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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=108404800-14102020><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Colin: First of all, who is Matthias?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=108404800-14102020><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=108404800-14102020><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Second, the minipots are CV attenuators, whereas the larger
pot is the control for that function. So, for example, the purple knob is
PWM, while the minipot below it is PWM CV. This is a convention I borrowed
from Intellijel which I really liked.</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> ColinMuirDorward
[mailto:colindorward@gmail.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 13, 2020 2:55
PM<BR><B>To:</B> David G Dixon<BR><B>Cc:</B> Mattias Rickardsson; Gordonjcp;
*SYNTH DIY<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [sdiy] Designing front panels for
synths<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.6; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; FONT-STYLE: normal; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-TOP: 3px">[<STRONG>CAUTION:</STRONG>
Non-UBC Email]</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<DIV dir=auto>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?
<DIV dir=auto>C</DIV></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>
<DIV dir=ltr class=gmail_attr>On Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 2:52 PM ColinMuirDorward,
<<A href="mailto:colindorward@gmail.com">colindorward@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>
<DIV dir=auto>David, did you mean "Mattias"? Or did I loose the plot already?
<DIV dir=auto>Colin</DIV></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>
<DIV dir=ltr class=gmail_attr>On Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 2:48 PM David G Dixon,
<<A href="mailto:dixon@mail.ubc.ca" rel=noreferrer
target=_blank>dixon@mail.ubc.ca</A>> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote><U></U>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us align=left>
<HR>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> Mattias Rickardsson [mailto:<A
href="mailto:mr@analogue.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer"
target=_blank>mr@analogue.org</A>] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 13,
2020 2:33 PM<BR><B>To:</B> David G Dixon<BR><B>Cc:</B> ColinMuirDorward;
Gordonjcp; *SYNTH DIY<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [sdiy] Designing front panels
for synths<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.6; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; FONT-STYLE: normal; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-TOP: 3px">[<STRONG>CAUTION:</STRONG>
Non-UBC Email]</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<DIV dir=auto>
<DIV>Ahh, a bit of stretching and shoulder-to-shoulder headbending is just
what my spine needed. ;-)
<DIV dir=auto><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=auto>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.</DIV>
<DIV dir=auto>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.</DIV>
<DIV dir=auto><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=auto>/mr</DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>
<DIV dir=ltr class=gmail_attr>Den tis 13 okt. 2020 22:59David G Dixon <<A
href="mailto:dixon@mail.ubc.ca" rel="noreferrer noreferrer"
target=_blank>dixon@mail.ubc.ca</A>> skrev:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote><U></U>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>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? </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial>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).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><IMG
border=0 hspace=0 alt="" align=baseline></FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us align=left>
<HR>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> Synth-diy [mailto:<A
href="mailto:synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
target=_blank>synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org</A>] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>ColinMuirDorward<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 13, 2020 1:10
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Gordonjcp<BR><B>Cc:</B> *SYNTH DIY<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
[sdiy] Designing front panels for synths<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.6; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffecb3; FONT-STYLE: normal; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-TOP: 3px">[<STRONG>CAUTION:</STRONG>
Non-UBC Email]</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>But that only gets you the controls/io positioning. <BR></DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>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.
<BR></DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>Curious to hear how others approach panel design.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Cheers,</DIV>
<DIV>Colin<BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>
<DIV dir=ltr class=gmail_attr>On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 12:41 PM Gordonjcp
<<A href="mailto:gordonjcp@gjcp.net"
rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer"
target=_blank>gordonjcp@gjcp.net</A>> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>No, no, not whether you should use Inkscape or Excel
or some CAD package, actually designing them so they look
good.<BR><BR>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?<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>--
<BR>Gordonjcp<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Synth-diy
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clear=all><BR>-- <BR>
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