<div dir="ltr"><div>My vote would be for the little knob to be coarse :)</div><div>Then I could tweezer in a general range, then use the big knob for more limited variation while in performance mode.<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 3:01 PM Pete Hartman <<a href="mailto:pete.hartman@gmail.com">pete.hartman@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">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<br><br>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.<div><br></div><div>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.<br><br>Pete</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 4:56 PM ColinMuirDorward <<a href="mailto:colindorward@gmail.com" target="_blank">colindorward@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><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" target="_blank">colindorward@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><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 class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff">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 size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff">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:rgb(255,236,179);color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,236,179);color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px"><span style="padding:3px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(255,236,179);font-style:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px;font-weight:normal">[<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:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><u></u>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff">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 size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff">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 size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff">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 size="2" face="Arial" color="#0000ff"><img alt="" hspace="0" border="0" align="bottom"></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:rgb(255,236,179);color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,236,179);color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px"><span style="padding:3px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(255,236,179);font-style:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12px;font-weight:normal">[<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:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);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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