GUI design: adventures in Blender.

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Comments

  • Paule
    Paule Member Posts: 1,328 Expert
    edited May 2022

    IMHO it looks like a grey fluid beween knobs and surface. Seems to be the shadows. I like it.

    Don't you want to give your MS-20 graphic some innards?

  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro

    You didn't notice when i said, right above the picture, that the MS-20 image is "not my picture"?

    You also didn't notice the four screenshots i included in the same post? The screenshots of my project that looks nothing like a Korg MS-20?

    You didn't notice when i wrote, quote: "(my screenshots / render)" above the four screenshots of my project that looks nothing like a Korg MS-20?

    Did you not read or understand my reply to you saying: "I used a picture of an MS20 as an example. It has nothing to do with my project"?

    Because then you replied again about your MS-20 project.

    Read very slowly:

    I am not working on a Korg MS-20 emulation.

    I don't intend to start working on a Korg MS-20 emulation the near future.

    I am not working on something that looks like a Korg MS-20.

    I am not working on something that sounds like a Korg MS-20.

    I am not working on something that has in any way similar features to a Korg MS-20.

    I am not looking for, and have never asked for, advice about how to build an emulation of a Korg MS-20.

    Greets,

    Bolle

  • bolabo
    bolabo Member Posts: 97 Advisor
    edited May 2022

    Oh wow that would be a lot of frames if you want to include partial presses too, you would need to included all the in-between frames between ALL possible combinations of other states, for example if someone pressed 2 adjacent keys you would need to render for that particular case etc.

    If you decide to just to the 2 states for the keys (up and down) then the logic to pick from the 8 possible frames for each key would be pretty simple, just binary arithmetic, you could just put the 8 frames for each key in a multi-picture module for each one and then select the current frame by connecting that key and it's 2 adjacent keys like this:

    selected frame for each key = (left key state * 4) + (middle key state * 2) + right key state

    hopefully that makes sense.

  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro

    Yes. A looooot of frames.😆

    Imagine how happy i am that my first choice for a 'full synth' attempt only has 25 keys.

    You've maybe noticed that i pay attention to detail. Please don't feel obligated to indulge me or even read this entire post (skip to the end for a description of the main problem i'm having). I have no expectations whatsoever about other people following me into the weeds.

    Anyway.

    As i said: the shadows and reflections on every key do change depending on the state of its adjacent keys. But: i'm probably the only person on the planet who would ever notice the difference.

    The way i lit the 'scene' makes the shadows very diffuse. I've done a few tests, and even the most basic method (i.e. paying zero attention to shadows) already looks very good. It just goes from looking good and real enough to looking hyperreal when i give it that extra push. Pure pragmatics, it's not worth the extra amount of effort. I just enjoy trying it out.

    I have something like 5 different build methods i can experiment with, ranging from very simple to complex. But i think what i have going now is a good base to work with, even if it is entirely flawed in the technical department. It's simple. I like simple.

    I don't have a very good grasp on how voice count affects the behaviour/possibilities of A: Midi Input modules and B: things like this keyboard. I've seen examples of 12 voiced instruments with a keyboard. Makes sense if you want to represent a lot of moving keys at once. But i'm sure there's a better way of achieving this without needing such a high voice count.

    I know that the sound generating part of this synth will only require two voices. I would like to keep that count, but still be able to display 10 moving keys at once. (Sorry, 11 fingered people).

    So, with all that said: here's where i'm at right now.

    Both Ensemble and Instrument are set to 2 voices.

    Exhibit A: The keyboard macro (notice the no-shadows-but-still-looking-pretty-good keyboard):

    A Midi Gate In, set to the values on the left (i have my reasons), is quantized (step size 1). The result goes into the Visuals macro, together with a Midi NotePitch in.

    Exhibit B: The visuals macro.

    Yes, i made a Core Cell. I think that's a first for me. 😆

    It's in a torn down state here, but the routing for the first key is intact so you get the idea. It's the same for every other key. Incoming velocity is routed to each Multi Picture (key) by use of the incoming note numbers.

    Apart from having sticky keys, this works. With three-step velocity and only three frames per key. So i need to find out what the problem is. Maybe the Gate doesn't send Note Off commands? Maybe it does, but the Quantize gets rid of it? Maybe sending one Velocity signal to all keys at once is wrong? Right now, i haven't a clue.

    If i can make it work with a better version of this, that would be great if only for simplicity's sake. There are always things i can do to each key/frame to make everything behave and look more realistic.

    Sorry. I talk too much. But you get the idea.

    Greets,

    Bolle

  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro
    edited May 2022

    Quick message: sorted it. Ditched the quantizer, set the Gate to poly and put voice combiners before the Multi Pictures. Simple and works like a charm now. Instrument Voices still at 2 and it fluently plays as many keys as i want. I'll get to adding an intermediate velocity step some time later when everything else is done.

    Greets,

    Bolle

  • Moonbot7000
    Moonbot7000 Member Posts: 61 Member

    @Bolle Im blown away with how good this looks (sounds great too!). How did you learn Blender, are there any learning resources your would recommend for an absolute novice?

  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro

    A lot of great beginner tutorials on Youtube. If i have to pick one, i would recommend watching Blender Guru. He has a great teaching style and he's fun to watch and listen to. The Blender forum is also great. And Blender has a great manual.

    Greets,

    Bolle

  • Paule
    Paule Member Posts: 1,328 Expert

    @ANDREW221231

    @Paule 's reaction to seeing this

    My like arrives Bolle before yours and I wish of a blue skin color.

  • minion4ever
    minion4ever Member Posts: 1 Newcomer

    Very cool work! Very thin and interesting design, I like your style. But I might try #E97451 Burnt Sienna from the palette here https://create.vista.com/colors/palettes/peach/ instead of purple, I think it would look cool here. But it still looks great :)

  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro
    edited May 2022

    I deleted the embedded snapshots and reuploaded.

    New link to the User Library upload: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/14571/

    Greets,

    Bolle

  • Paule
    Paule Member Posts: 1,328 Expert
    edited May 2022

    Bank two redrawn for KROG SM20 P attached

    There is a bug in the patch bay. Hopefully it's an optical thingy only.

    A connection to VCO 2 CV IN is a thick one (two cables) image 2

    You can delete one only (image 1). One rest without the possibility to delete it.

    Please repair. Thanks.

    EDIT: at 10 pm to attach redrawned Bank 3-5


  • Bolle
    Bolle Member Posts: 349 Pro

    Thank you for the tip, Paule. I had a look at it and i think it's fixed now. I reuploaded to the UL.

    I really appreciate you putting the time in to redraw the snapshots. I didn't ask you to do it, and you didn't ask me if i wanted someone else to do it. You just did it. I think that's weird, but again, i really appreciate it.

    Sadly though, in order to fix the bug in the patch bay, i had to change the size again. I think the input was on the border between two divisions/objects of the Multi Display. Making the patch bay slightly larger fixed that and it seems to be working.

    Greets,

    Bolle

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