[Bf-funboard] Blender UI redesign doc

[Ton Roosendaal]

Hi,

The proposal for the fileselector is a separate project, and can be  
commented on at the projects.blender.org bf-funboard tracker. I agree  
that usage of icons should not obscure easy finding of files. What we  
could do is adopt the feature which only draws icons within the context  
of browsing. So, hilite .blend files when you want to load, or hilite  
images when you need that.

Usage of gradients make buttons stand out more... but here a matter of  
taste applies as well. Is a good candidate for a user definable option.

Same might apply for the window borders, unfortunately this is  
completely hardcoded in Blender, and not simply to become a user option.
It definitely should not make it more difficult to distinguish areas.  
I'd propose to have a test release for this asap, working with it  
myself here really is a joy!

-Ton-


On Sunday, Sep 21, 2003, at 23:21 Europe/Amsterdam, ph wrote:

> Thanks everyone for the texture paint hint!! It runs smoothly on my  
> machine
> (athlon2000+ 32mg graphic Blender 2.23)
>
>
>   The UI revolution paints a nice picture. Most changes seem  
> reasonable.
> Overall a very good job.
>
>   There are just some things I will miss or things that leave room for
> questioning. So the following is not really a proposal, just my  
> personal
> opinion. This is important, because I will not be very careful how to  
> choose
> words (it's late, I'm tired). I don't intend to offend anyone, or  
> diminish
> anyones work here:
>
>   The new fileselect has advantages, but I found two aspects of the  
> old one
> very handy: all files were visible, so if you knew your directory's  
> content,
> you could navigate more easily (the option to only show certain  
> filetypes
> always confuses me).When navigating through a town, I don't memorize  
> the
> street names, I memorize the buildings. The blendfiles were marked very
> clearly. The coloured square is much better and faster recognizable  
> than an
> icon.
>
>   I like the new button layouts (the transparent buttons in the toolbar
> mockup is good). But:
>
>   I don't think buttons really need arrows to indicate that they can be
> increased or decreased that way. Well, the buttons are normally  
> learned at a
> very early stage and it takes 3 minutes with precise documentation to  
> know
> every possible way (leftclick, returnkey, shift left, shift-LMB-delete  
> and
> so on). The rest is extensive practising of the use. So 99.99999  
> percent of
> the blender time in your life, those arrows are not necessary anymore.
>
>   I see gradients appear on the icons and the buttons, the sliders and  
> so
> on. Okay, this is the style today, but it isn't mine (as I said, no
> proposal, just an opinion).
>
>   My main focus on the graphical component of a user interface is: how  
> easy
> can the eye distinguish the parts? What is leading, what is  
> distracting? The
> question could also be: how loud is it, compared to it's surrounding
> elements? Of course ferrari-red and canary yellow buttons would be too  
> loud.
> Totally gray buttons would be much too silent. So far (regarding the
> loudness) the colours of the buttons were carefully chosen and I like  
> it
> that way.
>
>   The next thing is, is a composition element leading or distracting?
> Gradients are not leading, except for a colour picker or similar  
> elements,
> where they represent value or progress. They are on the contrary  
> useless
> visual information. Pretty but empty and therefore distracting. The  
> same
> might apply to rounded edges of large shapes. What works for a button  
> does
> not nbecessarily work for a window.
>
>   The same thing applies to the new version of the window borders. Of  
> course
> it looks better. But can you really distinguish the several windows  
> better
> now? Especially when using several windows of the same kind? In an
> application that carefully watches where you place your cursor, so you  
> dont
> have to activate a window by click? Well, sorry, but I do not.
>
> http://www.blender.org/docs/UI/screen5.jpg
>
> The question I ask myself is:
>
> how much time do I spend working with an interface and how much time  
> do I
> spend to admire its beauty?
>
> Haunt_House
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-funboard mailing list
> Bf-funboard@blender.org
> http://www.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
--
Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation ton@blender.org  
http://www.blender.org