Jump to content

Customize Piano roll grid lines to rhythms values


anjikyuzan

Recommended Posts

Hi Logic pro x users,

 

I know their are some beasts at customizing logic and creating skins here, and have an inquiry for them.

As formerly learned composing score with paper and pen I nerved felt very effective at reading note in the piano roll ( edited via step inputs keyboard mostly or recording).

I mean it goes fast to write parts, but the rhythm display I get does not reflect a musical motif to my brain, I always kind of translate it to a score display in my head. I tend to get lost with long melodies, recognizing doted notes semiquavers etc....

 

I realize that it would be very useful then to be able to color the vertical line in the piano roll, the lines dividing the bar would represent different note values according to the time signature. wholes notes may not be needed depending on the time signature but it could be useful starting with quarters ( in red for instance) then the eighths notes divisions in yellow and the sixteenth in green. the background grid can remain grey , its only the rhythms values of the notes that I dl like to be seamless to read.

 

IS this even possible?

While searching I have seen skins that look so different from the logic standard template, that It gave me hope...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont think this is possible as they change pictures for knobs and stuff and change the color of the gui within the actual code. I dont do it but its something along how its done.

 

If this is something you really want, I would find a website that sells logic GUI templates and let them know that you would pay for such a template.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey

 

I had no responses from the specialized websites who sells skins, so I did it myself with textwrangler, pretty simple. To my disapointment, the code in logic piano roll only allow to modify bar, beat and division lines. but still this makes editing in piano roll easier for me, and it takes only ten minutes to do.

 

I assigned the bar line to be red, the beat to be yellow and division to purple, so if I work in 4/4, my whole note starts and end at a red bar, quarter by a yellow and a if division of 8 for instance 8th notes by a purple line.

Any first note of the bar starts by the red line though.

1516982382_ScreenShot2015-06-22at9_28_04AM.thumb.png.cca27cf8b5013b500c2516da2696385f.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had no responses from the specialized websites who sells skins, so I did it myself with textwrangler, pretty simple. To my disapointment, the code in logic piano roll only allow to modify bar, beat and division lines. but still this makes editing in piano roll easier for me, and it takes only ten minutes to do.

 

I assigned the bar line to be red, the beat to be yellow and division to purple, so if I work in 4/4, my whole note starts and end at a red bar, quarter by a yellow and a if division of 8 for instance 8th notes by a purple line.

Any first note of the bar starts by the red line though.

Wow, this is a pretty neat idea. I have to admit, I didn't understand what you were asking in your original post but now I do. You should submit this idea as feedback directly to the Logic team. I'm glad that you figured everything out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 here too !!

That looks like a very handy hack for the piano roll editor.

 

So, with TextWrangler, I guess you edited a certain file inside the LPX Resource folder ?

 

Could you possibly share with us the name and location of that particular file ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HI,

 

#anp27 , thanks! you are right it could be useful to many I think. just have to find where to contact them. I remember David N. posting the link somewhere on the forum, just have to retrieve it.

 

#Jangus, yes the file name is exactly : 'MAResourcesMapping.plist' youll find it in logic pro app content, follow this path : contents/frameworks/MAResources.framwork/Versions/A/Resources.

in the plist file youll have access to pretty much all the GUI resource code.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, I pretty much new it was all in that final “Resource” folder, trouble is, is that there are 308 items in that last folder.

I did a few quick passes threw it but did not find anything called (guessing) bar lines or anything referring to the piano roll editor.

 

Do you recall the name(s) of the tiff file(s) requiring the color changes ?

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#Jangus there is no .tiff files involded, it is just the .plist file named 'MAResourcesMapping'

if you have too many tiff files sort your folder by kind of documents, enventually you will spot the text files easy.

 

actually you dont need textwrangler you can do it with text edit, it is similar, just some text and number to enter.

 

when you open the file do a cmd+f and look for BarGridLine, its the bar line, then do the same for BeatGridLine and FormatGridLine.

 

change GreyColor to sRGBColor and enter the code of the color you fancy.

first value is x , second y and third blue or xyz

last value does not stand for the color code but for its opactity, as you can see in my screenprint , bar is 80 percents, beat 60 and format 30.

 

look for the color you want on this website and just pick the values, keep them in order xyz.

http://www.color-hex.com/color/b536da

1460921437_ScreenShot2015-06-22at6_50_48PM.png.bc669e9a06bac9e18202b901f302327d.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm….

 

Well, I am, without mistake, at the location for the Resource files you pointed at, and there are nothing but tiff files in there. Actually, 3740 of them !!

None of them have Bar or Grid in there names either.

 

I have done GUI Mods before and was using one called “Paris” ( from FCasoria over at GearSlutz.com) for a long time but when LPX gets updated they often move the file/Folder locations.

 

I see that you are running LPX vs.10.0.7,

I am using 10.1.1 so perhaps that is my problem with this.

 

It’s OK, I have been managing quite well without the colored bars and do appreciate your time and efforts with this.

 

Thanks much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have logic pro 10.1.1 on my macbook pro, so went checking and it is there, the path is showing at the bottom of the attached pic and you can see the .plist file in the upper part.

 

Depending on what software you have installed the document kind label might also change, on my other mac its a proxy plist while here its a textwrangler document.

 

If you have a customized GUI maybe be they would have stored it somewhere before along the path, but to my knowledge not having this script in this folder would cause logic to be naked of any graphic elements, cause as you aforementioned their is a fu**ing shitload of tiff files. but on their own, logic cant figure whats the use of it.

 

You are welcome, I have been gathering so many infos generously shared by this community, I happy to contribute.

383523117_ScreenShot2015-06-22at8_40_12PM.thumb.png.616af5d1c2a2b3d5d4715e44c2c4d6c8.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just have to find where to contact them.

Here's the link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/logic-pro.html

 

Again.. really nice work. I would really like to see something like what you did implemented in future updates.

 

Also, your color hack would look absolutely sick and much easier to see in the Piano Roll with the Bright Background, you should try it. I would love to see what that would look like!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahhh, got it !! :D

 

Wow, that plist, hiding down amongst all those tiffs… never saw it.

I just used TextWrangler and pretty much used your values because I was not sure about changing the RGBs too much, at least, for now.

I will probably tweak it some more and work on the bright screen version too.

and @ anp27, The Bright version, gets affected by the new grid color and does not help the way it is right now. I will probably just have to lower it’s opacity soon but, I usually use the dark Piano Roll anyway.

I actually do spend a lot of time in the piano roll, so this is very cool, and easier on the eyes.

 

So, the RGB String is the first 3 values (RGBColor), and the 4th value is the opacity ? Right ??

 

Anyway, thanks for hanging-in-there with me, and that RGB conversion site is very handy indeed.

 

It’s always nice to see a little extra color in LPX.

merci

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ anp27, The Bright version, gets affected by the new grid color and does not help the way it is right now. I will probably just have to lower it’s opacity soon but, I usually use the dark Piano Roll anyway.

Oh really? Ok.. just imagined it looking really sweet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

131975016_ScreenShot2015-06-23at10_13_13AM.png.4da1d1e4bcb38f41fc14a1f813b53bc6.png131975016_ScreenShot2015-06-23at10_13_13AM.png.4da1d1e4bcb38f41fc14a1f813b53bc6.pngHere's what the difference looks like here right now.

The Light version will need to be altered in some other way, apparently.

For example; The "BarGridLine" is not the new Red like in the dark screen.

However, the "FormatGridLine", if that's it, has the new over-all grid color.

So, more surgery will be needed, it seems.

Opp's, I think I got a duplicate of the Dark screen in, sorry, couldn't get it out.

531497939_ScreenShot2015-06-23at10_13_48AM.png.7b0def232661867a79f6c1aecd81401e.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
HI,

I have extended the feature to the region drag line in the arrange window.

I also have submitted this to apple logic support for future updates , the video shows it in action :

 

https://youtu.be/5xHmXh-KNfg

 

Thanks for the inspiration! Thanks to you I have come up with this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/mBpcoal.png

 

By the way, how on earth did you get that region drag line feature? That looks super useful :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...