[Bf-funboard] improvements on workspace-saving

Konrad Haenel bf-funboard@blender.org
Sat, 27 Mar 2004 23:43:41 +0100


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I figured that, but it stores these within singular .blend-files (bad 
thing, I'll explain later) and the storage isn't "safe" which means I 
change the settings while working (another bad thing).

bad thing 1: storing workspace info in singular .blend-files
Workspaces are a reflection of an artists workflow, which will change 
very little over time. It would really make much more sense to have some 
way of storing "user"-information which is consistent over many 
different Blender-sessions

bad thing 2: unsafe workspace storage
I make heavy usage of view-angles and window-resizing (like most 
artists), to always have the part of the model I am working on in 
perfect visibility. However, to get an overview of what I am doing I 
like to revert to a previously saved settings again. Of course I could 
create one workspace for overview, create another for actual working and 
probably toggle between them. But then I'd have to have two different 
workspaces for each set of tasks I am working on (like lighting, 
mapping, modelling etc.), which defies the whole idea of "fast" access 
to workspaces. Or to make it even clearer: let's say I want to switch to 
"lighting". I'd select my "lighting" workspace which gives me two small 
orthogonal views (top, front) and a large 3D-view of the scene. The 
current Blender has everything stored in the workspace: windows-sizes, 
camera-angles, zoom etc. Now I need to focus on detail at once, so I 
zoom in and rotate the camera a little ... whoops, my carefully created 
overview is gone. I'd have to create a new workspace from the one I want 
to preserve everytime(!) I wanted to focus on detail. That's not what 
I'd call a natural workflow.

Naturally, I'd set up a couple of really useful viewports (or 
workspaces) which give me a good overview from where I start exploring 
detail. I only want to return to these to find and at once focus on new 
detail. So there's no need to constantly update my stored views, as I 
will need to refocus on a different part of my scene anyways once I 
finished working on one part.

UI in 3D is all about workflows, that's what really makes the difference 
(btw. Blender does a good job at providing this in many areas, it's just 
that I am missing a thoughtfully implemented version of the 
"workspace"-idea).

Greets,

Konrad

Fabrizio wrote:

>You have 'Add new' in the very drop down menu you're referring to - so you
>can add as many custom layouts as you want.
>Use Shift+LMB to rename.
>...and CTRL + left or right arrow keys to quickly jump through all your
>saved window set-ups.
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Konrad Haenel" <public@konrad-haenel.de>
>To: <bf-funboard@blender.org>
>Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:34 PM
>Subject: [Bf-funboard] improvements on workspace-saving
>
>
>  
>
>>artists demand: enhanced options for storing different "workspaces"
>>
>>I dunno whether this has been discussed before, at least I couldn't find
>>anything like it searching the archives. So here we go:
>>
>>It appears that Blender 2.32 offers a way of storing window-layouts in a
>>drop-down menu on the topmost menu-bar. Yet this function is badly
>>documented (or rather, not at all) and appears to have a major drawback.
>>Once I change the layout of the currently selected "Datablock" (the
>>popup-info on that menu, and I know that a DataBlock could be anything
>>in Blender), it stays this way once I select it again. I change views
>>all the time, but there are some basic layouts I always want to revert
>>to. It would come in very handy if it was possible to store (safely) and
>>have quick access to some general layout options like window-positions
>>and viewport settings within the windows.
>>
>>This concept is part of most major 3D-applications which is only
>>understandable from an artists point of view. It seems that Blender is
>>already halfway there and (I guess) that it would only take medium
>>effort to push it far enough to be highly usable.
>>
>>My two cents for today.
>>
>>Greetings,
>>
>>Konrad
>>__________________________
>>www.konrad-haenel.de
>>_______________________________________________
>>Bf-funboard mailing list
>>Bf-funboard@blender.org
>>http://www.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Bf-funboard mailing list
>Bf-funboard@blender.org
>http://www.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>
>  
>


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I figured that, but it stores these within singular .blend-files (bad
thing, I'll explain later) and the storage isn't "safe" which means I
change the settings while working (another bad thing).<br>
<br>
bad thing 1: storing workspace info in singular .blend-files<br>
Workspaces are a reflection of an artists workflow, which will change
very little over time. It would really make much more sense to have
some way of storing "user"-information which is consistent over many
different Blender-sessions<br>
<br>
bad thing 2: unsafe workspace storage<br>
I make heavy usage of view-angles and window-resizing (like most
artists), to always have the part of the model I am working on in
perfect visibility. However, to get an overview of what I am doing I
like to revert to a previously saved settings again. Of course I could
create one workspace for overview, create another for actual working
and probably toggle between them. But then I'd have to have two
different workspaces for each set of tasks I am working on (like
lighting, mapping, modelling etc.), which defies the whole idea of
"fast" access to workspaces. Or to make it even clearer: let's say I
want to switch to "lighting". I'd select my "lighting" workspace which
gives me two small orthogonal views (top, front) and a large 3D-view of
the scene. The current Blender has everything stored in the workspace:
windows-sizes, camera-angles, zoom etc. Now I need to focus on detail
at once, so I zoom in and rotate the camera a little ... whoops, my
carefully created overview is gone. I'd have to create a new workspace
from the one I want to preserve everytime(!) I wanted to focus on
detail. That's not what I'd call a natural workflow.<br>
<br>
Naturally, I'd set up a couple of really useful viewports (or
workspaces) which give me a good overview from where I start exploring
detail. I only want to return to these to find and at once focus on new
detail. So there's no need to constantly update my stored views, as I
will need to refocus on a different part of my scene anyways once I
finished working on one part.<br>
<br>
UI in 3D is all about workflows, that's what really makes the
difference (btw. Blender does a good job at providing this in many
areas, it's just that I am missing a thoughtfully implemented version
of the "workspace"-idea).<br>
<br>
Greets,<br>
<br>
Konrad<br>
<br>
Fabrizio wrote:<br>
<blockquote cite="mid000601c41446$294aca10$0100a8c0@TYLER" type="cite">
  <pre wrap="">You have 'Add new' in the very drop down menu you're referring to - so you
can add as many custom layouts as you want.
Use Shift+LMB to rename.
...and CTRL + left or right arrow keys to quickly jump through all your
saved window set-ups.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Konrad Haenel" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:public@konrad-haenel.de">&lt;public@konrad-haenel.de&gt;</a>
To: <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:bf-funboard@blender.org">&lt;bf-funboard@blender.org&gt;</a>
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:34 PM
Subject: [Bf-funboard] improvements on workspace-saving


  </pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap="">artists demand: enhanced options for storing different "workspaces"

I dunno whether this has been discussed before, at least I couldn't find
anything like it searching the archives. So here we go:

It appears that Blender 2.32 offers a way of storing window-layouts in a
drop-down menu on the topmost menu-bar. Yet this function is badly
documented (or rather, not at all) and appears to have a major drawback.
Once I change the layout of the currently selected "Datablock" (the
popup-info on that menu, and I know that a DataBlock could be anything
in Blender), it stays this way once I select it again. I change views
all the time, but there are some basic layouts I always want to revert
to. It would come in very handy if it was possible to store (safely) and
have quick access to some general layout options like window-positions
and viewport settings within the windows.

This concept is part of most major 3D-applications which is only
understandable from an artists point of view. It seems that Blender is
already halfway there and (I guess) that it would only take medium
effort to push it far enough to be highly usable.

My two cents for today.

Greetings,

Konrad
__________________________
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.konrad-haenel.de">www.konrad-haenel.de</a>
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