Zebra Redux

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POST UPDATED (2015.06.28):

Download latest version.

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ORIGINAL POST (2014.08.20)

Hi everybody,

I've been working on this project for about two month now, so I'm very excited to finally share it with you guys.

Zebra Redux is a skin pack for Zebra, Zebrify and ZRev made primarily with sound designer workflow in mind. Initially I built it to reflect my own needs but I'm sure some of you guys will enjoy it too. So here it is:

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There are too many changes to list them all, so here are a few of the highlights:

Zebra
- default window size is bigger now (914x914 px)
- removed lower pane. All its features now reappear in form of modules
- renamed Perform, Synthesis and Patches tabs to XY, SYNTH and LIB respectively
- XY pads and FX Grid are now part of a central pane and accessible from both SYNTH and LIB tabs
- moved assignable XY controls from lower pane to XY tab. Now all XY pad related parameters are in one place
- added new OSCs tab with 4 full-size OSC editors in one place for fast and easy editing, copying and pasting
- added new MSEGs tab with 4 full-size MSEG editors in one place
- moved global patch settings from lower pane to generators pane for easy access
- changed label color of all definable controls (...) to red
- all menus that have only two items will now iterate through those items (when clicking) without opening the popup menu. Menu is still accessible via right click
- OSC module now has waveform editor, waveform selector, preset manager and a subpanel with key and velocity scale editors
- Noise, XMF and Comb modules now feature local XY pads for controlling two predefined (by me) parameters
- FMO module now has subpanel with key and velocity scale editors. FM waveform is represented by an authentic waveform icon
- changed some important menus and switches to graphical icons. Some of them somehow reflect the reality, others are abstract and probably will change in the future
- Arp, ArpMod, Modulation Matrix and MSEGs are now modules in modulators pane. ArpMods and MSEGs modules are hidden if not in use
- added new EXTRA tab. Which is empty. For now :)

Zebrify
- all changes mentioned above
- Envelope Follower and Pitch Detector modules are now part of modulators pane and have big sliders combined with indicators for easy tuning

ZRev
- changed T and AP knobs to sliders

Screenshots
zebra_1_xy_min.png
zebra_2_synth_min.png
zebra_3_oscs_min.png
How to install

- copy Zebra Redux folder to your Zebra2.data\Support\Themes folder

To apply Zebra Redux to Zebrify and ZRev you'll need to do some extra work:

- go to your Zebra2.data\Data\Scripts folder
- rename Zebrify.txt to Zebrifyorig.txt
- rename ZRev.txt to ZRevorig.txt
- from Zebra Redux\Extras folder copy Zebrify.txt and ZRev.txt to your Zebra2.data\Data\Scripts
-> that's it. Now you should be able to choose Zebra Redux from right click menu in Zebrify and ZRev


Please consider Zebra Redux in beta state. There could be some minor bugs and glitches. If you bumped onto something strange, please let me know here in comments or via email denis@drzhnn.com (in English or Russian) so I could fix it.

Finally, if you are over-excited about this skin pack and can't control yourself, here are my PayPal, Yandex.Money and Bitcoin wallets:

PayPal: denis@drzhnn.com
YM: 41001510500579
BC: 1JfJWNYi4xMVbTCvbk1ftqH99jPZDA7nZr

Thanks :)
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Last edited by drzhnn on Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:54 am, edited 31 times in total.

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/* static noise */
Last edited by noiseresearch on Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
/* whitenoise */ /* abandon */ /* reincarnated */

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You deserve a donation! :tu: :clap:
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Holy shit! O_O


EDIT: Can't seem to get MSEG preset browser display my MSEGs...

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That is really impressive! :tu:
Rekkerd.org the latest news on audio plugins, sample libraries & virtual instruments, synth presets & more.
Don't click here if you can't control yourself!

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Wow...fantastic layout! I also like the little graphic representations of certain curves, distortions, etc. The arpeggiator is superior to the default one. Much clearer what's going on at a glance. I've only briefly delved into it and it's a keeper methinks.

Suggestions so far:

You have to be in 914x914 (normal) size to see the whole window. Any bigger and the bottom is cut off from the screen. I'm using a 24" 1920x1200 monitor. At 914x914 it feels a bit small.

When selecting a module in the central matrix, the corresponding module's borders are not highlighted to quickly spot it in more complex patches.

Thanks for the skin

EDIT: The XY pads which unfold for the XMF filters are a fantastic addition, really great for quick sound shaping. :clap:

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So, how much do I have to donate to make it fit nicely on a 1920x1200 resolution? :hyper: :wink:

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I like this vector graphic & colorscheme a lot.
Nice work !

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Thanks guys!
EvilDragon wrote: EDIT: Can't seem to get MSEG preset browser display my MSEGs...
There's a thing... For some reason Zebra can only have one fully functional preset browser per instance. I spent a couple of days figuring out how to fix this issue, but it just didn't work for me. I was able to implement additional preset browsers to OSCs and MSEGs tabs but they only show content of the last selected folder. So you have to select the right folder for your MSEG (of OSC) module in the SYNTH tab first. Not very effective, I know. But the only option I had was to remove those secondary preset browsers completely. So I decided to leave them as is for now. May be Urs will shed some light on the matter.
tedlogan wrote: Suggestions so far:

You have to be in 914x914 (normal) size to see the whole window. Any bigger and the bottom is cut off from the screen. I'm using a 24" 1920x1200 monitor. At 914x914 it feels a bit small.
I see what you mean and I agree. I changed the original window size because my main goal for this skin was to get rid of the lower pane and its tabs, to make navigation faster. Also I wanted to add XY pads to SYNTH tab so I could experiment with pads more often. So I just needed more space to move things around. I can make windows size smaller again so it fits 1920x1200 screen at "large" mode, but I will have to remove XY pads from SYNTH tab, or implement it as a new module :)
tedlogan wrote: When selecting a module in the central matrix, the corresponding module's borders are not highlighted to quickly spot it in more complex patches.
This is intentional. Default module selection frame has rounded corners and it just doesn't look nice with new module style. Actually, I've raised this question about a week ago but didn't receive an answer: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 1&t=417449

In the next update I'll add an alternative version of the skin with the visible selection frame. It's not a big deal really.

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I would like to suggest some things. I don't feel that FX should be on the bottom of the left side pane. Why not use the EXTRA tab for effects, for example?

Or just remove the XY1 on the Synth page and put FX there? It makes more sense to me from signal path point of view (you get the generators grid, then output pan/vol, then effects grid, then effects params - all in the middle track of the GUI)...


Some more things:

* I kinda miss the labels for the menu fields in the arp and LFOs (and everywhere else: MMap, MSEG, etc.)... Would be good to have them for those boxes.

* LFO boxes for steps/lines and number of steps for user LFO should show up only when you select the User waveform, if possible?

* MSEG drawing modes need clearer buttons/designations (those three buttons below the MSEG on the left side)

* MSEG "Loop" label (Synth tab) is misaligned against the others

* ArpMod sliders have this tiny graphical glitch when you set them to max value. Just try dragging them from center to top and you'll see what I mean.
drzhnn wrote:There's a thing... For some reason Zebra can only have one fully functional preset browser per instance. I spent a couple of days figuring out how to fix this issue, but it just didn't work for me. I was able to implement additional preset browsers to OSCs and MSEGs tabs but they only show content of the last selected folder. So you have to select the right folder for your MSEG (of OSC) module in the SYNTH tab first. Not very effective, I know. But the only option I had was to remove those secondary preset browsers completely. So I decided to leave them as is for now. May be Urs will shed some light on the matter.
That's a shame. Hope Urs reads this and provides some tips to fix this up :)
Last edited by EvilDragon on Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:24 am, edited 2 times in total.

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drzhnn wrote:- from Zebra Redux\Extras folder copy Zebrify.txt and ZRev.txt to your Zebra2.data\Data\Scripts
You don't need to do this... You just need to add two files in Zebra2.data\Data\Scripts:

Zebrifydefault.txt
Zrevdefault.txt

They should say:

THEME name='Zebra Redux'

The way I have it is I have these files:

Zebra2.txt
Zebralette.txt
Zebrify.txt
Zrev.txt

They all say this:

ALTERNATIVE name='Default' filename='Zebra2_orig.txt' (this line changes depending on the TXT file)
INCLUDE filename='default'

I have all the original skins renamed so they have _orig suffix.

Then I added all the "default" files for all 4 plugins. In there I say:

THEME name='Orange Zebra' (that's for my variant of default skin, but you can put any skin here, this is where the selected skin gets stored when you go "make default").

Now, the important thing here is that you DON'T have to copy stuff from your Extras folder into Zebra2.data\Data\Scripts folder! They can stay in your Zebra Redux\Scripts\ folder, and they will be selectable from the right-click menu - and your whole skin can go to the Support\Themes folder!

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Looks fantastic, can't wait to try it out!

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Where's Sendy? I think she would appreciate these BIG osc and MSEG pages veeeery much :)

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EvilDragon wrote:I would like to suggest some things. I don't feel that FX should be on the bottom of the left side pane. Why not use the EXTRA tab for effects, for example?
Interesting suggestion :) My logic behind making the floating FX rack a part of generators pane was that the left pane itself contains modules which generate and directly affect the spectrum of sound. So VCF1, VCF5, EQ1 and XMF3 are basically doing very similar things. Why separate them? But I see what you mean. I can move FX rack to EXTRA tab but it will increase the amount of mousing/clicking and will break the concept of seeing all active patch parameters in one screen, which was initially one of my goals for this skin.
EvilDragon wrote:* I kinda miss the labels for the menu fields in the arp and LFOs (and everywhere else: MMap, MSEG, etc.)... Would be good to have them for those boxes.
I missed them too. For first 10 minutes I guess :) But now I'm thinking about replacing some of the menus with icons or just adding little icons besides the menus, instead of text labels.
EvilDragon wrote:* LFO boxes for steps/lines and number of steps for user LFO should show up only when you select the User waveform, if possible?
Yeah, bothers me too. I failed messing with the layermasks. All those ffffffff, 7fffffff, fffc096f... I just don't get it. But I'm looking forward :)
EvilDragon wrote:* MSEG drawing modes need clearer buttons/designations (those three buttons below the MSEG on the left side)
Those little buttons have fixed size and position. And their active/inactive color depends on the color and transparency of the loop color in the ruler, of something like that. So, it's kinda tricky :)
EvilDragon wrote:* MSEG "Loop" label (Synth tab) is misaligned against the others
Will fix it in the next update.
EvilDragon wrote:* ArpMod sliders have this tiny graphical glitch when you set them to max value. Just try dragging them from center to top and you'll see what I mean.
I'll try to replace them with handles, like those in Zebrify and ZRev.

Thanks for your reports and suggestions! I really appreciate it. Looking forward to see more :)

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drzhnn wrote:Interesting suggestion :) My logic behind making the floating FX rack a part of generators pane was that the left pane itself contains modules which generate and directly affect the spectrum of sound. So VCF1, VCF5, EQ1 and XMF3 are basically doing very similar things. Why separate them? But I see what you mean. I can move FX rack to EXTRA tab but it will increase the amount of mousing/clicking and will break the concept of seeing all active patch parameters in one screen, which was initially one of my goals for this skin.
I can understand that goal which you had. Still, I feel that FX should be in the middle, below the 4 vol/pan knobs. Perhaps you could make it a 5-way tab between XY1-4 and FX? Hm, that would still be a bit weird...

I mean, the biggest problem with the effects is that in case that there are no FX loaded, you still see the last selected FX in the FX pane. Just doesn't make sense at all. I mentioned it to Urs, and yes, it is a bug, but they have more important things to fix at the moment, so who knows when will that one be fixed...
drzhnn wrote:Those little buttons have fixed size and position. And their active/inactive color depends on the color and transparency of the loop color in the ruler, of something like that. So, it's kinda tricky :)
Yeah, I remember that when I did the orange skin. That was a bitch!

What if you added some graphics below those buttons that would explain which one is what? As part of the background pane for the MSEG.


After a bit of tweaking with this skin, I'm not sure if I like the knobs that are 360 degrees... Kinda like the usual 280°knobs much better. Also, I would suggest that any green parameter should have green knobs (Osc FX, env init/delay/sust2), and any mod knobs should be more discernible than regular knobs (currently - regular knobs are very similar to mod knobs, perhaps a couple of shades of medium dark orange apart). That would be it, I think (for now)!

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