Hello there!
I highly appreciate Rhino and its very user-friendly user interface as an industrial designer and am very happy with most parts of it. The Layer panel is also perfectly okay and does what it is supposed to do.
Nevertheless, there are a few things I have questions about or think should be improved about the Layer Panel and I will give some examples on how:
Why can’t you turn off the visibility of the current layer?
…Well, why would you do that?
- Because we want to see what’s below it / quickly toggle between hide and show. For example: I’m doing an iteration of the version before and want to quickly check the differences. This is possible in any other software, 2D, 3D — why not in Rhino?
Don’t patronize users! Yes, if I draw something on an invisible layer, it will be invisible…
Instead, warn us with a pop-up when we try to draw on a hidden layer!
easy workaround: (use hide/unhide or activate another layer) but it could be easier?
I had projects where I was turning layer visibility on and off 100x a day.
Why can’t you toggle the visibility of parent layers?
The user now needs to activate a layer outside of the current layer group every time out of necessity to toggle visibility for the current layer group. This other group then becomes automatically visible. It’s a back and forth.
Half-visible/half locked state/icon
What is it now? Visible or not visible? Locked or not?
I get the idea but it becomes visually confusing with many layers.
I have good eyesight and have to look very closely each time if this is now visible or “half visible”.
Most software deals with this by greying out the icons:
My recommendation for icons:
layer visible = lightbulb
layer hidden = lightbulb contour
layer visible, parent hidden = greyed-out lightbulb
The use of lightbulb/lightbulb contour is much easier to see than the difference in blue/yellow.
The lock only needs to be there when something is locked!
layer locked = lock
layer unlocked =
layer unlocked, parent locked = greyed out lock
Rhino distinguishes between the active layer (checkmark) and the selected layer (highlighted)
Easy to get used to, not sure if that’s necessary. The highlighted layer exists so you can move it up or down with the arrows. Also to rename layers without making them visible → This is only necessary because layers become auto visible!
My recommendation:
selecting layer = click
renaming layer = double click
moving layer up/down/side = shortcuts/drag
layer select for options = right click
Most software uses active layer = highlighted layer.
Layers that are active automatically become visible.
Benefit: saves 1 click. Downsides:
1.) In combination with the fact that you have to activate a different layer in order to (toggle visibility for current layer / toggle visibility for parent layer), this can becomes a hassle.
2.) The need to separate active layer and selected layer, as explained above.
Block Manager
Is separate from the Layers panel. All in one place would be nice!
With linked → layer: reference, everything is very organized.
With linked → layer: active, it is not always clear which layer comes from which block. You have to check in the block manager. Also, if a block is deleted, the layers stay in the file - not sure if that’s useful.
Minor visual overhaul
Small things, like spacing or icons, could be improved. For example: Why an “unlocked” icon? I only really care if a layer is locked. Cleans up the space and makes locked layers pop out more!
latency that prevents double clicking the lightbulb
Is this performance-related? I had projects to work on with dozens of hidden layers. In order to quickly see what is in each layer, I now have to wait every time +1s before toggling back to the other state, instead of doing a double click. Tiny thing, but can get annoying.
I regularly switch between Rhino / Blender / Ps / Ai… and have to say I admire the simplicity of most other Layer Panels. Most of them work visually similar and I think an adoption to the majority would be beneficial for the UX.