[Bf-committers] blender UI state

[Jorge Rodriguez]

I'm glad that this topic is being discussed, as it is one of the primary
motivations for me beginning work on Blender. Here is my list of things
that I would like to see fixed, from a newbie's point of view:

* There is a "+" to open the N properties (and other panels) but no "-" to
close it.
* Panels can be opened by dragging them out, but can't be closed by
dragging them back.
* The toolbar on the left is a good idea but is rough, some buttons are
pointless and it needs to be neater. I would love to see the background
panel disappear, and the buttons therein presented as floating buttons on
top of the UI. Like how Silo does it. (http://goo.gl/7HChk See left.) This
would give more area to the 3D view, which is what's really important.
* I would like to see right clicking on things offer a "Delete" option.
* When right clicking for some things there is no "Rename" option.
* I would like to see a right click menu that provides copy and paste when
right clicking text areas.
* Why does pressing Ctrl-S prompt the user to save? Why would anybody ever
not want to save when they just pressed Ctrl-S? What other program does
this, ever?
* Someone already mentioned that the button rows need to wrap and make a
new row if they run out of space. I'll bet a lot of people don't know that
you can scroll those things. But, you shouldn't ever have to.
* When dialogs like the file dialog are open I always find myself clicking
the Windows X button to close it, which closes Blender, often without
saving my work. Needs another smaller (X) up there for closing the dialog
without choosing a file.
* I think it is inane that saving user preferences saves the entire current
.blend to be loaded again with the File->New command. If I want to rebind a
key in the middle of my work, it saves my entire project, and then I
continue my work and next time I load Blender I am presented with an old
version of my project. It should save only user preferences, like it claims
it does.
* In general I think the default Blender screen is too cluttered and should
contain fewer panels. I think we can do away with the outliner and
properties on the right, and also with the timeline on the bottom. If the
user wants more panels, the user can create more panels. Advanced users
already have their layout customized how they like it, presenting new users
with 8 panels causes information overload, and turns people off Blender.
So, a new user loading Blender for the first time might see something more
like this: http://i41.tinypic.com/8yuet5.png

I plan on working on many of these things, once I'm done with my work on
the basic controls (see the Transform tool tweaks thread.)

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