Serato Software Feature Suggestions

Forum
 Serato Software Feature Suggestions
Add new feature: Switch between spinning displays and horizontal overall view
What features would you like to see in Serato software?

Add new feature: Switch between spinning displays and horizontal overall view

BassChamber 9:08 AM - 24 September, 2004
i have explained this suggestion in different posts before...

spinning displays are very useful when beat-juggling / scratching; in fact, i really love them because i am learning turntablism and they help me a lot!

but for house/trance djs, they are simply useless, and sometimes, quite annoying. this kind of djs prefer a large overall waveform view. i know some djs who prefer FS interface because of this reason.of course, beat matching view is dope!

i think it would be great if you add a switch to replace spinning displays with horizontal large overall waveform view, and the ability to turn both off (have you ever noticed what happen when you use normal vinyl with SSL? spinning displays become mad!)

markers would still be there (they are very useful when marking breaks, the beginning of a voice, and so on).

i repeat, some house/trance djs prefer FS because of the interface. making SSL this way would make them to change their thoughts...

BTW, another interesting feature would be to add a timer or countdown to the next marker. when mixing house, its very useful to know when next track singer / melody is going to start to avoid weird mixes and synchronize tracks.

sorry, my english is horrible and this last point is quite difficult to explain!

keep on spinning!
nik39 9:12 AM - 24 September, 2004
My english is also horrible, but I try to search the forums before I post ;) Horizontal views vs vertical views have been reqeusten and suggested a couple of times. The other feature about the timer before a marker is new, and sounds interesting.
BassChamber 3:15 PM - 24 September, 2004
yes nik, i know :) i have requested for it a couple of times before, but this is the first time i open a new thread with this subject :P

and i want to go further... "beat mixing mode" could be improved in a future adjusting it to "beat mixer djs" needings (i have some ideas)

but first step is to create it. is it so difficult to implement this mode? is it planned for futures updates?

again, i love spinning displays when scratching/beat juggling, but when i spin house i feel that a need a BIG horizontal view :)
radish 3:46 PM - 24 September, 2004
Here's an idea for an enhancement to the beat match display for us mix djs...how about counting the transients and overlaying bar marks (I'd mark each bar and then each group of 4 bars, as that's how most tracks are arranged)? It's one thing knowing whether you're on the beat, it's quite another knowing whether your matching beat 3 to beat 2. You could assume 4/4 timing, or you could make it configurable I guess, but I've never seen a trance track in 8/16 ;)

Now before anyone jumps down my throat - of course you can do this very simply with the headphones, but what I love about the displays in SSL is how it means you don't have to spend your life glued to the phones....you can check up on your mix visually. So adding to that is cool IMHO, and counting beats shouldn't add much to the CPU load.

Another one would be to automatically detect and mark breakdowns. They're pretty obvious in the overview mode, so why not mark them automatically and give you countdowns to when the next one is....
bartaug 3:48 PM - 24 September, 2004
Quote:
you don't have to spend your life glued to the phones....

I like being glued to the phones :)
nik39 6:28 PM - 24 September, 2004
radish, good idea. I have posted a similar one, check scratchlive.net yours even a bit more extended. That feature would be really great!
DJ 3pm 11:16 PM - 24 September, 2004
there is talk of a new version with 'battle mode', this probably has a lot of these features you guys are talking about.
Serato, Forum Moderator
Sam 3:22 AM - 25 September, 2004
Lots of nice ideas in this thread...

Quote:
have you ever noticed what happen when you use normal vinyl with SSL? spinning displays become mad!

BassChamber, you can use the keyboard shortcut shift-alt-left or shift-alt-right to unload a track.
skutch 4:05 AM - 25 September, 2004
Quote:
but when i spin house i feel that a need a BIG horizontal view :)

i disagree---the vertical view in SSL makes too much sense
but to each, his or her own
For now, try tipping your laptop on it's side:)
BassChamber 4:54 PM - 25 September, 2004
Quote:
how about counting the transients and overlaying bar marks (I'd mark each bar and then each group of 4 bars, as that's how most tracks are arranged)?

Another one would be to automatically detect and mark breakdowns. They're pretty obvious in the overview mode, so why not mark them automatically and give you countdowns to when the next one is....


you have read my mind radish ;) and this will be very helpful when synchronizing mixes using markers (you know, for example, making the beginning of a singer to mach with the last beat of the previous tracks, and similar situations)

Quote:
I like being glued to the phones :)


mmm our ears suffer a lot mate... we are young, but think about djing over several years. in fact, i have lost some audition in my right ear, and thats no good :S if SSL could help me to take out my headphones and turn off monitors more often, i would be veeeeery pleased!

Quote:
i disagree---the vertical view in SSL makes too much sense
but to each, his or her own


yes, in fact i agree with you but... a large vertical view is not possible because there is no space to place it. the only way to display a larger view than the current one is to place it horizontally, doesnt it? maybe im wrong, it is just a suggestion.

Quote:
you can use the keyboard shortcut shift-alt-left or shift-alt-right to unload a track


i didnt know that! thanks a lot Sam!!! this is why i love this forum and i love SSL :)
johnremix 2:31 AM - 16 October, 2004
Regarding the "horizontal wave form" display issue. As I mentioned before, I have used FS since version 1 ran on BeOS - though I now happily run SSL on a G4 iBook. I love it, the sound quality is definitely superior (I have run both side by side and IMHO SSL rocks in the sound quality department). HOWEVER, I really, really miss the horizontal waveform display. I know that all of us should memorize every track and not necessarily need it but over time, i have gotten used to being able to visually check out where the break is etc etc. Surely there can be a way to switch from the current mode to horizontal mode???
radish 2:04 PM - 16 October, 2004
But why can't you do that with the current vertical view? I can still see where the breaks are - they're even a different colour! As far as I can see the only difference is the alignment (vertical not horizontal) and it's smaller.
BassChamber 4:34 PM - 16 October, 2004
sorry radish, i dont agree with you...

for beat mixer djs, larger overall view is more important and useful than spinning labels. fot beat mixing, if i could choose between both ones, of course i would prefer a larger waveform view than a tiny little one. (and i think if you could choose you will do it too :D )

sometimes, you can not identify properly and EXACTLY when a break is coming (i repeat, SOMETIMES) only watching the overall vertical current view. of course, we could use zoom on partial view, but i think an overall and clear view is far away better.

i am suggesting the possibility to choose. i think that would be an important feature for lot of djs, believe me :P

anyways, i love spinning labels when beat juggling you know... ;)
BassChamber 4:36 PM - 16 October, 2004
oh, i forgot to say, the vertical or horizontal orientation doesnt really matter to me, i just want LARGER views. the problem is, as i said in a previous post, there is no space to place a vertical larger overall view. the only way to place a way larger one is horizontally.
radish 5:17 AM - 17 October, 2004
Hey I agree that options are good :) It's just I really like the vertical alignment, but larger would be nice and I could live without the labels (I'm strictly a beatmixer).
Serato, Forum Moderator
Sam 9:52 PM - 17 October, 2004
Hi All. Feel free to continue the discussion, but note that it's on the list: www.scratchlive.net
DJ Dynamight 1:55 AM - 19 October, 2004
wow, that's a long ass list! lol...i've never even noticed it before.
yuri 8:32 PM - 21 October, 2004
Well I have to retract my original thoughts on the vertical overview.. when SSL was released I despised them.. BUT

now with the addition of the zoom out on the waveform, I zoom out all the way and have gotten very comfortable with the vertical waveform.. it took a while, but Im ok with it now.. the zoom out is very cool.. I spin house and I can see quite a few beats in advance
Serato, Forum Moderator
Sam 10:14 PM - 21 October, 2004
Most people see the light eventually ;)
dj_ricochet 10:05 AM - 23 October, 2004
People seem to be used to left->right scrolling waveforms but the vertical orientation actually makes a lot of sense and is quite intuitive after a few spins.

I can see the POV of people who would like the display to be bigger though, I run SSL in quite high res (1600x1050) and find that the displays can be quite small. They seem to stay the same number of pixels in size rather than being relative to the screen resolution, which is good because I can see a lot more songs below, but bad because they can seem a bit tiny. So although I can't say I'd probably use a larger horizontal display, I'm glad it's on "the list".
djkevinz 7:24 AM - 27 April, 2005
Ok how about another perspective... I happen to use Ortofon nightclubs and am used to the large bright marker moving right to left over the record. I use my ears to match beats, so I don't need the precision moving beat display.

What I would like to see is just an approximation of what the actual vinyl would look like, lighter and darker. As if you took a picture of the area that the turntable target light hits and put it horizontally over each virtual deck. The 'needle' would move slowly right to left over the visual sound indicator. I mean we are emulating records, so why not?

Actually what I would like to see is the ability to pick the waveform view that you particuarly like, because we are never going to agree. Also the user could optimize the windows for the particular screen resolution and aspect ratio.

Maybe something like Photoshop, where you can move, drag, dock etc. the various windows and hide the ones you don't want. Then be able to store your particular window arrangement on a little USB stick and take it to the clubs you spin at.
bush 9:15 AM - 27 April, 2005
Ye I agree about the big overveiw for playing dance music. Would I be right in thinking ssl was originally designed with hip hop djs in mind?
The timer for next marker is a good idea too, maybe the timer display could be same colour as the next marker.
I think they should consider changing the format of the time display too. I think it would be better to have the timers further apart, say the progress timer on the top half of the labela and time left on the bottom half of the label with a minus sign in front of it and maybe the marker timer in under it.
I just got ssl and I get confused when I look at the timers to find out time left cos there is no minus sign in front of it. Ill probably get used to it but I dont see why there is no minus sign
MalibuKeeper 7:08 PM - 16 December, 2007
I see this is a very old thread but this suggestion would be a solid feature. I've been using SSL now for some time and I've to say that those spinning platters aren't realy doing anything useful for me.

What I'm missing the most is seeing how much time is left to the next cue point. To go even futher this could be implemented by a list with time to all the remaining markers in their corresponding colours. This is the only feature I miss from Traktor. I like how rapidly SSL is evolving though, just have to hope this will be implemented soon, cheers and keep up the good work :)
djNicolas 11:49 AM - 22 May, 2009
Quote:
What I'm missing the most is seeing how much time is left to the next cue point. To go even futher this could be implemented by a list with time to all the remaining markers in their corresponding colours. This is the only feature I miss from Traktor. I like how rapidly SSL is evolving though, just have to hope this will be implemented soon, cheers and keep up the good work :)


Absolutely agree. This is the key feature that is missing from SSL for me.
The second big personal request is itunes rating available in SSL, but that's another thread.
djNicolas 11:50 AM - 22 May, 2009
What I forgot to mention, it would be great to provide the option to choose countdown in bars as well as in time.