Hey Michael,
You might take a look at Wings 3D & Adobe Illustrator for ways to organize the Grouping/Layering functions. Wings' "Geometry Graph" window allows you to select, name, view/hide, and change the shading options of individual objects. See the "Wings" image below. However, it is limited by not being able to handle re-ordering, hierarchies or "group operations" (like multi-selecting to change the shading or visibility of many objects at once). As well, each object has its own entry making objects composed of a lot of primitives- like the spider tank rough-out in my screen capture - take up a lot of space in the window.
Illustrator uses a similar approach but allows parenting, multi-select and group operations within and across layers - see Illustrator image below.
Both examples use a tabular layout, almost like a spreadsheet, which keeps navigation simple, direct and easy. Using this kind of layout would also allow you to move some of the commands (like "hide", "show points", etc) off of the edit panel, and onto this new panel. Like the rest of the GUI, the Geometry/Layer section could be added to the right hand side as a collapsible panel, perhaps as part of the middle edit/view panel. This approach would keep current the look and feel intact, adds to the functionality, provides ease of use and doesn't have to hog precious UI real-estate. A win for everyone, provided the coding isn't too back-breaking!
Hope this is helpful info. I know this functionality would benefit me greatly and improve MoI's already fast and comfortable workflow.
Thanks for soliciting and valuing our input.
|
