RE: [-empyre-] RE: FWD: squidsoup/altzero5 intro

["Jim Andrews" <jim@vispo.com>]

> >i downloaded and tried out the new compositional version. i imported a
> >sound but couldn't figure
> >out how to get it into the composition. i tried to drag it hither and yon
> >but couldn't seem to
> >drop it into anything. help out a poor lad here please, Anthony.
>
> in order to import a sound in the composer tool you need to select it in
> the sound library and press CTRL and click somewhere on the sphere.  it
> then appears as a red square.  due to public demand ;-)  i've written a
> rudimentary readme/basic instruction set.  see
> http://www.altzero.com/altcompose/altzerocompose.pdf

hi anthony,

i'm a fan of the squid soup work, as i said.

the composer tool seems preliminary, however, at least in its interface; perhaps the underlying
functionality is finished. i don't think the PDF should be required. It's no fun. Art apps
should need no manual. By saying this, I don't mean that their functionality should be
simplified to the point where a manual is not required. But the interface should have its own
built-in (toggleable) help system if help is required. Do you agree? I built a help system into
http://vispo.com/arteroids . Perhaps it should be toggleable also, that is, one should be able
to turn it on and off. CTRL+drag is not something I'd have figured out without help. I know it
is sometimes necessary to have CTRL+drag if drag is assigned to some other simpler or more
frequently used operation and it's great it apparently needs CTRL+drag, but it needs Help.

Also, the interface is pretty dialog boxical. I think the user should mostly have fun in their
face, not what looks like a complex dialog box. windowing.

But that's how it goes in interface design, isn't it. the difference between version 0.5 and
version 1.0 in interface design is sometimes dramatic.

Do you agree?

Anyway, I *will* look at the PDF because I am very curious about your work at www.altzero.com ,
but normally when reading a manual is required in an art app I don't bother because it is bad
interface design.

> >what Director Xtras, if any, are you using in this piece?
>
> the 3D xtra (obviously...) and amplitudeXtra in composer tool only (not in
> the player), and a couple of other xtras (again in composer only) for file
> management.  the rest of it (even sound synchronisation) is native director.

how did you find working with the amplitudeXtra? Is it fast?

ja