[Bf-interface] Top-Bar Design Details?

[Mike Pan]

Blender isn't trying to be different for the sake of non-conformity. We
have our own philosophy of doing UI (non-overlapping windows being a big
one - that's why we don't like overlapping 'F6' menus), but that philosophy
evolves as time goes on, and now we feel the need to add a global toolbar
to Blender.

Main issue that the top bar solves is to give the application a truly
global place to show UI widgets. Currently all the important bits are
crammed into the 'Info' window, which is just awkward and doesn't
communicate the hierarchy of the data being displayed, especially after we
implement workspace tabs.  There are additionally issues such as where the
operator's settings are shown on a different area than the one you invoked
it in, these can all be easily solved with a global bar.

In my personal opinion, UI is about conforming to the learned behaviour of
a user. We cannot afford to design a UI and expect to rewire the user's
thinking. Having a global toolbar with tabs is a very powerful tool because
the user already knows what they do - they've seen it in every app they
encountered (web browser, office app, 3d apps), and this allows them to
understand Blender so much faster.

For Blender 101, this bar will also be a very important space for us.

-M

On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 at 16:29 Two Tone <chris.s.waters at gmail.com> wrote:

> I gave the proposal, write-up, etc a quick once over, but I never once saw
> an explanation as to *why*. What problem does this solve that is not
> solvable with the current setup? What benefits are there to it compared to
> what we have now? What about the cons?  If these can't be answered, people
> are just going to look at this as a change for changes sake.
>
> On Oct 27, 2017 5:18 AM, "Paweł Łyczkowski" <pawellyczkowski at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> The design and development is all public and open to the community. In
> hierarchical order:
> Initial proposal:
> https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Ref/Proposals/UI/Top_Bar_Reshuffle
> Writeup after the 2.8 design sprint (Screens, Editors and Areas section):
> https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:2.8/UI/Workshop_Writeup
> Design task: https://developer.blender.org/T50845
> Initial Patch: https://developer.blender.org/D2758
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 4:40 AM Pierre Schiller <
> activemotionpictures at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> +1 if this gets answered. Looks like dev team is concentrated on BCon
>> these days. I just had your exact thoughts for a week, after carefully
>> searching on this thread to find out more about the tabbed spaces.
>> Conclusion: Blender 101 seems to have a little bit of light on this.
>>
>> I´ve been asking for draggable/floating windows that stay put until I
>> close them; to finally get rid of all the extra redundant panels all over
>> the interface. But this is exactly what they want: something that DOES NOT
>> look like anything out there, even thought everything out there is pretty
>> much "standarize" at this age. Innovative designs comes at a price of
>> re-learning the software which is another thing Blen devs don´t want. So
>> basically we´re tied up to some extents.
>> I think the best-ever solution is like Softimage had years ago. Drop down
>> menu, populated an entire tab. That way it would always show a MODULE, and
>> it was populated by options ONLY from that module. +1 if this gets answered
>> so I can post an idea inhere.
>> Thanks.
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 12:56 PM, Jon Landers <pvtdsimmons at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, there!
>>>
>>> I was wondering if it would be possible to get a more detailed
>>> description and explanation of the tob-bar concept, *before* it is sent
>>> off to the "workshop" to be put into development?
>>>
>>> Currently, the only public info I could find regarding the top-bar is a
>>> couple old mockup images (well, one was) and a small paragraph basically
>>> saying it will kinda-sorta have rows and will contain a bunch of previously
>>> scattered tools/functions and will universally exist accross all Blender
>>> windows.
>>>
>>> While this gets the general gist accross, it doesn't seem to be enough
>>> to let people like myself know whether or not that this is a design that
>>> we'd feel comfortable with. For example, I know there are many who rejected
>>> Andrew Price's "tabs" concept, because it would have effectively turned
>>> Blender into a Maya clone and felt like a creative step backwards (even
>>> though it was a step forward for "usability").
>>>
>>> In my gut, I have the feeling that what is being presented about the
>>> tob-bar concept feels like a "functional" step forward, but a *creative*
>>> step backwards; it makes it (Blender) feel like a standardized piece of
>>> industry software (i.e. conforming), rather than a unique and creative
>>> paradigm (innovating). But, honestly, I have no idea if this is the case or
>>> not for the real design, because so little information about it has been
>>> presented to the public.
>>>
>>> So, I'm hoping some of you can help to clarify exactly what your
>>> thoughts are (maybe after this next meeting), so that more users in the
>>> community can see if their fears (or their hopes) are being confirmed or
>>> not, and to be able to pitch in and really help you guys (the UI design
>>> team) to land on the best option for both Blender and it's current (and
>>> future) community.
>>>
>>> Sorry for the long email! But, I felt I needed to say this now, as it
>>> seems, from the latest updates, that time is running short on getting
>>> community/user input on the designs before they're committed and developed
>>> and implemented.
>>>
>>> Thank you all for your hard work and for putting up with "passionate"
>>> users, like me. ;)
>>>
>>> -Jon Landers
>>>
>>> P.S. Since everyone's doing it, nowadays, I'll join in: Blender user
>>> since 2008. ;P
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Bf-interface mailing list
>>> Bf-interface at blender.org
>>> https://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-interface
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Portfolio 2013 <http://be.net/3dcinetv>
>> Cinema & TV production
>> Video Reel <https://vimeo.com/3dcinetv/reel2012>
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