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Suggestions and Mockups for Improving VST Favorites
#1
I am just now trying out Soundop and I'm absolutely loving it. It's way more capable than Sound Forge (What I was using previously). As soon as I get paid I'll definitely end up becoming a customer.

However, there are some frustrations with the way VST favorites are currently being handled in my opinion. So I put together some ideas and quick mock-ups. (I am a designer by trade so this was fun)

Here is what my favorites looks like now:

   

What a mess. Here are my suggestions:

1. Let us rename plugins! This is an area where Sound Forge actually excels. A lot of times the actual name of the VST is kind of obscure, or doesn't include the company that created it in the name, etc. For instance, I have a lot of Waves plugins, and I'd like to prefix all my waves plugins with "Waves" so they are grouped together in the list and quickly recognizable. Here is a simple mockup that demonstrates what I mean:

   

2. Please, let us create categories/folders within the "Favorites" folder. I have my own system for organizing my plugins, and I'm sure others have their own systems as well. Just having a single folder with a massive dump of plugins is, TBH, somewhat useless. Being able to create, populate, and name subfolders would be a game-changer. This is the mock-up I spent the most time on because I feel like it would add the most value:

   

I also took some small design liberties. I revamped the folder icons, darkened the background, and added three new buttons to the top right of the effects panel (Rename, New Folder, and Delete Folder). I also demonstrate what should happen when a plugin favorite is selected. There is a new delete button on the right of the selection to quickly remove the selected plugin from favorites if desired.

Anyway, that's all for now. I think just these two changes (VST Renaming, and the ability to organize our favorites folder) would elevate Soundop's usability much further.

Thanks so much for reading.

If I think of any more improvements I'll be sure to post them here.

Best regards.
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#2
(11-30-2022, 07:05 PM)visusys Wrote: I am just now trying out Soundop and I'm absolutely loving it. It's way more capable than Sound Forge (What I was using previously). As soon as I get paid I'll definitely end up becoming a customer.

However, there are some frustrations with the way VST favorites are currently being handled in my opinion. So I put together some ideas and quick mock-ups. (I am a designer by trade so this was fun)

Here is what my favorites looks like now:



What a mess. Here are my suggestions:

1. Let us rename plugins! This is an area where Sound Forge actually excels. A lot of times the actual name of the VST is kind of obscure, or doesn't include the company that created it in the name, etc. For instance, I have a lot of Waves plugins, and I'd like to prefix all my waves plugins with "Waves" so they are grouped together in the list and quickly recognizable. Here is a simple mockup that demonstrates what I mean:



2. Please, let us create categories/folders within the "Favorites" folder. I have my own system for organizing my plugins, and I'm sure others have their own systems as well. Just having a single folder with a massive dump of plugins is, TBH, somewhat useless. Being able to create, populate, and name subfolders would be a game-changer. This is the mock-up I spent the most time on because I feel like it would add the most value:



I also took some small design liberties. I revamped the folder icons, darkened the background, and added three new buttons to the top right of the effects panel (Rename, New Folder, and Delete Folder). I also demonstrate what should happen when a plugin favorite is selected. There is a new delete button on the right of the selection to quickly remove the selected plugin from favorites if desired.

Anyway, that's all for now. I think just these two changes (VST Renaming, and the ability to organize our favorites folder) would elevate Soundop's usability much further.

Thanks so much for reading.

If I think of any more improvements I'll be sure to post them here.

Best regards.

Hi,

Thank you very much for the elaboration on your suggestion.

We will add these features in future versions.

Best regards.
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#3
Great to hear! Really looking forward to it, and very much appreciate all of the hard work that goes into creating Soundop.
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#4
(12-01-2022, 05:37 AM)visusys Wrote: Great to hear! Really looking forward to it, and very much appreciate all of the hard work that goes into creating Soundop.

Hi,

We have released a new version that supports renaming effects and adding favorite effect folders. And you can toggle favorite effects with the space bar. Please check it out.

   

   

   

Best regards.
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#5
This is amazing. Thank you so much for implementing this! Having developers so receptive to user feedback is incredible.
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#6
OK, so I opened Soundop and gave the new features a spin. I really appreciate the change!

However I just have one more suggestion / request.

Rather than right clicking and then selecting "Rename", is it possible for you include the ability to just press F2 (like all other programs) and rename the currently selected plugin in place? I have 1200 VST plugins. Having to right click > Rename is really tedious.

I can create a mockup if you want to demonstrate what I mean but it should be pretty self-explanatory.

Thanks so much for the consideration.

Jay
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#7
Hi again.

I found a small issue with plugin organization:

After you drag a plugin into a folder, ALL of the plugin folders expand / open up, even if they were closed before. This makes adding plugins a nightmare if you have a lot of plugins to add. To clarify what I mean, I recorded a video.

See this: https://streamable.com/uyigwu

1. I start by closing all of the custom plugin folders.
2. I then add a plugin to one of my plugin folders.
3. Unexpectedly every plugin folder expands.
4. So to keep adding VSTs I need to re-close all folders.

Is there any way you can fix this behavior so that plugin folders expand ONLY when the user expands them?

Thanks again for any consideration.

Edit: Thought of another enhancement.

Is there any way you can allow users to have the same plugin in multiple folders?

For instance, I have a folder called "iZotope Ozone" where I put all my Ozone plugs. But I also want the Ozone Imager in my "Stereo" folder since it involves manipulating the stereo image.

Just another idea.
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#8
(12-18-2022, 04:07 PM)visusys Wrote: OK, so I opened Soundop and gave the new features a spin. I really appreciate the change!

However I just have one more suggestion / request.

Rather than right clicking and then selecting "Rename", is it possible for you include the ability to just press F2 (like all other programs) and rename the currently selected plugin in place? I have 1200 VST plugins. Having to right click > Rename is really tedious.

I can create a mockup if you want to demonstrate what I mean but it should be pretty self-explanatory.

Thanks so much for the consideration.

Jay

Hi,

We have improved the renaming operation in the latest version. You can press F2 to rename an effect now. Please check it out.

Best regards.
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#9
(12-18-2022, 05:26 PM)visusys Wrote: Hi again.

I found a small issue with plugin organization:

After you drag a plugin into a folder, ALL of the plugin folders expand / open up, even if they were closed before. This makes adding plugins a nightmare if you have a lot of plugins to add. To clarify what I mean, I recorded a video.

See this: https://streamable.com/uyigwu

1. I start by closing all of the custom plugin folders.
2. I then add a plugin to one of my plugin folders.
3. Unexpectedly every plugin folder expands.
4. So to keep adding VSTs I need to re-close all folders.

Is there any way you can fix this behavior so that plugin folders expand ONLY when the user expands them?

Thanks again for any consideration.

Edit: Thought of another enhancement.

Is there any way you can allow users to have the same plugin in multiple folders?

For instance, I have a folder called "iZotope Ozone" where I put all my Ozone plugs. But I also want the Ozone Imager in my "Stereo" folder since it involves manipulating the stereo image.

Just another idea.

Hi,

We have fixed the problem of expanding folders in the latest version. And adding effects to multiple favorite folders is also supported. Please check it out.

Best regards.
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#10
(12-22-2022, 01:04 AM)ivosight Wrote:
(12-18-2022, 05:26 PM)visusys Wrote: Hi again.

I found a small issue with plugin organization:

After you drag a plugin into a folder, ALL of the plugin folders expand / open up, even if they were closed before. This makes adding plugins a nightmare if you have a lot of plugins to add. To clarify what I mean, I recorded a video.

See this: https://streamable.com/uyigwu

1. I start by closing all of the custom plugin folders.
2. I then add a plugin to one of my plugin folders.
3. Unexpectedly every plugin folder expands.
4. So to keep adding VSTs I need to re-close all folders.

Is there any way you can fix this behavior so that plugin folders expand ONLY when the user expands them?

Thanks again for any consideration.

Edit: Thought of another enhancement.

Is there any way you can allow users to have the same plugin in multiple folders?

For instance, I have a folder called "iZotope Ozone" where I put all my Ozone plugs. But I also want the Ozone Imager in my "Stereo" folder since it involves manipulating the stereo image.

Just another idea.

Hi,

We have fixed the problem of expanding folders in the latest version. And adding effects to multiple favorite folders is also supported. Please check it out.

Best regards.

As I said in the other thread, thank you so much! Really happy with the latest version and looking forward to future releases.

Jay
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