drag'n'drop GUI ?

All about the SoundFont editor Viena
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newfont
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am

drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by newfont »

have you ever considered doing a drag'n'drop interface? (or module)
at one point i looked at VSampler as a means of making soundfonts because it saves as sf2. but the GUI on the version i tried was tiny, so way too fiddly.
it's a longstanding wish, with making sample programs (including soundfonts as 'sample programs'). maybe i should do a separate topic for this.

programs i use currently that have this are FrederiksonLabs Vosyr, for the Volca Sample, and MPC Maid (java) for Akai MPC500.
i'm a freeware freak eh

Vosyr is for one-shots, and has 100 slots to which you drag samples. you can drag a batch of files, which will land on consecutive slots. and then you can rearrange the order of the banks easily by dragging them around ( this wouldn't apply so much for soundfonts). when you save a project, it saves a folder of extension-less files with anonymous new numerical names. pop the *.wav extension back on, and they play in winamp, as 32khz wavs. (it's quite useful as a 'shopping basket' for collecting samples from across many folders in a large library - my next topic..)

MPC Maid also does drag'n'drop - and 'add folder' - quick way to knock up *.pgm files.

i have this notion that drag'n'drop would make things like velocity layers easier to deal with. don't actually have an idea for what it would look like :) !
Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 671
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:22 am

Re: drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by Admin »

Yes, I HAVE had this in mind and even made some tests, many years ago. It was based on the idea that you, in one window, would have to the left a list of all the audio files you want to use (so you wouldn't drag files from the Explorer directly), and from there you could drag them into a matrix on the right side. The matrix would look very much like the layout for instruments I used to have in earlier versions of Viena, up 0.960. (It actually looks pretty cool, so maybe I should take it into use again.)
newfont
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am

Re: drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by newfont »

do you have any visuals for this ?

why not direct from browser, if it's only copying? i noticed that importing the *.csv creates new copies of the samples in a folder, numbered 0000 upwards.
(Vosyr does something similar)
this is nice. haven't thought of how this extra folder of copies could be used though.
(btw i've had some issues with *.csv import; will get back to that, have another go.)

something very useful for browsing through large amounts of folders of sounds is a multi-clipboard - what i've seen called a 'shopping basket', where the paths to files you 'copy' are held in a clipboard, ready to be pasted collectively to a new destination: whether it's just to paste these into an 'import' list, or make actual new copies of the files themselves into a new destination folder (probably more useful).
such a thing may exist in freeware, haven't looked recently. there used to be a shareware called Clipmate that did something like this.
Windows10 can do it, but i don't want to have to go into system settings, and would prefer a separate utility.

btw, this is a great bulk file renamer; give a context menu entry, so you can select a bunch of files, go 'rename here' and it opens the bulk renamer. very quick in-depth renaming: (newly on my list of essential freewares)
https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/
newfont
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am

Re: drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by newfont »

passing thought:

using akai mpc500 at the moment, with MPC Maid, which lets you set up to 4 layers, in the akai *.pgm program.
there's a 'copy parameters to all pads' button, which helps do quick and basic setups.

and on the mpc500 itself, you can select a single pad, and do '12-levels', which can be assigned to 'Tune', and gives you an octave of pitches in semitones, along with the layers -which can be velocity split, or just stacked- for the selected pad. haven't explored this much yet but it's a quick and easy for trying things out, and i can call up other samples i have on the card or in the program, as i go. had some good results from single samples.

just mentioned for context ... am concurrently looking at mpc500/mpc maid, Viena and soundfonts, Translator, emu esi format, ZuluSCSI, .. :)
oh yeah and Vosyr, sample rate batch conversion, extracting autoregions from Audacity, ...

and i'd like to find a good freeware for finding loop points/crossfading/etc., having seen/found some files with really impressive seamless loops - the loop points were not where i expected to find them.
newfont
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am

Re: drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by newfont »

what i like perhaps most (?) about Viena is that it loads fast. it's loading faster than winamp here at the moment (my PC needs refreshing)
so a soundfont has become a doubleclick-to-audition format, which is great. (i'm sure i could've done this before with something else, but it probably had a splash screen etc.)

also love the Add Folder - except there now seem to be THREE different dialogues where you can do that lol, producing different results !

*** a definition dialogue ***, 'at the point of import', could do a lot of the work: instead of having filename-specific *.csv, have a *.csv for the script that could be called in an import dialogue - as an option/alternative to the generic main options eg: such as mapping 1-per-key, starting at note 24 (or 35, etc.), maybe with end point (if you want to start building split zones, to be combined later? nb: i haven't looked at the multiple soundfont feature yet. seems like a very handy tool)

(or generating an instrument and preset per sample, which is very useful: it's easier to limit a keyboard range afterwards)

waah too many ideas :P lol early morning brainstorm energy heh

virtual keyboard scaling ? :-D

i wouldn't mind having a go at doing a skin - btw the highlighted text colour in some of the darker ones isn't very useful/visible.
newfont
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am

Re: drag'n'drop GUI ?

Post by newfont »

more thoughts:

a graphic interface for defining zones on X-Y axis, across a midi keyboard. decent size, plenty of space to drop samples and drag them around. sizing of zones snaps to midi notes and velocity values.

each zone being an 'object', with coordinates.

sounds a bit like Skinman by g200k .. there's a side panel with the list of items, which are highlighted when selected.
and you can drag size and position. (set colours, transparency etc.)
single items can be placed and handled in Groups.

essentially, a module, like Sondero, that can be called up to do the zoning work, with an ample space for placing and moving around splits('zones'),
with info panels on either side; structure on left, and item properties on the right.

could exist/be saved separately as a 'mapping'? and be recalled for future soundfonts - ie: if you make a really intricate zones setup for a type of instrument.

(some zones presets? Viena ini/config file, with editable user preferences? ...)

(zone mapping save/import as *.csv ...) (print as *.jpg.. ?)
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