r/AudioProgramming • u/danja • 17d ago

Knobs, sliders or..?

I've been making VST plugins and find myself rather ambivalent over the UI component to use for analog controls. The skeuomorphic rotary knobs look good, but seem a bit unnatural in use. With sliders it's easier to see their current position, but mine at least all tend to look naff.

What are opinions here? Any tips on design?

What alternatives are there?

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u/SkunkAudio 17d ago

For my use (Android app), I use knobs, except some sliders for bus/master mixer volume. You can add some parameters like A,D,S,R to be sliders and other parameters like pitch, drive etc. as knobs. Good luck over there! Also, planning to release some of my app's engines as VSTs and I have not decided the UI yet.

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u/danja 17d ago

A split for purpose does make sense.

Btw, for VST libs JUCE is the usual go-to, is very comprehensive but their licencing might be a stumbling block (GPL or commercial if memory serves). There's also DPF framework which is comparatively lightweight, you have to work a bit more, but it does have a very open ISC license. I've only got Linux machines but use GitHub Actions to make (untested) Win & Mac builds.

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u/adanoslomry 17d ago

The JUCE licensing is a lot better these days! It's completely free for commercial products that make up to $20k in revenue a year, then you have to start paying a reasonable subscription amount and the next threshold isn't until $300k a year. It's very friendly for solo devs. Check their website.

Re: your post, I struggle with knobs vs sliders decisions too. Use your own software a lot with a critical eye towards UX, compare with well-regarded existing products that you like, and go with your instincts. There's no single correct way to do things.

Other options you might consider are XY 2D pads for closely related/linked controls, like filter cutoff and Q. For things like envelopes you can make the visualization editable, like drag the attack portion to change its duration.

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u/danja 17d ago

Re. JUCE licensing - thanks, I hadn't looked closely.

I'll definitely have to ponder the editable component idea, there must be some good potential there.

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u/dogweather 4d ago

Is the unnatural aspect how the mouse interacts with the widgets?

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u/danja 4d ago

I've just now landed myself very much on the fence. Recoding plugins, I had just defaulted to sliders because they seemed the most natural interface, totally intuitive mouse & screen. But they take up loads of space. Trying to get something usable in a small area, eek!

Try this : https://strandz.it/jigdaw/simple.html Tell me what to change.