Speaking only for myself....
I used to do laser and standard engraving (20 + years worth), and know
exactly what is possible. I don't really care that the dotcom font and
graphic(s) being a precise match... close, is good enough for me. And I
rather like the idea of being able to easily add or subtract specific objects in
the layout(s). 'One size fits all' has never been a concept I believe in... and
many people will require or just want something a little different... and some
won't. The engraving method makes it possible and practical to do this. As long
as you start out with the same template that represents the blank, and all of
the margins are addressed, you could conceivably have a different layout for
each person... if you wanted to.
Out of curiosity... what format and software is being used for the
engraving? I have sign-making and engraving software.... Casemate 6.52, and
Flexisign... and both will do engraving, and will also inport and export several
different formats used by engravers, plotters, and routing tables.
Aside from the design time, engraving would be much cheaper... and easier
to have some differences in runs. For example... if I wanted target
crosshairs in the layout of a panel, to mark drilling points for extra
switches or jacks to be added for modifications, it would be a simple matter to
add whatever was needed to the layout... or even alter the original layout a
bit, and save it as a seperate layout. The point being- it makes it very easy
and practical to do custom work. It should be noted that the rear-panel layout
can sometimes affect the front-panel layout. Just because something might look
good on the front, doesn't mean that it will work on the back. I've seen people
design modules and not allow the proper spacing required for switches, jacks,
stand-offs, and bracket locations.
Of course... for the one's who opt to keep everything pure and identical...
this wouldn't work for them.
Just my 2 cents
~Morbius~
----- Original Message -----From: mate_stubbSent: Friday, November 18, 2005 3:29 PMSubject: [dotcomformat] Wild ideaJust throwing out a wild idea here, don't read too much into it yet...
Suppose that the stooges found a way to eliminate many of the barriers
to getting custom panels fast. The catch would be, that the finish
would not match the current MOTM standard, and might not be able to
match dotcom exactly either.
I know that this group is primarily concerned with dot com format
panels, but the larger questions are worth asking to everyone.
Instead of hassling with unreliable paint shops, expensive screen
printers and too-busy metal vendors, suppose all of that was brought
in-house. We're talking anodized panels in a choice of colors, and
laser engraved graphics. Right now we provide exact match panels, but
at the expense of being slow, slow, slow (and a great hassle to us).
Since everything would be in house, truly custom panels could be done
much quicker. For the sake of argument, let's say that they would cost
$25 or so for a 2U panel.
If we were to offer replacement custom panels for existing factory
MOTM and/or dotcom designs as well as the popular third party
conversions, how many people would be geeked enough to have that
custom blue MOTM or dotcom synth, that they would go to the expense of
replacing all their panels?
As a bonus, there could be several graphics treatments to choose from:
- MOTM standard layout but enhanced with panel edge stripes
- MOTM format but with jack fields broken up, flow diagram graphics,
multiple knobs sizes, etc. (think CMS)
- E-MU modular style format, signal inputs to the left, control inputs
to the bottom, outputs to the right
Is this a crazy idea, or what?
Moe