[Bf-funboard] Layer Manager proposal/mock-up / 20plus

[Karim Nassar]

Yes! great Ideas.

I really just thought of my mock-up as a jump-off point to spark more 
discussion & further development. What I proposed has some shortcomings 
& limitations :)

I think it would be good to be able to select Layer Contents, and also 
to have an indication of what layers contain something at all.

Another idea is to have the current layer indicated, both in the full 
Layer manager and in the mini-buttons on the 3-d window (perhaps by a 
colored square?). By "current" layer, I mean the layer in which new 
objects would be added. When you have several layers displaying at once, 
you can't tell which one is "current."

I think that being able to lock individual layers is really a must have 
for complex modeling.

WRT the "Ghost Layer" concept: I see it as a sort of "reference" layer, 
so you could see some parts of the model while you are working on 
details, without being distracted by or having your view obscured by 
them. For example: I'm working on a ship... I need to put the pilot in 
the cockpit, so I ghost the ship & cockpit while I manipulate the pilot. 
I can see WHERE the cockpit details are, but they don't get in my way 
while I work, and even if the cockpit has LOTS of verts, it doesn't 
really obscure the pilot mesh, because the pilot is Shaded, while the 
cockpit is Wireframe.

Another way to handle this might be Per-layer display settings, so that 
I can set one layer to Wireframe while another layer is set to Shaded. A 
small icon on the layer mini-button would tell me that global display 
settings have been overridden for that layer.

I honestly hadn't thought of redoing the whole layer system, but if that 
is on the table, might I suggest a layer concept more akin to Freehand 
or Photoshop? I mean by that that instead of X layers, a file begins 
with 1 layer, and more are added dynamically by the user as needed. 
Layers could then be considered Objects by themselves which "Contain" 
other objects by some inheritance model. Perhaps even using the existing 
OOPS schematic engine as a Layer Manager?? Of course, then Layers might 
contain other Layers which contain... :)

Well, food for thought :)

--Karim