[Bf-funboard] QKEY Functionality

desoto bf-funboard@blender.org
Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:27:13 -0400


I've been reading some of the discussions about adding new features and it's come to my attention that the developers are running out of keys to map features to.  Recently a user in #blenderchat complained that they'd accidentally lost all of their work by hitting Q instead of W, and confirming the prompt before reading the screen, and then it hit me.  

1)  Should Q be saved for another function instead of Quit Blender?  One idea I came up with was a "Quickmenu" of sorts.  There are many possibilities for what this could be.  Here are a few ideas:

  a) A list of the last several actions performed by the user which could then be accessed to repeat an action several times over instead of using the corresponding hotkey each time the repetition is desired.

  b) A user-definable list of functions that allows a person to customize the Blender interface based on tasks they perform most frequently.

  c) A list of recorded macros, or a set of actions that are performed frequently and can be accessed with few keystrokes/clicks.  An example of this would be TAB -> A -> Recalc Normals -> TAB, or possibly ALT + G -> ALT + R -> ALT + A.  Any frequently used combination would do.

There are many other possible uses for the Q key other than just Quitting Blender.  Features that are planned for future releases should just override my suggestions.  My point was only that there are other far more useful possibilities.

2) Should "Quit Blender" be mapped to "ALT Q" instead of simply "Q" to avoid accidental quits?  

I believe this small change would allow more room for blender to grow, and at the same time, it would avoid a common mistake made by new users.  I recall reading a warning that said, "DO NOT HIT Q" at an early point in my Blender experience, and its my feeling that it would be nice if that statement could be erased from tutorials about future blender versions.  Thanks!