[sdiy] Designing front panels for synths

Wed Oct 14 00:05:53 CEST 2020

My vote would be for the little knob to be coarse :)
Then I could tweezer in a general range, then use the big knob for more
limited variation while in performance mode.

On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 3:01 PM Pete Hartman <pete.hartman at gmail.com> wrote:

> The assumption that makes most sense to me is Coarse is the bigger knob,
> the small knobless pots typically are "trimmers" per Mouser nomenclature,
> for example.  David may surprise me though :D
>
> For personal use/prototype panels I typically just use the font in the CAD
> package, it's monospace and doesn't look too wacky viz kerning.
>
> If I want something a little bit nicer I'll generally use photoshop but
> that's mostly because I don't have a license for Illustrator and I know
> photoshop FAR better than I've ever learned illustrator.  The type tools in
> either should handle kerning etc just fine though.
>
> Pete
>
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> On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 4:56 PM ColinMuirDorward <colindorward at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Oh yeah, also David, I forgot to ask: those mini pots that seem to be
>> tied to a bigger one, is that coarse and fine control? Which is which?
>> C
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 2:52 PM ColinMuirDorward, <colindorward at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> David, did you mean "Mattias"? Or did I loose the plot already?
>>> Colin
>>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 2:48 PM David G Dixon, <dixon at mail.ubc.ca> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Yeah, Colin, that never bothered me in the slightest.  In fact, I have
>>>> never noticed it until you mentioned it, and I must confess that the
>>>> "deficiency" is so subtle that I would never have noticed it.  Again, if I
>>>> were making a product that I wanted to sell to thousands of people, I might
>>>> take a more considered approach to panel design, but my main goal is to get
>>>> a workable panel in the shortest possible time, and FPD + baked-on
>>>> Lazertran fits that bill very well.  I believe that Danjel always used
>>>> Illustrator for the Intellijel panels, and that software handles text much
>>>> better.  FPD is a bit of a blunt instrument, but it suits me.
>>>>
>>>> One guy who makes stunningly beautiful panels is J3RK (also known as
>>>> Stroh Modular).  If I were really interested in making nice panels, I'd ask
>>>> him for advice.
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>> *From:* Mattias Rickardsson [mailto:mr at analogue.org]
>>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 13, 2020 2:33 PM
>>>> *To:* David G Dixon
>>>> *Cc:* ColinMuirDorward; Gordonjcp; *SYNTH DIY
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [sdiy] Designing front panels for synths
>>>>
>>>> [*CAUTION:* Non-UBC Email]
>>>> Ahh, a bit of stretching and shoulder-to-shoulder headbending is just
>>>> what my spine needed. ;-)
>>>>
>>>> Some kerning would be nice, to avoid the "OCT A VE" and "W ARP". It
>>>> seems like every other frontpanel design tool have these basic flaws, how
>>>> is it even possible? Anyway, it makes the original question more relevant I
>>>> guess.
>>>> A graphic designer's panel doesn't have to be more "artistic" than the
>>>> panel "designed by engineer", it can be wonderfully stiff and boring but
>>>> with deep understanding of readability and typesetting. Some designs out
>>>> there are really really good compared to what we ordinary people are
>>>> capable of. Mutable Instruments, Xaoc Devices and Aemit are some
>>>> manufacturers that come to mind, but many others would deserve a mention as
>>>> well.
>>>>
>>>> /mr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Den tis 13 okt. 2020 22:59David G Dixon <dixon at mail.ubc.ca> skrev:
>>>>
>>>>> First of all, sorry for the "CAUTION: Non-UBC Email" message that now
>>>>> accompanies most or all of my responses -- I usually forget to remove it
>>>>> before I reply.  It is something that our IT people decided we just had to
>>>>> have to warn us of the dangers of incoming email.  After 30 or more years
>>>>> of using email, I figure I was pretty well aware of the dangers, and I
>>>>> begged them (twice) to remove this "feature" from the system.  They did
>>>>> reduce it (it was originally a yellow banner across the top of the whole
>>>>> email message extolling the various dangers of phishing, etc), but they
>>>>> won't eliminate it unless, I guess, we storm their building and take them
>>>>> all hostage and threaten bodily harm, but, really, who has the time?
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, about panels.  My panels are all, more or less, inspired by DJ
>>>>> Thomas White.  Many years ago, I was very impressed with the clean look of
>>>>> his panels, so I asked him how he made them, and he gave me all of his FPD
>>>>> files.  Ever since, I have used his font choices.  Whenever I want to make
>>>>> a panel, I simply copy the file for the last panel I made in FPD to a new
>>>>> filename and alter it accordingly.  As far as pot and switch placements, I
>>>>> now almost always lay out panel PCBs for all the panel components, and this
>>>>> is in Excel, like all of my layouts, and I do it on a strict 0.1" grid.
>>>>> This is very convenient for FPD, where the components can be moved
>>>>> precisely where you want them on an X-Y grid.  So, now, in addition to
>>>>> having nice readable graphics, my panels are all compatible with my panel
>>>>> PCBs.  This makes panel assembly a snap, since all of the components are
>>>>> already soldered in place, and just have to be poked through the holes and
>>>>> have the nuts installed.  Plus, these panel PCBs require little or no
>>>>> wiring.  As far as spacing, I just try to make things evenly spaced to make
>>>>> everything accessible.  I also largely conform to the MOTM standard of
>>>>> having all the jacks along the bottom, since I don't like reaching through
>>>>> a bunch of cords to access knobs and switches.  Plus, this allows me to
>>>>> make jack PCBs (which are separate from the panel PCBs, since the jacks are
>>>>> a lot taller, so the PCBs are on different levels).
>>>>>
>>>>> Here's a picture of my best panels -- the challenge was to get 18
>>>>> jacks onto it without taking up too much space.  I think it turned out
>>>>> pretty well.
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>> *From:* Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org] *On Behalf
>>>>> Of *ColinMuirDorward
>>>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 13, 2020 1:10 PM
>>>>> *To:* Gordonjcp
>>>>> *Cc:* *SYNTH DIY
>>>>> *Subject:* Re: [sdiy] Designing front panels for synths
>>>>>
>>>>> [*CAUTION:* Non-UBC Email]
>>>>> My best panels were made by cutting out a piece of graph paper to
>>>>> panel size, and then playing "chess" with knobs and jacks till I found an
>>>>> ergonomically optimal layout.
>>>>> But that only gets you the controls/io positioning.
>>>>> As for surface treatment, I think this is so subjective that it would
>>>>> be impossible to come up with any guidelines to suit all tastes.
>>>>> For me, despite that I'm an artist (painter), I still go for a
>>>>> "designed by engineer" look. I just want my modules to be legible, without
>>>>> a lot of noisy distractions to make them harder for me to use/see.
>>>>> Why not just choose an existing style you already like, and copy it?
>>>>> If it's just for personal use, I don't see the harm in following a good
>>>>> example.
>>>>> Curious to hear how others approach panel design.
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Colin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 12:41 PM Gordonjcp <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> No, no, not whether you should use Inkscape or Excel or some CAD
>>>>>> package, actually designing them so they look good.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There's got to be some overlap on this list with people skilled in
>>>>>> the visual arts.  How do you lay out the controls, connectors etc. on a
>>>>>> panel so they look good, and don't look like the nightmarish "designed by
>>>>>> engineer" crap that a lot of stuff seems to be?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm guessing there's some simple but non-obvious principles at work
>>>>>> that could be explained if you could get past all the forum discussion of
>>>>>> whether toner transfer is better than photoresist or Eagle is better than
>>>>>> Illustrator or whatever.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Gordonjcp
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> https://www.instagram.com/colinmuirdorward/
>>>>> -
>>>>> <https://www.instagram.com/colinmuirdorward/>
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>

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