Interface discussion

[SonK]

I decided to move the main tabs into the Tools panel, its more organized and cleaner!. Active right now is are the Paint tools, if you click on Sculpt, the left side will switch to Sculpting tools.

- Switching to UV tools will automatically split the view into a 3D and 2D view with MMB. So both "3D" and "2D" will turn bright white.

- Translate tool(move,scale, rotate) are in its on area and can be used by in any mode. Posing tool can be added in there also

[buqa]

I decided to move the main tabs into the Tools panel, its more organized and cleaner!

No, no, thats how Modo UI works and in my opinion it is one of very few bad things of Modo UI. If you move tabs there, it seems they are connected only with Tool palette. But they are not, they are more "global" and I think they should be above all tabs or viewport.

(Btw when you are writing vertically, it's always better to write from the bottom to the top)

[SonK]

No, no, thats how Modo UI works and in my opinion it is one of very few bad things of Modo UI. If you move tabs there, it seems they are connected only with Tool palette. But they are not, they are more "global" and I think they should be above all tabs or viewport.

(Btw when you are writing vertically, it's always better to write from the bottom to the top)

One of the first thing i tried was to write the text from top to bottom..but it just doesn't look right(try it yourself). I think the reason it looks weird to me is because i'm taught in English(not the queen's english) we write from left to right(in this case its rotated), and not up and down like the japanese or chinese.

I think those tab being global or local "looking" won't matter much, when i first started learning Modo i naturally clicked on it and found out that are "global" which is great way to organize tools. Think of them as "sub-tabs" or tabs within a tab. It make sense to have those in the "Tools" tabs, since all of them are essentially tools.

[geo_n]

I decided to move the main tabs into the Tools panel, its more organized and cleaner!. Active right now is are the Paint tools, if you click on Sculpt, the left side will switch to Sculpting tools.

- Switching to UV tools will automatically split the view into a 3D and 2D view with MMB. So both "3D" and "2D" will turn bright white.

- Translate tool(move,scale, rotate) are in its on area and can be used by in any mode. Posing tool can be added in there also

Its cleaner. Those rows that are vertical, I don't like them in modo either. Text tabs are more intuitive horizontally oriented like rows. How about a dropdown like maya. Saves space, easy to navigate. Something like a shadertree is coming out on the right. Oh no! Hehe. Putting all the UV,shaders, etc, like that in modo is something people either hate or love.

There's just a wierd space in between that perspective and control icons. Overall I think a more standard way is to put those vertical tabs to the perspective area as before in line with the control to the right -3d,2d,zoom, etc. And then put the perspective function within the viewport like max and make it clickable. You can further expand the viewport horizontally when the vertical tabs are removed.

[Tony Nemo]

Its cleaner. Those rows that are vertical, I don't like them in modo either. Text tabs are more intuitive horizontally oriented like rows. How about a dropdown like maya. Saves space, easy to navigate. Something like a shadertree is coming out on the right. Oh no! Hehe. Putting all the UV,shaders, etc, like that in modo is something people either hate or love.

There's just a wierd space in between that perspective and control icons. Overall I think a more standard way is to put those vertical tabs to the perspective area as before in line with the control to the right -3d,2d,zoom, etc. And then put the perspective function within the viewport like max and make it clickable. You can further expand the viewport horizontally when the vertical tabs are removed.

Horizontal tabs work for me. My head tends to tilt to the right with the vertical setup. Take a look at the C4D layout to see what most 3DC users are accustomed to.

[SonK]

Its cleaner. Those rows that are vertical, I don't like them in modo either. Text tabs are more intuitive horizontally oriented like rows. How about a dropdown like maya. Saves space, easy to navigate. Something like a shadertree is coming out on the right. Oh no! Hehe. Putting all the UV,shaders, etc, like that in modo is something people either hate or love.

There's just a wierd space in between that perspective and control icons. Overall I think a more standard way is to put those vertical tabs to the perspective area as before in line with the control to the right -3d,2d,zoom, etc. And then put the perspective function within the viewport like max and make it clickable. You can further expand the viewport horizontally when the vertical tabs are removed.

Thats not a shader tree, its just a scene graph which is standard in every 3D application, it has little to do with shading more to do with how to view the scene, you can quick select Render and the property page will bring up a render setting, same with lights, UVs,shader can be local or global, just drag them on top of the tree.

I may have to move one tab back up, its the Voxel one..it has alot of tools. The thing is if i move one back i have to move them all back...theres no grey area. If i did half and half(mmm chinese food) it would confuses people.

organizing the tool arrangement would have to be done with either a drop-down menu or the "sub tabs". drop down menu is too slow and you can see whats in the menu until its drop-down, sub tabs you are global even if you scroll up/down,they dont move. plus you can see the different tools.

[nathan]

Andrews current tabs along the top are the way to go. or at least some variation on that theme. I guess you could do something like XSI or Maya's dropdown, but I like this approach better, it's more pleasing to the eye and it's always in view so you don't forget that "oh crap, I'm in Animtion mode...".

with your vertical tabs located inside the toolbar, that would mean you are only switching the toolset displayed in that toolbar. with Andrews setup, when you switch modes, you are changing the entire interface and toolset. that means you can have a totally custom layout just for 2d painting, and another just for voxel sculpting which is how you want it. there are so many different tools now that don't work together that you definitely want this method of switching, and you don't want to have to turn 10 different little floating windows on and off when you go back and forth between modes.

[wailingmonkey]

I'd sign-off on the layout right now, with the changes I've indicated in the image below.

(got rid of vertical tabs, and shifted stuff into just 2 horizontal bars that are the only 'fixed' elements of

the interface)

.

[SonK]

I'd sign-off on the layout right now, with the changes I've indicated in the image below.

(got rid of vertical tabs, and shifted stuff into just 2 horizontal bars that are the only 'fixed' elements of

the interface)

.

hehe, i made some compromised check the attached picture. But the vertical tabs are need for future expansion of 3DC tool sets. Translate = move,scale,rotate tools. Moving the different modes back on top gives me room to add more tools in the long run if i need to like 2-4 years down the road. That's kind of why the "Item List" is needed and was meant to replace the "sub-tool" panel. Item List is a central place to get render setting, UV info, shader info, lights,camera. Having them scatter thru out different panel or UI would be the wrong way to go about it IMHO.

Also you forgot to put in the 3D/2D toggle button its intuitive IMO. The empty space between the tabs and 3D/2D button needs something....hmmm maybe the e-panel for quick access?Nah can't fit all of the options in there.

[geo_n]

Thats not a shader tree, its just a scene graph which is standard in every 3D application, it has little to do with shading more to do with how to view the scene, you can quick select Render and the property page will bring up a render setting, same with lights, UVs,shader can be local or global, just drag them on top of the tree.

I may have to move one tab back up, its the Voxel one..it has alot of tools. The thing is if i move one back i have to move them all back...theres no grey area. If i did half and half(mmm chinese food) it would confuses people.

organizing the tool arrangement would have to be done with either a drop-down menu or the "sub tabs". drop down menu is too slow and you can see whats in the menu until its drop-down, sub tabs you are global even if you scroll up/down,they dont move. plus you can see the different tools.

Isn't it called shader tree in modo? Its like a stack of scene, objects, camera, light, images, shaders, and then within those are subtrees. The first weeks I used it, it was clunky. Click click click. Too much properties squeezed into a small panel. Render pass management was a breeze though with that tree.

[wailingmonkey]

hmmm, well, I'm not fond of the vertical tabs in the first place (don't use Modo, so never got indoctrinated to them),

but I think they serve no purpose here and are overly distracting.

-Translate is not used much at all, and would probably be better suited as a dockable palette for those that need it.

(unless you're thinking of a posing/transpose tool that works on 'regular' meshes as well as voxel sculpts, but we

don't have that yet, so why integrate it so prominantly in the interface? So in my mind, this can be removed altogether.

I just don't see 3DC as a modo/silo modeling replacement, so move,scale,rotate would already be done in those

packages before one's models were imported into 3DC (again, just my opinion).

- Putting 'Paint' vertically really has no rationale, since it's a 'room' up top.

- Having the docked panels 'inserted' into the top bars like you've done seems merely visual and will more than likely cause more

headache to the interface programming (just a guess, but it would seem far easier to just program background bars to

be a set 20 pixels from top/0,0 and 20-40 pixels from top/0,0... 0/0 being upper left corner). I could be very wrong about

that tho.

- I'm not totally against a big 'ol parent scene editor, but 3DC's main purpose to me is to paint/sculpt specific 'assets'

(character or props with multiple parts, but not whole scenes with multiple characters and environments), and save

out those maps or edited geometries. As such, this overall manager seems extraneous. Having it as a dockable palette

means I can just not worry about it tho, unless I need it, which as I've already said on my image, I'm fine with layer and

sub-object palettes for control.

- Not sure why you've got that empty space on the bottom...is that tool tips? If so, I'd vote for tool tips as a dockable

palette as well, since they aren't needed after you've learned 3DC to a reasonable degree (suppose a hotkey and

hovering over a tool for showing them would be an option too, similar to Zbrush)

- Future growth could be developed in new rooms or just added in to logical palettes (as new tools are integrated)...so in

that sense, plenty of space for 'rooms' in my edited version of your mockup (where I had the 'tool shelf' thing in the middle).

In all honesty, I was thinking the rooms would allow for all of the user's chosen dockable palettes to be visible and the

'tools' palette would change contextually according to what room you were using (so specific palettes for UVs, Retopo,

Painting, Voxels, PolySculpting, Rendering/Camera-Rotoscope-Image-Assignment).

I think the 2-bars fixed across the top and fully dockable palettes on left, right, or bottom will give us ALL the ability to arrange

the interface to our liking and still allow for maximum workspace. Also, there's still room for future growth because of the

docking setup (and extra space for room tabs).

What's funny is it's not TOO different than what Andrew already had. Prettier skin, sure, but making the toolbar on the left 'unlocked'

and adding dockability (which I'm hopeful Andrew will keep in mind with dual monitors as well) will go a long way in allowing us to set

up a workspace the way we're comfortable with (and unique enough for our needs).

Anyhow, sorry for the novel.

[SonK]

Isn't it called shader tree in modo? Its like a stack of scene, objects, camera, light, images, shaders, and then within those are subtrees. The first weeks I used it, it was clunky. Click click click. Too much properties squeezed into a small panel. Render pass management was a breeze though with that tree.

Shader Tree in Modo is different it does handle shader/rendering/layers, but my "Item List" == "Items" tab in Modo or "Object List" in Mudbox.

hmmm, well, I'm not fond of the vertical tabs in the first place (don't use Modo, so never got indoctrinated to them),

but I think they serve no purpose here and are overly distracting.

-Translate is not used much at all, and would probably be better suited as a dockable palette for those that need it.

(unless you're thinking of a posing/transpose tool that works on 'regular' meshes as well as voxel sculpts, but we

don't have that yet, so why integrate it so prominantly in the interface? So in my mind, this can be removed altogether.

I just don't see 3DC as a modo/silo modeling replacement, so move,scale,rotate would already be done in those

packages before one's models were imported into 3DC (again, just my opinion).

- Putting 'Paint' vertically really has no rationale, since it's a 'room' up top.

- Having the docked panels 'inserted' into the top bars like you've done seems merely visual and will more than likely cause more

headache to the interface programming (just a guess, but it would seem far easier to just program background bars to

be a set 20 pixels from top/0,0 and 20-40 pixels from top/0,0... 0/0 being upper left corner). I could be very wrong about

that tho.

- I'm not totally against a big 'ol parent scene editor, but 3DC's main purpose to me is to paint/sculpt specific 'assets'

(character or props with multiple parts, but not whole scenes with multiple characters and environments), and save

out those maps or edited geometries. As such, this overall manager seems extraneous. Having it as a dockable palette

means I can just not worry about it tho, unless I need it, which as I've already said on my image, I'm fine with layer and

sub-object palettes for control.

- Not sure why you've got that empty space on the bottom...is that tool tips? If so, I'd vote for tool tips as a dockable

palette as well, since they aren't needed after you've learned 3DC to a reasonable degree (suppose a hotkey and

hovering over a tool for showing them would be an option too, similar to Zbrush)

- Future growth could be developed in new rooms or just added in to logical palettes (as new tools are integrated)...so in

that sense, plenty of space for 'rooms' in my edited version of your mockup (where I had the 'tool shelf' thing in the middle).

In all honesty, I was thinking the rooms would allow for all of the user's chosen dockable palettes to be visible and the

'tools' palette would change contextually according to what room you were using (so specific palettes for UVs, Retopo,

Painting, Voxels, PolySculpting, Rendering/Camera-Rotoscope-Image-Assignment).

I think the 2-bars fixed across the top and fully dockable palettes on left, right, or bottom will give us ALL the ability to arrange

the interface to our liking and still allow for maximum workspace. Also, there's still room for future growth because of the

docking setup (and extra space for room tabs).

What's funny is it's not TOO different than what Andrew already had. Prettier skin, sure, but making the toolbar on the left 'unlocked'

and adding dockability (which I'm hopeful Andrew will keep in mind with dual monitors as well) will go a long way in allowing us to set

up a workspace the way we're comfortable with (and unique enough for our needs).

Anyhow, sorry for the novel.

1. Translate is just simple move,scale,rotate tool. 3DC can certainly bring in multiple mesh, and if you need to do basic translation you wont want to re-export it all out. I put it in its own tool button because its not used often . Don't confuse the vertical tabs(lets call them sub tabs) as some sort of switching modes like the tabs on top running horizontally(these tabs switch the interface). The sub tabs are just a way to organize alot tools. Adding translate tool does NOT turn 3DC into a general purpose application even Mudbox/Zbrush has translate,select tools.

2. Paint is a room but the paint in the Tools tabs are the painting tools since its in the Tools tab. its not confusing at all. What would you suggest i call it then ? I think you confusing, the sub tabs with the main tabs, they have 2 different functions(kinda).

3. Why would it be tougher to program? that's basically how Andrew has his tabs arrange now in 3DC. Of course its visual thats the point they should be easy to reach/see! that's why they aren't placed in the top left like the way you have it.

4. Scene Graph was meant for keeping track of multiple parts on a character or prop again this is something Mudbox does, and its useful. It is a dockable panel..you know that right? I just haved it docked in my mock-up.

5. Yup the bottom is tool tips area, its fixed..so tool tips need to be re-written to fit into taht tiny space..i mean if i wanted to read the manual..i'll read the manual, if i need a short tool tip..i expect it at the bottom.its standard in every app, having it in a panel would kinda suck. In 3DC we can already hover over a tool and it brings up some information about it like ZBrush. You know that right? :P

6. Future growth meaning more tools, not more rooms...unless Andrew invent something that unique that it would require a new room. Future growth relies on the tool option and property panel, and the sub tabs, all 3 make it possible to expand the toolset in 3-4 years.

"In all honesty, I was thinking the rooms would allow for all of the user's chosen dockable palettes to be visible and the

'tools' palette would change contextually according to what room you were using (so specific palettes for UVs, Retopo,

Painting, Voxels, PolySculpting, Rendering/Camera-Rotoscope-Image-Assignment)."

Umm thats how i always invision it and thats how my mock-up was design in mind, i just haven't started on the other "rooms" yet. The "Tool" panel is context sensitive, it'll switch to UV tools when you switch to the UV room. Same thing for the Tool Option, its context sensitive on a per tool basis and the property panel its context sensitive. Layer panel is context sensitive, in Voxel room it'll switch to a voxel tree.

Render and Camera room!? we don't have enough options to warrant their own room. It does have enough for its own panel, but thats why the scene graph is there in conjunction with the Property panel(its context sensitive).

i don't like fixed bars or anything fixed. broken all the way :P

[wailingmonkey]

SonK, first off, since it's rough to guage 'tone' on the internet I want to say I'm not trying

to insult your design or you personally by stating my own tastes for what I'd like the

interface to be capable of. Your comments seem to be slightly condescending as if you're

defending your design while somewhat questioning my knowledge of common 3d terminology

and functionality. But it could just be a misinterpretation on my part.

1) I was initially referring to the 'Translate' room tab you had in your earlier screenshot (not from post

#471). Having it as another 'tool' in that palette is fine, but why start going vertical? Again, it

doesn't seem to flow but distract from my perspective.

2) If you're in the 'Paint' room then you should see the tools applicable to that room. Having an

additional vertical tab-like thing there (that's not a functioning button) seems distracting again.

3) I'm basing this admitted 'guess' from laying out webpages or tables in Word. To have that 'notch'

along what I see as the second bar from the top means that bar has to resize/fit itself to whatever tabs

snap in there (meaning more code). Keeping those 20 pixels (or so) as a 'solid' like I did in my re-work

of your design means you can lock the tools belonging to that horizontal area down (and push them out

to each edge of the window). Again, if it's inconsequential for Andrew's code to do it 'notched' then fine,

my point was it was of no real functioning value and could create more code headache (or potential buggy

docking issues similar to the current 'centering' bug of the room tabs).

4) As I said in my earlier novel, I got that it's a dockable panel...I can take it or leave it, but I find it's

existence as excessive for my needs. Obviously you see a need for it in your workflow, so if Andrew

implements something like that I've got no bones about it.

5) Having tooltips as a palette would mean they could be docked wherever (and resized horizontally or

vertically for better readability based upon user's custom palette docking choices). Again, doesn't matter

to me since I don't use tooltips unless there are new tools added...was mainly trying to think from a new

user's perspective and allow for control within a customized layout.

6) I wasn't in disagreement.

Since Andrew has stated he's going to allow for render outside of just the voxel/shader area I thought

that having a render room would be a potential solution (complete with future tools like setting the camera

to follow a curve/spline, etc). I really don't care if it's on a palette or as a 'room', just so long as the ability

to render turntables within 3DC exists for the 'paint' area as well (for lowpoly renders and not just voxels,

for instance)...it'd be handy, but not essential (to me, at least).

I guess I'm guilty of adding the 'Camera' room (same as you adding the scene graph), because I

desperately want to have rotoscoping capability on camera views so accurate sculpts from references

can be made. (this could just as easily be a palette, of course)

40 pixels tall (from the window top) of 'fixed' horizontal bars that hold the essentials along the top is hardly

binding one's creativity or blocking the view.

/novel #2

[philnolan3d]

Wow! Weird UI bug. If you open, the 2D Texture Editor, then close it. Now you have no yellow / red cursor in the place where the 2D window was.

[SonK]

SonK, first off, since it's rough to guage 'tone' on the internet I want to say I'm not trying

to insult your design or you personally by stating my own tastes for what I'd like the

interface to be capable of. Your comments seem to be slightly condescending as if you're

defending your design while somewhat questioning my knowledge of common 3d terminology

and functionality. But it could just be a misinterpretation on my part.

1) I was initially referring to the 'Translate' room tab you had in your earlier screenshot (not from post

#471). Having it as another 'tool' in that palette is fine, but why start going vertical? Again, it

doesn't seem to flow but distract from my perspective.

2) If you're in the 'Paint' room then you should see the tools applicable to that room. Having an

additional vertical tab-like thing there (that's not a functioning button) seems distracting again.

3) I'm basing this admitted 'guess' from laying out webpages or tables in Word. To have that 'notch'

along what I see as the second bar from the top means that bar has to resize/fit itself to whatever tabs

snap in there (meaning more code). Keeping those 20 pixels (or so) as a 'solid' like I did in my re-work

of your design means you can lock the tools belonging to that horizontal area down (and push them out

to each edge of the window). Again, if it's inconsequential for Andrew's code to do it 'notched' then fine,

my point was it was of no real functioning value and could create more code headache (or potential buggy

docking issues similar to the current 'centering' bug of the room tabs).

4) As I said in my earlier novel, I got that it's a dockable panel...I can take it or leave it, but I find it's

existence as excessive for my needs. Obviously you see a need for it in your workflow, so if Andrew

implements something like that I've got no bones about it.

5) Having tooltips as a palette would mean they could be docked wherever (and resized horizontally or

vertically for better readability based upon user's custom palette docking choices). Again, doesn't matter

to me since I don't use tooltips unless there are new tools added...was mainly trying to think from a new

user's perspective and allow for control within a customized layout.

6) I wasn't in disagreement.

Since Andrew has stated he's going to allow for render outside of just the voxel/shader area I thought

that having a render room would be a potential solution (complete with future tools like setting the camera

to follow a curve/spline, etc). I really don't care if it's on a palette or as a 'room', just so long as the ability

to render turntables within 3DC exists for the 'paint' area as well (for lowpoly renders and not just voxels,

for instance)...it'd be handy, but not essential (to me, at least).

I guess I'm guilty of adding the 'Camera' room (same as you adding the scene graph), because I

desperately want to have rotoscoping capability on camera views so accurate sculpts from references

can be made. (this could just as easily be a palette, of course)

40 pixels tall (from the window top) of 'fixed' horizontal bars that hold the essentials along the top is hardly

binding one's creativity or blocking the view.

/novel #2

When i wrote the reply it was not meant to be condescending, apologies if it "seem" that way. But number 3 reply was definitely meant to be funny :P

1. There has never been a "Translate" room in any of my mock-up, Translate has always been scale,rotate,move tools even when it was nested in the Tools panel(on the left). And there's no post 471?...I already explain why i went with vertical, basically its easier to read for me and vertical tabs/button are needed to expand/organize the tools. In the case of Voxel the vertical tabs will be used to divide the tools up/ organized them. Using horizontal tabs/button wont work, a drop-down menu will but i'm not a fan of it(even when i was using Maya).

2. The "Paint" in the tools tab is there ONLY because i have a the "Translate" tab if i move the translate tool into the paint, i wont need either of those buttons, they are just there for organization. Once you click on translate the toolset within that area will change to SRT tools, so you'll need a button to get back to the "Paint" tools. I hope that clears up why its there?(i thought it was pretty straight forward..) If its visually distracting is debatable but it's more about function and keeping the UI consistent across the different rooms.

3. Those tabs do need some space though be it 20 pixel or 10 pixel(having no space between would be bad,but thats a matter of taste). Andrew has about 2 pixel(going up) space for this implementation which is fine. I just think they could use more. I hardly think 2 vs 10 pixel really add any headache to programming the GUI. Andrew doesn't have an space between the tabs, IMO there needs to be some. Not everything should be about function, the spacing around the tabs are more about whats pleasing to my eye. I didnt put the "room" tabs to the far left like you because it just looks weird..it kinda breaks up the grid layout i was maintaining.

4. I don't think its excessive at all, considering you can have multiple obects in 3DC, plus you have render setting, camera mapping options, shader, UV info. Most of this stuff are all ready in 3DC, but they are scatter thru out many places..so its not excessive to organized whats already current in 3DC into one central place(id say its just logical). A scene graph is perfect for this, plus you can expand it in the future. Example if you click on the mesh Shader, the property page will bring up the different shaders you can select from.

5. I see your point i wont think it would be tough to put the tool tips into a panel, great for people with 2 monitors, dock it to the second monitor. But i think the tool tip itself are too long(and there are people who like this way), but it feels like i'm reading the manual everything i see it put up..when what i really want is a quick tool tip about what button combination does what.

6. I know you weren't but i was kinda disagreeing about adding more rooms..we don't need anymore :P

What kind of options/tools do you need for rotoscoping?I never used rotoscoping in XSI so im no experted in it..but if those rotoscoping option/tool can be fitted into the panel that would be better, but if those options are too large then a room would make more sense. Rotoscoping could be nested in the Camera property page...

PS> In the future write shortier replies that address one area of the GUI mock-up at a time :P ..it would easier for me to address it that way(less overwhelming). No more novels reply please lol

[ldzywsj]

Have tested the new UI(alpha 78),I have to say,I don't like the current design,Andrew,I really hate those individual window,so please follow Sonk's design,

We need integated tool option,not a individual window.the current design is more space wasted and seems unprofessional.

[Javis]

Have tested the new UI(alpha 78),I have to say,I don't like the current design,Andrew,I really hate those individual window,so please follow Sonk's design,

We need integated tool option,not a individual window.the current design is more space wasted and seems unprofessional.

Unprofessional is a bit harsh. It just needs a bit polish and it'll be fine. I don't think drop downlists are very intuitive for tools that are often used, and absolutely KILLS workflow and speed.

[AbnRanger]

Alright gentlemen, I've invested several hours today throwing my hat into the ring, to add some spice to the UI, appearance-wise...not layout. I just borrowed SonK's design which seems to be going in a good direction, and added to it.

Let me know what you think. The sliders are super easy to scrub through. Instead of having to narrow your cursor to a little tiny knob each time, you can just place it anywhere in the window and drag it left or right...with both a highlighted indicator and numeric indicators in the same window. That's a feature I LOVE about Combustion (adopted from Flame, Flint and Inferno...so you KNOW it's as professional as it gets).

I included 3 different highlight color schemes...

[philnolan3d]

Sorry, too many colors everywhere for my liking. The only color I would like to see added to Andrew's design is that when you hide a layer, the X that appears over the eye should be red, even if it's a dull red.

[Javis]

I actually really like that slider type Airborne Ranger (Hooah!). It looks simple and sleek. Easy to use to boot.

[AbnRanger]

Here's a couple more variations...again I'm not focusing on layout, but the general appearance of the UI. I think a professional-looking UI is essential if this application is to be taken seriously in the industry. Too many folks willing to write it off...but if they like the UI, they will be more prone to give it an earnest look...

I started out with one version with very little color, but it did look a bit bland...so I left in some of the green color accents.

[wailingmonkey]

call me boring, but I'd rather focus on the color of my model.

Here's my favorite of the 6 you've shown thusfar.

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[Taros]

Alright gentlemen, I've invested several hours today throwing my hat into the ring, to add some spice to the UI, appearance-wise...not layout. I just borrowed SonK's design which seems to be going in a good direction, and added to it.

Let me know what you think. The sliders are super easy to scrub through. Instead of having to narrow your cursor to a little tiny knob each time, you can just place it anywhere in the window and drag it left or right...with both a highlighted indicator and numeric indicators in the same window. That's a feature I LOVE about Combustion (adopted from Flame, Flint and Inferno...so you KNOW it's as professional as it gets).

I included 3 different highlight color schemes...

I like your proposal, espacially the first one (green).

But there is one point, where your design is not continuous: Your main tabs (paint, skulpt, voxel, ...) This tabs should look the same, like the others. There is no reason, why they have own design.

Regards

Chris

[lc8b105]

Don't forget a Gradient background.

[haikalle]

There is a couple ideas that I would like to bring on the table. It's about retopo tools. I think that you can take Del. Polygons and Del Edges away from toolbox, because you can do it with "select" tool. The second thing is that I would combine Select tool and Tweak Vertices together. It would be nice to know that there is one main button which will select and drag your points. This would be called "Select/Tweak" button And the features of this tool would be:

1. There would be check boxes for Vertices,Edges and Faces. Under those options there would be 3 tabs for them, including "select option" buttons.

2. You can select and drag with you LMB.

3. You can multiselect with SHIFT button.

4. Bigger radius with your pen it will select more.

5. You can delete edges or polygons.

For example, in Select tool you can multiselect Ver,Edges and Faces. But I don't like that you can slide them with your RMB. I don't see the purpose why it is like that. It would be much better to take that Slide option and put it under Slide button or think something else. These are just ideas, Andrew. Your are very good programmer but I think that you are even better how to think these things as artist. So just keep up the good work.

[Tony Nemo]

"The sliders are super easy to scrub through. Instead of having to narrow your cursor to a little tiny knob each time, you can just place it anywhere in the window and drag it left or right...with both a highlighted indicator and numeric indicators in the same window. That's a feature I LOVE about Combustion (adopted from Flame, Flint and Inferno...so you KNOW it's as professional as it gets)."

The sliders I like. The colors can be user selected as in C4D.

[AbnRanger]

I like your proposal, espacially the first one (green).

But there is one point, where your design is not continuous: Your main tabs (paint, skulpt, voxel, ...) This tabs should look the same, like the others. There is no reason, why they have own design.

Regards

Chris

Well, the reason is that they are functionally different. The "Rooms" button are just that....buttons. The tabs are just visual accents with the name of the dock/rollout on each. I agree that it was important to apply some continuity, that's why you notice that they match the dark grey accents throughout the UI. And instead of having highlighted text or buttons, I wanted to keep it less distracting and thus the little dot indicating the active room (that's also why the highlighted viewport will probably have to go...to bright and thus a bit distracting)

[Taros]

Well, the reason is that they are functionally different. The "Rooms" button are just that....buttons. The tabs are just visual accents with the name of the dock/rollout on each. I agree that it was important to apply some continuity, that's why you notice that they match the dark grey accents throughout the UI. And instead of having highlighted text or buttons, I wanted to keep it less distracting and thus the little dot indicating the active room (that's also why the highlighted viewport will probably have to go...to bright and thus a bit distracting)

Ok. I agree.

But one small modification, that makes yoour design more intutive. Look on the main bar. The active menupoint should be accentuated:

[AbnRanger]

That could work, and I had considered that a bit, but the small highlight in the upper left of the active button serves that purpose in a more subtle way...definitely not set in stone. What ever Andrew thinks...still waiting to hear from him to see what he thinks thus far.

[paulrus]

Been following this discussion and things are looking really great.

Some (hopefully) constructive comments:

First, there seems to be a lot of space around the text in many areas. Space around text = wasted space.

The text seems to be fairly large - unless 3DC's users have really poor eyesight I'd prefer smaller text on the tabs and buttons.

The original tool icons are cheesy and cheap looking. Please make them simple icons, not drawings of icons. Clean, simple - 1-2 color icons.

I know the green/dark grey is meant to match the corporate look, but the green is distracting. It really needs to either be toned down or made a shade of gray. I don't want what I'm painting to be affected in any way - shades of gray are the best choice IMHO.

Right now the buttons/tabs seem inconsistent. Either they're rounded or not - but I think mixing and matching isn't a good idea.

I do love the text with the icons. I'm always hovering over icons to try to figure out what they are. I work in too many programs, and I can't remember everything all the time - text is a major improvement for my workflow.

PG