[Bf-funboard] Toolbar mockups

[Silvermindyarr]

I like seeing design activity. I wonder though if the toolbar should really
house everything.

One thought:
    If the Toolbar is for convenience: then not everything should go there.
Maybe it should be moving toward being a customizable panel. A panel is
nice because you can put it on the side, above, below, wherever. I think
you are right in thinking that everything should have a place though.
Everything deserves a great icon too if possible.

Perhaps a unified menu should be created. When searching for something like
a command, you can only do one thing at that time. A modal menu makes sense
to me. I feel like the search menu used with the spacebar is an opportunity
for doing that. See mockup for both ideas here:

http://www.pasteall.org/pic/56149

As you search in the search area, menus containing suggestions could be
highlighted, hinting where you can find them again.


Great looking work!

David :)


On Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 4:12 PM, Vincent Akkermans <vincent at ack-err.net>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Thanks for the feedback, very helpful.
>
> I've done some new designs (object mode and edit mode) and would like to
> know if they address the concerns about the other designs.
>
> The main considerations here are:
>
> * Show view3d mode switcher at the top of the toolbar to provide context
> * Show shortcuts if there's enough space (they appear when making the
> toolbar wider and disappear when making the toolbar smaller)
> * Narrower panels with less items and hopefully a better semantic
> segmentation
> * Easier to customise organisation of the toolbar with regards to the
> order and folding
> * Icons are used for often used operators at the top of groups and double
> as visual markers
> * Operator redo panel is removed and is delegated to F6 popup panel
> (button for it is provided in the history panel)
> * Popup menus are not mandatory and stay out of the way if not desired
>
> http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Ack-err/GSoC_2013/Toolbar_Designs_2
>
> I'd like to work on a more advanced history panel that also shows a
> history list later on. This could perhaps be its own editor so that it's
> application wide. This'll have to wait a bit though as I'd like to spend
> the next few days laying down some of the coding groundwork for these (or
> similar) changes. I'll also do a new design of the paint modes later on.
>
> Please let me know what you think!
>
> Also, if there are any operators that you use often and aren't in the
> toolbar (you use them through the search menu for example) please let me
> know if you'd like to see them appear in the toolbar.
>
> Vincent
> (ack-err on irc)
>
>
>
> On Friday, 19 July 2013 at 16:47, Ruth Ivimey-Cook wrote:
>
> > Hi Vincent
> > > * reduce scrolling as much as possible
> > > * add support for setting the default parameters for operators
> > > * add text to show equivalent shortcuts
> > >
> >
> > I like some of the changes. I echo some of the concerns re horizontal
> > space and I would like a "2 column mode" for the panel, selectable in
> > the Preferences, if when you reduced the toolbar width the two columns
> > both get narrower together, so you might end up with panel text going
> from:
> >
> > - Translate - Rotate
> > to:
> > - Tr - Ro
> >
> > and not:
> > - Translat
> >
> > I definitely want the shortcut keys added to all buttons...
> > (programmatically is best so it's never wrong) : it makes it so much
> > easier to learn the shortcuts.
> >
> > I typically use a 16:10 display, but with 16:9 displays common I often
> > think it makes more sense to use horizontal space than vertical; in fact
> > I now have my Windows "Start Bar" on the Right hand side rather than the
> > bottom for that reason.
> >
> > I would love a way to, say, right-click (or perhaps right-alt-click) on
> > a button to bring up a shortcut editor, which would be a simple keyboard
> > map (i.e. QWERTY etc) showing which shortcuts are used and free, so
> > having right-clicked you can then just click on a free button and hey
> > presto! Much easier than the current preferences method.
> >
> > I don't like "only one panel open at a time", at least I don't think so.
> >
> > I think I like the "initial dot" thing but would have to play with it to
> > know.
> >
> > History panel == good, but can you make the "History" a visible list -
> > even if short - of the most recent, so you can just click to go back.
> > How Photoshop works in that department is good IMO.
> >
> > IMO the buttons for Recalculate and Flip UV should be slightly
> > distinguished from Smooth and Shade. I know they're both UV things but...
> >
> > I was wondering if "slightly distinguished" might mean something like
> > this. If the existing panel grouping is:
> >
> > \______
> >
> > /------
> >
> > and within that the groups are:
> >
> > |_____
> > |--------
> >
> > is there room for:
> > \______
> > /------
> >
> > In general I would like to reduce the amount of popup and otherwise
> > hidden stuff, not increase it, so I am not at all in favour of
> > (mandatory) toolbar panel popup as in mockup 2. Popups make it harder to
> > use the program, not easier. Fold-up panels are my preference, as you
> > can open/close at will and the tools you want can therefore be available
> > when you want them.
> >
> > Well done for having a go at the paint options, but I'm not sure you've
> > got there yet. I think it's better than what we have now, but not
> > necessarily better enough.
> >
> > Regards
> > Ruth
> >
> >
> > P.S. " three full stops" == "ellipsis" and in this context "full stop"
> > == "period" (semantic difference; a full stop is what appears at the end
> > of a sentence).
> >
> > --
> > Software Manager& Engineer
> > Tel: 01223 414180
> > Blog: http://www.ivimey.org/blog
> > LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ruthivimeycook/
> >
> >
>
>
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