Here is the UI mock up I made to illustrate some of my ideas. I posted in a somewhat recent thread that was asking for multi-channel audio interface support, however I'd like to see more than just adding multi-channel hardware support. I'll outline the features in a bullet list below. I forgot to add some of the other things I wanted to so I decided to post what I finished and describe what I forgot.
There should be an indicator on the menu bar to the right of the Live indicator that shows what CDN you are broadcasting to. Clicking on it should drop down a list of your configured CDN's if you have more than one configured in settings. There should also be social network integration with Facebook and Twitter icons on the menu bar if you connect OBS to your accounts. This would allow you to quickly share the broadcast information via your social media. For example clicking on the twitter icon will compose a tweet with the logo of the game you are playing and the information being sent to the dashboard. This would be configured via settings.
Also I'd like to see the ability to connect to the CDN's chat with it expandable on the right side of the window, or would be displayed by default if OBS is set to full screen. It would also be nice in that same area to have controls for chat bot functions, but I think that would be left to add-ons, unless you want to tackle building a chat bot into OBS ;)
Well I think that is the bulk of it. Enjoy!
Broadcast Monitor - Shows what is currently being broadcast to the CDN.
Scene Preview - Allows you to preview a scene before switching to it.
Live Indicator Toggle - Shows that you are connected to the CDN and are streaming live. Clicking the live indicator will toggle between broadcasting and not broadcasting. (Start broadcast / Stop broadcast on a single button / indicator).
Load & Save - Allows you to load or save a Show. All of the sources, scenes, settings, etc. are saved as a show file (basically the current profile)
Plugins - Opens the Plugin manager.
Settings - Opens the Settings manager.
Mult-Channel Mixer - Populates with channel strips for all sources in a scene that have audio.
Main Out - Controls the output level of the entire mix being sent to the CDN. (Static in UI and global to all scenes)
Channel Strip - Individual control for any given audio channel of each source in a scene.
Line Level - Shows the level for the channel.
Balance - Shows the stereo balance for the channel.
Fader - Adjusts the level for the channel.
Signal Level - Shows the current signal level of the channel (the meter should also detect and indicate clipping).
Mute (m) - Allows you to toggle mute/unmute a channel.
Solo (s) - Allows you to toggle solo/unsolo a channel (effectively muting all other channels).
Ducking Toggle - (forgot to add the buttons on the channel strips, should be located under the mute & solo buttons) Clicking on the ducking toggle will enable or disable ducking for that channel. Channels with ducking enabled will slightly decrease in volume (ducking under) when another channel that has ducking disabled has signal output. This would mostly be useful for mic's to allow a broadcaster's commentary always be accentuated over other audio channels.
Stereo Link - Allows you to control a stereo pair together or unlink them to control the left and right channels independently.
Source - Allows you manually select a source for a channel.
Scene - Allows control of scene preview and scene selection.
Scene Tab - Clicking on a scene tab would select it for preview and show the source tabs for that scene. This would allow you to verify a scene is setup properly and the audio is balanced before switching it to Live.
Scene Main Output - Allows you to see the resulting output level of a scene's entire mix and see the signal level of the entire mix.
Active Scene Indicator - Shows which scene is currently active and being broadcast to the CDN. This would function like a radio button where only one scene can be selected as active. Clicking on a scene's "Power" button would deactivate the current scene and activate the new scene. If you click on the "Power" button for the currently active scene it would deactivate the scene and display a default scene that would be configurable via settings. (Example would be a static color bar image and a tone generator)
Add Scene - Clicking the add scene button at the bottom would add an empty scene tab below the last scene tab.
Source - Allows control of sources. Sources would composite like they do now as layers from top to bottom.
Source Tab - Clicking on a source tab would show you the common controls for that source type on that tabs page.
Source Power Button - Enables or Disables the source allowing you to turn on and off specific elements of a scene. This would function like a check box with multiple sources select-able at the same time. Note: If all sources are turned off it would turn off the scene if it's active, thus displaying the default scene configured via settings.
Add Source - Clicking the Add Source button at the bottom would open the add source window. The add source window would allow you to create a local source (with it's controls tied to the scene) or create a global source (which would be added to all scenes)
Source Controls Page - When a source tab is selected that sources common controls are displayed in this area. If there are more controls or settings than will fit in this area, the less common controls should be accessible via a source window. This window would be opened by clicking on a button in the common controls page. The complete source window should show all of a sources controls and settings including the common controls.
