using the same 20% of the features in that menu, and just bringing those back would solve most of the problem.
So what were your most-used items from the old right-click menu that are missing from the new one?
Customizable would be very cool. As for the rest, let’s just say that Cubase’s
less than “industry standard” approach to mousing and menuing is a bit of a turn off and a barrier for new users. Context sensitive menus are a step in the right direction. I likely wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the demise of Cakewalk; that said, I’m glad I came. Cubase has some features that you just can’t find elsewhere.
Better mouse context would greatly speed things up - having to bring up a dialog to change event fade types is a bit of a deep dive. Take for example, Magix Vegas, there the mouse changes its icon to indicate you are over the fade handle. To change fade type, simply right click and select from a small list. It doesn’t get any faster or simpler than that.
I realize that some of the “old dogs” here have muscle memory they’d like to keep but, dare I say “You’ve been doing it backwards all this time”.
Look at changes for the better this way, you’re still light-years ahead of the noobs, and as someone mentioned, they’re paying full fare.
I was very confused about the absence of the Always On Top. I was right clicking all over the channel strip until I hit the right spot - where the words Sends, Cue Sends and Channel Strip etc. are written!!!
Yes it is! I’m still Loving the idea of cleaning up the context menus and just showing the functions which can be used in the current context. But they’ve deleted more than the unuseable ones.
Yeah totally, I’m all for the idea of a cleanup - less clutter on screen leads to less clutter in the brain! But unfortunately Steinberg went all, er, Steinberg about it…
But what’s the stuff that’s worth keeping for you? What about other people on this thread?
I keep seeing the complaint that “they went too far and took out all the good stuff” (paraphrasing of course) but I haven’t seen anyone put forward which commands should’ve been retained. What’s the stuff you (asking everyone) used all the time? If there are some common ones, it may make more sense to get those added back in versus going back to that old mess.
It’s very good that they made a contextual menu instead of that long mammoth list. It has actually been requested, and Steinberg listened.
Now, they may have taken out a bit too much (I’ve not updated yet, so I have no opinion myself yet), but why not be constructive about it instead?
That is, instead of just shouting ‘bad’, why not instead specify exactly what menu items you are missing for each context?
I’m sure the response from Steinberg will be a lot better that way… where motivated, it could be brought back.
One other thing:
Now there’s an option in preferences to toggle between Contextual menu and Toolbar (and have the other one with a modifier key click).
It would be a good idea to also have an option in preferences to have BOTH the Context menu AND the Toolbar in the right click menu simultaneously. For those who actually want both, they would avoid the need for the extra modifier key click.
And: they could also add an option in preferences for an Extended menu to the Context menu.
That’s the only customization that could be needed. It would be overkill to be able to customize every single menu item.
More menu items could then be included for those who wants that, but the rest can still have a shorter Context menu.
Conclusion:
Add option in preference: “Add Toolbar on Right-Click”: the Context menu will also have the Toolbar included (both simultaneously).
Add option in preference: “Add Extended menu on Right-Click” : some more menu items will be added to the Context menu.
Evaluate:
Which specific menu items should really be brought back to the main Context menu for a specific context?
Which additional menu items could also be usable for some people, but could be put in the Extended menu? (Out-of-context things should never be in any menu of course.)
Now, for YOU to give CONSTRUCTIVE feedback: - What specific menu items are you missing, in what context? (And if the idea of an optional “Extended menu” is liked: should your specific menu item be in the main Context menu, or is it enough to have it in the Extended menu (to keep the main menu short)?).
I think the trouble here is it will depend on use cases. For me my most frequent things for the menu are:
Move to Origin (after bringing in an audio file)
Insert Silence
Delete Time
Paste Time
Convert to real copy
Split at Cursor
Render in Place
The Select Menu (select from Cursor to end etc)
I’ve used cubase since Atari st days.
I have always loved the software, especially since audio editing was introduced.
My workflow… I tend to record live pieces of music, splice at hit points, then select multiple items, splice at event, crossfade, apply fades, silences, normalisation, gain reductions and increases, erase etc. All from right click.
I have used logic extensively, acid, live, cool edit pro, wavelab, I’ve tried everything. But always came back. Always.
Today a quick bit of looping and editing turned from a quick job into a frustrating nightmare.
I am gutted, even finding the old style basic tools in the preferences didn’t make me happy. I remember losing the menu once before and finding it again in preferences, no joy this time.
Its killed my workflow to such an extent that I may as well give logic or pro tools another go.
85 quid a year for what exactly? I’m struggling to find anything positive.
This is such a dumbing down of a serious piece of professional software. Its like photoshop taking away all the brushes to make it simpler for newbies.
If you charge professional prices, then provide your serious users with the tools they need, don’t take them away.
because the menu that appeared was so ridiculously long that I didn’t even want to look at it. This caused me to never use it. I like this new menu a lot more, particularly because when I right click on a track, chances are those are exactly the tools I’m looking for. Since updating to Cubase 10, I’m using the right-click menu all the time and am more curious to learn about the tools I didn’t already know about.