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jwatte
DeleD PRO user
Joined: 26 Apr 2006
Posts: 513
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 Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 4:14 pm Post subject: UI message boxes |
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Regarding the non-power-of-two texture warning feature requested in another thread:
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| don't force-feed your power users pedantic dialog boxes they have to keep clicking away |
You mean, like the "are you sure you want to delete the selected X" dialog? If I change my mind, Undo will get it back anyway, so what's the dialog good for?
The solution that tools aimed at power users use (I've seen it in 3dsmax, MSDEV, and even Photoshop) is to put a checkbox in the dialog saying "don't show me this again".
However, the frequency of the command can also be an important consideration. You probably delete objects more often than you, say, create new materials with non-power-of-two textures. Thus, a dialog box warning about textures is less annoying than a dialog box confirming a delete.
An alternative is to have a small icon overlay on the material pre-view. Say, a white number 2 within a red ball, about 10 pixels tall. When you open the material for editing, these materials could have a single line of texture close to the texture name, saying "this texture is not power of 2 sized". That would give the necessary information, without intruding. In fact, it would be preferrable, because it gives the information whenever the material is edited, rather than just when adding the texture to the material. |
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Jeroen
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 5332
Location: The Netherlands
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: UI message boxes |
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| jwatte wrote: |
| The solution that tools aimed at power users use (I've seen it in 3dsmax, MSDEV, and even Photoshop) is to put a checkbox in the dialog saying "don't show me this again". |
I really love features like that in an application. DeleD itself uses it when displaying hints at startup and I think it would be a good idea to use it when displaying warning messages also. Putting it on our TODO list.  |
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Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
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| Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 11:07 am Post subject: |
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Jwatte... good point there! Although deleting stuff is always a bit exceptional in UI design... For instance, I don't think you can get rid of the 'confirm delete' dialog in Windows explorer. And Windows Explorer no doubt has had a _lot_ of usability testing. But offtopic blurp aside (I very much enjoy discussions on this topic, as my dayjob consists mostly of making custom software where this issue is not given much attention)... as both the potential severity of the action and the attention level of the target user are quite different in this case, your remark is spot-on.
As a power user, I'd love the little overlay in the particular case that started this discussion, but I don't think that outweighs the extra complexity it would add for a casual user in this case (what the heck is that little thingy all about?). Your suggestion with the checkbox sounds like the way to go indeed.
An other option in that particular case would be to identify at what exports a non-power-of-2 texture would cause trouble, and have the corresponding exporter plugins take action. That way users that have no problems with npo2 textures are not bothered. Then again, users that are may end up finishing their models, and _then_ getting told they shouldn't have used some of those textures. Not such a hot idea |
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