[Bf-committers] Improving Blender's keymap: a proposal

[Jorge Rodriguez]

On the topic of mode switching:

I did some work on this in my own keymap and my approach was to reduce the
number of keystrokes and mouse clicks to switch modes. Currently to switch
among edit modes (vertex, edge, face) you must press the hotkey and then
choose with the mouse. That involves a bit of mouse aiming and an extra
click that I think in unnecessary and distracting. My solution was to have
three hotkeys, one for each edit mode. That's more keys on the keyboard,
but I think it's worth it given how much context switching goes on.

Another thing I would like to see is more seamless switching between object
mode and the edit modes. If I'm in object mode and I want to go to a
specific edit mode then the process is

1. Hit tab to go to edit mode
2. Ctrl-tab to open edit mode menu
3. Select an option, vertex face or edge

The mental model that this gives to a user is that there are two high-level
modes, object and edit modes, with edit further broken down into three
sub-modes. That basically represents how they're implemented in the code.
It's a complex mental model that requires a lot of keystrokes and I think
it can be simplified. I would like to see four high-level modes, ie object
mode, face mode, vertex mode, and edge mode. I think presenting the modes
to the user this way is a better choice, since it's a simpler mental model
and can result in faster switching between modes and thus more efficient
work.

-- 
Jorge "Vino" Rodriguez
jorge at lunarworkshop.com
twitter: VinoBS
919.757.3066