[Bf-interface] Multi monitors

Wed Nov 8 01:05:59 CET 2017

I´ve been asking for floating windows. Straight answer, the dev team
follows what Tom R said: Floating windows are not part of Blender´s
mentality.
My "temporal solution", CTRL+ALT+U and shift to anything you want (I
usually require Shift + F9 - outliner). That way I work with "multi"
things..
Sad this has not been considered (multispaces with focus and floating
windows).

On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 11:34 AM, Sidney Moraes Jr <moraesjunior at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello UI team.
> I'm following (as everybody else) the development of 2.8 and this is
> exciting! So much things to come and an even better Blender experience.
> I don't remember to see something about multi window and proposal for
> that, so, if you may I, I would like to address it, the problems in the
> current version and suggestions based on a daily work with it.
>
> Situation:
> Nowadays are common to see artists using 2+ monitors to work and we know
> it is needed  in a range of workflows full of tools, buttons, setups,
> views, etc. that we use in Blender or other creation software. Animation is
> a huge example of it: we need the 3d view, property bars, camera view, dope
> sheet, graph editor, timeline, rig UI, etc.
>
> Solutions used for multi monitor:
> Older versions of Blender didn't have multi window option, but it was
> possible to fullscreen or enlarge the window to the whole 2 displays
> resolution (We used to have here screen layout for 2 monitors as well).
> Different resolution height between displays was a problem for that, making
> part of the Blender content be hidden;
> Current versions we can pop up a window and fullscreen it in the other
> monitor. It would be perfect if wasn't the usability problem with the
> current solution.
>
> Problems with current multi window:
> - Most OS use 'click to focus' a window by default and not 'mouse over to
> focus'. Blender let the system be responsible to manage the new window and
> it gives strange behaviours clicking in an unfocused window:
>
>    - Clicking using modifiers (Ctrl, Shift, Alt) doesn't work: It is not
>    possible to pan or zoom using Shift+MMB or Ctrl+MMB. Oddly the scroll works
>    ok;
>    - Editing a text field and focusing the other window won't deselect
>    the text field. And it doesn' t happen in a single window environment. Not
>    deselecting the field text is a good behaviour when Alt+Tabbing between
>    applications, but strange between multi windows of the same Blender file.
>    It makes possible to select the same text field in 2 different windows,
>    change the value in one and confirm, go back to the other text field and
>    confirm the old value, 'undoing' the change;
>    - Shortcuts doesn't work with mouse hovering an unfocused window. It
>    includes Esc to cancel the selected text field in another window as well.
>    Having to click in the window before doing a shortcut is really counter
>    intuitive and an unnecessary step;
>
> - Counter intuitive to create a new window (Hold Shift+LMB at the corner
> and pull): IIRC it was addressed already at some point, but I will leave it
> here as it is part of this problem;
> - The new opened window is independent from the main window: in other
> words and technically, there is no main window:
>
>    - If you close your 'main window' the second window will still opened.
>    And if you save your file in this window and close, you will lose the main
>    window layout next time you open this blend file. It is possible to recover
>    disabling 'Load UI' in the open file screen, but it is not the ideal;
>    - Minimizing and restoring window follows the same rule. If you are
>    working in other programs as well and need to go back to Blender you need
>    to click on each window to bring them to front. And it doesn't happen in
>    other softwares like Krita, Inkscape, Gimp, Photoshop, Maya, etc.
>
> Proposal
> This proposal is quite simple to explain, doesn't mean it is simple
> technically. And probably part of this proposal is already addressed by the
> 2.8 UI proposal. But I hope there is some information about multi screen
> that could be relevant to it:
>
>    - Each instance of Blender have only one window (main window) and the
>    other pop up windows to be a sub window like any other creation software:
>    Krita, Gimp, Inkscape, Maya, Adobe Softwares, etc. With this we take the
>    window manage from the OS and give to Blender, solving the unfocus
>    problems, shortcuts, close and save, minimize/restore, etc.;
>    - Sub-windows are always on top of the main window, so we never lose
>    the track of them;
>    - Minimizing/restoring the main window all the sub-windows follows;
>    - Minimizing a sub-window acts like retracting a panel, moving it to
>    the bottom left corner of the current monitor. This is not a new design and
>    it is well known in other softwares as well.
>
> Final thoughts
> It is well known the non overlapping paradigm. It makes Blender well
> structured. But what I see is Blender growing  up in features every year,
> every month and those new features and workflows have to adapt to the way
> Blender are structured, but it should be the way around: Blender adapting
> itself to the new features and workflows. I can't help stop thinking about
> 'The cathedral and the bazaar' in its simple concept but now applied in the
> UI field: Blender has grown as a bazaar but Blender UI is a cathedral. And
> rules like non overlapping could be just a convention for the most cases,
> because we know there are features that not following this convention would
> be the best choice. 2.8 UI proposal are the best example of it, Blender
> 101, workflows, etc. So I ask you UI team to consider the possibility to
> Blender have in its core subwindows/popup windows integrated to be an
> option to be used in the new ways to work with Blender. This proposal is
> about fixing the multi display workflow, but the solution could help even
> other areas as rig interface, specific toolbar for addons, etc. More
> freedom in new workflows.
>
>
> P.S.: I was in doubt to write this e-mail because you guys probably
> already talked about most of (or even all) the subject here, but I decide
> to humbly post it intending to may be help in any way to the final
> proposal, even being a bad example. :)
>
>
> Best regard
>
> Sidney Moraes Jr - aka mangojambo
> Animator & 3D Artist
> +55 43 988133399 <(43)%2098813-3399> <http://www.oniria.com.br>
>
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>

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