On 12/20/2011 7:54 AM, Mr wrote:
> John VanSickle<evi### [at] KOSHERhotmailcom>  wrote:
>> On 12/16/2011 9:26 AM, Invisible wrote:
>>
>>> OK, let me be more specific: Clearly the likes of Pixar, ILM and so
>>> forth must have tools that enable you to model organic shapes. It's news
>>> to me that normal humans can get their hands on such tools.
>>
>> The Big House apps are apparently developed in-house and with some
>> exceptions are not available to the general public.
>>
>> I am working on a modeler which to exports POV-Ray .INC files of the
>> model, which can be posed if the proper variable are set before calling
>> the file.  I intend to add scene-building in an upcoming version.  I am
>> giving up video gaming for a year, starting in January, so I should have
>> a great deal more time for working on this.
>>
>> http://evilsnack.byethost22.com/lionsnake.htm
>>
>> It is presently at a level that some users would call "kinda sucky and
>> frustrating," but it's better than trying to model a head with
>> hand-edited SDL.
>>
>>> (And, as you know, normal humans do not have hundreds of thousands of
>>> pounds.)
>>
>> Which is why I'm writing one of my own, because I don't have the $$$ for
>> a high-class modeling app, either.
>
> There must be another reason why you're doing it because Blender is free for any
> use and welcomes contributions with various levels of expertise, from core
> modifications to Python scripting. (There's a lot of ressources around to learn
> the necessary bits of Python, such as Gerard Swinnen's books, etc.

Yes, there is indeed another reason:  Blender's UI is still as obtuse as 
a playground bully.  I just downloaded, installed, and attempted to use 
v2.61, and it was only because I remembered what I learned the last time 
I tried Blender that I was able to do anything at all.

I think the cause may be a desire to make every feature as quickly 
accessible as possible.  But this is like having a few dozen people 
talking to you at once when you in turn are trying to find and then deal 
with just a few of them.  When I'm editing a model's geometry, I neither 
need nor want to see buttons for material editing, lighting set-up, etc. 
  I just want to edit the model's topology and quickly alter the view so 
that I can see the model from any angle and at any scale I need.

For my own modeler I am trying to make things much more intuitive.  The 
ideal I am striving for is:

* When your mouse hovers over an object, that something is highlighted;
* A left click on an object selects it;
* Where appropriate, left clicking, and then dragging, moves or 
otherwise modifies the highlighted object;
* A right clock on an object brings up a context menu with the most 
commonly-used operations for that type of object;
* A left click in empty space starts a selection box for selecting 
multiple items at once;
* A right click in empty space brings up a context menu giving access to 
operations that use the current selection, or don't require an existing 
object at all.

Other people may find the Blender UI to be no problem, but I prefer 
something much leaner, so that's what I'm trying to build.

Regards,
John

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