I've been experimenting with the MIDI interface, and on Friday I took the time to experiment with the touchscreen interface. Here's a list of feature requests that I hope you will consider for the next FreeStyler beta and release.
--The Cue palette has several controls that aren't accessible through both the MIDI and touchscreen interface. Specifically, I could really use the "Loop all sequences" option available as a button on the touchscreen userinterface 2. Also, the Master Speed control on the Cue palette can be reset to 100% by a right-click. This would be a great control to have as a button for the touchscreen.
--The Cuelist Buttons window automatically adds the button number to the beginning of the button's label. This really isn't necessary, and it can add as many as five characters to the limited space available on both the Cuelist and touchscreen buttons. Could we get this removed?
--In your original touchscreen interface, with the Cue button selected the user can scroll through the Cue List by pressing on the "<<" and ">>" buttons. These buttons aren't available on the userinterface 2. Can you make these available on the user-created touchscreen and MIDI interface too? Correct me if I'm wrong, but right now I don't know of any convenient way to quickly scroll and load Cues in the user-created touchscreen or the MIDI interface like you can with the "Fast CUE switcher" on the Cue palette. These two buttons will really help.
--Would it be possible to have a "Favorites" palette that allows certain sequences to be readily available for play at any time? Essentially, this would be another Cue window that has twenty buttons only on it with no additional controls, and it would run sequences through their steps as long as the button is pressed. When the button is released, FreeStyler returns to it's previous state. Currently, FreeStyler has only one Favorite button and I find this is not enough; it would be convenient to have more. I would use these additional favorite buttons to momentarily flash strobes, flood the dancefloor with a single color, activate a solitary lighting effect, and so forth during a song to coincide with the music. It could also be very useful when programming and testing new sequences. Of course, the buttons on this new "Favorites" window should be available on the Touchscreen userinterface 2 and MIDI interfaces.
--I can configure Windows and FreeStyler to automatically enter touchscreen mode from a cold power up. Would it be possible to add a "Power Off" button to the touchscreen interface that will close FreeStyler and automatically shut down the system? This would completely eliminate any need for using the "Minimize" menu command to access FreeStyler and manually shut down the system. In fact, any system configured for playback this way would eliminate the need for a mouse, keyboard or any other human interface connected to it other than the touchsceen. FreeStyler could be set up to operate as a dedicated "kiosk" system this way. (After somehow figuring out a way to remove the "Options" and "Minimize" menu items too.)
--Due to the type of lighting effects that I use, I configure my Cue window to run only one sequence at a time. (Cue Multiselect off, so buttons work in "radio button" mode.) It would be nice to have "play next" and "play previous" buttons added to the Cue window, MIDI and touchscreen interfaces. For one thing, these two buttons would help improve FreeStyler's ergonomic use when using an external MIDI or touchscreen interface. For example, one hand could be used to rest two fingers on these pair of controls to step forward or backward in the cue sequences. This allows the user's eyes to focus on selecting other options with the other hand. This setup would be very similar to the manual transmissions on motorcycles, where the motorcyclist's left foot shifts gears up or down by one step at a time, allowing the driver to focus attention to other needs. Except here, the two buttons allow the user to shift up or down through the cue sequences without looking at the window, touchscreen, or MIDI interface. Secondly, in some applications these two new controls may possibly eliminate the need for having 20 individual Sequence buttons on a touchscreen or assigned to by a MIDI interface. This could be important for some when using MIDI hardware, because some controllers have a limited number of keys or switches available.
That's all.... for now.
Regards,
Gary