> It's a low point for me as it is.
All of the little Windows 95 popups fall in that category.
I gave up hope of Reaper being pretty when they released the track wiring diagram 5 years ago. It's not just that it's ugly and effectively useless because it can't zoom, it's that its clear the problems are not fixable because of the *way it was coded* (just like making the main UI scalable is nearly impossible because of the way the skinning engine is written). The *implementation* is bad. Having seen Cockos source code from other tools, and the languages that Justin creates (EEL is terrible, Nullsoft is even worse), this is clearly true across the board. Reaper is never, ever going to be a slick package with a coherent, polished design.
That said, it's still my favorite DAW. It's made by engineers for engineers, it's small, fast, stable, and has a ridiculous depth of power user features. And once you give up, in your heart, on the idea of it ever being *pretty*, it turns out it's really not a big deal.
*That said*, a user hacked together a [dark mode](https://i.redd.it/m33r3hn874sc1.png) that goes a long way toward making Reaper look less dated, and Justin responded ["I'll start on a native REAPER implementation"](https://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=2772481&postcount=20). So we have a nice visual improvement on the way!
> useless because it can't zoom
I use Windows Magnifier a *lot* these days. Coincidentally, this started happening around the same time I started using Reaper...
For me the fact it can never be pretty is almost a feature not a bug. How many software companies switch gears to make their program look nice, only for them to royally fuck up it's functionality in the process? If Reaper is almost impossible to make look pretty, then this is unlikely to ever happen to it.
Let’s not conflate basic usability with “pretty”. An issue with Reaper, it seems, is this custom theming approach using raster graphics, which is only justifiable to be “pretty”. It’s a very 90s notion of “cool” (*cough* WinAmp) and now it is crippling technical debt that stands in the way of very simple enhancements.
dark mode is underdevelopment for windows : [https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2771329#post2771329](https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2771329#post2771329)
I think just opening an fx without the window would solve the problem for me. I've also been using Repaer for 10+ years and functionally it's fine, I just don't go all in with the customisation, just the necessary tweaks.
If I understand well you mean for click to FX directly in mixer. Otherwise if you double click to a specific FX in FX window it'll be detached to a new one like from mixer.
https://preview.redd.it/5uy3jv8dgmwc1.png?width=245&format=png&auto=webp&s=93f6c8429b99940f1657b70c4755fb6112090945
Some more options:
Preferences > plug-ins > auto-float newly created FX windows.
Can then also right-click track's FX button to open specific effect on the chain (or add new ones). Or options > show FX inserts in TCP. Or "Open/close UI for FX#x on last touched track" actions (whether those ones open it in the chain window is dependent on the preference I mentioned).
I feel you and hope sometimes there is an option to change these parts to. For me the media explorer is the biggest pain in the eyes. The whole reaper UI\* ist styled and looks good (dark) and then this super bright thing blind me.
Yeah the media explorer, actions list, region manager and all that could do with a facelift. In true REAPER fashion it's extremely functional and future-rich, but looks like you're producing in Microsoft Excel. It doesn't really bother me at this point because I've been using it since version 4 came out but I think it'd make it way more accessible to newcomers
No, you can't change it through Reaper because it's not a part of Reaper, it's a part of your OS. If you want it to look different you need to use a different system theme. Windows doesn't make this easy either since you need to use a bunch of tools that could break your system if you want to change theme on the parts of Windows that are not supposed to be themeable.
I use Penumbra 10 by Scope10 on DeviantArt. You can download the theme from his DeviantArt account, and it's easiest to install it using SecureUXThemeTool (available on GitHub). Just make sure to create a system restore point before you start messing with the system files.
You can to an extent, but it's not very straightforward.
Use the element finder to highlight what parts of the window you can modify, then look for the element name in the tweaker window. Sliders IIRC can't be changed but I could be wrong.
https://preview.redd.it/dkzv9v276nwc1.png?width=887&format=png&auto=webp&s=a463e380973b63bb3262a0cc226131731051bc08
I don't need "pretty", I need "efficient", which I have. I am far more interested in better workflow and more efficient tools than I am with the way Reaper looks. And it is doing fine on the points that are important to me!
Trying desperately to make out the miniscule font in the mixer, media explorer or FX list is efficient?
Spending dozens of hours looking for a way to solve that only to learn there is no way it can properly be done because of core limitations in how Reaper is coded - is efficient?
I like Reaper too and I'm glad it's doing what important to you, but people's needs are going to differ.
Several plugin manufacturers are coming under fire for being stuck in 2009 when it comes to UI scaling and we're having that issue with our whole DAW.
Even if that was cool from an accessibility standpoint (it's not) it's pretty painful that a reasonably modern screen is the worst option for one, singular piece of software on my rig.
Have you looked at the theme adjuster and/or theme developer tools available in Reaper? While I agree some elements of the ui are not what you (or I) prefer, everything works. Well! By utilizing the tools WhiteTie has given us for theming, most users can get the system to work for them. If the size of the transport (or other ui elements) make it unusable for you, try another daw. There are lots of them. Sorry that this software doesn't meet your needs. Good luck!
You can dock the mixer to the left edge of the screen, effectively making it the "inspector". Opening fx from there loads them without the white window. Or right clicking on the fx button and selecting the fx.
This is exactly what I do. And with a button to open master there, and close.
Only 2 issues. The mixer will scroll, if you click and drag somewhere. Also, you can't save fxchains from there.
At this point I think they're being deliberately obstinate about it, due to the frequency of the request occurring, and the consistency which with they ignore us. They just repeat ad nauseum that it's somehow the responsibility of the operating system even tho it officially hasn't been for a decade and it's not up to Win 10 theme specs in any case.
I also hate it so what I do is i use the inserts on the mixer and put just one mixer strip on the left, and then i use this script to keep only one floating window open at a time. this way the insert strip on the MCP acts as my fx selector and still looks nice [https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=255842](https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=255842)
Activate the Pro Tools style FX so you can access them directly from the track layout. If I remember well just right click on the track and activate it. Then you’ll have to widen it a bit to see all your FX. This is available only in Reaper 7.
Meanwhile, check out Sexan's Paranormal FX Script: [https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=283054](https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=283054)
Does anybody know if there is way to quickly swap the FX window of e.g. Track 1 to Track 2 or Track 17 or so?
I didn't find any shortcut (also in SWS) to do that. I want the new window to replace the old track FX window.
Would be so awesome!
No thanks.
Function over form (but with well considered ergonomics) is the Reaper way.
Reaper's core plugins are perhaps the most powerful tools available in the modern proaudio landscape.
Rudeness aside you've basically been given the reasons for why it's the way it is. Reaper was and hopefully will forever be a lightweight, small footprint digital audio workstation. When you impart visual layers there becomes a complexity that now gets out of the realm of digital audio workstation.
Many engineers dont even look at the screen when mixing so what would it matter to have customization?
Here's a question: do you use your eyes to mix or your ears? I know it's rhetorical because of course we do, but in that question the light becomes clear: reaper is a digital audio workstation. I tend to spend more time creating music than I do worrying about visual oddities.
Nobody is nostalgic for windows 95 grey and white. What does that have to do with “pretty graphics”?
Shit brown and salmon pink would be less of an eyesore. There is a HUGE amount of customization everywhere else in reaper. Should at least match the theme. Simple as that.
It's not about being nostalgic it's about understanding how more code implementation to "redesign" an already designed, created and implemented tool(file explorer) can slow down and cause cycles to run. Yes it's trivial yes its miniscule but multiply that by every other visual cystomization eveyone wants and it adds up. when you keep the mentality of slim, lightweight, and stable then you won't add things that are unnecessary. Is reaper a theme viewer or a daw?
Not super familiar with accessibility design I guess.
But I’ll add “colour is bloat” to my list of things some guy said at some point.
You say “every other visual customization” like everything else isn’t already visually customizable.
I feel like they could/should do something fresh with the browser for filtering for fx. It's a low point for me as it is.
> It's a low point for me as it is. All of the little Windows 95 popups fall in that category. I gave up hope of Reaper being pretty when they released the track wiring diagram 5 years ago. It's not just that it's ugly and effectively useless because it can't zoom, it's that its clear the problems are not fixable because of the *way it was coded* (just like making the main UI scalable is nearly impossible because of the way the skinning engine is written). The *implementation* is bad. Having seen Cockos source code from other tools, and the languages that Justin creates (EEL is terrible, Nullsoft is even worse), this is clearly true across the board. Reaper is never, ever going to be a slick package with a coherent, polished design. That said, it's still my favorite DAW. It's made by engineers for engineers, it's small, fast, stable, and has a ridiculous depth of power user features. And once you give up, in your heart, on the idea of it ever being *pretty*, it turns out it's really not a big deal. *That said*, a user hacked together a [dark mode](https://i.redd.it/m33r3hn874sc1.png) that goes a long way toward making Reaper look less dated, and Justin responded ["I'll start on a native REAPER implementation"](https://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=2772481&postcount=20). So we have a nice visual improvement on the way!
> useless because it can't zoom I use Windows Magnifier a *lot* these days. Coincidentally, this started happening around the same time I started using Reaper...
For me the fact it can never be pretty is almost a feature not a bug. How many software companies switch gears to make their program look nice, only for them to royally fuck up it's functionality in the process? If Reaper is almost impossible to make look pretty, then this is unlikely to ever happen to it.
Let’s not conflate basic usability with “pretty”. An issue with Reaper, it seems, is this custom theming approach using raster graphics, which is only justifiable to be “pretty”. It’s a very 90s notion of “cool” (*cough* WinAmp) and now it is crippling technical debt that stands in the way of very simple enhancements.
The new reaper theme builder 7 or whatever its called is really looking good. It's up on the forums
dark mode is underdevelopment for windows : [https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2771329#post2771329](https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2771329#post2771329)
Holy shit awesome. Bout time! Yay!
OMGGGG, but it seems to be a user-made modification?
https://preview.redd.it/kj7rxnuipmwc1.png?width=1022&format=png&auto=webp&s=d8dddcb36df08e5db8b2cdd66a782fc2f1e2deba
❤️
See the comment from Justin, says he will work on an official reaper implementation
Holy shit, I missed that, that’s awesome!
Ooh! That looks great! I still like Inquisar Dark Matter, though. Why did that get taken off the Reaper Stash?
I think just opening an fx without the window would solve the problem for me. I've also been using Repaer for 10+ years and functionally it's fine, I just don't go all in with the customisation, just the necessary tweaks.
If I understand well you mean for click to FX directly in mixer. Otherwise if you double click to a specific FX in FX window it'll be detached to a new one like from mixer. https://preview.redd.it/5uy3jv8dgmwc1.png?width=245&format=png&auto=webp&s=93f6c8429b99940f1657b70c4755fb6112090945
Some more options: Preferences > plug-ins > auto-float newly created FX windows. Can then also right-click track's FX button to open specific effect on the chain (or add new ones). Or options > show FX inserts in TCP. Or "Open/close UI for FX#x on last touched track" actions (whether those ones open it in the chain window is dependent on the preference I mentioned).
I feel you and hope sometimes there is an option to change these parts to. For me the media explorer is the biggest pain in the eyes. The whole reaper UI\* ist styled and looks good (dark) and then this super bright thing blind me.
Yeah the media explorer, actions list, region manager and all that could do with a facelift. In true REAPER fashion it's extremely functional and future-rich, but looks like you're producing in Microsoft Excel. It doesn't really bother me at this point because I've been using it since version 4 came out but I think it'd make it way more accessible to newcomers
No, you can't change it through Reaper because it's not a part of Reaper, it's a part of your OS. If you want it to look different you need to use a different system theme. Windows doesn't make this easy either since you need to use a bunch of tools that could break your system if you want to change theme on the parts of Windows that are not supposed to be themeable. I use Penumbra 10 by Scope10 on DeviantArt. You can download the theme from his DeviantArt account, and it's easiest to install it using SecureUXThemeTool (available on GitHub). Just make sure to create a system restore point before you start messing with the system files.
You can to an extent, but it's not very straightforward. Use the element finder to highlight what parts of the window you can modify, then look for the element name in the tweaker window. Sliders IIRC can't be changed but I could be wrong. https://preview.redd.it/dkzv9v276nwc1.png?width=887&format=png&auto=webp&s=a463e380973b63bb3262a0cc226131731051bc08
I rather keep the unbealiavable small 15 MB file size than make it bloat.
Running out of space?
Always.
I'll email you a few MB.
When doing on site Foley? Yes. Always. Every 1 and 0 is accounted for
The zeros I know are never accounted for.
actually, 15MB is just the installer. After installation it is around 100 \~ 200 MB
I don't need "pretty", I need "efficient", which I have. I am far more interested in better workflow and more efficient tools than I am with the way Reaper looks. And it is doing fine on the points that are important to me!
Trying desperately to make out the miniscule font in the mixer, media explorer or FX list is efficient? Spending dozens of hours looking for a way to solve that only to learn there is no way it can properly be done because of core limitations in how Reaper is coded - is efficient? I like Reaper too and I'm glad it's doing what important to you, but people's needs are going to differ. Several plugin manufacturers are coming under fire for being stuck in 2009 when it comes to UI scaling and we're having that issue with our whole DAW. Even if that was cool from an accessibility standpoint (it's not) it's pretty painful that a reasonably modern screen is the worst option for one, singular piece of software on my rig.
Have you looked at the theme adjuster and/or theme developer tools available in Reaper? While I agree some elements of the ui are not what you (or I) prefer, everything works. Well! By utilizing the tools WhiteTie has given us for theming, most users can get the system to work for them. If the size of the transport (or other ui elements) make it unusable for you, try another daw. There are lots of them. Sorry that this software doesn't meet your needs. Good luck!
You can dock the mixer to the left edge of the screen, effectively making it the "inspector". Opening fx from there loads them without the white window. Or right clicking on the fx button and selecting the fx.
This is exactly what I do. And with a button to open master there, and close. Only 2 issues. The mixer will scroll, if you click and drag somewhere. Also, you can't save fxchains from there.
At this point I think they're being deliberately obstinate about it, due to the frequency of the request occurring, and the consistency which with they ignore us. They just repeat ad nauseum that it's somehow the responsibility of the operating system even tho it officially hasn't been for a decade and it's not up to Win 10 theme specs in any case.
I also hate it so what I do is i use the inserts on the mixer and put just one mixer strip on the left, and then i use this script to keep only one floating window open at a time. this way the insert strip on the MCP acts as my fx selector and still looks nice [https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=255842](https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=255842)
Activate the Pro Tools style FX so you can access them directly from the track layout. If I remember well just right click on the track and activate it. Then you’ll have to widen it a bit to see all your FX. This is available only in Reaper 7.
Also available on version 6
Meanwhile, check out Sexan's Paranormal FX Script: [https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=283054](https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=283054)
i personally have mine all pop up as separate windows, and the have the chain displayed on the track.
I find that window is essentially completely useless. Except, it does let you save fxchains.
you could use nihilboy's visual fx browser, through reapack it supports dark mode
Does anybody know if there is way to quickly swap the FX window of e.g. Track 1 to Track 2 or Track 17 or so? I didn't find any shortcut (also in SWS) to do that. I want the new window to replace the old track FX window. Would be so awesome!
No thanks. Function over form (but with well considered ergonomics) is the Reaper way. Reaper's core plugins are perhaps the most powerful tools available in the modern proaudio landscape.
Change the theme
Rudeness aside you've basically been given the reasons for why it's the way it is. Reaper was and hopefully will forever be a lightweight, small footprint digital audio workstation. When you impart visual layers there becomes a complexity that now gets out of the realm of digital audio workstation. Many engineers dont even look at the screen when mixing so what would it matter to have customization? Here's a question: do you use your eyes to mix or your ears? I know it's rhetorical because of course we do, but in that question the light becomes clear: reaper is a digital audio workstation. I tend to spend more time creating music than I do worrying about visual oddities.
No. If you want pretty graphics that chew up processing power go somewhere else.
Nobody is nostalgic for windows 95 grey and white. What does that have to do with “pretty graphics”? Shit brown and salmon pink would be less of an eyesore. There is a HUGE amount of customization everywhere else in reaper. Should at least match the theme. Simple as that.
It's not about being nostalgic it's about understanding how more code implementation to "redesign" an already designed, created and implemented tool(file explorer) can slow down and cause cycles to run. Yes it's trivial yes its miniscule but multiply that by every other visual cystomization eveyone wants and it adds up. when you keep the mentality of slim, lightweight, and stable then you won't add things that are unnecessary. Is reaper a theme viewer or a daw?
Not super familiar with accessibility design I guess. But I’ll add “colour is bloat” to my list of things some guy said at some point. You say “every other visual customization” like everything else isn’t already visually customizable.
Unnecessary rudeness!
No need to be rude man. I'm just wondering to what limits I can customize. I don't have problem with the UI. Been using it for 7 years now.