When changing song states, often very little changes on screen, especially if the show notes are the same for two successive song states. My suggestion is some way of flashing a colour in a noticable way to give visual feedback that a state change has taken place, either because of something automated (eg from a MIDI file) or as confidence-building feedback from a user-invoked state change.
I’m thinking something like the ability for a Show Notes note to be a binding target with a “Flash” action, which perhaps just inverts the foreground and background for a split-second. Or maybe it could be parameterised so it flashes in a specific colour. If it could be driven from a binding in the background rack, eg targeting the top visible show note or something, that would be particularly cool.
Hey Neil,
What about that whacking great ticker tape that goes across the top of the screen, showing song name and with state underneath?
That’s a pretty big indicator, isn’t it?
It is… but I’m talking about having some easy visual feedback you can pick up from the corner of your eye without needing to look away from the keyboard or score or whatever, in the heat of the moment when there are flashing lights all over. It’s certainly easy to read what song/state you’re in with the ticker, but what I’m thinking about is just identifying the moment when a change has happened.
I could, but as I mentioned in my original post about it, I often have a situation where multiple song states share the same show notes. I guess I could insert an empty show note and have it alternate in colour as you step through. But it would then become annoying to maintain if new sections are added etc.
I simply use a state name variable in my show notes so that the currently active state (plus the current song) is shown in big bold letters. Good enough for me to make sure I’m in the correct state. No need for any more distracting blinking for me
For me, some of the songs I’m playing have 25-30 or more song states, sometimes coming in quick succession, and it’s not always easy to come up with a unique/imaginative name that will immediately tell me what I need to know. There are times when I can’t really glance at the screen for half a second to read it because I’ve just gone from one fast, fiddly part into another fast, fiddly part on a different sound, and just a quick visual cue out of the corner of my eye would be enough. I already do as you do, Torsten, with a big bold $(State) in show notes, but it’s sometimes not enough. I may explore using alternative colours for successive states though.
@Neil_Durant : you could also use the “External Script” binding target to start whatever command-line tool you find useful. Given your IT background, it’s probably child’s play for you to build a little tool that flashes a pop-up-window or even the entire screen 3-5 times - or go wild and display a lightbulb or start some fireworks
