Sneak Peek Of The Upcoming DEX 3.5 Skin
It’s bone throwing time again! A sneak peek of the DEX 3.5 skin.
Our UI design team has been wearing out their mice working on a new DJ and VJ software DEX 3 default skin that will be available in DEX 3.5, only a month or so from now.
We were so fired up about the new skin design we couldn’t keep the cat completely in the bag, so here’s a sneak peek of a new tab and general scheme: (NOTE: Images are subject to change, and all buttons in up state.) More info below images:
The biggest takeaway from the screen shots above for many of you is likely the addition of the full-featured sample decks.
Your sample waveform’s will display in the big black ‘blank‘ areas, and you have transport controls for each sample deck. You can also record/sample any of the 4 DEX 3 decks in real-time to load to any of the sample decks. The new sample decks will provide DJs with many live performance mixing possibilities, with support for an upcoming file format later (STEMS).
What do you think of the new DJ and VJ DEX 3.5 Skin? Feel free to comment below!
It looks ok but are the browser panes adjustable as I don’t want to rename my folder just so I can read them
That’s not a skin feature, but something that will need to be added regardless. You will have this ability, but not sure if it will come with 3.5.
3.5 will really have two main updates/changes, the skin is one – and something else we can’t talk about just yet! After 3.5 we’ll have more time to dedicated to some of the polish items, such as the ability to stretch/resize the navigation pane width.
What about the ability to write messages over your video display , or being able to play a slideshow while playing regular mp3’s? I thought I heard all this was supposed to be back with the the 3.4 update? What happened? These were some 8f my favorite features before.
Hello Brett,
Those items are indeed being worked on, but will come post 3.5. 3.5 is a special release version, with really two big changes – one being the new GUI/Skin. Post 3.5 finalizing some of the video-centric features will be prioritized.
Unlike previous PCDJ software versions, DEX 3 is designed exclusively by our team of developers. We’re not utilizing any third party code or plug ins. This means all these items are being built 100% from scratch by our team, which has many merits (one being “code” that can deploy much more easily to any supported OS and eventually tablets). This does mean some items will likely take longer, but the reason they won’t ship in 3.5 will be apparent at the time of launch. It’s a very important launch for us, and many users will agree.
Slide show, text to screen, visualizations – all still in the works though!
The new skin being worked on doesnt really look much different from older ones..a good skin that catches peoples eyes is whats needed and i agree u need a slideshow for when playing mp3s instead of a blank screen almost every dj program has one also need a function scroller to go across screen vids etc…most people only like virtual dj cuz there awesome skins they have it makes ya feel pro u need a skin like that that has jog wheels bigger and function make it feel like ur software is the best…i like it but the skins need a new look….i think the wave formats should go verticle as well like on serato and be color graphed…also a video 3d effect would be awesome to and be able to use vob files..
Thanks Anthony,
The skin is actually very different, but in this teaser you’re only viewing a small portion of all the skins/modes. For instance, you do have vertical waveforms, if you want them. Furthermore, we purposely didn’t want to venture too far from our initial design – as it’s what brought customers to the product to begin with, and it’s what they’re familiar with. Even though the new skin will have many changes and upgrades, such as the new sample decks, it won’t be like learning something completely new for existing DEX 3 customers.
We strongly feel it’s a great skin, and will catch peoples eyes. But that’s not really the point of a “good skin” in our opinion. It’s for you to look at, so it shouldn’t be too “bright” for instance since long hours staring at a bright skin isn’t good for your peepers. Easy navigation is more important than “bling” for instance 🙂
We’re not really fans of “jog wheels” on screen, thus the reason they are excluded from all our default skins. They take up space, and have little use in real-world Djing. For us, it’s function over form – but still with a keen eye on modern design (such as the more “flat design” used in the new skin).
The good news here is that any users can create skins for DEX 3, too! We have a skin designer here: https://www.pcdj.com/pcdj-dex-3-dj-software-skin-designer-released/
Some users have already created and submitted their own DEX 3 skins, which you can find here for download: https://www.pcdj.com/dex-3-skins/
The only limit for skin creation is your own imagination – since ALL elements can be designed, including layout, and browser.
As for the other requests: We will have a slide show feature, visualizations and a lot more. DEX 3 is a “baby” in terms of software life – only 35 weeks “new”. We are just getting started. The new platform was re-designed from scratch to support all the upgrades we have planned. It’s the new foundation for the next 5-10 years of upgrades.
One thing I’d like to point out: Designing DJ software in a crowded space like we have to today isn’t about mimicking what product “X” does. Sure, you look at what others do, and you even try to improve on what those others do within your own design goals/parameters – but it’s not about being an “also ran”. What’s the point of all DJ software working and doing things exactly the same way? We find our users by doing what we feel, with user feedback taken into consideration, is best for the software – implementing unique features is paramount. While we also feel (strongly) the visual-centric features are a must, HOW they are done will still have our stamp.
As noted in a previous response to this blog post, all these features are being designed by our team – no third party code. We are writing our own visualizations, for instance. Not sure that can be said for others, but it’s important to us and for the future of the product (and cross-platform support).
I think you’ll like what you see of the new default skin when 3.5 is made available. If not, you can still create your own with any image editing app and our skin designer!
it would be great to have a saved singers list with the key information they sang in, so when they come again you’ve got it all ready for them saving time looking all over again and setting the key etc, just karaoke software already has this feature and is a must for pro karaoke users, .catch up quick as you can.
Yes indeed! Our PCDJ Karaoki software also has this feature, with in-depth singer/song history (remembers key changes etc). We’re very familiar with how things should work on that end. When DEX 3 was originally created we didn’t set out to create a full-feature karaoke show hosting solution due to having one already in our line – PCDJ Karaoki. However, as time has gone on the requests continue to pile in for more karaoke specific features. Singer/song history and a true managed rotation are just a couple things on our “to-do”. It’s a big list 😉
Hi, I am a big fan of experimentation and design however i was wondering if anyone previously has asked the question
why there is no visualization packages to integrate with the program;such as the old Sonique or the more current
G force. is it a case of either or? The now redundant PCDJVJ was awesome,apart from accelerated graphics issues and video out of synq occasionally,maybe a few tweaks in the future might enable a revival.
Thanks Kevin,
Yes, they have asked the question – check a couple comments up as Anthony asked the same thing, and I responded to the question in my response to him.
In short, we are not and don’t plan to use any third party code or plug in’s in our new DJ software platforms. We are writing our own visualizations, a slide show and text to screen capabilities. These are in the works now, but won’t be released until after we get out the 3.5 update – which consists of primarily two changes: The new GUI, and something else that’s not quite yet ready for public consumption.
DEX 3 is an all new platform and the foundation for the next 5-10 years of improvements and new features. It’s not based on any other previous product, or third party code. This is hugely beneficial from a support and deployment stand point, which I touched on in my response to Anthony. Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hi the new skins looks cool I will be looking forward to seeing the full images of the skins and will be downloading them too keep up the good work looking to future improvements.