Blenders interface is by far more productive than any other interface I have ever used.
Modifications to the interface of any application for the benefit of a newbie should be avoided if productivity is to be sacrificed in the long run (i.e. unnecessary outlandish graphical layouts with high resolution 3D shapes for buttons that absorb system resources like a sponge…. you all know what programs I am talking about ).
Now, before I begin I would like to emphasize how much this simple little attribute would not only enhance Blender’s interface cosmetically, but more importantly how it would influence the learning curve of Blender’s “buttons window”.
Theory of Operation:
How does it work?
The first and most important adjustment would be to the icons currently associated with the buttons window. They would be arranged as tabs rather than a row of buttons. The applicable selected tab would be displayed as being on top or in front of the un-selected tabs and the icons of the un-selected tabs would be subdued (in grayscale). As you mouse over each tab, in addition to the buttons title popping up as it does now, its icon would highlight by changing from grayscale to color for as long as the cursor remained over it (as shown below through the use of the lamp button’s icon). Which brings me to my second adjustment…all icons that are currently in color would be grayscale until moused over as discussed above. This would ultimately streamline the interface making it look much less cluttered.
Click image below for larger version (to scale).
Explanation and Conclusion:
Why is this necessary?
As seen in the screen shot above this obviously looks a lot better, however, the fact is that this reason alone isn’t good enough for volunteer programmers to spend their spare time implementing such a feature. My whole reasoning behind this was to hopefully aid others in what I had difficulty with when first starting out. All of the various options and buttons throughout Blender’s interface currently look very similar to one another. There is no observable indication as to what are the “main controls” or settings pertinent to the workspace. One thing I have always admired about a good solid application is its ability to speak for itself. When one loads up Adobe Photoshop for the first time, he or she may not necessarily be able to “hit the ground running”, but they sure as hell can identify the tool box without having to read the manual and that is what I hope to address. The buttons of the buttons window (lamp, material, etc.) are different areas containing information critical to that of a 3D artist and it is imperative that this information be handled a bit differently, in terms of visual organization, than the rest of the buttons throughout the interface. While it is obvious how important continuity is in any application (especially one used primarily by artists ), although, I do not feel that aspect of the interface would be hindered by a modification such as this what so ever, in fact, as simple as this feature may seem I am positive that this would result in increased productivity for novices as well as please the eyes of the experienced user.
Have you posted this to the blender.org forum? You should, its a good idea:)
As far as i can see from your example it’s only a subtle change, and should be easy to implement
(Since Blender uses its own gui enginge, ghost i think it’s called).
I also think it’s a very nice modification, tho I’m hesitant to say that it would be easy to implement…
something that belongs in this category is a feature that’s already in Tuhopuu. I fyou select a mesh, the lamp button-button is not visible. this saves a lot of space too and is a clear example of small modifications that can make things easier.
hm, of course im not shure, but the program gui is actually segmented out in the source, and since the above example is only a matter of how blender shows each tab, it should be like higlighting it permanently.
Either way i leave it to the coders, im only trying to learn to code so this would be over my head
landis: Firstly, it would be a good idea to post this in the blender.org forums too - there’s a nice ‘Interface’ forum just begging for new suggestions and ideas
Secondly, I’ve been thinking over concepts by myself for a while now about buttons windows etc. Over the next weeks I’m going to try and do some concept mockups, then implement those modifications to my own blender version, perhaps as a proposal for changes to the main blender, perhaps just as an experiment in it’s own right. From what I can see, I share similar philosophies to you - when I get these mockups etc. done, I’d love to share some feedback/ideas on them from you and other artists rather than just those stodgy old left-brained programmers over at blender.org (joke! please don’t kill me, guys! ).
daftkid: Don’t give up so easily! I’m not very experienced with C either, but I’m finding it surprisingly easy to dive in to the Blender source. You never know until you try!
This would be a simple (not necessarily coding-wise), and actually good way of improving Blender’s already excellent UI :Z
In days like this, I hate the fact that I can’t code (and no way I’m learning it now, I’ve tried, and it goes way over my head. I’m an artist, damn it! :D)
why is it that everyone think of having menus or windows HORISONTALLY placed, I have felt MANY times it takes up alot of space, and many have moaned when mentioning pop-up (or dialouge windows) for saving space, but my suggestion takes it to another idea/level:
I would like to see Blender having the menus at either Left or Right side, as bars you can pull out, with very little space but still work-able, so here’s a suggestion for coders: try to think of a GUI idea to have menus at sidebars, you could use current buttons and layout, but rather in a VERTICAL fashion than HORISONTAL, and yes, maybe use tabs there too? why not? would save loads of space, or why not able to have bars both at the Left and the Right?
landis, agreed it looks alot more professional and better, but other than for looks i kind of see it as very pointless… the buttons already highlight when pressed down, i personally never had any trouble with the menu clutter except for the very first day i used blender(as with any other application as well)
ztonzy, i second your idea =) id love see see a vertical menu option with popup windows rather then a full horizontal display of menu options… this would be similar to lightwave… ive only dabbled in lw thusfar but im growing more attached to the vertical interface then the horizontal of blenders
but again, all focus should be on bug fixes and more usable features before the gui is played with %|
Vertical menus would be helpful because usually screens are more wide than high. That way, a horizontal interface takes from the precious height, but the width cannot be used as good. With a vertical interface, you have probably still a square-shaped area left for all the other stuff.
Furthermore, the file-select window should span the entire Blender-window, not just the area it was triggered in. When working with multiple views that would make the fileselect easier to use.
I like the tabs but the greying out of unused buttons wouldn’t really be all that necessary. I see how it would be a good feature to reduce “visual clutter” when your not looking at the buttons though.
Horizontal vs. Vertical, that is always an interesting argument. I can see though how implementing a vertical toolbar would start to look more and more like a great idea, espcially if you are using a widescreen display. I belive that the widescreen displays will eventually take over so maby it would be good to plan for the future
Please, avoid popup windows at all costs. I love the way Blender’s interface keeps everything in easy to get at button boxes instead of flying popup window after popup window in your face that just get in the way and can’t be docked. In Lightwave espeically, the toolbars and the contained buttons for the most part just spawn popup windows. It makes it a pain in the butt when you are trying to adjust your materials and you have to keep moving the popup window out of the way.
Awesome…now we are getting somewhere! How about the option to change the current “docked” version of the buttons window (or any other window for that matter) to a floating version containing tabs as I stated before (similar to that of Adobes floating palletes where you can drag and drop various tabs from one window to another gathering which ones you use the most). This way people like Ztonzy can have it vertical in a sense and people like me can drag that window to another monitor! That would yield excellent results in productivity. I currently cannot utilize multiple monitors when working solely in Blender, only when I am working on texturing or referencing an image for display on another when modeling am I able to do so…and it really is VERY uselful and VERY productive. The most important thing is that we keep the current setup as default and that the “undocked” version be an option similar to that of the “fullscreen” option that was introduced with 2.27 (which I love by the way).
Cool. I like that interface. One other thing, at the moment it takes a while before the hints appear. Could this be sped up?
I’ve been playing with the Tuhopuu code myself, but I have very very little experience in C. I’ve been able to change little things; the splash, some text. Is there any way to learn? Normal C tuts don’t really go into so much detail about complex progrems like Blender. Are there any people out there who help rookies like me? I’ld love to help program!
I too agree, however, if I were to wait until they were taking ideas for the interface (if they are not already) then I would definatley forget by then. During the day when I get ideas for the Airman I write them down in a little green notebook…I dont wait until I get home because I will forget. For developement Elysiun and Blender.org should act as that little notebook for the entire community and currently it does.
Now, as for the interface, here are my ideas for a “vertical friendly” buttons window version of Blender for ztonzy :
Click image below for larger version (to scale).
If you look at the bottom of the Lamp window you will see a little button labeled “vertical friendly”. I thought that this should be an option that is toggled on and off to prevent the reorganization of the buttons when people like myself wish to keep it horizontal. This way the current zooming feature (shift + middle mouse button) would still be an option an ofcourse the default setting. This button could also be located under the user preferences window instead of or in addition to.
I am working on an “Un-Docked pallets window” version for users like me who use multiple monitors as you read this. Also, I created another thread regarding this topic at Blender.org. You can find it at the following location:
).
? well…nice you’r back 
%|
: