[Bf-funboard] ShadowBuf name

[Matt Ebb]

I agree that this is a big problem. None of the current names give  
users any sort of indication of what they look like or what they  
should be used for. As Campbell mentions, the names are not only  
unhelpful, but they're misleading too! -
* Halfway, giving the meaning of something that only does a half as  
good job, as if it's some kind of speed-optimisation hack and also
* Irregular, meaning uneven or rough (which is the exact opposite of  
what those shadow types are used for - sharp shadows!)

The details on the specific algorithms involved are meaningless to  
the vast majority of artists who just want a visual result, and  
belong in a reference manual, not the interface. In the UI here which  
is all about tweaking things to get a certain appearance, any names  
that can help a user understand what that visual result will be, is  
helpful here. Otherwise it's just a matter of selecting various  
combinations of variables and rendering, over and over again, which  
is a pretty ridiculous way of working.

My suggestions would be something simple and communicative like:
- Legacy
- Soft
- Sharp

With legacy being the old style approach that I presume is only there  
for backwards compatibility, Soft being normal shadow buffers and  
Sharp being the irregular ones. Perhaps something like 'Versatile' or  
'Flexible' would be better than Soft since those can also become  
sharp to an extent...?

In any case, names that actually help artists in understanding what  
these do, unlike the tech-centered names that are there currently  
would be a big improvement.

cheers,

Matt



On 01/12/2006, at 15:00 PM, Campbell Barton wrote:

> just Wondering,
>
> we have shodow buffers
>
> "Classic"
> "Chassc-Halfway"
> "Irregular"
>
> Classic-Halfway would be very baffeling to new users.
> Classic-Halfway (means Halfway good )
>
> What about
>
> "Classic (Original)"
> "Classic (Improved)"
> "Irregular (Best)"  or  "Irregular (Vector)"
>
>
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------------------------------------------
Matt Ebb . matt at mke3.net . http://mke3.net



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