Interface Suggestion - "Keyframes" Menu

Not just an “Insert Keyframes” menu, but a “Keyframes” menu from which you can:

  • Insert
  • Delete
  • Clear

(or more)

Keyframes

One stop rather than having a clear process for insertion and confusing for deletion or clearing?

I can see your point, but…

You can delete using ‘x’ or the delete key.

Clearing is done the way it is because the RMB context menu can be called up for specific key channels by RMB-clicking on that channel or for a group of channels (R, T, or S) by RMB-clicking over that group.

Having it as a floating menu in the 3D View could easily make things more confusing. Not to mention it would need a mechanism built in to associate it with the channel(s) you want to delete/clear. Sure you could have menu entries for each, but that makes the existing menu (Insert) much longer and it would need submenus for Insert, Delete, and Clear which would make it cumbersome and really isn’t an improvement.

However, I do take your point. I simply can’t think of a way of implementing it that would actually make things easier and less confusing. Perhaps someone else can.

Yeah, after I wrote it and gave it a little bit of thought, the points you make came to mind. I gree though, maybe there is a way to consolidate it all and make it more intuitive, less confusing, more straightforward.

One of the advantages of Blender, like other software, is that a lot can be done using keyboard shortcuts.

That being said, there are the pros of shortcuts streamlining and expediting process. There are also the cons of having to remember them all and their purpose, the right shortcut applied at the right time, in the right way, can be a real timesaver. I saw that elsewhere in the difference between Alt-M / Center, vs Ctrl-E / Rotate Edge and x / Edge Collapse.

Likewise, a well thought out menu could also streamline and expedite process.

Done well, they complement each other. Done poorly, it’s just a confusing annoying mess.

I would think there’s a way to take all the possibilities of keyframing and package them in a way that, regardless of one’s approach to animating / modeling or one’s level of experience, it’s done in a way that facilitates the process.

There’s a lot of credit to be given to the developers of Blender for what they have accomplished.

But, this is just one of several areas, that I see, there is room for improvement.

The plus of being a jack of all trades software is that it is a one stop shop for a variety of tasks.

The downside, is like the old radio, cassette boom box systems trying to do a lot is one thing.

Trying to do it all well, effectively, and a balance of true value to all the disparate parts is both a challenge,
and often a shortcoming.

Like you, if I had a good answer, I’d offer it.

I’d be a developer.

I hope it’s constructive, as it’s intended.