Suggestions stemming from "Flow"
Posted: 14 Nov 2013, 09:05So, Mixed in Key released their new DJ software "Flow" today. Being that I'm me, of course I checked it out. Free trial, couldn't resist.
What I will say, is it's very elementary, and I would never use it in it's current state. Some of the UI is well thought out and simple, but the features are pretty lacking. Some of the things that are well done got me thinking, and here are some suggestions based on that.
1) MIK has had energy detection for a while. I use it before I import to Cross. Flow has energy levels that are dynamic to the song structure, and that can be modified by the user. This could be a really useful feature in Cross. Not how it is used in Flow, but adapted to work better by being in Cross, if you know how I mean.
2) The export tab is setup to automatically record all sets, unless you disable it, and has it's own area. Pretty, but already in Cross. Makes the joining of recordings and history tab look like a good idea though. It just fits well together.
3) in the same export tab is a top 100 list, by week, month, and last 6 months. Pretty cool, but could be easily implemented with the smartplaylist additions that have been suggested.
4) The playback waveform is atrocious, but the whole track waveform is something to admire. I'll link the image below. I think that it would be kinda cool to be able to label each section with notes, instead of just energy levels, but that would be great too. The larger size of the waveforms is also good, but that's mostly because there aren't the required features of a DJ program, like tempo, locators, etc.
And the more I think about it, it would be awesome to have energy level linked to colors somehow. Maybe in the color choices in the track, or in the color of the waveforms. Also, if you do an energy detection in Cross, please make sure that all of the tracks don't end up at 7, 8, and 9 for every track. Pretty much how it is in MIK, and it's arguably useless because of lack of dynamics in the numbering process.
What I will say, is it's very elementary, and I would never use it in it's current state. Some of the UI is well thought out and simple, but the features are pretty lacking. Some of the things that are well done got me thinking, and here are some suggestions based on that.
1) MIK has had energy detection for a while. I use it before I import to Cross. Flow has energy levels that are dynamic to the song structure, and that can be modified by the user. This could be a really useful feature in Cross. Not how it is used in Flow, but adapted to work better by being in Cross, if you know how I mean.
2) The export tab is setup to automatically record all sets, unless you disable it, and has it's own area. Pretty, but already in Cross. Makes the joining of recordings and history tab look like a good idea though. It just fits well together.
3) in the same export tab is a top 100 list, by week, month, and last 6 months. Pretty cool, but could be easily implemented with the smartplaylist additions that have been suggested.
4) The playback waveform is atrocious, but the whole track waveform is something to admire. I'll link the image below. I think that it would be kinda cool to be able to label each section with notes, instead of just energy levels, but that would be great too. The larger size of the waveforms is also good, but that's mostly because there aren't the required features of a DJ program, like tempo, locators, etc.
And the more I think about it, it would be awesome to have energy level linked to colors somehow. Maybe in the color choices in the track, or in the color of the waveforms. Also, if you do an energy detection in Cross, please make sure that all of the tracks don't end up at 7, 8, and 9 for every track. Pretty much how it is in MIK, and it's arguably useless because of lack of dynamics in the numbering process.