Mark Morgon-Shaw Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 (edited) Today I was looking at the new update to Addictive Drums 2 - Another company that has moved away from their skeuomorphic GUI design of a decade ago , to something flatter and more modern looking just as Cakewalk Sonar has done with controversial results. To my eyes however the team XLN have managed to do this very nicely indeed, bringing the interface a fresh modern look without sacrificing ease of use and visual clarity. Although they've moved away from the 3D look, it does still retain some subtle depth in places which I think is much easier to work with over long periods versus a more 2D approach - this is more like something I wish the Bakers had done with Sonar and I hope it will improve at some point . Edited November 1 by Mark Morgon-Shaw 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Baay Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 Looks like the primary effect is offsetting the knobs in their painted "bezels" and adding highlights and drop shadows so the they appear to be viewed and lit from slightly above center. Does look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwal lɒwq Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 not enough contrast imo, are there customisation options? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Morgon-Shaw Posted November 1 Author Share Posted November 1 4 hours ago, lɐʍd said: not enough contrast imo, are there customisation options? Not as far as I am aware. My screengrab may not do it justice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted November 2 Share Posted November 2 I do like this new look for AD2. I didn't like plug-in GUI's made to look like 3-D brushed aluminum when they were new and they look even worse now. When AD2 first came out, even a real life drum machine that looked like that would have looked cheap and dated. And I don't think that was what they were aiming for. Don't get me started on simulated simulated woodgrain. At one point it was neato for something on a computer screen to resemble a real life object, but we are long past that point. For emulations of things that actually exist, like the faceplates of vintage compressors, it's still okay because it contributes to the sensory illusion of using the old piece of gear itself, but it's not so great for processors that are trying to be a whole new thing. My only complaints about NuSonar's look are that text is smaller in several places and I can no longer set grid lines to higher contrasting colors. Other than those things, it looks great. I did a facelift on Cakewalk Session Drummer to help it fit the new look, a link to the files is in my sig. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Morgon-Shaw Posted November 2 Author Share Posted November 2 11 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: My only complaints about NuSonar's look are that text is smaller in several places and I can no longer set grid lines to higher contrasting colors. Other than those things, it looks great. I'm glad you like it, I think it looks somewhat amateurish and hard to read personally - maybe on a high DPI display it looks better but I don't have one. Actually I prefer if you didn't like it then you might be more disposed to improving on it when theme editing finally becomes possible ( if it all ) in CW Sonar. 😀 11 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: I did a facelift on Cakewalk Session Drummer to help it fit the new look, a link to the files is in my sig. I've always owned Addictive Drums so I don't think I've ever used Session Drummer but the bitmaps look nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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