There have been numerous proposals for radical changes to the Blender UI. This is not one of those. I am proposing a few very small changes that I think would make things cleaner and more logical.
The first change is to the look of the menu that changes editor type, found at the left edge of every window header. My biggest problem with it is that it has an equal visual weight and look as the other items in the header. But it is not anything like the items in the header. It belongs to the window, not the window contents. Change it and the entire window is replaced with other content, while clicking on the other buttons affects only the contents of the window. They are displayed as siblings, which is illogical.
Therefore it needs to be rendered in a way that makes it distinct and a part of the window area. In the image below you will see that I have removed the up/down arrows to remove some of the weight and size. It is then moved to the very edge and the shading for the left side of the header contents sets it apart. It no longer competes with the header contents and looks more like an informational icon showing you what the area is for.
In the image you will see I have also removed the little +/- icon next to the text menus. These allow you to hide those menus, but also add to the clutter. This functionality can be added to the right-click menu that allows us to move the header between top and bottom positions.
Another change is to the window splitting icons. These are currently diagonal slashes shown at the top-left and bottom-right of every region. But it overlays other content is sometimes confusing ways, and they look almost identically to the “grab areas” in the button panels that allow us to re-order panels. Instead I propose adding an icon for this purpose to the right edge of every header. Just like the menu above, it would be visually apart from the menu contents. In the example above I have used an existing icon but something else might be more appropriate.
The last change is to the diagonal slashes that indicate that we can move panels around. These allow us to move the “dimensions” panel above “layers” if we like on the "render’ tab. I propose that we no longer show these at all as they only contribute to the visual clutter. When you mouse moves over that area the pointer should just change to one that indicates that dragging in possible, typically a “hand” or “move” icon. There is no need for a visual indicator to always be there.
The following (large) image shows the default layout with these changes in place:
I find it reads a bit quicker, is a bit more logical, and has a lot less clutter.
Both of the images above are resized to fit by the forum software here. With most browsers you can just right-click and select “view image” to see it full size.
Editor changer icon: Agree. Saving horizontal space is a must in blenders GUI, even if it’s a few pixels.
Also Makes the editor changing button stand out, showing that it’s special.
Diagnal slashes to an icon - Not agree. Occupies precious space on the header. Stuff already doesn’t fit on my 1204x1024 screen.
The editor splitting lines never bothered me. Their location is just perfect. Out of the way of everything and intuitive. Apart from the bottom left one that sits on the header… Maybe it could be moved above the header? Dunno how that would turn out, but it’s worth a try. Would save some header space.
Panel moving indicator: Agree.
Some other tiny UI proposals:
1.) Get rid of emboss on lines and text on the panels, it’s ugly and un’theme’able, which makes it ruin themes.
2.) No scrollbars. Anywhere. At all. Period.
3.) Port the panel appearance from the good ol Cycles branch. Maybe also the panel headers could be connected a little better with their content so the panel seperation is more clear… Maybe a more node-like look like in blender 2.49?
Only problem I see with changing the editor-switcher button, is that it is not obvious that it can be clicked and therefor changed. I also don’t fully understand your idea with the split window thing? Removing the +/- button I have no problem with - never use it.
Overall I have no big problem with how the interface looks/works now (just used to it I guess), but one thing I personally would like, is a more clear separation of editor areas, like 1 pixel fatter border or something. Many times I pull the header instead of the separator line.
How’s about instead of thickening the lines and losing space, remove the lines within editors. That is, the seperation between the header and the editor would be color alone, no line. Dunno if that’s a better idea…
Nope. Try to split the 3dview (without the toolbar) horizontally and imagine the line is gone… It somewhat depends on the theme, but I primarily have a problem with the separation between the outliner and properties editor. Now that I look, it is not that bad other places, but it’s just a thing I notice during a blender session (not immediately finding the separators or pulling the headers). No borders would definitely not help. Also I see no reason to freak out about “loosing space”, seriously we’re talking about a few pixels here.
Thanks for the feedback! It’s always fun to think about this stuff.
Diagonal slashes to an icon - Not agree. Occupies precious space on the header. Stuff already doesn’t fit on my 1204x1024 screen.
Right now they do take up space from the header when the header is on top, but it just overlays funny and obscures what is beneith. I find it especially weird when it shows at the top-right of the 3D editor window when the properties panel is open. Splitter widget above the scroller beside the similar “drag” thing. They always just seem to be an afterthought, drawn over everthing else. That’s why I thought it might be nice to just stick in the header.
…Apart from the bottom left one that sits on the header
I’m not certain why we have those on two corners of every window (top-right and bottom-left) versus every corner or just one. Personally I would prefer to have just one rather than take up two interfaces items in every region that are identical.
Only problem I see with changing the editor-switcher button, is that it is not obvious that it can be clicked and therefor changed
But that is something you only ever have to learn ONCE, so having that visual reminder there all the time is a bit silly. The popup hint seems like enough to me.
They’re in two corners out of necessity. Let’s assume that there’s only one and it’s in the header on the right as you’ve mocked-up. Let’s further assume that the header is at the bottom of the editor. This means you can quickly split left and up, and join right and down… but there’s no equally quick way to split right and down or join left and up. Granted, some of us still just right click the window borders, but for people who use the current corner widgets, your suggestion would be a regression.
Fweeb, I’m sure you are probably onto something, but I can’t see it.
I can put the header on the top or the bottom and while doing so I can do everything with just the top widget: splitting vertically or horizontally and joining. I can’t see time when you have to use the other widget. I’m just clicking and dragging from the widget so is there some other usage I’m missing?
I see your point with the split widget looking like a drag widget (but that’s what you do to split, right? drag it). A different look might help. I don’t have a problem with the placement, even if it does overlay funny, because they are located at the absolute corners of the editor. I don’t get how it would work with an icon in the header, and might confuse more as the header is already pretty crowded for all editors.
I’m not certain why we have those on two corners of every window (top-right and bottom-left) versus every corner or just one. Personally I would prefer to have just one rather than take up two interfaces items in every region that are identical.
Just one? How would you drag from left to right, or up to down, etc.? I also don’t see how they “take up” anything, as they are pretty minimal. One could argue the splitters could be removed completely now that we got the old right-click to split/join (which I love!), but after 2.5x I mostly use the splitters. Sometimes I wish they were at every corner depending where my cursor is.
But that is something you only ever have to learn ONCE, so having that visual reminder there all the time is a bit silly. The popup hint seems like enough to me.
Well you are right about that, and for me it isn’t a problem. One thing to be aware of though is discoverability for new users, and looking at your mockup even I wouldn’t think to move the cursor over those areas (could of course be fixed by making it look more like buttons with some pixel highlights).
Here’s a working example. Open Blender in the default view and move the 3D View’s header to the top of it’s area (This effectively simulates your mock-up without the pretty icon). Now, try to join the 3D View with the Timeline using only that widget in the upper right corner.
Just one? How would you drag from left to right, or up to down, etc.?
I think I must be missing something. I think I’ve only ever used the top-right slitter widget and I’m pretty sure I can do everything possible. What exactly can the bottom-left one do that the top-right cannot?
In this case I’m just used to using the top-right splitter on the bottom region. You can drag either way to move the 3D view into the timeline or vice versa.
Well ok, but it’s one of those things how your brain works I guess. Like you, I could drag always from top right, but sometimes I think about dragging from left to right, and it most definitely depends on where my cursor is. That goes for both splitting and joining, for me personally.
For sure. I was just in a habit of always using the top-right widget for everything and so didn’t even think that the other one could be different. Hell, I stopped even thinking about the bottom-right one at all. But I see now that it is a bit different and that I have just been using a workaround by sometimes doing the operation from the other window. You learn something every day.
Certainly screws up the idea of having just one widget in the header. Oh well…
Seeing as how this is purely discussion. I will say I saw no real difference in the mockups, from a usability perspective that is…to me it was too minimal to do any good for anyone…just my opinion…
I also have to agree with Fweeb as far as regresing the way windows are split, the way it is should stay the way it is or you can customize yourself into a corner so to speak…
For sure. It was a fun exercise, but a failure nonetheless.
I was trying desperately to get rid this mess, especially the
splitters that overlap other UI…
But the need for that lower-left splitting widget means it can’t be done as I had hoped.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some…
that’s no argument to make it as obscure as possible…
in your mockup it screams " I am information only and cant be interacted with" when it’s actually much more important than that… you already identified that it’s not like the other items i the header, I’d go so far as to say in fact it is the most important window function.
