[PD] GUI and such

Matthew Nish-Lapidus mattn-l at rogers.com
Sun Nov 23 16:06:36 CET 2003


Here's my couple thoughts on this popular subject:

I think that before we try to put lots of effort into making PD look 
nicer we should be trying to improve functionality.  There are still a 
couple issues that keep PD from reaching its full potential, and IMO 
these are way more important than bitmap sliders or fancy fonts.  I 
originally asked about the font changing just as a point of interest so 
that I could do something fast and simple to improve pd for my use, 
obviously there are other people thinking about PD's looks too.

The way I see it there are a few things that keep PD back (in no 
particular order):

1.  GUI interfering with audio -- I know this is one of the reasons 
that this discussion started, but I think we've lost track of that a 
little.

2.  Audio dropouts when loading sound files -- In my opinion this is 
one of the largest issues in terms of using PD as a performance 
instrument, which I think it is otherwise ideally suited for.

3.  Audio latency (i've only tested this on os x) -- can't get anything 
under 13ms with any hardware.

So, I know I'm repeating myself a little here.. but I think that these 
are the top priorities for developing the audio side of PD... If any of 
these can be solved by changing the GUI around than that's great, but I 
feel like the discussion has become more about aesthetics than 
function.  The way PD looks is important, but only after the major 
functional issues have been resolved.


/*
Matt Nish-Lapidus

www.ekran.org/mn-l
matt at ekran.org // mattn-l at rogers.com

"What's this fish doing in my ear?"
*/





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