Post by Steve the FiddleDo you want feedback from a Linux user James?
Well, it doesn't work on linux because of http://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1397
so it's only a Windows installer I released. Certainly welcome general feedback e.g. on menu structure, record-after being the default, and the icons/colour. All helps with deciding what we will cherry pick for 2.1.4.
I don't get bug 1397 on my machine.
DA does build on my machine. but there are some problems:
Problems with visual elements.
I'm not sure how many of these are limitations of the Linux build, and
which are not yet implemented, so I'll just list what I see.
* The background for the toolbars are not in theme colours (unlike the
screenshot on your site).
* The meters are not in theme colours until clicked or they become active.
* The menu bar and status bar are not in theme colours (same in your
screenshot).
* The logo and absence of (R) conflicts with Audacity's registered trademark.
* Menus are not in theme colours.
* Effects are not in theme colours.
* Other windows (such as Preferences) are not in theme colours.
* Pan and Gain windows are partially themed.
I've attached screenshots that show the above.
Functional problems:
* Recording to new tracks may appear strange now that the default is
"append record".
As a user coming both from "official" Audacity and DAWs, the obvious
way to start recording on a new track is to add a new track and then
start recording. That's fine so long as no more than 2 channels (one
stereo track or two mono tracks) are selected. If more than 2 channels
are selected, recording occurs in the first two selected channels.
This looks a bit weird.
* Snap To: I had trouble finding this as the Selection Toolbar is
hidden by default. I was expecting to find it in a menu, but
apparently not. After enabling the Selection Toolbar and turning on
"Snap To", I tested the new feature: "When you zoom in enough and
select, any 'Snap To' is switched off again." This does not appear to
work. When "Snap to: seconds" is enabled, I get snapping regardless of
the zoom level.
Accessibility:
* The Selection Toolbar is essential for accessibility, but is off by default.
Loss of functionality:
The removal of numbers from the meters leaves them as little more than
eye candy. The range of the meters can be set in Preferences, but
there is no indication in the meter of what range they are set to.
"Half way" could be anything between -16dB and -72dB.
* Linux specific.
While we still have the problem of Audacity crashing when using
Pulse, hiding the device toolbar is unhelpful. Also, the device
toolbar is very important when using Jack because Audacity does not
work with the usual signal routing tools (because the ports are
temporary).
* Menus.
On the whole I like the more compact menus.
Definitely prefer "Play Region" in the Transport menu.
* Track info / control panel.
The loss of the sample rate information is a problem for some
features. For example Plot Spectrum will complain if tracks have
different sample rates, but there is no obvious indication of what
that means or why it is occurring.
Generally I like that it looks "cleaner", though for large multi-track
projects it would be an advantage to retain mute and solo buttons on
the same vertical level.
Overall impression:
I generally like the dark theme, though it is clearly incomplete (at
least on Linux), so not yet ready for prime time. When complete (or at
least more so), then this should definitely be an option for
Audacity.
I also like the new icon set. The "tools" icons look to me a little
less refined than the others, but overall they show consistent style
and a more 'modern' look.
The default Prerences give an impression that it has to some extent
been dumbed down, and for my use of Audacity I would immediately
revert several of the new defaults. This may well suit some users,
though I feel it undermines any sense of DA being "more
professional".
Traffic Light Survey:
* Dark Background: Yes-but
* New Icons: Mostly yes
* Menu Rearrangement: Mostly yes
* No Numbers on Meters: No
* Removing Other Clutter: Mostly no
* Time Lock: Don't know
* Stuck in Pause: Yes (but prefer the better solution that you
proposed elswhere)
* Record Below: Yes but
* Pinned / Unpinned: Yes but (I really dislike exposing negative time regions)
Steve
Post by Steve the Fiddle--James.
Steve
Thanks, I'm at a point in my creative outburst and in my ability to handle
more learning, where I can spend some time with new features and evaluating
360.318.5573
If you'd like me to look at specifics.
Best,
David
-----Original Message-----
From: James Crook
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2016 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Audacity-devel] DarkAudacity 2.1.3x
Are the numbers sent to screen readers through an object or from the screen?
The numbers on the scales are/were invisible to screen readers. The
scales provide a visual indication of loudness, how close you are to
clipping. I would think/expect that VI users will typically do far
better at making judgements about loudness levels than sighted people
using the meters!
Maybe Dark Audacity is meant only for sighted?
Yes. It is predominantly a visual overhaul of Audacity.
I took a short cut when building it and compiled it with standard
wxWidgets, so accessibility features of wxWidgets not enabled. I'll do
that properly in future releases. I've realised that the menu
restructuring IS something that VI users might like.
Oh, the many layers of irony. *smiles*
Indeed.
Iâm excited to try this on my XP, Win7, and Win10 machines.
Don't be too excited, as it is mostly visual change. The many colours
and shapes in Audacity unfairly made it look a bit like a children's
toy. Now that I am using black a lot, people have to take Audacity
seriously :-)
Not sure why but it wonât download on my Win10 machine... no chance the
malware is still a factor, is there?
Yesterday AVAST had a false positive for it. They tend to do that for
software that is new to them. They sent me a note today saying that
they had looked into it, checked the executable, and updated their
database and it should be clear now. If you are using AVAST you maybe
need to wait for its definitions to update. OR it could be that FossHub
is being grey-listed because of its incident. If so, good to know for
when we launch 2.1.3.
--James.