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MIL-SPEC-ALPHA (2021.12)


Colin Nicholls

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Join Up! Dial in on the frequency with MIL-SPEC-ALPHA: a Flat, light theme with boot polish and color coding.

Tasting notes:

  • Manila folders;
  • military grey;
  • khaki green;
  • graph paper;
  • a touch of brass.

Preview (click to expand):

MIL-SPEC-ALPHA_Preview.PNG

 

 

Download MIL-SPEC-ALPHA.zip

 

Update History:

Jan 25 2021 : Select Module updated with new buttons for 2021.01

Mar 6 2021:  Console view Send Pre/Post button now matches ProChannel and Track View Send Pre/Post button.

Mar 7 2021: Console view un-used/un-assigned grey'd Send Tile Background adjusted to match previous change

Mar 10 2021: Select Module: color tinted buttons; Transport Module: Click/Metronome options button

Mar 11 2021: Release 2. I need to stop tweaking this. Revised Transport (large and small), dark backgrounds for text in Control Bar.
ZIP file now contains previous version plus MIL-SPEC-ALPHA_R2

image.png.d37d2f75d44dc41ea545ea442233e97b.png

Mar 18 2021: Release 2.b. The Transport buttons are brighter and the STOP button is "Lit" during playback. Play Arrangement(small) now shows the "A" during playback.

Mar 21 2021: Release 2.c. Mix Module "Envelope Offset Mode" icon changed to match Track Pane Automation Lane button. Refined "Read Automation State" buttons in Track Pane and Console View to inform on Global and Local Read Automation disable status.

Mar 22 2021: Release 2.d.  Refined icon for Mix Module "Envelope Offset Mode".

Mar 25 2021: Release 2.f.  Slight border on Console and Track pane State buttons; green shaded strip on Console Knobs (pan, gain, send). ProChannel preset background dark.

Apr 15 2021: Release 2.g.  Release 1 of this theme is honorably discharged. Release 2 is the current maintained version. Updated with Inspector tab buttons for 2021.04

July 13 2021: Release 2.10. Console view module headings tweaked for consistency. Ruler background and tick marks adjusted for clarity.

Updated 2021.12:   refreshed Folder Archive button

 

MIL-SPEC-ALPHA_R2_Preview1.PNG

Edited by Colin Nicholls
Updated for 2021.12
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Great theme! Definitely going to be adding it my collection of themes. I know are still working on it, but here is a quick suggestion:

Is it possible to make the media/plugin browser the same color as the background of the clips pane (and the Help Module) ? I think it would just make everything fit together more nicely. That is actually the only suggestion I have, to be honest. Great work, Colin!

image.thumb.png.d020685b757143601fb6b718fb9a6ace.png

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I just uploaded a refreshed ZIP with some last minutes changes (meter colors and something else minor I can't recall exactly).

Hi @Caleb Kim, If you mean the black background behind the folder tree and help text, I don't actually think that color can be adjusted. The Notes browser will let you change the background but it is a coarse adjustment and it can throw other things out of harmony. Also, it would then not match the Media/Plugin browser. So that does make it tough to adjust.

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Thanks for this theme... it will probably be my default theme going forward. I havent seen anything like this one.

If it is not much trouble with you, would experiment with a bit darker greys, please... 

Thanks

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3 hours ago, puddy said:

Thanks for this theme... it will probably be my default theme going forward. I havent seen anything like this one.

If it is not much trouble with you, would you be able to experiment with a bit darker greys, please... 

Thanks

What I' trying to say is, leaving the color scheme as is but reduce overall brightness of the theme... (I'm getting a closer effect when I'm reducing the brightness of my Laptop screen)

Many thanks

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Don't you hate it when theme authors keep uploading revisions to their themes? In quick succession? If so, you won't be happy to hear that I've refreshed the ZIP with the latest version of the theme.

Changes:

  • Green Zone +/- 3db on the console view fader scale
  • "Limbo" state Control Bar buttons are now pale grey for a nice peaceful "I haven't opened a project yet" view.

 

Hi @puddy, I'm glad you're enjoying the theme. I understood about reducing the theme brightness by universally pulling down the gamma on all theme elements... I just wanted to let you know that, although I have no intention of doing that (because I like the theme the way it is in terms of grey balance), you have my permission to take the theme elements and modify them however you wish.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/29/2020 at 5:12 PM, Colin Nicholls said:

Don't you hate it when theme authors keep uploading revisions to their themes? In quick succession?

Sergeant, no, Sergeant! The recruit understands that it goes with the terrain and is grateful to Sergeant and others like him who have a commitment to excellence, Sergeant!

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Sergeant, the recruit has a new favorite "flat, light" theme, and would like to especially thank Sergeant for swapping the Instrument and Synth track and header icons! The recruit cannot fathom how the default got to be the other way around, Sergeant!

Impressions: I like the colour scheme you used in the Tools Module and would like more of the rest of the theme to use the "grey=off, olive=on" motif.

For example, in the track headers, the buttons for expanding lanes are blue when the lanes are expanded. I think it would look great if they were your same olive. Same with the Input Echo. Really, anywhere bright blue or pink or lavender is used to signify active state could be olive.

Similar for the Loop Module, Select Module, Marker Module. I like the look of the Auto Crossfade button, I think using the same colour instead of the....less "military" pink would be good for the Ripple Edit button.

I know the Snap Module is "brass," but I'd like to see the olive there, too.

Also it looks sharp when I set Alternative Text #2 set to 9BCEB1, which is your olive colour.

This is a great theme! I really love how you start out with a fantasy concept like "Military" or "Steam Punk" and build a theme around that idea.

Edited by Starship Krupa
Alternative Text #2 note
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13 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

[..] would like to especially thank Sergeant for swapping the Instrument and Synth track and header icons! The recruit cannot fathom how the default got to be the other way around, Sergeant!

Yay! Someone noticed! This has bothered me for a while, and I first did it in Polar Blue (from which MIL-SPEC evolved).

Re: Control Bar: I hear what you're saying about the olive colour being used more, but it was a design decision to try to use colour to highlight function - and to retain some bright-light blue for specific purposes.

For example, the loop control is yellow because the loop point ruler indicator is yellow. I can't recall off the top of my head about other colour choices but I tried to be mindful in my selection. Are they perfect? Probably not. I haven't felt the urge to change them, though.

To make them all Olive would be to discard this design goal to make the controls distictive. You don't want the recruit to accidently hit the missile launch button, but to have as many guides as possible preventing mis-activation.

Hence the PINK! ripple edit. I know it doesn't match the theme, but I personally have a problem leaving this activated and the pink sure lets me know as strongly as it can that we are in an abnormal state.

I'll try your suggestion for Alt Text #2 and see how I feel. (Not at my DAW right now).

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6 minutes ago, Colin Nicholls said:

To make them all Olive would be to discard this design goal to make the controls distictive. You don't want the recruit to accidently hit the missile launch button, but to have as many guides as possible preventing mis-activation.

The recruit understands, Sergeant! The recruit has lost editing moves to friendly fire as a result of his neglecting to notice the state of the Ripple button, and has set punch-in points when he meant to turn on Looping.

I always like a bit of colour in my Alt Text #2.

Has Sergeant noticed that the Add Track and Duplicate Track buttons don't seem to ever use the colorful images in the 4th position? Not even in Mercury nor in Tungsten. In Mercury, the hover goes to the very pale blue in the 3rd position, but never the bright blue. It looks like you went to the trouble of colouring the button set, but it's not showing up. All the states are grey, it never goes to olive. If I'm correct, that might be one for The Young Lady's Illustrated Guide.

Looking at the button convention in TYLIGTIC (pronounced TIL-ig-tick or ti-LIG-tick?) suggests that Cakewalk usually uses the 4th position to indicate "Active," but there is no Active state for those buttons, they're not toggles. It's off, hovered, pressed, and back to hovered and off. Two of the squares don't have states to go with them. But Mercury has a nice blue square and Tungsten an orange one in the 4th spot.

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4 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Has Sergeant noticed that the Add Track and Duplicate Track buttons don't seem to ever use the colorful images in the 4th position? Not even in Mercury nor in Tungsten. In Mercury, the hover goes to the very pale blue in the 3rd position, but never the bright blue. It looks like you went to the trouble of colouring the button set, but it's not showing up. All the states are grey, it never goes to olive. If I'm correct, that might be one for The Young Lady's Illustrated Guide.

Looking at the button convention in TYLIGTIC (pronounced TIL-ig-tick or ti-LIG-tick?) suggests that Cakewalk usually uses the 4th position to indicate "Active," but there is no Active state for those buttons, they're not toggles. It's off, hovered, pressed, and back to hovered and off. Two of the squares don't have states to go with them. But Mercury has a nice blue square and Tungsten an orange one in the 4th spot.

Yes, I noticed that some of the button sets, while coloured in the standard off/hover/click/active/disabled sequence by default, are not in fact used that way. I paid particular attention to the Control Bar buttons, and tailored the colour tinting to suit their actual use. Mostly this was a case of changing the "click/depressed" to be the bright "active" colour, rather than the subtle hinting used by default.

I acknowledge that this strategy was not applied across the board, but on more of a "surgical strike" basis. It is possible you've spotted another candidate in the Add Track/Duplicate track buttons. I remember looking at them but may have decided to leave as-is. I'm happy to revisit. The theme is definitely use-able in its current state.

And, yes, I think a note to this effect in the  I.T.G.  makes sense.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1.6
Track Header Buttons (add/duplicate/filter) cosmetic change
Now Marker (Stop/Play/Pause) now white instead of black, for clarity
Console View and Track View "selected track" colors now match.
Minor cosmetic change to transport background
Show/Hide Bus Pane button reverted to default

1.7
Now time slider looks more like console slider
Changed color of "selected track" to make it more distinct from "Mute" button

1.8
ProChannel Inspector module Preset Background tweaks to match theme
Slightly warmer grey for skylight window frame/background
Inspector frames flattened to match UI
PRV Grid/snap button 3D effect
Collapsed Inspector tab buttons 3D effect
Browser collapsed tab buttons 3D and slimmed to remove overlap

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