Idea for plugin presets toolbar

Hi to All
some button for moving between next & previuos plugin from current plugin header
and changing current plugin preset with two button
and put track solo button in plugins header (optional but it can speedup You)

Dr Die

2 Likes

That’s a clever idea. Not sure how often I’d be inclined to use it personally - depends on how one’s plugin-related workflow typically unfolds - but for some this may prove to be a nice convenience.

Since all of the suggested features are already only one-click away on elements already appearing on the same screen, it may not be the greatest “bang for the buck” in terms of programming effort for Paul and/or the Ardour team, but it might not entail much of a lift to implement either.

Nice to see a creative idea like this.

1 Like

It’s a nice suggestion and I can see how this can be ergonomically beneficial in some cases.

Things are however not as straightforward as the mockup makes it look.

With the current architecture one can have multiple plugin windows open, each has a different size and position on the desktop (and size and position is remembered). Since plugin GUIs have different sizes, the Window size will change, prev/next buttons move around. Reusing the same window for prev/next plugin is tricky.

Tech Details Furthermore Ardour keeps plugin GUIs around. Closing a plugin window does just that, close the window (hide it), but not destroy it. This keeps the plugin's resources in memory. It would require a significant refactoring to re-parent plugin UIs.

One possibility would be to close the current UI and open the next plugin’s UI.

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As for presets, adding prev/next buttons is relatively easy. One can already use the scroll-wheel on the dropdown to do that.

Keep in mind that some plugins are narrow (e.g. OvertoneDSP, but also many other channelstrip emulations use a vertical layout). Ardour’s preset toolbar defines the minimum width. We do get requests to remove buttons. So this is a bit of a dilemma.

I rather like the idea. Maybe show the buttons if there is sufficient space, and/or offer keyboard shortcuts. Another feature would be to toggle presets current <> last used.

What do you think?

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The solo button does conceptually not belong in the plugin’s UI. Since you need to move the mouse anyway to press it. You can simply just move the mouse outside of the plugin window, and use a keyboard-shortcut.

Hi Man in my workflow mouse wheel not work long as six month
because in linux world i always use middle click to paste
and this action make mouse death earlier

however can i post this it in bug tracker ??
i’m afraid you’ll forget it

Dr Die

Yes it is true
may some time it can speed up producer

we can use plugin preset browser button as processor browser
when press it with shift key
minimalism :+1:

OR a button for enable/disable plugin all automation line

I don’t know if the plugin window header belongs to Ardour or plugin, but it would be great if you could map midi knob, for example endless rotary encoder to change the preset forward and backward. :heart_eyes:
I just imagined ZynAddSubFX with tons of presets… One hand twisting the knob, second hand plays the keys, no need to clicking mouse buttons… omg, this would be sweet…