[-Adrian]

I will go ahead and quote zardrose, the oddest creature to lurk within the realms of the lux community:

Modo WIN!

I haven't had the chance to use very many other 3d apps though, so i can't say if it's the best on the list

Thank you Adam, we're improving the workflow of plugins.

Thanks a lot Tom, very good to hear.

[jjs]

Jonatan, here you can see the part of the interface that the SW team had decided to have in their application which reminds me nothing more than Bryce actually.

- I would agree the 'look' of SW is getting more and more child like - but I think that is also in part due to XP and its look and SW obsession with keeping in with Microsoft SW was not like this in the last century ! It was a cleaner interface back in the good old days !!

Anyway, I was just asking about "the-look", not the workflow. So it's not possible to compare SW to any other because it's one of the best mainstream design package. However the interface can be questionable such as above example.

Arh - If you want an opinion on 'the look' I suggest you talk to some graphic designers. If there are any professional Graphic Designers on this forum then they should speak up - the rest of us are just gifted in that field or not I am not sure what you mean by "So it's not possible to compare SW to any other because it's one of the best mainstream design package. However the interface can be questionable such as above example" - Functionally you may be right but graphically its no great design, but why can't it be compared? and are we confusing interface design with mere graphic skins?

It's true that Maxwell Studio have to be more customizable including all the colors and icons and macros. But, IMHO the result of this voting should decide the default template anyway.

Sounds like your looking to copy another package's 'look' - personally I think the one you have is acceptable, but if you want to create something new, it is probably best not to pay too much attention to other packages. These are all 'old' designs and I am sure given enough drugs a new design can be found for the 'look'.

TTFN


Jonathan

[tom]

Arh - If you want an opinion on 'the look' I suggest you talk to some graphic designers.

Contrary, we need to know with what do people feel comfortable with...

Sounds like your looking to copy another package's 'look'

No, it's definitely not the intention. Anybody has to make it with the most wanteds, that's all. We have nothing to do with the other applications but having and idea is a cue. This doesn't mean we copy things, it means we take care of users' needs and comfort.

[mick]

What no option for Cosmic Blobs ?

[jjs]

Tom -

I admire your desire to get feedback from people about which design they like - or rather they feel comfortable with.

Well - here are a couple of Photoshopped maxwell GUI i've just done to lighten it off and simplify the bevelling that Next Limit has put around each box - It can get a bit heavy and 'sheetsteel' like - A bit like being in a tank

I have changed the scroll slider to a 'Maxwell Icon' on a groove that changes in length according to how much scrolling is needed to cover the window - adds a bit of random rythym to the screen. Added a horizontal one as well where needed. More fun could be had with this, and it could be made the Maxwell signature that makes the GUI easily identifiable on screenshots.

Changed text to blue for the moment - I think a new font is needed -

Reduced the border on each box by 2 pixels on all sides.


Knocked off the corners of each box by one pixel.

The background is white noise, and is allowed to show through all boxes. Could be a custom texture for those who want to customise. - Not quite sure how you would deal with the 'Breakout Boxes' - I suppose the background would have to be a small tiled texture.

Anyway - Good luck

TTFN


Jonathan

I'll fiddle with different colours and weights later

[Polyxo]

Thank you Johann! I'm pleased, that I could convince you.

Holger

[tom]

Thank you for the suggestions...
Maybe now people can see light interface and it will affect the voting here
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... hp?t=12092
But I really wonder, do you really think this is better than the current one?
Seriously...ah

[KRZ]

i love cute colour-schemes! KAWAAAAIIIII:)

i voted for 3dmax just because you can tweak it like you want and with maxscript even write your own stuff. cant get better. as far as i see c4d is on the same road. modo has some clever features but lacks customizability and is therfore "cool" at first but stuck in the long term.

ZBRUSH BRYCE POSER KAI KRUSE GOSH I HATE THIS GUY AS MUCH AS I ADMIRE HIM FOR HIS VISIONS. THOSE GUIs JUST PLAINLY SUCK! they have a lot of sophistication in them...just see how ridiculously many "click, drag-in, drag-out, doubleclick, aso" features a simply curve in zbrush has! the first time i did that gui tutorial i was blown away by the smartness of it...but beside that ITS PLAINLY UN-INTUITIVE and thats a thing that cant be overrated. i dont want to study a programm...i want to dive in and find the things in the right place. and yes genes and history cant just be eliminated if you want to make something better. you have to take the user at his hand and pick him up there he is right now and make babysteps toward the utopia and not rush him till he stumbles.

therefore please dont fall for this designer-guis just give me a clean solid funktional gui that is highly customizable. sophistication of a gui can be understood by the workflow it creates. les clicks ... les need to find a feature = better.

[jjs]

Thank you for the suggestions...
Maybe now people can see light interface and it will affect the voting here
http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... hp?t=12092
But I really wonder, do you really think this is better than the current one?
Seriously...ah

Not really - I don't think I have got the colour balance correct. The colour schemes I posted are quick schematics and I think the contrast is a little too glaring on the eye.

TTFN

Jonathan

[aitraaz]

hmmm not bad jjs

Some UI design manual rules: (not referencing to anything)

The user is not using your application

The most basic point in all computer UI design is that the user does not want to use your application. They want to get their work done as quickly and easily as possible, and the application is simply a tool aiding that. The more you can keep your application out of the way of the user, the better. Effort spent on using your application is effort not spent on the work the user is trying to do. Two key quotes from Alan Cooper's second book, About Face 2.0, summarise this very well:

“Imagine users as very intelligent but very busy”
“No matter how cool your interface is, less of it would be better”

[jjs]

hmmm not bad jjs

aitraaz -
damned with faint praise eh


The point about the reluctant user is very valid - I turn down work that involves Autocad files - its just not worth the bother.

I am not sure where Tom is going with this consultation, but I feel like a scientist in the 18century looking down a microscope and seeing things happen. Why they happen, it is great fun trying to figure out why.

I can understand why the 'Studio' is like it is. It has all the parameters visible and no deep heirachy has been established so there is not much drilling down required to get to any parameter. This way, I presume, is easiest to programme and build with a simple template. Changes are then very easy to implement. Any design work on creating an innovative and custom GUI that is optimised for Maxwell Studio will take time and money that is probably best spent else where.

Personally if money and time were no object - I would major on two aspects of the GUI - The Main Window and tryu and mimic and innovate the way the Mains Screen can be made like 'looking into an SLR camera' . All aperture & shutter (with audio feedback clicks when going through the full and half fstops)- Auto , shutter priority, aperturepriority , light exposure DOF etc can be tastefully populated around the edge. Preview can be like a roll blind that is pulled accross the screen. The pupose of this is to re-inforce the 'unique selling point' of Maxwell that it is like virtual photography and easy to use if one can use a camera.

The next seperate module would concern the Materials and Objects that could be put on the second screen. I know that some people do not have two monitors so a quick tri-toggle button could be provided that swaps the screens over or zooms one down to a smaller size on a single monitor.


In the meantime, it looks like Henry Ford might be looking to offer a colour other than Black.

TTFN

Jonathan

[/quote]

[aitraaz]

uups i meant brilliant

now i'll get a good slagging for this:

seeing that apple's aperture and maxwell studio share the same splash screen graphics anyway , we decide upon a merger between aperture's stacks and metadeta batching with Maxwell's SLR photographic aspects, and we arrive at release 1.0 of 'Maxwell Viewfinder'. The antique concept of stand alone render application UI's being based upon CAD program interfaces is at long last defeated...

[jjs]

uups i meant brilliant

now i'll get a good slagging for this:

seeing that apple's aperture and maxwell studio share the same splash screen graphics anyway , we decide upon a merger between aperture's stacks and metadeta batching with Maxwell's SLR photographic aspects, and we arrive at release 1.0 of 'Maxwell Viewfinder'. The antique concept of stand alone render application UI's being based upon CAD program interfaces is at long last defeated...

Brilliant - just what I had in mind - with all the bit around the edge a bit smaller, the material library that is at the bottom is like a pull out blind from the bottom edge - and the viewfinder connected to a Connexion Spacemouse with 12 preset buttons to playwith (or whatever it is called now)so that we can set the camera up just right.

TTFN

Joanathan

[aitraaz]

and the viewfinder connected to a Connexion Spacemouse with 12 preset buttons to playwith (or whatever it is called now)

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