here are some ideas to improve the pattern view, which is in my opinion the most oldschool/Soundtracker-like part of Renoise now
and could be improved in a lot of ways.
1. The scrolling line by line is very choppy to watch. It would be nice, if Renoise would do pixelscrolling, so there is a smooth movement transition.
The position bar could be a single line, not a bar anymore. The underlined row is the current one.
I think this would be a big improvement for ergonomics. It would be better readable on lcds, too.
A scrolling line that moves pixel by pixel would be also better to view in the non-scrolling-mode.
2. Free selectable fonts for the pattern view. More sophisticated coloring options, for example the separator lines need an own color value.
3. Optional block graphics that is in a graphics layer behind the pattern font. These blocks greatly show lengths of the notes.
4. Optional sample graphics that is in a graphics layer behind the pattern font. This graphics would have an own color value. The sample graphics could be
prerendered as in Cubase etc.
This would improve the visual overview. You could see how long a sample takes.
5. Automation optional viewable directly in the pattern.
i believe this would make for a much less clear view of where you are in the current pattern. also, it makes me wonder, if you have a single line scrolling pixel by pixel, where exactly would you be, navigation-wise, halfway down a row? halfway down the triggering of the notes on that row? a bit weird if you ask me. i think the whole point of the bar is simply that it is as high as the row you are editing, so as high as the height of the text. and when playing, you are playing a succession of rows, so the bar makes sense, as the position of the bar indicates the row being triggered.
all of the other ideas you have i think are good ones (i think most have been suggested before in some form or another), but this 1st one i really don’t get.
How about the ability to highlight x number of lines?
Or, highlight every 8 lines but ‘sub’ highlight every 4 lines?
I might be able to do this with a changing the template but my old eyes are failing and being able to see each beat, 1/2 beat and bar more clearly would make my like a million times easier