Material Visulaizations
Hi Neil,
FYI & FWIW:
These ideas pertain to ShaderMap 2.0.7 and its Material Visualizer and are intended as augmenting or improving the already excellent set of existing features.
[size=large]Zooming[/size]
Clicking on the geometry instance; i.e., the current GEO: or the number preceding it, brings up a baffling display: one small horizontal blue rectangle / stripe and one larger vertically oriented dark gray rectangle. The little up / down triangles only impact the vertical placement of the blue stripe.
Shift+Mouse Scroll is faster than simply using the scroll wheel alone, but still seems like a lot of scrolling to see detailed areas on model.
Consider replicating the ZOOM concepts present in the Maps Interface into the Material Visualizer.
Set the current zoom state to all available geometries. The net result would maintain the same zoom level when importing / cycling through meshes.
When adding another instance of geometry it would be nice if the objects would be allowed to be dragged closer together so that when zoomed in, the side-by-side comparisons could be made respective of scrutinized areas of detail.
[size=large]Sliders[/size] [size=small](Also applies to other aspects of ShaderMap interface where sliders are used)[/size]
When numeric field is active allow user entry via keyboard; arrows left, arrow right.
Per tap value increment subjective to permitted range; maybe 5%?
Somebody mentioned borrowing some of the conventions employed in Photoshop (really great idea, btw); e.g., /b] for smaller brush, [b larger brush, etc. ONLY if the coding wasn't an issue, Adobe's clever induced slider; i.e., invoked when user mouses over the text icon, for example, the little hand icon at cursor changes to a slider-hand icon might also be considered as an alternative slider for ShaderMap 7.
[size=large]Materials[/size]
When adding a new material through the Material Editor, by clicking on the plus (+) symbol, consider popping up its Map Setup dialog by default.
It might be useful to allow each material to be named by the user which then subsequently might be displayed as a tool tip with the mouse onover state. A populated Map/Material Grid would then be easier to read.
FYI & FWIW:
These ideas pertain to ShaderMap 2.0.7 and its Material Visualizer and are intended as augmenting or improving the already excellent set of existing features.
[size=large]Zooming[/size]
Clicking on the geometry instance; i.e., the current GEO: or the number preceding it, brings up a baffling display: one small horizontal blue rectangle / stripe and one larger vertically oriented dark gray rectangle. The little up / down triangles only impact the vertical placement of the blue stripe.
Shift+Mouse Scroll is faster than simply using the scroll wheel alone, but still seems like a lot of scrolling to see detailed areas on model.
Consider replicating the ZOOM concepts present in the Maps Interface into the Material Visualizer.
Set the current zoom state to all available geometries. The net result would maintain the same zoom level when importing / cycling through meshes.When adding another instance of geometry it would be nice if the objects would be allowed to be dragged closer together so that when zoomed in, the side-by-side comparisons could be made respective of scrutinized areas of detail.
[size=large]Sliders[/size] [size=small](Also applies to other aspects of ShaderMap interface where sliders are used)[/size]
- slider_onout light gray
- slider_onover lighter gray
- slider_pressed white
When numeric field is active allow user entry via keyboard; arrows left, arrow right.
Per tap value increment subjective to permitted range; maybe 5%?
Somebody mentioned borrowing some of the conventions employed in Photoshop (really great idea, btw); e.g., /b] for smaller brush, [b larger brush, etc. ONLY if the coding wasn't an issue, Adobe's clever induced slider; i.e., invoked when user mouses over the text icon, for example, the little hand icon at cursor changes to a slider-hand icon might also be considered as an alternative slider for ShaderMap 7.
[size=large]Materials[/size]
When adding a new material through the Material Editor, by clicking on the plus (+) symbol, consider popping up its Map Setup dialog by default.
It might be useful to allow each material to be named by the user which then subsequently might be displayed as a tool tip with the mouse onover state. A populated Map/Material Grid would then be easier to read.