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Topic: tool options window / tool info / post-hoc tool manipulation etc.  (Read 2519 times)

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  • Posts: 496
  • Triangle
April 02, 2014, 05:07:01 am
Nvil does a lot of things right, but some stuff it could still do better. So I'll just keep making more suggestions for improvement.

Tool Options Window
I know it has been already brought up, but I'd like it, if there was a dedicated tool options window apart from the visual tools window. This options window should also contain tool options when using a streamline basic tool. And I'm a fan of consistency, so I'd say every option related to any tool should go in there. An example: In the visual tool window some operations display settings below with an 'apply' button, but others pop up a window with an apply-button. Why could that not be in the same area, too?! To me this makes no sense. Just call the operation, make a choice and hit apply (e.g. split), no window or cancelation needed.

Tool Info
When using streamline tools there's option cyclers and modifiers and whatnot. So it would be a good idea to tell the user what he is actually doing at the moment. A status bar or something that displays the current settings for the operator in use. What is the number of cuts? Am I extruding faces seperately and with which control (cursor)? And so on. You activate a tool, hit on some modifiers and soon you're a little bit lost as to which parameters the tool is now set to without feedback.

Post-hoc Tool Manipulation
When using NVil for a project I often find myself doing undos and redo something to alter the operation I just did (using streamline tools). That can get annoying and feels restricted. Wouldn't it be great if I could make post-hoc modifications to the last operation? Well, I used programs that can do just that. Maya & Blender, Silo of sorts. NVil has this strange preview mode. I have to click on preview, then I can change settings while examining the result and then again click a button on a seperate window to accept. Why is there cancel if there is undo? Why not apply the settings right away and let the user change them afterwards? And I'm not able to change the operation, if I had used a streamline tool. With a tool options window that starts diplaying options when a tool is activated, I'd be able to also change the operation post-hoc.

I uploaded a video that shows some of these features in Blender. But I can reassure you, they don't get all the stuf "right" either.
http://youtu.be/xgtOiNGZins

  • Posts: 496
  • Triangle
April 03, 2014, 02:03:16 am
A note to the post-hoc manipulation: In Blender, it's not really a post-hoc manipulation. Internally Blender just redoes the operation with the new settings.