First I hope that most of my issues don’t simply stem from me coming over from a PC version of Rhino.
Also I am hoping that these issues are simply because the program is under construction.
No snap tool bars. In PC version you can snap your toolbars into the overall window which is an awesome feature which saves monitor space. As you can see in the attached image there is a section of wasted monitor space on the top left as the snap toolbar is awkward and usually goes where the command bar is located. Untitled-1.pdf(1.1 MB)
No option to determine your default dimensions when opening a new rhino file. IE I typically work in large objects in inches. Instead you get mm and a layer toolbar with a default of 1 layer. I like having a default of 6 layers.
When you open up a template it reorganizes the viewports ‘wrong’. The normal viewports are arranged Top, Perspective, Front, Right. They are now Right, Perspective, Top, Front. What?!
Can’t access viewport options by right clicking on the view windows name.
No save as? Is this now duplicate?
Background bitmap won’t allow me to remove grayscale. This is probably a bug? Also you have to now remove a bitmap before you can add another one. It use to auto replace.
You were also able to change submenu options in the command line with the click of a mouse. Now you have to enter a capital letter and push enter. Can this be changed in default settings?
I totally agree on point #1. Palettes should be dockable and groupable. Managing palettes without snapping feels so 1990. I am an hardcore Mac user and I have no argument about NOT doing it.
Another thing I may add:
The Options button says to use Preferences menu when clicked upon… but why not making the Options button go directly to Preferences instead?
My opinion: Marlin is first a Mac fanboy, then a Rhino fanboy. However, if it weren’t for him there probably wouldn’t be a Mac version. He’s not only the best we’ve got, he’s the only one we’ve got. I personally think that the Rhino versions should be as similar in operation as humanly possible. Since the Windows version is Master, the Mac version developer is adapting code and will need to bear the brunt of following such a policy, although the Windows developers should remain open to changing things, where there is a strong argument, to improve similarity.
You allude to the Preferences issue and make an obvious suggestion. Maintaining two OS versions will probably require even more of this type of compromise to aid users of one OS to to use the other OS version starting from their original set of expectations and habits. These should always do as you suggest and provide the functionality directly (maybe with a reminder popup about how it is natively done), rather than providing an implied admonishment that the user “didn’t do it the right way, and maybe he’s not smart enough to use the Chosen System”. To me, Rhino is the Chosen System and the OS is just a necessary step along the path to using it.
I’m not sure it being a mac thing is valid in terms of deciding functionality and interface design of software.
Especially when it comes to something like dockable toolbars. It’s always been an option to have them as a window or simply drag them into the larger window to dock in PC. Are mac users so rigid/timid to a minor IMO improvement in how to operate within software not to include it?
I’m just curious as to this whole ‘mac thing.’ As I obviously have a bias coming over from a PC platform this doesn’t mean I am incapable of or unwilling to learn a new way of thinking or operating my workflow. I am curious as a designer to what this mac workflow really is because I really don’t see it? The basics being IE I need to click 3 times with a mouse and 3 keystrokes in a mac setting to get something done as opposed to only 3 clicks of a mouse and 1 keystroke in a PC.
Yes, I have raised this issue before… While I personally would have liked that the Mac interface was similar to Windows (since I have to deal with both) I know that’s not going to happen… But I am always hoping that the thing doesn’t become an ideological fight where purity wins out over usability, to the detriment of all users.
Docking panels are a good way of keeping your workspace organized, and the current WinRhino implementation of tabbed panels works really well to keep workspace clutter down to a minimum and accessibility to a maximum. Would be nice to see something similar in MacRhino, and I think Mac users would appreciate the usability even if it was not 100% Mac universal strict guidelines stuff. Remember, Rhino is a professional 3D modeling environment, not a consumer-level mass-distributed app; it has to be adapted to the needs of the professionals who use it. I’m willing to bet those people care more about efficient use rather than conventions.
This is currently the most ridiculous and annoying thing in the MacRhino interface.
First, you put a big, fat gearwheel icon out there in the main toolbar - and you even put a tooltip on it that says “Options”. Then as soon as someone clicks on it you get a message like: “Hey idiot! Why the !@# did you click on this icon? It doesn’t lead anywhere. Boy, you really are dumb, only stupid Windows users would try this! Don’t you know your way around a Mac?”
This is just completely mean-spirited and not at all like the Rhino philosophy I am used to.
Either:
Take out the gearwheel icon as well as the Tools>Options menu item out completely and let people “find” Rhinoceros>Preferences, or,
Make the gearwheel icon go directly to Preferences without beating people over the head.
There’s enough space in the top toolbar to have icons for “Settings” (document properties)" as well as “Preferences” (Options)
There’s a lot of places where the PC Rhino doesn’t comply with Windows standard practices either. Sometimes maddeningly and bafflingly so and sometimes brilliantly and satisfyingly so. And in Windows, as in OSx, departing from the standard means disregarding a lot of MS supplied tools and writing your own, so a developer can spend a lot of extra time in the departure. That’s pretty good motivation for making it something good.
As a Mac user and a former / part-time Windows user, i also did not understand why this was done … way back when.
I agree, all the preferences and program settings should be in the Rhino / preferences like all Mac programs. In Windows if I go to change a T-Splines preference it brings up the same dialogue box as if I want to change Rhino settings … Mac should be the same. There is no need for an alternative to change dimension or grid settings. These should all be in one place, wherever it should be.
As a side-note, I also likes it when I could right click to change view / cplane or camera settings instead of now having to go up to menubar and click one then another to change one of those. This could only be available if nothing is selected, like changing from wireframe to shaded for example.
you can… not exactly like on windows since the mac commands are presented vertically instead of horizontally but the ‘command bar’ is movable and will remain in the location last used… also, it’s not dockable in the sense i think you’re saying.
go Preferences-> Themes
select ‘Use command options dialog’ instead of ‘Command options in sidebar’
with this option, you’ll just start typing and the command search pops up… then the commands are driven through a floating pop up when in use. (and it goes away when not being used)
