Helix-Edit/-Native: pictures of amps and effects!

[fruijter7777]

About Helix Edit and Helix Native:

Why are there no (options to see) pictures of the amps and effects, like there are in Amplitube 5 and TONEX of IK- Multimedia.

 

I own a Helix Floor and this would be more  joy and far more handy !!!

 

Anybody knows a special reason for this flaw?

[silverhead]

Flaw? Don’t know about that. But in Native there is an option to show the pictures. You’ll find details in the manual.

[cruisinon2]

I'm curious what you plan to do with the pictures...

 

We're in the business of creating sounds, no? So who gives two wet farts what a model's real world counterpart looks like?;) I've never actually seen half the stuff that's in there in person anyway, and pretty pictures certainly won't make anything sound better, lol. Maybe it's me...

[silverhead]

And there’s nothing wrong with printing out large, high quality photos of all the pictures you want and wallpapering your bedrooom….

[datacommando]

On 12/8/2023 at 3:39 PM, fruijter7777 said:

About Helix Edit and Helix Native:

Why are there no (options to see) pictures of the amps and effects, like there are in Amplitube 5 and TONEX of IK- Multimedia.

 

I own a Helix Floor and this would be more  joy and far more handy !!!

 

Anybody knows a special reason for this flaw?

Hi,

 

It’s not a flaw - someone else was asking a similar question over in the HX Native forum.

 

Here’s my reply to him:

 

”If you have a liking for larger icons of the model that look like the amp, or pedal, simply click on the block/grid of 9 squares in the header bar of the EDIT window of Helix Native, or HX Edit to change it from “list view”. There has been a debate about skeuomorphic design for interfaces over on TGP for quite a while. The jury is still out, but the Fender ToneMaster Pro seems to started the ball rolling again.”

Check out all the models here:

 

https://helixhelp.com/models

 

There are some younger Helix users who have never seen a Fender Bassman so a picture would mean nothing to them.

 

[craiganderton]

Here's an interesting article on the subject of skeuomorphism. 

 

For some, images stimulate creativity because parsing images is largely a right-brain function. For others, images are a distraction. For example, with something like a picture of an amp, it can take longer to locate, say, the Treble knob on an amp image than text that says "Treble." 

 

Typically, skeuomorphism's main purpose is to create a bridge between a user's knowledge of something in the physical world that can translate to a computer screen. The floppy disk icon is a good example. People could relate to the picture as "this is how I save data, got it." However, as more people become familiar with the virtual world, images can actually get in the way. This is why companies like Apple have gone from a full-on skeuomorphic approach to a flat design.

 

I know, TMI but it's an interesting topic.

[PaulTBaker]

you made that up!!!  haha

[cruisinon2]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:26 PM, craiganderton said:

Here's an interesting article on the subject of skeuomorphism. 

 

For some, images stimulate creativity because parsing images is largely a right-brain function. For others, images are a distraction. For example, with something like a picture of an amp, it can take longer to locate, say, the Treble knob on an amp image than text that says "Treble." 

 

Typically, skeuomorphism's main purpose is to create a bridge between a user's knowledge of something in the physical world that can translate to a computer screen. The floppy disk icon is a good example. People could relate to the picture as "this is how I save data, got it." However, as more people become familiar with the virtual world, images can actually get in the way. This is why companies like Apple have gone from a full-on skeuomorphic approach to a flat design.

 

I know, TMI but it's an interesting topic.

 

Just seems like much ado about nothing to me...I'd get it if the devices that have pictures of each modeled unit allowed the user to tweak parameters on the image itself, "turning" a gain knob on a touch screen, etc... at least that would be closer to the tactile experience of working with actual amps and pedals... but that doesn't seem to be how it works. They just give you a big silly graphic to drag and drop onto your "pedalboard", and that's it... then you're right back in the digital realm, scrolling through lists of parameters to tinker with. I fail to see how that's any more "creatively stimulating" than doing the exact same thing without the image of the fuzz box on the display. Just my 2 cents...to each their own, I guess, lol.

[lou-kash]

On 12/8/2023 at 7:26 PM, craiganderton said:

The floppy disk icon is a good example.

 

Tha last millenium has called and wants its "good example" back!
The last time I have actively used a floppy disk was in 1999 with a Macintosh LC475, before buying an iMac G3.

 

On 12/8/2023 at 7:26 PM, craiganderton said:

This is why companies like Apple have gone from a full-on skeuomorphic approach to a flat design.

 

Sadly, Apple is not exactly the "best example" either, anymore. There was a time when they had a good balance between excessive skeuomorphism of the early OS X and the dull flatness and ambiguousity of today's MacOS/iOS.

 

UI design is an art discipline on its own.
In my opinion, the HX Edit app UI isn't all that bad visually. It's just that it isn't very Mac-like which is often the case with cross-platform apps.

[craiganderton]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:02 PM, cruisinon2 said:

I fail to see how that's any more "creatively stimulating" than doing the exact same thing without the image of the fuzz box on the display. Just my 2 cents...to each their own, I guess, lol.

 

Exactly. It's totally personal preference, the same way some people want to learn through text, and some through video. But if you look at how the brain processes information, you can make certain generalizations about the different ways the brain's two hemispheres process information. Much of this understanding is based on research that won a Nobel Prize in 1981. (Fun fact: The corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres, tends to be more robust in musicians. I theorize this is because musicians need to use both hemispheres in order to play music, but in the immortal of words of Herman Cain, "I don't have facts to back this up" haha).

 

Here's a simple example: being able to colorize mixer channels in a software console. I use a standard set of colors for my tracks - green for vocals, blue for guitar, yellow for percussion, etc. as well as track icons. When a project has lots of tracks, I find it easier to zero in on a track using color and/or images compared to reading text at the bottom of the channel. This speeds up my workflow, which helps by creativity. Others think colorized mixer channels look unprofessional and have a "Playskool toys" vibe. For them, colors interrupt their workflow because they find the colors distracting or annoying.

 

"To each their own" is so true...

[Euripide]

craiganderton. "It's totally personal preference":  I totally agree with you. Some users seems to like to quickly judge and shoot other messangers with "mean" comments as if their way of thinking is the only way possible... I guess if extended and meaner these messages could become "trolling". But that's the way it is now in the digital world.

[craiganderton]

On 12/10/2023 at 10:05 AM, Euripide said:

But that's the way it is now in the digital world.

 

The worldwide breakdown in civility/tolerance is a problem, although I do believe this forum is better than most. There are a lot of helpful people here doing their best to assist people who have Helix issues, as well as pass along tips. There will always be some noise, but I feel the signal-to-noise ratio here is way better than average.  

[acousticglue]

I do agree with R J Ronquillo that pics are needed with knobs to look the part on computer screen especially or have the ability to switch global view from old to new with pics. Otherwise the Helix is awesome.

[silverhead]

On 1/7/2024 at 8:44 AM, acousticglue said:

I do agree with R J Ronquillo that pics are needed with knobs to look the part on computer screen especially or have the ability to switch global view from old to new with pics. Otherwise the Helix is awesome.

So the lack of such pics reduces it from ‘awesome’ to what?

[PierM]

On 12/8/2023 at 4:39 PM, fruijter7777 said:

About Helix Edit and Helix Native:

Why are there no (options to see) pictures of the amps and effects, like there are in Amplitube 5 and TONEX of IK- Multimedia.

 

I own a Helix Floor and this would be more  joy and far more handy !!!

 

Anybody knows a special reason for this flaw?

 

Because the main UI is mirroring the LCD of the Helix, which doesnt have enough resolution or graphic power to render a patch with skeuomorphism sprites, as you can get with Amplitube or BiasFX and similars, which are meant to be rendered on a computer/tablet screen.

 

 

[cruisinon2]

On 1/7/2024 at 11:03 AM, silverhead said:

So the lack of such pics reduces it from ‘awesome’ to what?

 

Well let's see...

 

1) Semi-awesome

2) Awesome*

3) Graphically challenged

4) Virtually knobless

 

Let the games begin... lol

[brue58ski]

I guess pics would be cool but i want to know what my block is, not just what category it is in. I know it's a distortion, I want to know which one. A picture would help, but I'd rather have a lable telling me what it is.

[MusicLaw]

I find the existing block representations presented in the Signal Chain portions of the HX Edit and HX Native displays sufficient (primarily because this method is compact). Nonetheless, for the larger predominant editor portion HX Edit and Helix Native's displays (i.e. the lower right of the screen), I would vastly prefer a skeuomorphic actual representation of the selected component's adjustment parameters. Currently, I use the graphic display of the block types rather than the list display. This could be significantly improved if the selected item were displayed as 3x larger at the top of that graphic area occupying the full width of the area. Line6 has often asserted that allocating programming resources to accomplish a skeuomorphic display is viewed as an unnecessary allocation of programming resources otherwise better used to evolve, optimize and otherwise improve the Helix and HX Family firmware.

 

As the world has now reached 2024, perhaps the day graphics become more widely embraced will be sooner.