[Bf-funboard] Proposal: Cursor Set

[Matt Ebb]

Very nice doc, Douglas! You're definitely right that this area could use
some thought - great idea to bring it up.

> * Object Selector - Appears when the mouse is inside a viewport or IPO
> window that is in Object mode
> * Vertex Selector - Appears when the mouse is inside a viewport or IPO
> window in Edit mode or in a UV editing window
> * Armature Selector - Appears when the mouse is inside a viewport in
> Pose mode
> * Face Selector - Appears when the program is inside a viewport in Face
> Select mode

I think these could definitely be improved. Personally, I'd aim for more
consistency and probably combine faceselect and editmode cursors.

> * Rotator - Appears when the program is handling a "Rotate" instruction
> * Scaler - Appears when the program is handling a "Scale" instruction
> * Grabber - Appears when the program is handling a "Grab" instruction
> * Boundary Selector - Appears when the program is in "boundary select"
> mode
> * Window Sizer (H) - Appears when mousing over a horizontal window
> border and when click/dragging a horizontal window border
> * Window Sizer (V) - Appears when mousing over a vertical window border
> and when click/dragging a vertical window border
> * Viewport Selector - Appears when the program is waiting for the user
> to click in a viewport (as in Spin operations)
> * Paintbrush - Appears when the mouse is inside a viewport in a paint
> mode: vertex paint, texture paint, weight paint

One thing I love about Photoshop is the ability to choose a cursor set in
user prefs (and toggle between them using Caps Lock). For others here who
may not have had experience with it, you can choose between:
* standard cursors :
http://www.mke3.net/blender/fubo/mousepointer/ps_standard.png
   Shows the icon of the currently selected tool as the cursor (many
different cursors)
* precise cursors : http://www.mke3.net/blender/fubo/mousepointer/ps
precise.png
   minimal, crosshair style cursor, to make it easier to see the individual
pixels that the mouse will operate on. (2 styles of cursors split between
painting tools and other tools)
* brush size : http://www.mke3.net/blender/fubo/mousepointer/ps
brushsize.png
   Shows a circle, the size of the brush's affected region - similar to
Blender's brush select cursor

I personally always use the precise cursors since it's much easier to see
what's going on. At least here on Windows XP, the current Blender editmode
cursor is really cumbersome - it covers a large area and doesn't let you see
what is exactly under the 'affected pixel'. Here's a little test I did with
the current Blender editmode cursor vs Photoshop's precise cursor
(shamelessly ripped off for this example):
http://www.mke3.net/blender/fubo/mousepointer/editcursor.png . It's much
more useful to have something where you can actually *see* what you're
working on. Maya also uses a more 'open' cursor, with the normal pointer
arrow with an open square at the point, over the affected pixel.

Perhaps would you think this (precise vs standard user prefs) would be a
good approach to take? Using the cursor-per-tool setting would be good
visual feedback for newbies, and experienced users would appreciate the
extra control of some cursors designed with accuracy in mind.

I'll also add a few more cursors to your list:

* Text select - (I-beam style cursor, as found usually in word processors)
Appears when the mouse is inside a text editor window space with an open
text object, or if the mouse is over a text field button.
* Open hand - Appears when panning around the buttons windows with middle
mouse button. Similar to the Photoshop spacebar-pan feature.

Matt