[Bf-funboard] reorganising the RVK system
William Reynish
bf-funboard@blender.org
Wed, 15 Oct 2003 05:09:32 +0200 (CEST)
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I remember that the Relative Vertex Key system took me quite i while to get my head around when I learned Blender. It wasn't the understanding of the principals behind it that was hard, it was more connected to the interface. More specificly: how to add new vertex keys, editing them, and keep track of them.
The current problems are:
1, Blenders current system of storing the RVK information in blue lines in the IPO curve window is... er... odd to say the least. It takes a long time to find out how to edit old keys and adding new ones. It is very confusing for newbies.
2, Another issue is that there is a maximum of 30 RVKs in Blender. You wouldn't very often want to use more than 30, but why have a maximum? Why not let the user control how many he or she wants?
3, A third issue is about renaming of RVKs. I know this can be done in the action window, but it doesn't update in the IPO window. I only found out a week ago that you could actually rename the vertex keys in the action window, so it isn't very obvious to the user that it IS possible.
4, A fourth issue is about the slider placements. Currently they reside in the action window, which is weird, because the action window is an overview of your keyframes, that lets you move the IPO curve points on the X axes, not the Y axes.
5, A fifth problem with the current system is abot consistancy. Storing things in blue lines is not used anywhere else in the program, and the entire way you add new RVKs is also unconsistent wit the rest of the program.
I think it would make much more sence to out everything in the IPO window. There should be two buttons in the bottom saying New and Delete, for adding and deleting RVKs(like adding vertex groups or material groups in the edit buttons).You should be able to rename them by clicking on the default names rather like changing the name for a material. And ofcourse the slider should be worked into the same window. This gives you instant feedback over you curves while you are using the sliders. There should be no maximum, and it should not by default have 30 empty RKV slots - it should only have the ones that you have added. A mockup here: http://www.shadeless.dk/rvkmockup.jpg
I think this will make it alot easier for new people to start using this crucial aspect to 3D animation. For the experienced user, we would have the ability to ad as many RVKs as we like, meaning we could spilt everything up smaller control areas if disered (ie. you could have an RVK called "upper left eyebrow down" - This amount af control wouldn't be possible now because of the 30 maximum of RVKs).
Comment as you like.
-William Reynish (Monkeyboi)
------------
Yahoo! Mail - Gratis: 6 MB lagerplads, spamfilter og virusscan
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<DIV>I remember that the Relative Vertex Key system took me quite i while to get my head around when I learned Blender. It wasn't the understanding of the principals behind it that was hard, it was more connected to the interface. More specificly: how to add new vertex keys, editing them, and keep track of them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The current problems are:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1, Blenders current system of storing the RVK information in blue lines in the IPO curve window is... er... odd to say the least. It takes a long time to find out how to edit old keys and adding new ones. It is very confusing for newbies. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2, Another issue is that there is a maximum of 30 RVKs in Blender. You wouldn't very often want to use more than 30, but why have a maximum? Why not let the user control how many he or she wants?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3, A third issue is about renaming of RVKs. I know this can be done in the action window, but it doesn't update in the IPO window. I only found out a week ago that you could actually rename the vertex keys in the action window, so it isn't very obvious to the user that it IS possible.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>4, A fourth issue is about the slider placements. Currently they reside in the action window, which is weird, because the action window is an overview of your keyframes, that lets you move the IPO curve points on the X axes, not the Y axes.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>5, A fifth problem with the current system is abot consistancy. Storing things in blue lines is not used anywhere else in the program, and the entire way you add new RVKs is also unconsistent wit the rest of the program.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think it would make much more sence to out everything in the IPO window. There should be two buttons in the bottom saying New and Delete, for adding and deleting RVKs(like adding vertex groups or material groups in the edit buttons).You should be able to rename them by clicking on the default names rather like changing the name for a material. And ofcourse the slider should be worked into the same window. This gives you instant feedback over you curves while you are using the sliders. There should be no maximum, and it should not by default have 30 empty RKV slots - it should only have the ones that you have added. A mockup here: <A href="http://www.shadeless.dk/rvkmockup.jpg">http://www.shadeless.dk/rvkmockup.jpg</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think this will make it alot easier for new people to start using this crucial aspect to 3D animation. For the experienced user, we would have the ability to ad as many RVKs as we like, meaning we could spilt everything up smaller control areas if disered (ie. you could have an RVK called "upper left eyebrow down" - This amount af control wouldn't be possible now because of the 30 maximum of RVKs).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Comment as you like.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-William Reynish (Monkeyboi)</DIV><p>------------<br>
<a href=http://dk.mail.yahoo.com>Yahoo! Mail</a> - Gratis: 6 MB lagerplads, spamfilter og virusscan
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