Serato Software Feature Suggestions

What features would you like to see in Serato software?

Cue colors should be consistent

msoultan 6:15 PM - 31 July, 2008
It's really annoying that the cue point colors change depending on what order their placed or how many times you press it. If I place cue point #2 once, it is yellow. If I place it again, it's green. Next time it's yellow.

If it's cue 2, it should stay yellow no matter how many times you move it around. I don't see any reason to do otherwise. It's especially annoying if you're looking at cue's color on the track timeline but don't know what button to press to get there. I want to always know that yellow is 2 or red is 1, etc...

Mike
nik39 12:54 AM - 1 August, 2008
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I don't see any reason to do otherwise.

The reason is quite simple... The color changes so that when you re-set the color of a cue point there is a visual indicator the alternating color that the cue point has been re-set.

I think it's nice.
msoultan 12:56 AM - 1 August, 2008
why would I want to know when I reset my cue point? If I moved it to a new location, I'm happy it's in the new location - I don't need to know that I updated it because I already know I updated it...
msoultan 1:01 AM - 1 August, 2008
also, the benefit of knowing that pressing #2 will always go to the yellow marker far outweighs the benefit of knowing that a cue was moved.
nik39 1:08 AM - 1 August, 2008
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I don't need to know that I updated it because I already know I updated it...

It's a visual "ACK".

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#2 will always go to the yellow marker far outweighs the benefit of knowing that a cue was moved.

Press #2, press ctrl#2. This will toggle your color back.

Fixed.
WarpNote 6:50 AM - 1 August, 2008
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I think it's nice.

+1
msoultan 9:41 AM - 1 August, 2008
They might as well all be the same color because their color designations current mean nothing. I don't understand why you wouldn't always want the marker to match a particular cue - gives that color much more meaning and usefulness.
nik39 1:45 PM - 1 August, 2008
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I don't understand why

Yes, and I don't understand why you can't

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Press #2, press ctrl#2. This will toggle your color back.

msoultan 4:32 PM - 1 August, 2008
Here's the problem - If you set 5 cues in a row from 1 to 5, they go red, yellow, green, aqua, blue - those are the colors that *should* be associated with 1 through 5 respectively.

Many times I press ctrl 1 to set cue 1 at the beginning of the record and I'll place another cue 4 towards the end of the record so I know when the melody drops out. Then I decide that I want to put a cue 2 at the beginning where the melody drops in. First off, it doesn't matter how many times you hit ctrl 4, it will only alternate between yellow and green. Then, when you drop cue 2, it's only green or aqua!

So, now if I've placed three cue points and I'm looking at my song timeline, there's a red one and a yellow one and an aqua one - just looking at the timeline, I'd think I have cues 1, 2, and 3 - but I don't. I now have to refer to the left to figure out which color is which cue wasting time. This is misleading and just is one more thing to slow you down in the mix. You shouldn't have to worry about what order you place the cues - they should stay the same color every time you place them.

Not sure why you guys are so hell bent on something that makes you less efficient. I personally like to spend more time worrying about the music and less time worrying that I'm going to press the wrong button.

Mike
nik39 4:44 PM - 1 August, 2008
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Many times I press ctrl 1 to set cue 1 at the beginning of the record and I'll place another cue 4 towards the end of the record so I know when the melody drops out. Then I decide that I want to put a cue 2 at the beginning where the melody drops in. First off, it doesn't matter how many times you hit ctrl 4, it will only alternate between yellow and green. Then, when you drop cue 2, it's only green or aqua!

Nope. It depends on which colors have already been used. Try it out.


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I personally like to spend more time worrying about the music and less time worrying that I'm going to press the wrong button.

Sure, that's why I take time into organising my library which includes setting cue points properly.
msoultan 6:02 PM - 1 August, 2008
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Nope. It depends on which colors have already been used. Try it out.


Yellow, green, blue.. whatever color it's alternating between, it's still not the color I want it to be, which is the same color every time I set that cue. There's no reason to have a light show when setting cues. It should be consistent so that you always know that a red marker is 1, yellow is 2, so on and so forth. It should also be the case that 5 is blue, regardless if there is a 1, 2, 3, or 4 marker already.

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Sure, that's why I take time into organising my library which includes setting cue points properly.


I am not setting my cue points improperly and I don't have ESP to know how I plan on changing my cue points down the road. I also shouldn't have to reset all of my cue point colors if I decide to add another cue point because the colors didn't line up right.

In addition, if I have a song with cue 1 and 5 set, and another with cue 1,2,3 and 5, it is really difficult to get 5 to be the same color for both songs unless you set a lot of cue points in between and then remove them. This is time wasted to have consistency.
nik39 1:40 PM - 2 August, 2008
Well, since we are exchanging opinions - I am fine with the way it is right now.
WarpNote 4:37 PM - 2 August, 2008
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Well, since we are exchanging opinions - I am fine with the way it is right now.

+1

I find my self setting cues in non chronologic order all the time, and lets face it , changing the color afterwards its no big task. Also your suggestion could mess up my workflow of putting in a cue point at the end of a song, using as a cue for mixing out. I always keep this one purple. Now your suggestion would change the purple color whenever cues were added/deleted before the end, no?
msoultan 7:12 PM - 2 August, 2008
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I find my self setting cues in non chronologic order all the time, and lets face it, changing the color afterwards its no big task.


Actually, it can be a big task.

As it stands, cues 1 to 5 go red, yellow, green, cyan, and blue considering that you add them in chronological order. Let's say you always want your mix out cue to be cue 4 (or 9) and you always want it to be cyan (I use 4 because it less chance of accidentally hitting 5 when meaning to hit 6). With the current setup, you have to first set cues 1,2,3 (or another way would be to set 1,2 and hit 4 twice) - this is also assuming cyan isn't already being used by another cue. If it is, you have to go to the other cue, replace it with another color and then go back to where you wanted the initial cyan cue - it's a pain in the ass if you ask me.

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Also your suggestion could mess up my workflow of putting in a cue point at the end of a song, using as a cue for mixing out. I always keep this one purple. Now your suggestion would change the purple color whenever cues were added/deleted before the end, no?


My suggestion would do exactly what you want. If you always want it to be blue and you always want to use 5 (or 0) as the mix-out cue marker, it would *always* be blue, regardless of what order the cues were placed. Plus, if you see a blue marker on the timeline, you will know that it's *always* cue 5 (or 0). The current setup is completely ambiguous as to what color is mapped to what cue.

The whole goal here is to be able to add cues in any order yet always have cue 1 be red, 2 be yellow, and so on and so forth *regardless of what order they were placed.*
WarpNote 10:49 AM - 3 August, 2008
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...Let's say you always want your mix out cue to be cue 4 (or 9) and you always want it to be cyan...

Ok, seems we use cues a bit different then, My end cue could be everything from 2 to 5 (or 7 to 0), I keep them sorted chronologically, and a quick glance at list by the virtual deck shows me where they are. Possibly a bit harder if you cannot see your screen easily, but still easy to check in the headphones. Normally I would go through the routine of pressing all appropriate number keys when loading a track and cueing, before playing it.

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...this is also assuming cyan isn't already being used by another cue. If it is, you have to go to the other cue, replace it with another color and then go back to where you wanted the initial cyan cue

You know you can click the color pop-up box next to cues right?, All cues can actually have the same color if you wanted. (not saying anyone really wants that...)

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If you always want it to be blue and you always want to use 5 (or 0) as the mix-out cue marker, it would *always* be blue, regardless of what order the cues were placed. Plus, if you see a blue marker on the timeline, you will know that it's *always* cue 5 (or 0).

I'm not dependent on using 5 (or 0) all the time. It would either force to either make dummy cues (I keep the sort cues chronologically option in setup on) or leave cues in the middle empty. I think making dummy cues would be a lot more work than just changing the color once.

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The current setup is completely ambiguous as to what color is mapped to what cue.

Actually its not. Have a look in the color popup and you'll se it is just picking the next available color in the list. And when setting the same cue ie pressing ctrl 1 (or whatever number) it alternates the available color. I find this behaviour quite intelligent and intuitive. If I change a cue either intentional or unintentionally, I will always know as it would have the "wrong" color.

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The whole goal here is to be able to add cues in any order yet always have cue 1 be red, 2 be yellow, and so on and so forth *regardless of what order they were placed.

I'm guessing you're keeping the setup option sort cues chronologically off? I guess we have the same goal ultimately. However, with your suggestion I would not see if a cue has been changed?
msoultan 8:52 PM - 4 August, 2008
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Ok, seems we use cues a bit different then, My end cue could be everything from 2 to 5 (or 7 to 0), I keep them sorted chronologically, and a quick glance at list by the virtual deck shows me where they are. Possibly a bit harder if you cannot see your screen easily, but still easy to check in the headphones. Normally I would go through the routine of pressing all appropriate number keys when loading a track and cueing, before playing it.


No problem here for the most part except for checking all the cues. I set them ahead of time and don't have time to check every cue while I'm mixing. However, I usually don't use that many cues: 1 for the beginning, 2 for melody-in, and 4 for melody out.


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You know you can click the color pop-up box next to cues right?, All cues can actually have the same color if you wanted. (not saying anyone really wants that...)


Yeah, had no idea... was wondering where you came up with purple ;)


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If you always want it to be blue and you always want to use 5 (or 0) as the mix-out cue marker, it would *always* be blue, regardless of what order the cues were placed. Plus, if you see a blue marker on the timeline, you will know that it's *always* cue 5 (or 0).

I'm not dependent on using 5 (or 0) all the time. It would either force to either make dummy cues (I keep the sort cues chronologically option in setup on) or leave cues in the middle empty. I think making dummy cues would be a lot more work than just changing the color once.


This was all assuming you couldn't change the colors - I'm enlightened now!


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The current setup is completely ambiguous as to what color is mapped to what cue.

Actually its not. Have a look in the color popup and you'll se it is just picking the next available color in the list. And when setting the same cue ie pressing ctrl 1 (or whatever number) it alternates the available color. I find this behaviour quite intelligent and intuitive. If I change a cue either intentional or unintentionally, I will always know as it would have the "wrong" color.


Ok, I should probably qualify my statement - the next color is obviously predictable as I'm able to figure it out. It's just annoying that I can't place a cue and get the same color every time I place that cue.

I still don't see why you shouldn't have the same default colors for cues *especially* because you can change the colors afterwards. That would actually be the better of both worlds because not only do you get consistent colors when dropping cues, yet they can always be changed afterwards. Less time spent in the long-run.


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The whole goal here is to be able to add cues in any order yet always have cue 1 be red, 2 be yellow, and so on and so forth *regardless of what order they were placed.

I'm guessing you're keeping the setup option sort cues chronologically off? I guess we have the same goal ultimately. However, with your suggestion I would not see if a cue has been changed?

Sorry, when I say order, I'm not talking about chronological in terms of the timeline, I'm talking about the order that I actually placed them. So, for example, if I set cue 4 somewhere near the end of the song, it's going to default to red. Then if I set cue 1 at the beginning of the track, it's going to default to yellow. I feel, however, that cue 4 should default to cyan and 1 should default to red regardless of when I set that cue.

I'm curious, what are you gaining by knowing you changed a cue? You obviously know it's changed because you just changed it. Is there a different workflow that I'm missing?

Thanks,
Mike
cappinkirk 8:59 PM - 4 August, 2008
i use the colors to indicate different parts of a song so changing it to an order based system would screw that up.
nik39 9:02 PM - 4 August, 2008
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You know you can click the color pop-up box next to cues right?, All cues can actually have the same color if you wanted. (not saying anyone really wants that...)

Yeah, had no idea...

You must be kidding
msoultan 9:07 PM - 4 August, 2008
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i use the colors to indicate different parts of a song so changing it to an order based system would screw that up.


I'm not saying they should be based on order in the timeline. However, they are currently based on when you set the cue.

So, for example, if you press ctrl-4,1,3,5,2 you get the following cue colors:

4 - red
1 - yellow
3 - green
5 - cyan
2 - blue

My suggestion is that the colors should default to the color based on what cue was pressed:

1 - red
2 - yellow
3 - green
4 - cyan
5 - blue

6 - red
7 - yellow
8 - green
9 - cyan
0 - blue

It shouldn't matter when you set the cue, it should initially default to one of the above colors when the cue is set.
WarpNote 5:47 PM - 5 August, 2008
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I'm curious, what are you gaining by knowing you changed a cue? You obviously know it's changed because you just changed it.

Not at all, sometimes things can happen in the heat of the moment, even if it was not intended. A couple of drinks, mistyping on the keyboard, and there you go.... catastrophe ahead....
msoultan 6:22 PM - 5 August, 2008
How often are you drunk-cue-setting? ;) I would venture to guess that this is a limited situation.

Plus, if you use different colors than the standard ones, *and* the cue colors are consistent, you'll still know regardless that you've changed them, drunk or not.
WarpNote 9:53 PM - 5 August, 2008
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How often are you drunk-cue-setting? ;)
More often than you would know ;-)

But seriously, I actually add cues to tracks all the time, also when I am playing out, not a lot of the time (I do keep focus on my mix and my crowd..) But still I probably set about 5-15 cues a night.

And I do keep standard color for all cues except my last. (that one I keep purple, instead of blue, just for visibility issues.)

I do believe you make this issue far more complicated than you need to.
You do know that pressing <Ctrl>+<,> (left deck) or <Ctrl>+<.> (right deck) adds cues for the next empty slot? The only time I really want use the number keys is when resetting or triggering a cue.

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I usually don't use that many cues: 1 for the beginning, 2 for melody-in, and 4 for melody out.

So why not just keep the keep cues chronologically on (in setup>playback>keep cues chronologically) and forget about the colors, you will most of the time have your cues at 1,2 & 3 anyway...
msoultan 10:18 PM - 5 August, 2008
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So why not just keep the keep cues chronologically on (in setup>playback>keep cues chronologically) and forget about the colors, you will most of the time have your cues at 1,2 & 3 anyway...


I think you're misunderstanding my issue. All I want it to do is when I place cue 1 (by hitting ctrl 1), it should *always* place a red marker, 2 should be yellow, etc., regardless of when in the timeline I placed it.

I reset markers quite a bit, and when I hit cue 2 and move it to a different location (Because sometimes it's not perfect the first time), I want it to be yellow *every single time* I set it.

Plus, now when I see a yellow marker, I instantly know it's cue 2.
WarpNote 1:54 AM - 6 August, 2008
I get what you want, all I am saying is, sometimes it makes sense to try out a couple of different approaches in order to solve a problem...

Now try this, load new track without any cues, scroll to start of the audio (its where your cue1 anyway right?), hit <ctrl> + <,> (if its on the left deck or offline player...) five times, then move around the track and set your cues with <ctrl> + <any mumber> twice and your cues will have the color you expect them to. Anytime you reset a marker just do as you normally do, bu hit it twice.... You will have a few extra 'dummy cues' at the start but at least you'll have your colors.
msoultan 2:41 AM - 6 August, 2008
I appreciate your help, but the goal of this suggestion is so that I don't have to do a workaround to get the exact colors I'm looking for. I can also just place my cues and change the colors afterwards.

However, like you, I sometimes have no choice but to set cues during a gig. When time is of the essence, messing around with a workaround during a gig is not always the best combination.