Fractal 'clippy' ?

Orvillain

Power User
1646634987903.png

Okay, this isn't exactly a serious wish, so I'm putting it in general discussion.... but at the same time... there is a serious point here.

In plugins like the Fabfilter suite you will often get a nice user experience where controls are given informative tool-tips and you get a bit of a walkthrough the plugin. Then you've got things like Izotope Neutron and Ozone, where you can follow a brief assistant process to dial in the plugin.

So what if Axe Edit had something like that?

It could start off with a simple "What do you want to do?" question... with options like:

  • Tame my low-end
  • Make it sound less harsh
  • Clean up the noise floor
  • Boost the amp
etc, etc.

And each question would then lead to a nice breadcrumb trail experience, where Axe Edit takes you through the interface and tells you what controls to move, what they do, what they relate to in the real world, and what the typical effects of a control are.

It doesn't seem like such a bad thing to teach people about bright caps and master volume poweramp saturation in this way, rather than people having to develop their Google-fu or come here or TGP and have to sift through thread after thread. The Wiki is good... but it isn't intuitive.

There may be a case for adding some sort of smart wizard to Axe Edit to assist users who need a little helping hand.


But on the other hand, Clippy was an annoying a-hole. So there is that....


Brought to you from the land of sleep dep.
 
The Fractal blocks guide does detail a lot of stuff well already. The problem is that it is not easy to refer to as you need to open the PDF, dig up the right block, find the param in pages that are not always formatted the same and so on.

Integrating the manual to Axe-Edit so you can quickly look up any control or block manual pages would be the way to go. This is really nothing new as tons of applications have integrated manuals in them.

Likewise "tour" type features are common at least on first launch but could also be expanded to show how to do specific tasks.

Just being able to open a separate window for the manual that would track your selected block in Axe-Edit would do wonders in making it easier for users to work on it.
 
I just think, thinking along these lines would possibly aid the people who think the Axe is too complicated. Like... motherfrakker... here you go.... a total recipe guide for every little thing you could want to do, knock yourself out! Literally!
 
These units are both easy to use if stick to the basics & authentic tab and can be really difficult.
Much of the complexity is relating to the way amps work in general & how sound is created & this is complex in both the fractal & real world & thus difficult to do well for a newbie (like me!)
A disabable pop up if hover over a mouse saying what the parameter does & how that may change the tone may be really helpful, but not sure how big a priority?
Nice idea though!
 
I just think, thinking along these lines would possibly aid the people who think the Axe is too complicated. Like... motherfrakker... here you go.... a total recipe guide for every little thing you could want to do, knock yourself out! Literally!
When people say the axe is too complicated, in my opinion it’s not that it’s actually complicated it’s just a good sounding argument against digital gear in general. People repeat the phrase all over the internet to justify to themselves buying expensive analog gear.

Do you guys remember trying to set up your first big pedalboard? Took a lot longer for me than setting up an axe patch..

No hand holding will stop that phrase from being repeated by people with large vintage amp and guitar collections on YouTube or on forums. It’ll always sound nice to people unless every tube amp on earth was like that Diezel VHX amp.
 
I’d be all for a separate piece of software that could hand-hold me through building an amp tone. Maybe it wouldn’t even have to connect to the axe, just have a bunch of suggestions like those old Microsoft help files, remember those? 🤣

Or a dictionary of the myriad terms guitarists use… flabby, glassy, thumpy… and a database of guitars… and a psychometric test to determine your tastes….
 
When people say the axe is too complicated, in my opinion it’s not that it’s actually complicated it’s just a good sounding argument against digital gear in general. People repeat the phrase all over the internet to justify to themselves buying expensive analog gear.

Do you guys remember trying to set up your first big pedalboard? Took a lot longer for me than setting up an axe patch..

No hand holding will stop that phrase from being repeated by people with large vintage amp and guitar collections on YouTube or on forums. It’ll always sound nice to people unless every tube amp on earth was like that Diezel VHX amp.
There are actually people left that cannot comprehend adjusting a value. Those people NEED 3-5 knobs and a power switch. Not many, but they're out there. The few I've run into wear this like a badge of honor. Personally, ignorance on anything I'd never be particularly proud of, but different strokes being what they are.....
 
Clippy died twice for a reason. Don't make us get out the stakes and garlic.

coffinclippy-619-386.png
 
While this would surely be a useful and interesting addition, I wouldn't want serious time and attention taken away from innovating the core project. It'd likely reduce the number of questions where the clear answer is "rtfm." But who really knows.
 
Something along the lines of how Fabfilter does it would be great, although it's more of a "nice to have" than a crucial addition
 
There are actually people left that cannot comprehend adjusting a value. Those people NEED 3-5 knobs and a power switch.
... in my opinion it’s not that it’s actually complicated ...
I think we can acknowledge that there's a lot of territory between "3-5 knobs" and a typical AxeFx3 preset with hundreds of editable parameters. I further think it would be awfully ungenerous to categorize anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the depth of the Axe as a willfully ignorant Luddite who simply refuses to RTFM, especially when people are drawn to this forum because of its reputation for being helpful.
 
I think we can acknowledge that there's a lot of territory between "3-5 knobs" and a typical AxeFx3 preset with hundreds of editable parameters. I further think it would be awfully ungenerous to categorize anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the depth of the Axe as a willfully ignorant Luddite who simply refuses to RTFM, especially when people are drawn to this forum because of its reputation for being helpful.
I’m not talking about the depth of the axe. I’m talking about the depth of an iPhone. These people are simply not target market here.
 
Back
Top Bottom