On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:17:50 -0500, Kyle wrote:

> Let me start off by saying that better context-sensitive menus would go a
> long way to help this application.  When you only have vertices selected,
> why show face functions, edge functions, etc.

I can see that, OK.

> I learned to model efficiently in Wings3d after a few tutorials and a few
> hours of playing around. I realize it is not as powerful of an application
> as Blender, but it is definitely intuitive and easy to figure out for
> basic modeling and UV mapping.

I often use Wings3D and Blender in concert - export to LWO and import into
Blender.  That seems to be a very popular combination when you want to
combine subdivision modelling with some of the advanced features in
Blender.

> What's up with not prompting to save on close?  I realize you should close
> with caution, but accidents do happen.  I have autosave on, but losing
> five minutes of work can still be damaging and frustrating.

Depending on your platform, look in the temp directory (on linux it's
/tmp) for the file quit.blend - that's saved on exit without being
prompted.  Had to use that last night, as I accidentally hit ALT+F4 while
working on something.

> The materials and texture interface is somewhat confusing.  I'm sure this
> may be from my inexperience, but just trying to find something simple,
> like which value to set under which sub window under which context to
> scale a material is kind of difficult.  Also, I've seen something to do
> with using empties and materials to set the material on an object, but I
> haven't figured out what the heck is up with that yet.

I'll admit to not being good with materials in general, and I haven't
ventured into doing procedural materials or textures as of yet.

> The viewport does not display textures properly if you have the textured
> view selected in the viewport shading control.  If you have shaded
> selected, it only displays the material properly if it is a detailed mesh
> or if the mesh is subsurfed for higher detail.  I know I can use render
> preview, but that doesn't seem to always update properly when changing
> material or texture settings.

Blender does seem to assume you're using UV maps for textures often when
not; I usually go for the shaded output, but I also tend to do a lot of
test renders while I'm working if I'm not sure of the texture in the scene.

> Why not have common function on single keystrokes, instead of multiple
> keystrokes?  For something like edge loop select, why not just use
> something like "L", instead of "CTRL + E, 7"?  

CTRL+E is the edge menu, I find that once I associate the menus with what
they do, that helps a lot.  With as many functions as there are, defining
"common" for everyone could be fairly difficult.  For example, I never use
edge loops (at least I haven't had to yet), so wasting the L key on
something I never use rather than on something that I do use (not sure
what the key is assigned to).  That becomes something very much in the eye
of the beholder, so I find this key selection logical because it groups
functions together by a classification.

> Also, the menu says that
> edge loop select is "CTRL + E, 6", but it is really "CTRL + E, 7" in 2.43.

That would be called a "bug". It happens in software development.  ;-)

> I really like some of the features that I've seen in the demos, such as
> what you've just described. The rigging, skinning and animation features
> seem very promising.

Yes, I  think that's a very strong point, which is part of the reason I
combine tools.  Some of the deformation tools new in 2.43 are interesting
to work with, too.

Jim

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