there may be some other commands like this as well but i can’t think of them at the moment but definitely the two in the title.
the problem has to do with the secondary dialog coming up while the user also has the option to interact with the model in the viewport.
when the secondary dialog opens (the one titled ‘adjust…’), it has focus… if i try to click on one of the control points, nothing appears to happen but what really happened is i’ve brought focus to the viewport… so now i have to click again on the point to actually interact with it.
that is the main thing that feels off about these commands but there are some other minor points as well:
• it seems like the points should be draggable instead of select->move->deselect… in the same way i’d drag a file around on the desktop for example (click&hold->drag->release)… or, the same way you drag other points around in rhino… pretty much every time i use one of the commands, i mess up the first time since i’m naturally trying to drag it… i’ll get the point where i want it then release except the point is still attached to the cursor so i have to do it over…
even if i remember the steps properly, it’s still 3 mouse clicks (focus, select, deselect) when it seems like it should be 1 (drag)
• another issue or inconsistency is if i’ve brought focus to the viewport, i can finish the command with RMB/spacebar/return… if i’ve only used the sliders or focus is in the dialog, i can’t commit with those methods and have to click the OK button… (and the issue is mainly-> if focus happens to be in the numerical input field and i push spacebar, it clears the field… RMB/return does nothing
I agree that these commands are quite awkward. These commands are implemented the same way on Windows as this is how the two commands are implemented in core Rhino.
realistically, from a user pov, I think I’ll just stick to using the dialog with these commands as opposed to going into the viewport controls.
it’s possible there are situations when physically moving the points would be beneficial for inferencing other geometry but none that I’ve personally encountered.
pretty much all of the points I raised in the first post have to do with both types of controls being available at once (dialog & viewport manipulation) when it seems only the dialog is necessary.
out of curiosity, does anybody have an example to share showing the need for viewport controls which can’t be accomplished with the dialog controls? (I’m on a phone for a while… can’t mess around with it myself now)
Hi Jeff-
I seldom use the sliders in BlendSrf , if that is what you meant- - the points on the on-screen controls are far more useful for placing the extents of the blend, rotating the sections, changing the shape of the blend at individual locations. If you do any of these things, then the dialog controls are not enough.
ahh. right.
I see what you’re saying (you can move a single point instead of a proportional(?) move of all points with the sliders)… I actually do that too but it just slipped my mind when posting.
also, I didn’t realize you could rotate the points while in the middle of the command (if I understand you correctly)
so-- back to the first post then. there are some weird UI things going on in there which could probably use some refinements.
the weirdest one is the need to switch focus between the viewport and dialog. I’ve seen similar issues in other Mac apps when involving dialogs so maybe it’s just an OS limitation. or, does the same focus switching have to happen in windows too?
Hi Jeff - in Windows, Adjust does not have focus as the command launches- the viewport does. I think I agree about click-drag-click to release, I think I’d rather just click and drag normally, but apparently I’ve got used to the current behavior. I’ll check on what is possible there- EndBulge is the same.
idk, i guess the main concern is that the command is helpful and the geometry created is correct… and as far as i can tell, that part of it works great
the other stuff i mentioned is just immediate user expectation doesn’t quite coincide with how the command acts so it’s not as easy to grasp/learn… but i’m pretty sure, now that i’ve talked about it / typed some stuff, it’s ingrained and the next time i use the commands, i’ll know exactly what to expect… i haven’t used the commands a whole lot but still, a decent amount over the years and they still bite me from time to time (esc/undo/restart)… that’s why i brought it up
One more thing about Blend.
If I write “ble” and enter, It asks me "Select first curve to blend"
If I want to blend surfaces I have to write “blends” and enter.
Why it can’t be in the same command? (There might be some very good reason, what I just don’t know/understand…)
I mean when writing “ble” it should ask "select curve or surface to blend"
I know this sounds like very very minor thing but I blend many times a day and that is pretty annoying that I have to sort what I want to blend…
Hi Henri - combining commands is fraught with potential problems- it can be a good idea in some cases but often is not. In this case, I can imagine it would get messy right away since Blend and BlendCrv (a much better command in general, by the way, than the older Blend) both allow blending between curves that happen to be surface edges - in a combined command, what should happen if you pick a surface edge? And so on…
fwiw, you can make aliases for command names… as in, you can customize what needs to be typed in the search field to call any given command.
Rhinoceros-> Preferences-> Aliases
• click the ‘+’ button at bottom left.
• on the left side, enter your custom letters you’d like to trigger the commands entered on the right side…
• for blendSrf, put an exclamation point in front of it which will tell rhino to cancel any command which are currently active prior to running blendsrf… like so ! BlendSrf
(use an underscore if you want it to work regardless of local language.)
now, i could just type BB <return> and BlendSrf will run.
you also have the option to assign it to a keyboard shortcut… something like ⌘B (which is by default, the _Block shortcut but you can change it if desired)… doing it like that, you’d just type ⌘B (no return) and the command is called.
Jeff, Thanks for the tip, I haven’t thought that, used Rhino 10 years… I think I have to go to make some changes there… I usually use buttons, but in some commands I’ll write, blend is one of them… Maybe I should try to remember more “fast commands”… I tried to use mouse buttons, but I just went back to the old way I’ve allways used… I think 2015 is good year to change old habits…
pascal, I don’t remember ever needed blend edge curves. If so, I’ve always duplicated borders before… I think it is weird that it makes edge curves when using blend… My opinion, it should blend edges if selected edge first / should blend curves if curve selected first…
I usually use buttons, but in some commands I’ll write, blend is one of them… Maybe I should try to remember more “fast commands”… I tried to use mouse buttons, but I just went back to the old way I’ve allways used… I think 2015 is good year to change old habits…