Just checking...Drambo documentation is still a bit sparse, right?
Seems like the documentation has lagged far behind the software, am I right?
I surely would understand if that's the case...I just want to stop looking for it if everyone knows that documenation doesn't exist.
The manual seems like it's still at version 1.1 even thought we're now at Drambo 2.2 (see https://www.beepstreet.com/public/downloads/Drambo%20manual.pdf)
A few of the modules have some detailed explanations, but, for at least half of them, the text reads "No module help yet."
The AudioBus wiki has a list of module, last updated Feb '20, but no links where one can find instructions on how to use or connect them.
The Drambo Cookbook is a great idea, but is little more than an outline at this point (see https://wiki.audiob.us/doku.php?id=drambo_cookbook).
Seems like we need to rely on the numberous videos out there, which are great but often gloss over what know X and Y actually do.
Am I missing something?
Comments
No, you’re not missing something at all.
Normally we create a thread and talk about said modules and projects.
There has been a lot of changes since version 1 and development is rather rapid.
We are trying our best in trying to keep up with demand but there’s only one person
doing the heavy lifting and the rest of us are volunteering our support.
What are you specifically interested in? and there’s also an FB group you can join.
Yep, beepstreet is a one man show and what @giku has done so far completely on his own is outstanding imo.
But yes, as of now, the many available videos are likely the best source for learning.
I think we all agree that documentation could be better, especially module help but there have been several updates at least of the module help texts and if you say that "at least half" of the modules have no help, there's clearly something wrong here.
Thanks for reporting.
I concur. Just pop any question on this forum or the Facebook group and I guarantee you’ll get the answer promptly.
I think most of us don’t bemoan the sparseness of documentations because we know that Dev’s valuable time goes towards other parts of Drambo.
I would happily contribute the best documentation I can to a community effort if there was an organized way to discuss, refine, approve, and maintain it. Especially if approved module texts could end up being incorporated into the app with each release with the absolute minimum effort / distraction on giku's part.
Number37 has a great idea...perhaps those of you who know this forum can suggest the best way for us users to
1] contribute a paragraph or two at a time about a module here and there, and then
2] curate the redundant contributions down to an "official" blurb to be added to the help files.
I'm already at the module help texts with @giku.
What's missing is an updated help file that also includes the more recent additions - which have added up to a substantial bunch - and ideally gives Drambo newbies an easier time to make their first steps inside the app.
Videos are great but they're not for everyone. Some just prefer to go through a written manual chapter by chapter.
Contributions are highly welcome! ❤️
Probably a sensitive topic... :) ...and sorry for the critical tone...
I started writing a more complete help/manual before v2 release... in the mindset of ‘there is no point in another half baked’ the deeper I dug the more inconsistencies (and often bugs present since the first day) came up... we simply learned to look the other way when these questions asked (not often enough to warrant action/fix, but necessary to paint a full picture).
I agree, it can only be achieved by coordinated community efforts... a bit sceptical about maintenance, considering the pace and the way D grows.
My hope is that v3 comes as a separate app, which may allow (even if late) a better documentation for v2 (with known issues), which then can be expanded for v3 at some point or to some degree.
edit: btw many existing module helps got included this way... if you see a missing help and can come with a description for the module, feel free to post it, it will likely make its way into the next update
I agree, it can only be achieved by coordinated community efforts... a bit sceptical about maintenance, considering the pace and the way D grows.
That's my hesitancy too. If the flow was effective, I think I would maintain my own contributions but would probably not review other people's submissions unless I stumbled across needed changes.
edit: btw many existing module helps got included this way... if you see a missing help and can come with a description for the module, feel free to post it, it will likely make its way into the next update
Is this thread an appropriate place for that? Or somewhere else? Randomly posting documentation update suggestions isn't up my alley. I'd like to think that there's at least some informal place where they should go.
1) imo even these open threads can be used to discuss these things... users may learn a lot from these discussions... but DMs to beta testers or emails directly to giku should work too... he is off for some time now but we can ask him the best way to receive these, to avoid unnoticed attempts.
2) you should definitely be in beta team :D
Yup.
hm, documentation of modular is difficult,
I still see people throwing stuff together that makes me think, oh wouldn't have thought of that, thats kind of the fun of it (?), everyone is building his own little legohouses
from my experience - nobody looks into wikis not worth the effort
videos ppl do on YouTube are nice but far away from being "quick"
what could help are tooltips, me thinks
like
cookbooks have varying worth
usually its lets do fm or lets do samples or lets do subtractive
they never seem to combine schools of thought, thats kind of boring if you have seen your share of things
like pff, lets mix supersaw and samples and amplitude modulate the output ...
Anything you want to know is like answered almost within minutes, certainly within the day
heck, the dev might even fix it before you ask twice and check the thread lol
PS I think FWiw DRambo 3 should go full DAW, and I think it could take out everything (besides Cubasis 3 due to its power and huge team of Steinberg coders)…I’ll test that to death , if you need an extra set of very interested and loving hands lol lol
Perhaps we could have a module-of-the-week thread, where people would post explanations, doubts, ideas etc. Without it being a formal wiki, but if it got enough traction it could later be compiled into a wiki, a drambo book of bad ideas or whatever.
I’m not suggesting creating 208 threads (by my count), many related modules could be bundled together, some would perhaps deserve sub-threads.