<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">I agree that this is a big problem. None of the current names give users any sort of indication of what they look like or what they should be used for. As Campbell mentions, the names are not only unhelpful, but they're misleading too! - <DIV>* Halfway, giving the meaning of something that only does a half as good job, as if it's some kind of speed-optimisation hack and also </DIV><DIV>* Irregular, meaning uneven or rough (which is the exact opposite of what those shadow types are used for - sharp shadows!)<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The details on the specific algorithms involved are meaningless to the vast majority of artists who just want a visual result, and belong in a reference manual, not the interface. In the UI here which is all about tweaking things to get a certain appearance, any names that can help a user understand what that visual result will be, is helpful here. Otherwise it's just a matter of selecting various combinations of variables and rendering, over and over again, which is a pretty ridiculous way of working.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>My suggestions would be something simple and communicative like:</DIV><DIV>- Legacy</DIV><DIV>- Soft</DIV><DIV>- Sharp</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>With legacy being the old style approach that I presume is only there for backwards compatibility, Soft being normal shadow buffers and Sharp being the irregular ones. Perhaps something like 'Versatile' or 'Flexible' would be better than Soft since those can also become sharp to an extent...?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>In any case, names that actually help artists in understanding what these do, unlike the tech-centered names that are there currently would be a big improvement.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>cheers,</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Matt</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On 01/12/2006, at 15:00 PM, Campbell Barton wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">just Wondering,</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">we have shodow buffers</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Classic"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Chassc-Halfway"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Irregular"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Classic-Halfway would be very baffeling to new users.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Classic-Halfway (means Halfway good )</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What about</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Classic (Original)"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Classic (Improved)"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Irregular (Best)"<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>or<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>"Irregular (Vector)"</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Bf-funboard mailing list</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="mailto:Bf-funboard@projects.blender.org">Bf-funboard@projects.blender.org</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="http://projects.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard">http://projects.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>------------------------------------------</DIV><DIV>Matt Ebb . matt@mke3.net . <A href="http://mke3.net">http://mke3.net</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>