[Bf-funboard] Groups manager proposal

[Doug Ollivier]

Great some good feedback....


Alex Fraser wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Thanks for writing this proposal. I've been wanting vertex groups for a
> while, too.
>
> I like the idea of set arithmetic. So, in the example in your proposal,
> the column on the right shows the operands of the current set from top
> to bottom? Looks good.
>
> I think it'd be difficult to work complicated operations like %
> randomness and 10 degrees into the UI. Maybe it'd be better to add those
> to the proportional edit controls somehow? Still, it might be more
> powerful to have it in the groups UI. What do you mean by "equation
> editor"?
>   

Equation editor, is this column to the right that you are talking about.
Things such as randomness and degrees. i think can be implimented as 
"popups" after you insert the function, this could then be edited 
through right clicking on the functions.

> One thing that worries me is that it looks a lot like the layer
> selector, which I find hard to use. Having a 2D array of buttons slows
> me down, because I have to think more about which slot to assign objects
> to. Also, when re-opening a scene after several months, it's difficult
> to remember what each layer contains. I wonder if it'd be better to have
> a 1-dimensional [scrollable] list? That way we could name the groups,
> too. I see that the 2D design allows for access to more groups, but how
> often do you need more than 5 or so?
>   
Well i had planned to allow naming of layers as a "tool tip" on 
rollover.  but this leads me to believe the "display" of these groups 
could be flexible also.

why not allow the user to have either 1dimensional (big space waster 
when more groups are being used, might work up to about 5 before 
scrolling is needed) or 2 dimensional.. which would then get rid of the 
naming for display and move it to tooltips.  This way the user is in 
control of the display without changing any of the functionality.

Personally i think i would go for a 2 dimensional grid, but i can 
understand how others would want to do differently.

> Having the 3D view update the selection on mouse-over is a nice idea. It
> reduces the need for named groups a bit. However, it might be dangerous
> for really complicated meshes. My computer takes around half a second to
> modify the selection in a mesh with 100,000 vertices. If the selection
> were to change on mouse-over, it could be quite sluggish. This would be
> a shame, because groups would be particularly useful for meshes with
> many vertices.
>   
I can't comment on the speed, as i am not a coder. but i am sure a fast 
way could be found???

Cheers for the Comments, its stuff like this that makes me think hard.

Doug

> Thanks again,
> Alex
>
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