Leo
Active Member
from Indie manual:I just finished all of the video content and the only thing I can really complain about is the visual design. It's objectively bad from an accessibility point of view. Even with those videos full screened on my large display, I'm still having a hard time reading the controls. The coloring is very dim which makes it hard to distinguish the letters and words, especially the preset keys. Dark Brown on a slightly lighter dark brown isn't a good choice here. The "accessible" view really needs to be tweaked to give some better contrast to the letters and words as well. That view helps me a bit but it's still frustrating to look at to figure out what is going on there. I'm sure others with worse vision than me would agree but also have a bit more concerns to raise about this.
I get the artistic side of this and in many ways, it's beautiful. However, it's just not practical. Squinting is my biggest concern when it comes to the libraries I use and I tend to avoid those that require it, especially if I'm going to sit for hours staring at this trying to choose the right combination of sounds I would need for a project. (note: I do use many libraries that are hard to see and read but they require little time spent in the GUI unlike your phrase libraries. But, to be fair, I still criticize those other products as well.)
I'm not blind. I know many composers who are though. I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of years learning more about visual accessibility in software when I was still reviewing libraries. Sample developers, by and large, don't put enough effort into the design of their products for those who are visually impaired. There isn't a one-size-fits-all design but there are standards and practices published out there for developers to follow that can certainly make it better for those who have impairments. Food for thought.
As far as the sound of this library. It's great to hear you guys push your products into a new direction. The quality of the phrases sound great, especially when comparing the microphone positions. There's lots of flexibility there given the size of these ensembles. I also like the slightly retro sound this library has. I could hear these phrases used in a lot of period pieces set in the mid-century while still having a modern sound. I hope you guys continue to do these more nuanced phrase libraries with very detailed focus on certain colors. Well done!
Cheers,
Chris
If you having trouble using the artistic design of the interface click the sonokinetic logo at the bottom right of the UI. This changes the text to a more standard font, increase the color contrast and unblurs the icons - useful for those with accessibility concerns.