(Matt/ton) Re: [Bf-funboard] selected/active/colours/etc.

[Luke Wenke]

Hi Matt,
================================
> ....I really like the idea of using warm/cool colours to denote active (or
> selected)/deselected.
=================================
Note that I'm talking about active and non-active objects.... and active
objects can be selected or unselected, and same with non-active objects...
Currently in Blender, these are the colours for objects that aren't in edit
mode:
----------
selected active - light pink wireframe, magenta (darker pink) centre
selected non-active - magenta wireframe, magenta centre
non-selected active - black border, magenta centre
non-selected non-active - black border, yellow centre
----------

Hi ton,
================================
> Maybe unconsciously, but you see this happening:
> - black  (cold)
> - purple (warmer)
> - yellow (hot)
>.......
> unselected Ob = black
> selective/active Ob = purple
> unselected Ob-data = purple
> selected Ob-data = yellow

I think you got that wrong... see my list earlier in this message. It seems
to me that unselected inactive object centres are yellow, and active
unselected object centres are magenta (darker pink). To be more precise,
selected object wireframes are either light pink (active) or magenta
(inactive). Anyway, the idea that yellow is the hottest colour is
contradicted in the object selection mode... I mean the only time something
is yellow is when an object centre is inactive and unselected. On the other
hand, when you are edited vertices or bones, etc, yellow is used to show the
selections.

Anyway, here are some ideas for colour schemes as far as object select goes:
(BTW, you said that Raskin says that strict semiotic languages for colors is
something heavily overrated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it must be
avoided at all costs, and as I explained elsewhere, I think colour schemes
such as red/blue help people under the roles of the objects in tracking,
parenting, etc)

The red active scheme
===============
selected active - red wireframe (or mesh lit with red light), red centre
selected non-active - grey or grey-blue, etc (very cold) wireframe, same
colour centre
non-selected active - black border, red centre
non-selected non-active - black border, dark grey centre

The white active scheme
===============
selected active - white wireframe (or brighted mesh), red centre
selected non-active - grey or grey-blue, etc (very cold) wireframe, same
colour centre
non-selected active - black border, white centre
non-selected non-active - black border, dark grey centre

I'm assuming that the centre of a non-active non-selected object is quite
irrelevant for people to know about in much detail, and if it is in black
they'd see it anyway. Or maybe it could be dark grey (darker than normal
centres) just in case.

>> As for the centre points, I think they could use some improvements too,
>> though I'm not sure how. Perhaps you could change the centre point
>> shape for
>> the active object (a triangle or something?)
>Or just not draw it in editmode?

The centre of the object can actually affect the object while you're editing
the object - e.g. you can resize or rotate the vertices about the object
centre. So it is important to display the centre in editmode and I agree
that it would be good if it didn't look like a dot - at least in editmode.
BTW, Blender doesn't let you use "Centre New" and "Centre Cursor" in edit
mode for some reason, which has wasted a bit of time for me. ("Centre" works
in edit mode.) (Also you can't delete materials in editmode, but you can
create new ones...)

- Luke.