Vienna Instruments Pro 2 - non-scalable small UI and font size?

[Gustar]

I am using Vienna Instruments Pro 2 as a plugin in Cubase 9.5 on a laptop with Full HD/1080p resolution running Windows 7.

Much to my suprise, the VI Pro 2 window takes up not even half of the screen, which means the UI is very small and the font is rather hard to read because of the size.
I have been looking for an UI scaling option or at least some predetermined zoom level settings for the UI, but unfortunately it seems such an option does not exist? The only "user interface" option I have been able to find after checking the manual is "adjust brightness". While I appreciate the really nice brightness options, I somehow assumed that VSL is aware that not all users are working with a 27"+ screen and not all people have the same eyesight?

Currently I hope that I am just missing something. Or does VI Pro 2 indeed have no options to change the UI size?  Because in the current state, it is rather uncomfortable to work with VI Pro 2 on a laptop screen.

[DaddyO]

Alas, you are not missing anything.

VE Pro was made scalable with version 6, and there had been hope that VI Pro would receive similar treatment with version 3, but there has been no mention of work on a version 3. Meanwhile the Synchron Player and series have come out, raising the question as to what development future there is for VI Pro.

When this question was brought up in the forum I seem to recall Paul saying that Synchron development does not necessarily mean the end of VI development. Clearly, though, it has affected the timing of that development. Here's hoping we see something on the VI front before too long. It seems logical that any VI Pro version 3 will be scalable.

[littlewierdo]

I made mention of the same thing in one of my first posts. In this day and age, dealing with 4k deisplays, UI scaling is a must (Im talking to you also Kontakt!). Im tempted to break out my telescope and place it between myself and the 50 inch 4k screen Im currently using just so I can read the text.

Also, yes, Im not purchasing anything more from Vienna until I hear some news on Vienna Instruments (not Synchron). I do not like the direction Vienna has taken with Synchron seemingly taking center stage while the main reason I bought into Vienna in the first place was the design philosophy behind the VI line. Since Synchron takes the opposing approach that every other library on the market has taken ("preverb" or non-dry samples, a bubbly and quite frankly ugly UI that is very reminiscent of what you might find on a childs toy), I feel like I might have bought in to the wrong library. The two main reasons I started with Vienna is, the UI in VI is perfect. Its informative, easy to use, and the matrix idea clicked with me, and of course, the dry samples.

For now, the special edition complete is serving me fine for mockups, and Im using the complete Orchestral Tools Berlin Series for my final phase, since they are almost identical in volume and velocity layers to the special edition (Orchestral Tools just has more layers). I dont make any money from this stuff, its a hobby, and that is something that concerns me about Vienna, its very expensive, and by splitting their user base like this, it leaves many unsure about what to do.

Ideally, Synchron and VI should be cross compatible. Use Synchron Player if that suits you, use VI if that suits you, the libraries should load in either player.

[Dewdman42]

@littlewierdo said:

Ideally, Synchron and VI should be cross compatible. Use Synchron Player if that suits you, use VI if that suits you, the libraries should load in either player.

 

This!  ^^^^  Fine with me, though a huge reason I decided to invest in Full Cube was in order to use Vienna Instrument Pro, which I feel has been the best in class orchestral software instrument in terms of power and control.  It leaves all others including PLAY and KONTAKT-based solutions in the dust.  I'm not yet familiar with syncron to know whether it would be even better if Cube was ported over to it, or if some power would be lost.  I have no idea.  But VIPro works very well and since its still actively being sold, I think VSL is really overdue to give a little love to it now that more and more people are using 4K monitors.  I run my 4k monitor in HiDPI mode, usually at 3008x1692, but sometimes at 3200x1800 (32 inch).  I'm able ot use VIPro, though it does get a little small to deal with at the 3200x1800 resolution.  A little Retina support would be appreciated

[Gustar]

Thanks for the answers, that is very disappointing.

My Fabfilter plugin suite for example has been featuring free scaling for all plugins for years. It is rather difficult to understand why VSL is unable to provide a modern scaling UI with additional size options for their single main sample player, especially given the price point of their sample libraries.

And we are not even talking about something extremely complicated like scaling for a complete DAW (and even some of those already feature good scaling options - Studio One for example).
I just hope this is high on the to-do list, because it really does not leave a good impression if the main VI sample player UI is not up to speed, while at the same time there seems to be a lot effort going into Synchron products.

[littlewierdo]

As I understand it, UI scaling requires rebuilding the UI from the ground up, and since VI appears to be on the way out, I suspect this isnt high on the priority list. This is of course sad because I dont want to see VI Pro become a legacy product as it was one of the 3 main reasons I bought into Vienna in the first place.

[patmaddox]

I am a huge VIP fan and hope VSL puts some time and attention towards it. But I agree it seems like they’re moving away from it. That said, VIP is still better than anything else I’ve seen so far.

[Dewdman42]

well I just barely bought VIPro and VSL cube so if they phase it out now, they will hear my wrath for years to come, that's all I can say.  Let's hope that is not the case.

Updating a GUI to support retina and such is not neccessarily a matter of building it from the ground up.  A lot depends on how they did it to begin with.  if they relied on a lot of bitmap graphics than its more difficult.  If they used vector graphics its easier.  More modern GUI toolkits have all sorts of stuff built in to accomplish this, but its unlikely that VIPro was/is using one of those modern toolkits.

I doubt they will update the UI...and I also doubt that they will easily convert the old VSL libraries to the synchron player..its a different paradigm and there would probably be substantial work to make a round peg fit in a square hole..I do not think it makes sense at all for them to monkey with that, I would not if I were them I would just keep supporting the VIPro player idefinitetely in its current form for as long as they continue and sell and support the VSL std and full libraries.  Yes that means they should probably have a look at getting ViPro up to snuff with Retina and HiDPI displays at 4k.  At very least they could provide a simple zoom button that would change the zoom level to bigger, even if it looks jaggedly and ugly, for those that are running 4k native resolutions.  That would be a band-aide fix until such time they could revamp it to vector or whatever they might decide to do.  

[patmaddox]

Yeah, to be frank, the idea that VSL is "moving away from VIP" (which I share) is pure speculation. Who knows what they'll do.

I understand what they're doing with Synchron – providing a platform that is more "mix ready" than VIP is, with the interface to make quick mixing tweaks.

Personally I find VIP + MIR Pro to be absolutely awesome, and I don't care about Synchron.

So who knows? Maybe VSL will get to a point where Synchron is cruising, and they want to give VIP some more love.

It just seems to like right now the focus is on Synchron, and I'm not holding my breath for VIP updates.