Feature request (also: I hate myself right now)

[bvz]

Ok, let me start off by saying that normally I am not the kind of person who starts using a new piece of software for 5 minutes and then loudly proclaims he (or she) knows much better how it should have been implemented.  Normally I try to work quietly to understand the paradigms that are natural for the software at hand and only then offer my thoughts on what might have been done differently (in my opinion).

So, that out of the way, please take the following suggestion as:  Here is a thought that crossed my mind that might make a neat interface change/addition - but keeping in mind that I am a complete noob at this program.


As a daily user of Nuke, I have come to really appreciate the parameters panel in that app.  It operates very similarly to the parameters in Terragen in that each node, when double clicked, brings up its own small "window" of parameters.  The nice thing about Nuke is that these little windows stack up in their own frame on the right side or the interface (or wherever you move it to).  They stack up such that the latest one you double clicked sits at the top of the stack.  The previous ones push downward in screen space but are still visible (a scroll bar appears if there are more parameter windows than there is vertical space).  After a user-defined number of parameter windows are open, the bottom-most one disappears off the stack (I usually like to keep about five open).  This is similar to Terragen's "stay open" button always being clicked on by default, but the oldest one of these parameter windows disappearing after there are more than (for example) five of them open.  It would let me see and compare multiple nodes at once.

Again, I am super new to Terragen and if this is a lousy suggestion, please just ignore it.  I hate the fact that I am that guy right now.  But if it is a useful request, then... well there you have it.


Here is a screen shot with three nodes and their parameters listed.

[Oshyan]

I think it's a useful suggestion, though not an entirely new one. I'm personally a fan of a similar variant of this idea as used in Lightroom and 3DS Max (the last time I used it anyway), which gives you a scrollable panel of *collapsible* settings areas. I think combining the two approaches might be even better, but certainly one of them would be nice. That being said, if I recall correctly some people rather dislike this approach, which may be why we haven't gone down that road yet. Still it's something I'd like to see in the future so it's good to bring up the idea again.

- Oshyan

[Kadri]

I would prefer a tabs approach more .
Feels less cluttered. To me at least.
But any one of these would be better then the current approach.

[Dune]

I wouldn't have it any other way. I open the nodes I need, shut them down again, and don't have too much clutter on my screen.

[Kadri]

It may be better for you ,Ulco.
But i always have to order the open nodes.
There should be a better way then this...

By the way , i find that to have the node windows to stay open , to click all the times more cumbersome.
Mostly i accidentally get nodes closed and have to find and open them ones more unnecessarily .
"Stay open" as default and closing it with the standard X would get rid of the small unnecessary place the "stay open" uses too.
Opinions?

[TheBadger]

""Stay open" as default and closing it with the standard X would get rid of the small unnecessary place the "stay open" uses too."
Agreed on this point.

The image in the OP has some familiar feel to it. Maya has panels like this in the "attribute Editor". The only problem I know of, is that when your going from one node to another via node connections, through the attribute Editor, I fell like I can get lost and end up in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing to the wrong node. In terragen, if you are working by clicking on the specific node, its hard to get lost.

Being able to get to any node in the first place as in Terragen, by zooming in on the group and clicking keeps things nice and clear.
I guess I could go for the change. But I would like it to be optional which view you want to see things by. Both are familiar to me now, and both have some good use.

By the way, the OP image is exactly how After effects stacks its filters and effects. It is very easy to use in AE. But I have never used nuke.

[bvz]

""Stay open" as default and closing it with the standard X would get rid of the small unnecessary place the "stay open" uses too."
Agreed on this point.

The image in the OP has some familiar feel to it. Maya has panels like this in the "attribute Editor". The only problem I know of, is that when your going from one node to another via node connections, through the attribute Editor, I fell like I can get lost and end up in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing to the wrong node. In terragen, if you are working by clicking on the specific node, its hard to get lost.

Being able to get to any node in the first place as in Terragen, by zooming in on the group and clicking keeps things nice and clear.
I guess I could go for the change. But I would like it to be optional which view you want to see things by. Both are familiar to me now, and both have some good use.

By the way, the OP image is exactly how After effects stacks its filters and effects. It is very easy to use in AE. But I have never used nuke.

I use Nuke every day at work, but just purchased after effects for myself a few days ago (last chance before Creative Cloud kicks in).  I'm looking forward to learning it (or re-learning it... used it a lot about 11 years ago).

I would want to emphasize that this request/suggestion/idea would be purely an optional thing.  The last thing I would want to do as a complete noob is suggest a wholesale change to the way experienced users interact with this program.

One issue that you correctly point out is that having the properties remain on screen can sometimes be confusing.  There are times in Nuke that I change the settings in the properties for a node only to realize sometime later that I had been looking at the wrong properties panel.  It can be a real headache.  Still, it has become a workflow that I have become very accustomed to and that seems to offer some benefits.  That is why I thought I would mention it.

I'm enjoying digging through Terragen on a pretty fundamental level right now (trying out all the different terrain nodes and seeing how they function/interact with each other)!

[Mr_Lamppost]

Good suggestion, some way to have several sets of parameters quickly accessible in a single window is a definite thumbs up. I often find myself switching back and forth between three, four or more nodes while tweaking a complex shader.  I've tried keeping multiple windows open but just end up shuffling them around trying to find the one I want.  A single window with tabs or better still expandable panels, Blender makes good use of this approach. 

[spacematt]

Just wanted to assure bvz he's not the only Terragen noob coming from Nuke and thinking exactly the same thing. For a while I was convinced there'd be a way to dock all the panels in that mostly empty area at the left.

Nuke has the ability to operate in the same way as Terragen where the properties panels can float around the interface. I have a colleague who prefers to work that way. Maya's tabbed attribute editor is similar, and I also prefer it to a series of floating windows but I agree with the previous poster who said it can be hard to navigate.

Anyway, I also don't want to be the new guy upsetting the experts who've been in here for years...