Hello there
With the Ipad “pro” and espacially with its apple pen, I started to think that maybe, a tablet could be a wonderful tool to create with node-based programmation systems like VUO.
This is an open question: do you think one day a programming language could be made espacially to code on ipad ? Would it be a good idea?
There are ports of Processing (text programming language) and Scratch (visual programming language) for iPad, so yeah, there are people interested in programming on mobile devices.
Challenge: How to make a user interface that is efficient and comfortable to use with a finger/stylus and a touchscreen keyboard?
Challenge: What can/can’t a programming environment do within the limitations imposed by mobile operating systems and app store reviewers?
What if it wasn’t a stand alone mobile version of VUO but more of a wireless input device for building compositions were the Mac is still running the composition and the iOS device is just providing a touch UI for the editor. I think a really interesting feature would be an iOS series of Apps that allow you to make a custom UI to control the compositions themselves, in the App create buttons and sliders that could change parameters in the composition running on the Mac. It would be interesting and useful to control compositions from any device running iOS from AppleWatch, TouchStrip to iPhone and iPad. I know there are midi and dmx apps out there that offer some degree of this type of feature but a native app geared directly to VUO would be amazing. It could also be another revenue stream for VUO if the demand is high enough.
| Device | VUO Editor UI App | VUO Composition UI App |
|---|---|---|
| iPad | • | • |
| iPhone | • | • |
| MacBook Pro Touch Strip | • | • |
| Apple Watch | • |
Hey @cwilms-loyalist, There are ways to do this using HTML/CSS and websocket on QC. There also a Feature Request to bring a Websocket capabliity to Vuo. HTML, CSS & JS gives you a lot of UI options if you have some basic web scripting skills (easy to pickup when I learned Websocket 3rd party patch for QC, the JS is just for the data binding and the HTML and CSS do all the pretty sliders and inputs). Mirek wrote a neat Websocket plugin for QC that allowed the easy construction of UI’s way beyond the capability of QC and in heaps less time (and with less frustration and QC performance hit).
Suggest you vote up Websocket if this line of interface interests you, it will be easier to make complex UIs than with the proposed inbuilt Vuo UI elements I’d suggest and more powerful. The proposed inbuilt UI nodes (now announced for Vuo 1.2.5) will probably make creating simple UIs easier than using a Websocket and creating a web page for it, especially for those with zero HTML/CSS/JS experience (you don’t need much skill though to get sliders, buttons, images and drop down menus all binding with your QC composition).
The proposed inbuilt UI nodes (now announced for Vuo 1.2.5)
Eeek! That announcement comes as a surprise to Team Vuo, as we were planning to release them in Vuo 1.3 ;)
Alastair, my needs right now are pretty basic. Drop down lists are about all I’m missing at the moment. I’ll look into it, you never know what project down the road might need it. :)
I think a really interesting feature would be an iOS series of Apps that allow you to make a custom UI to control the compositions themselves, in the App create buttons and sliders that could change parameters in the composition running on the Mac.
Right now you can create a custom template for TouchOSC that, when loaded and initialized on your iPad, can control your Vuo composition. TouchOSC has buttons and sliders, and TouchOSC labels can receive information from the Vuo composition. You do have to create the template in advance on your Mac, however.
Rather old topic, but if you like to use the Apple Pencil and an iPad (pro) to build compositions it is worth mentioning Sidecar (Use an iPad as a second display for a Mac - Apple Support). It effectively extends your desktop to the iPad, so you can use it as a second screen. Pencil input doesn’t work with all apps as of yet. My macbook is too old to be supported by this technology, but maybe someone can check it out?
There are more (paid) options like Duet Display, which seem to do the trick as well.