I like software that is easy to learn, but also software that I can grow into as I become more experienced.

A dual GUI may be the way to go, like a mode that only exposes the advanced features when requested. Or maybe a MoI "Lite" version for the artists and a full-featured version for those who need more.

Software packages always need to evolve; otherwise they die as competitors fill the need and take over. The trick that Michael has managed to handle well so far is keeping the goals and intended user in mind while incorporating new features.

Ed

Hi Ray, I'm glad that you are enjoying MoI's interface!

I have heard from a lot of people who are worried that MoI will lose its simplicity and ease of use as new things are added.

But don't worry - keeping MoI streamlined and easy to use is very high on my list of priorities.

Actually MoI's UI was initially designed to expand in a natural way to offer more tools.

These will take the form of new sets of tabs on the side pane, similar to the existing tabs like "Draw curve", "Construct", "Transform", etc... - the main difference will be that those new tabs will be collapsed by default, so they should not clutter up the screen very much or really add much complexity to the overall UI until you want to expand them to get at the additional tools that are inside of them.

The problem with having a big "advanced UI" switch like you were mentioning earlier, is that advanced users can also benefit from having a quick and streamlined UI as well, having the most frequently used tools for modeling be very easily available and easy to understand actually helps advanced users quite a bit too!

The good thing about MoI's UI is that this expansion was designed in at the ground level - the original UI prototypes that I used for designing MoI's UI contained a much larger number of tools than are currently in MoI. That's one reason why it took me a long time to work on the UI initially, it was probably like a year's worth of effort just on that part of MoI's design by itself. But the payoff is a system that has expansion designed in from the beginning so it will not just suddenly get overloaded when I need to add stuff.

Another factor is I really resist adding new UI stuff when it is at all possible - I try as much as I can to add more power to the existing tools rather than adding brand new UI in. You can see this policy working well in v2 - all the new functions added so far in v2 only brought one single new checkbox to the top-level UI, under the View tools.

This "increase existing UI power" policy along with the built in expandability should deal very well with the problems that you are worried about I think!

- Michael

Thank you for your comprehensive and most reassuring response Michael. I look forward to purchasing the finished version 2.0

To close this thread I feel it might help to show other forum users the sort of 'Quick and Dirty' modeling that artists like me use applications such as MOI and Sketchup for.

In the attached images I have included six pictures that should be considered as pairs.
All are work from 3D comic books that I have worked on. The action figures in scenes are from Daz 3D and the final images were textured and rendered in Daz Studio. Post work was completed using Xara Xtreme rather than Photoshop, again chosen for it's brilliant interface and rapid workflow.

Each of these scenes required props that were unavailable elsewhere: A particular flight of steps: the rear ramp of a C-130 Transport aircraft including drogue chute etc, and spent shell cases.

As non of the models needed to be particulary detailed or even to scale, I required a 3D application that would assist me in creating the props quickly with minimum effort.

I am in no doubt that there are many artists out there looking for a robust, well priced 3D modeler that is quick to master and encourages rapid work flow.
This is why I expressed my original concerns, as an overly packed interface can be an instant turn off for the non-technical amongst us.

Thank you again for your ground-breaking approach to this new generation of 3D tools.

Ray

Absolutely wonderful work!

I've at times considered doing 3d comics but was never brave enough to take the time and attempt to come up with humorous stories worthy of something like this.

I have a bunch of books on cartooning and your work is certainly inspiring!

The great thing about MOI is it lets you build your set pieces so fast and easy!


BRAVO!

-Will

>> I've at times considered doing 3d comics but was never brave enough to take the time and attempt to come up with humorous stories worthy of something like this.<<

Thanks for the compliments Will, but you really should get your own feet wet as soon as possible.

Get over to Daz 3D at: http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d_models/0?_m=d
and download their free Daz Studio software and free intro pack - then get used to posing figures in 3D. Try adding ordinary photos - from the web or take them youself to use as backgrounds.

After getting familar with Daz Studio move on to Comic Book Creator at: http://www.myplanetwide.com/products/detail/description.html?id=41
and begin importing your renders into ready-made frames. You can even add your own captions etc.

Daz offer an incredible range of figures, clothes and props. What you can't find, simply model your own in MOI. Daz studio makes it easy to add textures to your exported .obj models.

Here are few pages from some of my comics that may offer further encouragement.
Just enjoy yourself, beginning with the simplist of stories, like the The Day The Swan Dropped in Below, where I used photos of my own back yard with a Daz 3D swan.

Good Luck

Ray

Cheshire
England

Hi Ray, thanks for the nudge to get me going with something like this - again, I've fancied doing this kinda stuff, just never attempted trying to complete a panel or two...

Thanks for the pointer to Comic Book Creator, never heard of that product before, I'll take a gander to see what it can do.

My 2D work is usually covered by Anime Studio Pro (formerly called Moho 5).

As far as character work, I do have Poser 7 and now Quidam Studio. I have played with Daz Studio in the past, and I like their posing controls over Poser's bit better.

The one thing your post has me thinking of doing is to panel up some of the cutscene video sequences of the game I'm working on.

This would let me use the resultant images from that as perhaps some "back story" material for a book that would be included with the game...

Anyway, thanks for showing your work, very inspirational!

-Will

PS - A program that I've been using for working on stories and creating storyboards is Celtx (and you just can't beat the price!):
http://celtx.com/overview.html

you have also Manga Studio Debut 49$ but you can find less ;)
http://my.smithmicro.com/win/manga/index.html