Step sequencer old school

[Emanu3le85]

hi, is it possible to change the theme of the step sequencer like sonar 7? I would like the step buttons looks like old school buttons, thanks!

Edited February 4 by Emanu3le85

[sjoens]

Use Theme Editor and change this image:

[Emanu3le85]

Hi sjoens ,thanks for the reply, I'm not an expert in changing themes, where exactly should these images  be placed? 

[Starship Krupa]

19 minutes ago, Emanu3le85 said:

Hi sjoens ,thanks for the reply, I'm not an expert in changing themes, where exactly should these images  be placed? 

In order to do it (that is, make graphical changes to the theme rather than just color changes), you must use Theme Editor along with a graphics editor like Paint.NET, Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro. The best resource for learning how to use Theme Editor is The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer to Theming Cakewalk.

Once you have Theme Editor set up, when you find the image(s) you wish to alter, you can launch your graphics editor directly from Theme Editor, make the change(s) and then save it back to Theme Editor.

Theme Editor stores the color settings and images in proprietary files with the .STH extension.

Near as I can tell, the step sequencer buttons in SONAR 7 don't look a heck of a lot different from the standard ones in the current Cakewalk. If you read the bit in The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer you'll see the result of some serious spelunking I did in regard to figuring out which of the 12 cells of the Step Button image go with what button states in Step Sequencer. You can weigh for yourself whether it's worth it to try to approximate the old ones.

If you get stuck figuring out Theme Editor, we will try to help get you unstuck.

[Emanu3le85]

thanks for the help Krupa, I like sonar 7 buttons for the three-dimensionality that is missing in Cbb where everything is flat, I have many things to customize. I have been using the "M thungsten" theme for a long time, minimally modified by myself, but I don't know how to use the theme editor well. Will Cbb themes be compatible with the new sonar?

Edited February 6 by Emanu3le85

[sjoens]

Not likely.  So enjoy it while you can now.

Go to Theme Editor>Step Sequencer>Step Button

Also, you can tell Theme Editor to go directly to your favorite image editor when running the setup wizard.  Then just double click a Theme image to open it.

Edited February 6 by sjoens

[Starship Krupa]

On 2/6/2024 at 2:54 AM, Emanu3le85 said:

I like sonar 7 buttons for the three-dimensionality that is missing in Cbb where everything is flat, I have many things to customize. I have been using the "M thungsten" theme for a long time, minimally modified by myself, but I don't know how to use the theme editor well. Will Cbb themes be compatible with the new sonar?

Unfortunately no. And doubly unfortunate for you, the Sonar UI is specifically being changed to be more flat.

Whether we like it or not, that's the trend in UI design, and Cakewalk was falling behind.

The trend doesn't surprise me, we're collectively getting more used to using computers to do things that we used to use physical objects to do.

For instance, with the Step Sequencer, there's no reason for the pixels we click on to make a cell active to try to resemble buttons we would press in the physical world. Most people using a computer step sequencer will by this time never have touched or even seen a hardware sequencer. If we're not already, we'll soon be at that point with mixing boards.

There's no practical reason for a Console View "slider" to look like we'd be able to grab it and move it. The original reason for it to look "real" was to give us a feeling of familiarity and comfort when transitioning from a hardware mixer to a software one, and that reason is (no pun) fading away.

Maybe that's why simulated woodgrain has fallen so far out of fashion: having lived with higher quality plastics for so many decades, we no longer need to see "wood" as a point of familiarity and quality.

[Helios.G]

12 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Unfortunately no. And doubly unfortunate for you, the Sonar UI is specifically being changed to be more flat.

Whether we like it or not, that's the trend in UI design, and Cakewalk was falling behind.

The trend doesn't surprise me, we're collectively getting more used to using computers to do things that we used to use physical objects to do.

For instance, with the Step Sequencer, there's no reason for the pixels we click on to make a cell active to try to resemble buttons we would press in the physical world. Most people using a computer step sequencer will by this time never have touched or even seen a hardware sequencer. If we're not already, we'll soon be at that point with mixing boards.

There's no practical reason for a Console View "slider" to look like we'd be able to grab it and move it. The original reason for it to look "real" was to give us a feeling of familiarity and comfort when transitioning from a hardware mixer to a software one, and that reason is (no pun) fading away.

Maybe that's why simulated woodgrain has fallen so far out of fashion: having lived with higher quality plastics for so many decades, we no longer need to see "wood" as a point of familiarity and quality.

Respectfully, there are many of us, me included, who use mixing surfaces to control our daws.  These look and feel just like a console, and in some cases integrate function/function directly with a daws layout. Maybe this would ring true for bedroom/home studio producers, but many people work on large format mixing surfaces just like in the old console days.

[Starship Krupa]

3 minutes ago, Helios.G said:

Respectfully, there are many of us, me included, who use mixing surfaces to control our daws.  These look and feel just like a console, and in some cases integrate function/function directly with a daws layout. Maybe this would ring true for bedroom/home studio producers, but many people work on large format mixing surfaces just like in the old console days.

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to be an apologist; in my perfect world, Sonar will get comprehensive theme editing so that we can have skeuomorphic images or flat as our hearts desire.

As I said, "whether we like it or not." My preference is for at least a slight bit of shading, it gives the eye something to "grab."

I was just musing out loud about why the trend may have happened. I use iOS devices, and I remember when Apple dumped iOS' skeuomorphic look in favor of a flat look. It's been a long time for that, and a whole new generation of people who don't even remember what iOS looked like back then.

It remains to be seen whether the current flat and dark trend in UI's will stick, or whether at some point skeuomorphic and shaded will be a cool retro look. In the meantime, Mixbus ain't so expensive. 😏

Also, I meant to caution the OP about putting too much time and effort into learning Theme Editor. The feature will not be included in Cakewalk Sonar. Considering how many themes I created, how much time and effort went into them, you can imagine how I feel about that. Theme Editor became a pastime all its own, and a valuable one, as it really made me up my pixel editing game.

[Helios.G]

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to be an apologist; in my perfect world, Sonar will get comprehensive theme editing so that we can have skeuomorphic images or flat as our hearts desire.

As I said, "whether we like it or not." My preference is for at least a slight bit of shading, it gives the eye something to "grab."

I was just musing out loud about why the trend may have happened. I use iOS devices, and I remember when Apple dumped iOS' skeuomorphic look in favor of a flat look. It's been a long time for that, and a whole new generation of people who don't even remember what iOS looked like back then.

It remains to be seen whether the current flat and dark trend in UI's will stick, or whether at some point skeuomorphic and shaded will be a cool retro look. In the meantime, Mixbus ain't so expensive. 😏

Also, I meant to caution the OP about putting too much time and effort into learning Theme Editor. The feature will not be included in Cakewalk Sonar. Considering how many themes I created, how much time and effort went into them, you can imagine how I feel about that. Theme Editor became a pastime all its own, and a valuable one, as it really made me up my pixel editing game.

I see what you mean, I respect that. Yeah, as far as I've heard, the new sonar won't permit it at all at 1st.  I saw a screenshot of the one that was leaked a few months ago somewhere, and lets just say I'm not a big fan of the new look.  Hopefully that was just some prank and the real thing doesn't resemble what I saw 😂

[Emanu3le85]

On 8/2/2024 at 12:53, Starship Krupa said:

Sfortunatamente no. E doppiamente sfortunato per te, l'interfaccia utente del sonar è stata appositamente modificata per essere più piatta.

Che ci piaccia o no, questa è la tendenza nel design dell'interfaccia utente e Cakewalk era rimasto indietro.

La tendenza non mi sorprende, collettivamente ci stiamo abituando di più a usare i computer per fare cose per le quali prima usavamo oggetti fisici.

Ad esempio, con lo Step Sequencer, non c'è motivo per cui i pixel su cui clicchiamo rendano attiva una cella per cercare di assomigliare ai pulsanti che premeremmo nel mondo fisico. La maggior parte delle persone che utilizzano un sequenziatore di passi per computer a questo punto non avrà mai toccato o nemmeno visto un sequenziatore hardware. Se non lo siamo già, saremo presto a quel punto con i mixer.

Non c'è alcun motivo pratico per cui uno "slider" della Vista Console possa sembrare in grado di afferrarlo e spostarlo. Il motivo originale per cui sembrava "reale" era darci una sensazione di familiarità e conforto durante la transizione da un mixer hardware a uno software, e quella ragione (nessun gioco di parole) sta svanendo.

Forse è per questo che la simulazione delle venature del legno è passata così di moda: avendo convissuto per così tanti decenni con plastiche di qualità superiore, non abbiamo più bisogno di vedere il "legno" come un punto di familiarità e qualità.

I started making music with Propellerhead Reason and continued for a long time to see the well-made graphics that reproduced every single part faithfully, when I switched to CbB I was disappointed by the flatness, and in my opinion CbB is among the few to have maintained minimal graphics (hardware), unfortunately it is as you say for programs it is not essential to reproduce real graphics, in fact they are a waste of time and calculation, but believe me I can't make music with graphics that are too digital in style, pretending they are real makes me have more fun (Google translate)

[mettelus]

The 3D effect is not overly difficult to achieve with shadowing and transitions on objects, but that can vary with the programming language used for the GUI.