Gsoc2010Ideas

Google Summer of Code 2010 Project Ideas

This page lists the suggested projects for students working on Mixxx as part of Google Summer of Code 2010. Each of these projects represents something that we think would make a really big difference to our users and that we as a development team are really excited about. For advice on how to get in touch and how to apply, you should read gsoc2010advice.

Skinning Engine Prototype

Overview

Over the last 5 years, Mixxx has grown to provide useful functionality for an increasingly diverse group of DJs. Some of our commercial competitors have adapted to meet the needs of these same types of DJs, but at a cost of increasing their user interface complexity. As we like to put it, the number of knobs per square inch of UI in audio applications tends to infinity. As a result, the learning curve for audio applications is often quite steep, and in order to keep Mixxx accessible to new DJs, Mixxx's UI must not suffer the same fate.

We recognise that changing the whole UI is a huge task, so the goal of this project is to explore and develop a prototype of a more scalable user interface that allows different types of DJs to always have the simplest, easiest possible UI. This project will also aim to solve technical shortcomings present in Mixxx's existing skinning engine. Regular feedback from Mixxx's skin artists during development will help ensure the project direction is aligned with the vision of our artists.

This project will involve working heavily with Qt. It is a very open ended project ideal for an ambitious student who is interested in user interface design.

Project Deliverables

• Analysis of existing user interface, commercial competitors' UIs, and existing proposed solutions 1 2 3 4.
• Implement a working prototype user interface for Mixxx
  1. Must provide widget grouping for like controls
  2. Widget groups' visibility must be toggleable (eg. so that looping controls can be hidden)
  3. Widget groups must be re-arrangeable.
  4. Must provide resizable main window

Sampler Decks

Overview

Mixxx currently has 2 main decks for playing audio tracks. Many DJs like to incorporate sample tracks into their sets so that they can enhance their sets by playing extra samples on command. The goal of this project is to support this workflow by adding multiple samplers into Mixxx.

This project will require the student to work on both the audio core and user interface of Mixxx. It will give the student an opportunity to take their design all the way through implementation to real-world use and to hear user feedback on their work.

Project Deliverables

• Implement Mixxx-engine support for multiple samplers
  1. Model a new Sampler class off of the Player class
  2. Provide code for other parts of Mixxx (e.g. the GUI widget) to control the Sampler
• Implement a Sampler GUI widget that displays:
  1. The overview waveform of the sample audio (using our pre-existing waveform widgets)
  2. Buttons to play/pause the sample, and a button to enable looping of the sample
  3. Button to eject the current track from the sampler

DVS Mode / External Mixer Mode

Overview

Many Mixxx users would like to use Mixxx with an external mixer instead of making use of Mixxx's mixing engine to mix the output of each audio deck. The user may optionally want to disable CPU-intense processing such as Effects and EQ processing in favor of using their mixer. This project entails redesigning the master mixing portion of the Mixxx engine to support enabling or disabling various mixing features.

This project is focussed on the audio processing parts of Mixxx. Ideal for a student interested in the technical aspects of low-latency audio software development.

Project Deliverables

• Implement Mixxx-engine support for granularly enabling or disabling features such as the mixing of deck outputs and the EQ or effects processing of each deck.
• Enhance the Mixxx preferences dialog to provide a UI for configuring the mixing engine.
  1. Must allow for configuring the output soundcard of each Mixxx deck
  2. Must provide options for enabling and disabling engine features such as Effects and EQ

Plug and Play MIDI Mode / Community MIDI Mappings

Overview

Mixxx currently supports a wide-range of hardware MIDI controllers that DJs can use to perform with. Each supported MIDI controller has a "mapping" file that is bundled with Mixxx, but this mapping must be manually selected by the user before their controller works. The aim of this project is to increase the usability for new users by automatically selecting the correct MIDI mapping and to provide an intelligent workflow for when an unsupported MIDI device is connected.

This project will involve a lot of time thinking about use cases, dealing with users and understanding their requirements. It would be a great opportunity for a student to get involved with the Mixxx community. The student will also have the opportunity to borrow a MIDI controller from the development team for the duration of the project.

Project Deliverables

• Implement auto-selection of MIDI mappings based on connected MIDI devices.
• For unsupported devices, implement a UI and simple server-side functionality to:
  1. Check mixxx.org for additional community-provided mappings.
  2. Allow ratings and comments to be made on community-provided mappings.
  3. Allow user-created mappings to be uploaded to mixxx.org.

LADSPA Effects

Overview

A previous GSoC student wrote a LADSPA plugin interface for Mixxx, but did not have time to write a user interface. Effects are one of our top requested features so this project is very high impact and will allow Mixxx users to be much more creative with their DJ sets.

This project will involve working heavily with Qt in a highly visible role and would be ideal for a student interested in user interface design and dealing with users.

Project Deliverables

• Complete plugin integration into the GUI
  1. Must allow selection and mapping of available LADSPA plugins into GUI effects slots
  2. Must connect GUI controls to the mixing engine to change parameters of loaded plugins
• Design user-friendly way to load new LADSPA plugins downloaded from the Internet into Mixxx
  1. Must allow a user to select a LADSPA plugin to load from their hard drive

Something Else!

Overview

As always with Summer of Code, you aren't limited to the suggestions we've made here. If you've got a great idea for a project involving Mixxx then we're looking forward to hearing about it.

Project Deliverables

• Something awesome