Reaper for new users, is it OK ?

[pepe44]

Hi everyone. Im a long time reaper user and recently i´ve been asked the same questions about reaper from people that just started using reaper, so i thought about posting here.
For those who are long time reaper users maybe this things just don't make sense because we all spent like half time customizing Reaper to our own needs. For those who just found Reaper and started using i think there are a couple things that could be taken in consideration for an easier and faster learning.

1 - New default theme vs Version 5
In the old Theme when you start reaper the TCP tracks have all the needed information for input, phase, trim,input FX, routing, mute , solo, pan , volume and inserts.
In the new version there is the arm button, naming track , volume knob, trim mute solo and phase on the meter side. changing the track layout to get the input selection is wise ? i don't think so..Its not practical neither intuitive


2 - Version 5 MCP and TCP option

In the version 5 there were way more option for the track layout for mixer and track control panel. Some of those were completely removed and were great. Can't see any advantage in this option.

3- Basic DAW controls for music recording / composition

Couldn't figure out yet why does Cockos think that people should be figuring out on how to change the musical timeline scale under menus and submenus trying to find how to change the default 1/4 note to other values. Should be of easy access right of the bat without the need for googling or even going to the snap/grid settings.
A main toolbar should exist straight out of first time use, without the need to go on menus. Basic editing things, recording modes , musical figures and coloring for example would be a good improvement for newcomers.

4-Mixer size on the first time opening

Why the mixer by default ? Even that i can agree with that the mixer size makes the faders control a large portion of dB scale because its small. rapidly 5 dB of boost or reduction is applied, this could be improved by setting the fader scale range changing according to mixer size (docked).


Those are the main things i think that wouldn't hurt to change and would make a better first time experience in my opinion.

now, hit me with all those "but you can do this and that etc"...i Know! its just an opinion of someone who´s been asked the same questions over and over...

[hardplay]

+1, agreee, i believe that the default Reaper theme should be noob friendly , it does turn off a bit in my opinion. Once you get used to the logic behind Reaper then you can change it.

[mschnell]

My impression is that Reaper is great for really new users as theses are willing to adapt to new concepts, but difficult to grasp for users with experience with other DAWs, as these are expecting Reaper to behave like they are accustomed to.

-Michael

[pepe44]

Originally Posted by mschnell

My impression is that Reaper is great for really new users as theses are willing to adapt to new concepts, but difficult to grasp for users with experience with other DAWs, as these are expecting Reaper to behave like they are accustomed to.

-Michael

Not quite sure about that statement. A lot of my students are starting and they make me the same questions over and over. i think some things could be made simple from scratch , is not about what the "neighbour" DAW has or not.
Those are simple things i mentioned on the first post.

[Meo-Ada Mespotine]

I'm not really sure, what your actual feature request is...

Do you want to revert some gui/theme stuff back to v5 behavior?

[pepe44]

Originally Posted by Meo-Ada Mespotine

I'm not really sure, what your actual feature request is...

Do you want to revert some gui/theme stuff back to v5 behavior?

One toolbar with main basic DAW functions by default
All tracks MCP and TCP showing full controls

This should be a good start for new users.

[Sibben]

Originally Posted by pepe44

One toolbar with main basic DAW functions by default
All tracks MCP and TCP showing full controls

This should be a good start for new users.

I would guess hiding certain functions IS an attempt to make it more user friendly. Personally I believe it to be counter productive. It works for very simple applications but for more complex programs the whole act of a UI that changes as you operate it is more confusing to new users. When you don’t yet understand complexity you rely on it to at least be the same complexity so you can learn.

A couple of years ago Microsoft experimented with this in Office by hiding menu options but they scrapped it. I remember an elderly relative calling me on more than one occasion claiming that Word was broken. She did not understand the software well and everything was confusing to her so she relied on spatial organization. She knew that the print function was somewhere in the middle up to the left. When it wasn’t she was at a loss.

I'm just guessing though. Maybe it's an attempt to save space for pro users. I'm not super happy with it either way personally. The idea is solid but the way REAPER hides and shows items is a little too dodgy (things pop in one after the other and slide around lacking distinction). Cubase does this by showing/hiding whole blocks of icons at once which is easier on the brain.

[ivansc]

Don`t forget this sticky in the newbies section ....


https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=152012

[mschnell]

Originally Posted by pepe44

One toolbar with main basic DAW functions by default

This should easily be accomplished by some configuration or scripts.

Make a list.

(I am sure very soon someone will come up with an alternate list )

-Michael

[gvdv]

Originally Posted by mschnell

My impression is that Reaper is great for really new users as theses are willing to adapt to new concepts, but difficult to grasp for users with experience with other DAWs, as these are expecting Reaper to behave like they are accustomed to.

-Michael

Have to disagree with you, Michael.

When I first moved to Reaper from GarageBand a few years ago, I was very intimidated by all of the choices, and particularly by the pretty non-intuitive places in which many of the actions were placed.

I also had some experience of Logic, and had spent a lot of time since the 1980s on modest 4 and 8 tracking machines designed for home use. I also had quite a bit of experience using various types of graphics software over the years.

And with all of that experience I still found Reaper to be pretty confusing.

[gvdv]

Originally Posted by pepe44

Hi everyone. Im a long time reaper user and recently i´ve been asked the same questions about reaper from people that just started using reaper, so i thought about posting here.
For those who are long time reaper users maybe this things just don't make sense because we all spent like half time customizing Reaper to our own needs. For those who just found Reaper and started using i think there are a couple things that could be taken in consideration for an easier and faster learning.

1 - New default theme vs Version 5
In the old Theme when you start reaper the TCP tracks have all the needed information for input, phase, trim,input FX, routing, mute , solo, pan , volume and inserts.
In the new version there is the arm button, naming track , volume knob, trim mute solo and phase on the meter side. changing the track layout to get the input selection is wise ? i don't think so..Its not practical neither intuitive


2 - Version 5 MCP and TCP option

In the version 5 there were way more option for the track layout for mixer and track control panel. Some of those were completely removed and were great. Can't see any advantage in this option.

3- Basic DAW controls for music recording / composition

Couldn't figure out yet why does Cockos think that people should be figuring out on how to change the musical timeline scale under menus and submenus trying to find how to change the default 1/4 note to other values. Should be of easy access right of the bat without the need for googling or even going to the snap/grid settings.
A main toolbar should exist straight out of first time use, without the need to go on menus. Basic editing things, recording modes , musical figures and coloring for example would be a good improvement for newcomers.

4-Mixer size on the first time opening

Why the mixer by default ? Even that i can agree with that the mixer size makes the faders control a large portion of dB scale because its small. rapidly 5 dB of boost or reduction is applied, this could be improved by setting the fader scale range changing according to mixer size (docked).


Those are the main things i think that wouldn't hurt to change and would make a better first time experience in my opinion.

now, hit me with all those "but you can do this and that etc"...i Know! its just an opinion of someone who´s been asked the same questions over and over...

pepe,
You have hit on most of the things I was frustrated about in version 6.

Thank you.

[ivansc]

Originally Posted by pepe44

One toolbar with main basic DAW functions by default
All tracks MCP and TCP showing full controls

This should be a good start for new users.

I have to agree with this.
If you are really THAT new, you won`t even know what missing settings you should be searching for, so show ALL the basics is a good idea & hopefully a really minor change to the Reaper software.