I’d Love Critiques of My Program.

[Thales]

I wrote a music visualization application in OpenGL which I’m trying to sell, and it’s not selling at all. It’s shareware software. I know a lot of denizens here really know their stuff, so I thought I’d ask you guys what you think of it. I’d love some critiques. Rip it to shreds if you want.

It works with Windows Media Player, and requires Windows XP to run.

You can download it here http://www.alwayslearn.com. Just go to the download page.

Any constructive feedback would be appreciated. :yes:

Thanks!

P.S. A moderator may think there is a better place for this, in which case feel free to move it, but my guess is that this will veer into a discussion on specific graphical ideas.

[dave_]

Submit a screen here http://www.devmaster.net/snapshot/submit.php

[Thales]

Thanks for that tip, Dave. I'll do that.

[Sol_HSA]

I looked at the video and I think it's quote boring, actually =) With all the free stuff out there (and oftentimes even included with the media player), I can't really see why anyone would buy that. But then, that's just me.

[Thales]

I looked at the video and I think it's quote boring, actually =) With all the free stuff out there (and oftentimes even included with the media player), I can't really see why anyone would buy that. But then, that's just me.

Maybe you don't get the basic concept. This is a 3D music visualization package where you ride the musical wave as the music is played. The visualization programs I've seen are 2D plug-ins with fancy patterns, for the most part.

Do you know of any similar examples?

Thanks for the feedback.

[TheNut]

The first thing that struck me before I even saw the app was your website. It's not professional and it looks like a scam site at best. You need to give a professional look if you want to attract customers and make them believe you're not joking around. Keep it clean, organized, and add some fun elements to show off your creative side.

Now I saw your You Tube video and I feel that your product is not polished enough to merit commercial standards. You need to really work hard on the graphics. For $20, I could buy real shareware games that will last me weeks of fun, whereas this will last me 10 seconds of visual curiosity. For the record, I also don't do audio visualizations as I work while listening to music.

I'm also having a hard time following your audio visualization pattern. I don't quite see what the dragon or the rings behind him have anything to do with the music. The best visualization modules I've seen were ones based off physical visual effects such as ripples, electricity, gravity, etc... The best ones I've seen were for Winamp as well.

All in all, I suppose this is a start. You seem to understand the concepts of plug-ins, 3D worlds and models, textures, animations, etc... Just work on polishing up your app and perhaps you'll see better sales (though no one here can guarantee that). Look into expanding your worlds beyond dragons. Of the music you were playing in that demo, the first one suites the dragon scene, the second song would work best with a bunch of choppers speeding down a highway, and the final song would work best with a flowing river, a nature scene, etc... Just some thoughts.

[Thales]

The first thing that struck me before I even saw the app was your website. It's not professional and it looks like a scam site at best. You need to give a professional look if you want to attract customers and make them believe you're not joking around. Keep it clean, organized, and add some fun elements to show off your creative side.


It can use more polish, I know, but I didn't think it was that bad. :unsure: I've been improving my web creation skills of late, so I think I can make a better go of it next time around. But, considering what you say further down, and since most people just download my software without ever visiting my website, this seems secondary.


I'm also having a hard time following your audio visualization pattern. I don't quite see what the dragon or the rings behind him have anything to do with the music. The best visualization modules I've seen were ones based off physical visual effects such as ripples, electricity, gravity, etc... The best ones I've seen were for Winamp as well.


Okay, let me explain. The idea is that as the music is played the dragon moves to the music, the wave moves to the music, and you sit on the wave. You aren't looking at a frequency spectrum, ala other visualizers, rather you are riding the wave, ala a roller coaster. I assure you, this effect works. Maybe the video isn't getting that across. I think it's clearer if you run the app, and it works best on bigger screens. I also have a projection screen which gives you full immersion. The "rings" are the wave.



All in all, I suppose this is a start. You seem to understand the concepts of plug-ins, 3D worlds and models, textures, animations, etc... Just work on polishing up your app and perhaps you'll see better sales (though no one here can guarantee that). Look into expanding your worlds beyond dragons. Of the music you were playing in that demo, the first one suites the dragon scene, the second song would work best with a bunch of choppers speeding down a highway, and the final song would work best with a flowing river, a nature scene, etc... Just some thoughts.

The dragon itself can be made invisible if you don't want it on the wave. I had the idea of doing a dancing girl, a sword wielding warrior and a few other characters, but these take a great deal of time. The dragon was my first attempt, and that required I learn the Blender to model and animate it, not to mention write a Python script to export and an algorithm in C++ to import into my visualizer.

If I could churn models out fast, that'd be no problem, but it's a slow process.

Thanks for your constructive, even if tough, criticism. :cool:

[Thales]

I’m starting to think the video is counter productive, because it's not getting across what the software does. There is an idea behind it, it's not just meant to look a certain way. It's primarily meant to give you the feel of riding a wave, ala riding a roller coaster.

What I'm saying is I don't know if the video critiques are really helping that much. My fault for posting it, I know.

More feedback always appreciated!

Thanks! :yes:

[dave_]

You can always rely on the (brutal) honesty of strangers!

[Thales]

Okay, I've upgraded the look of my website.

You can always rely on the (brutal) honesty of strangers!

Of that there is no doubt, but I'm still hoping some will critique the software itself.

[Kremps]

its pretty cool. is it free ?

[Sol_HSA]

I think the main problem here is that you have to explain it. =)

For the record, I've done a bunch of realtime demos synced to music, so I know what the "idea" is.

However, there's tons of reactive music visualization stuff out there, and most of it is free. I've spent some time watching milkdrop for example, and I have to say that even if it's just relatively simple 3d forms etc, it still seems less boring than yours.

Anyway, people have been known to spend money even on screensavers, so maybe there's a market there.