Hi Johnny, thanks for the feedback!


> I cannot get the endpoint of a curve to snap to itself (to its other end, for example).

I should be able to fix this up eventually. It is a bit complex because when you drag an object around it isn't so good if it sticks to its old self too much, for instance it can make it hard to make small adjustments if the point that you were moving was snapping on to its original location (or nearby it with the "on" object snap).

So to avoid that problem, snapping is disabled on the object's own self while you are dragging any part of it.

It should be possible to fine tune this at some point to make it work more like you expected but it is rather delicate, I might not be able to get to it for a while.

In the meantime, there is a much easier workaround - you can use the Transform / Move command to do what you want without creating any extra stuff.

In its basic function, Transform / Move does the same kind of thing as drag - lets you move something from one spot to another. But it differs from drag in that it keeps the original object around in a ghosted state and lets you snap on the points in the original object. This will let you snap on to the other endpoint like you want.


> 2) There is no Adobe Illustrator (.AI) export! This is a must.

This is planned. It will likely be the only other file format support that will be added before the V1 release. It will probably be a little while yet before it is implemented.


> 3) Although the freehand drawing tool creates beautifully smooth curves, a
> smooth tool would still be nice to progressively smooth (remove detail) from curves.

I want to add this eventually (along with a set of some other curve tuning/tweaking tools), but I don't think that it will make it into V1.


> but please do not lose MoI's simplicity by adding too many.

It's great that one of your feature requests is not to add new features! :) Seriously though, this is something that I am quite focused on.

There are several factors that allow me to add new stuff without ruining the (apparent) simplicity. One is that I try to combine functionality into a single tool whenever possible - for instance a couple of betas ago I added a surface "untrim" ability but instead of adding it in as a separate tool, it works as an extension to the delete command (if you select a boundary of unattached trim edges and hit delete, it will untrim them). Another example is that fillet will fillet curves, edges, or surfaces depending on what is selected before you do the fillet. So that's one avenue of feature expansion without additional perceptible complexity - individual tools getting more powerful as time goes on.

The other major factor is the hierarchical nature of the side-pane UI will let me add in big new feature areas without messing things up, because they will be collapsed by default. So in future versions you'll see stuff like "Render", "Dim", and "Analyze" tabs over there, but you won't get hit in the face with all the tools unless you go and click on those tabs. Also, there is another type of hierarchy with the related sub-tools (like boolean pops out with difference, union, intersection). That is another area where there is space to add new things without ruining the top-level UI.

I spent about a year working on all these factors to make it possible for MoI to "scale up" with new features without it having a terrible impact on the top-level UI.

So there will be quite a bit of new stuff added over the next several years, but there is a plan in place to manage it and preserve the essential simple nature.


> 5) I can't figure out what the Rotate/Pan/Zoom options panel does. If I check
> Reverse Zoom Button, for example, nothing seems to happen.

Normally, if you click and drag on the "Zoom" button at the bottom of a viewport, if you drag downwards you will zoom out, upwards zooms in. If you check "Reverse zoom button", then it should be flipped - downwards will zoom in, upwards zooms out. Are you seeing something different?

Let me know if you want details on any other particular setting.


> 6) The Restore Defaults button in your menu boxes is a GREAT feature.

Thanks! At some point I'm going to try and combine all these options into just a single options dialog (with different chunks of stuff in it). Right now options are kind of scattered around here and there.


> 7) The Zoom and Pan buttons are too touchy. <....>

There is a plan to make some settings for controlling the sensitivity of these. Right now the default is pretty sensitive, that's so if you're using a tablet you can control it with pretty small motions of the pen instead of moving it very far. If you're using a mouse, it is sort of more natural to use the scroll wheel to zoom instead - that will go in steps and won't have the continuous motion. Also if you right click in a 3D viewport to rotate, that won't be continuous and if you middle click to pan, that won't be continuous unless you go close to the edge of the viewport.


> 8) You have Copy and Paste buttons -- a Cut button would be very convenient to
> have. I tend to use cut and paste in conjunction with hide/unhide to manage my
> curves when modeling.

Well, this is another one of the areas that increases simplicity - trying not to have a function that can be easily replicated by the use of two existing ones, in this case copy + delete. It is kind of difficult to add anything new to the Edit palette, it is getting rather full.

What about if you had a keyboard shortcut for Ctrl+X for Cut, would that work for you?

- Michael