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02-24-2010, 23:32 corylulu Joined on 12-07-2009 Carlsbad, California, USA Posts 83 Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P Here is a few things I was thinking about. I know a big issue with Ventuz for some people is they look at it and are instantly confused. I think also because of this people tend to confuse a lack of interface understanding with complicity. I really do not think that Ventuz is a difficult program to use, HOWEVER, the way that it is laid out makes it seem more complicated than it is. Some basic features I think would be extremely helpful in easing the first few steps into Ventuz could be: More right-click-ability: Right now there are so many features in the program that seem like they should just be 1 right click away. Examples: -You should be able to right click on properties and choose to Expose, Externalize, Unexpose, Reset to default and RESET TO LAST SAVE (which would be another good option to have) -You should be able to right click a node in the content panel and be able to: lock node on screen (so you can go to another area in the scene and connect the two nodes without doing complicated CTRL clicks everywhere), expose connections (what I mean by this is allow the nodes to become bigger with the data that is being ported in and out are all viewable [much like what happens when you right click an arrow, but always visable], expose all (which would show all nodes in the container that are available). -Right click on Hierarchy for more options to would be handy such as: Flatten Hierarchy (which would display all the nodes as simple text and tiny icons so it would be easier to organize workspace) -Right clicking on nodes to allow for copy, paste, color (be able to color a nodes background to add to organization features, i think adding color to nodes and content arrows would be a big plus for being able to organize stuff and make color coded notes), expand, collapse, link, unlink, and features of that sort. As far as other features that would be nice... I was thinking of: > Being able to create custom node panels of nodes that you use frequently rather than having to go through all the nodes tab by tab, give the ability to make your own tabs. This would be much like the Project Repository, but just for the Toolbox area. > Externalized panel has no options to help organize either that I see (for some reason I have seen scene files that make tabs for the Externalized data, but have not figured out how to do that yet and looked in all areas regarding externals in the Help menu) So I think some right-clicking options and some drag and drop features would be nice for that. > If you are looking around for the Project Properties in the top naviagation, it might be some time before you find it hidden away under the File > Project > Project Properties, I think it might be wise to be able to access the Options, Machine Configuration, and the Properties Panel all from 1 button > The animation window is also misleading. It took me like 2 weeks before I realized there was a scroll bar under it... I think that should highlighted more. > Lots of the menus and overall button structure is placing a medium gray on top of a light gray background, which in turn makes it look as if its disabled. I think that you should convert a lot of the text over to Black or Dark Gray > On the reset button for the properties panel, I think you should include a revert to last save feature as well, this would help for the fact that undo tends not to work very well =P. > Also I am still very confused on what "Keywords" are... I see the option with CTRL + SHIFT + K, but I am clueless to what they do.. and it doesn't seem to be in the manual either. > Also an additional button in toolbox sidebar that would still display all the nodes but give a detailed description of what they do next to each node would be nice as well for a feature.    Report

02-25-2010, 15:17 Karol Joined on 05-15-2005 Posts 495 Re: Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P Hi corylulu! Thank you for your extensive feedback and the very interesting suggestions. Some of the points are already on our road-map (like more functionality on RMB) and will be available in 1-2 month. A few quick answers/hints: If you press LMB and change a property while moving the mouse, you can reset the changes by additionally pressing RMB or the ESC key. The 'Keywords' can be used as follows: if you add an item to the repository, you can add some keywords to this item. If you have an Hierarchy Container with an Output, you can add Keywords to this container as well. If you drag an item from Repository to Hierarchy Editor all containers which match the Keywords of the dragged item will be highlighted. This was meant to help building/modifying scene templates. Best Regards Karol      Report

02-25-2010, 18:14 Etienne95 Joined on 05-01-2007 Los Angeles, California Posts 78 Re: Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P Organizing extrenalized properties can be done by externalizing content containers. The externalized variables will show up in a subfolder under the container.    Report

02-25-2010, 18:35 corylulu Joined on 12-07-2009 Carlsbad, California, USA Posts 83 Re: Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P Thanks for the feedback and tips Karol and ET. But ET... that kinda seems like a backwards way of doing it, doesn't it? Makes it much less easy to organize without making a bunch of content containers for everything, which at times can make things look much less easy to maintain if overly done.    Report

02-25-2010, 18:45 Etienne95 Joined on 05-01-2007 Los Angeles, California Posts 78 Re: Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P I don't think so. You should already be organizing your scene in containers so why not do the same with your externalized properties? Breaking things into logical group is a great way to keep nodes, content and externalized properties organized I feel. In all the projects I have worked on, I have only used about 6 containers per project, which is not a lot I think.    Report

02-25-2010, 22:47 corylulu Joined on 12-07-2009 Carlsbad, California, USA Posts 83 Re: Some interface things that might make Ventuz look less scary. :P umm...maybe i just think that it might be easier to just edit them straight in the externalized data editor I mean I understand how you organize things, but I don't think that the current system will fit everyones organizational style. Just an opinion... not saying that the current system is broken... just could be better....    Report