I've collected some ideas, I think would improve Wings.


#1

(I also posted this on the official Wings forum)
I’ve collected some ideas, I think would improve Wings since I used it. I edited the list to fit for 98.15a release. However there might be stuff that are exist in Wings, but I mentioned it because I haven’t discovered it yet - If you find it so, please make me know abut it.

Thankx for developing this outstanding application!

Viewport:

-When Editing is smooth-shading mode, don’t chnge back to flat-shaded it’s disturbing.

-Two lights would be more useful if it was as bright as the one light option. Currently it darkens the model too much. Preferences to this woul be cool, for example to adjust where the main light comes from. Or allow the user, to make a custom lightsetup, and save it as a default lighting - so it will not rotate with the scene.

-Align to selection work together with temporary hilighted selection.

-Option to hide wirtual mirror’s seam automatically, without freeze.

-View currently assigned hotkeys in a chart. Printable, or copy/paste-able.

-Arrangeable elements in Object & Outliner. Drag & drop to change order.

-Minimize/Maximize to Object & Outliner. Like in Photoshop, minimize to header then maximize to previous window setting. This would help to quickly gain workspace, without closing/loosing the windows’ position.

-I don’t see an issue why toggle of the visibility & lock of objects are disabled while in Tweak mode. Please enable it, I constantly go out/in of Tweak just to toggle these.

-Would be cool to toggle options like visibility in Object window, in the way photoshop does. You hold mouse button (like painting selections) continuously and drag to toggle options on multiple items. That’s all.

-Even giving color code to Object Window items would help on quick identifing. It seems photoshop’s layer system could be a good object to follow.

-After Separate, objects loose their original name. Would be nice if the names was restored after separate.

-Select region till hard edge. I select an element and it grows the selection until a hard ege is found.

-Select till material. I select a face and it grows the selection until the same material found.

-Right click on Object Selection Levels could shrink the selection, as L click does grow it.

-Save materials to library. I have to import them in a complicated way now.

-Don’t count polygons where hole is defined.

-change grid parameters: size and divison


Modelling:

-Change magnet move’s rate of growing/shrinking radius. (Sometimes, when it comes to detailing, I have to scale the model up, to be able to adjust magnet move’s radius more subtle.)

-Magnet move remember the last radius adjusted, after exiting Tweak mode.

-Change selection type should work in tweak mode. Vertices’, edges’, faces’ hotkeys.

-I’d like to have constrains for tighten, or have a radial tighten if you like. For ex. if I want to tighten an arm it would be useful not to shorten it’s length.

-Knife tool, to cut edges exactly where I want. :>

-Sphericize tool would be useful. (It’s not tighten you know…)

-A tool to distripbute selected vertices evenly, yet maintain the original form approximately.

-I think it would add to scale if tossing the mouse up/down & left/right would mean other axes & scale non uniformly. At least worth a try.

-Support of geodesic type spheres, for low-poly cause.

-Ability To lock parts of the mesh, so it can’t be modified accidentally! This would come in handy 4 me right now, making morph targets for the mouth! Vertex, Line, Face selections could be locked, and the locked part could be higlighted by a specific color.

-Erasing at least 2 edges going trought a vertex should erase the vertext too, if the vertex don’t maintain other edges. I often come up doing it manually, when erasing edge-loops.


#2

Some good points Xaint. A lot of these are planned for future versions of Wings. One thing I would like is the materials library but I’ve not heard that BJorn intends implementing it :o(
Spherise is already in Wings! Vertex menu>deform>Inflate -Baz


#3

Thankx Baz! It’s a Funny thing to play with…

Some new ideaz:

-Ability to mask-out parts of the mesh. An icon in geometry graph can be related to this mask, toggling this will enter in/out to mask mode. (It’s like Photoshop’s quick mask.) Masked parts are hidden, and non-selectable in normal mode. In mask mode, the whole mesh is visible, with masked parts hilighted as selecions.
Geometry graph could be a highly powerful feautre in Wings, there’s more things that could be done here.

-Also various modes could change Geometry window’s header’s color. So you’ll clearly know what mode are you in. (It’s like when you turn on animate button in MAX - the Viewport border changes to red.) It can be used to Tweak, Polygon proxy, Mask mode, etc…


#4

<< Change selection type should work in tweak mode >>

This seems ok to me - (/15a)
Press space, get all three (as usual)
press v/e/f - get the relevant - and stays in that, until space hit.

Or or you meaning something else?

As Baz indicates, a lot of these are on Bj’s list - many others - on list (or not) , have been mentioned / chewed over (sometimes often) on various occasions :slight_smile:

Might be of interest, if not already seen?
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=406955&group_id=33028&func=browse

pp


#5

I reconfigured my keys to fit my style, so mine is not v/e/f. I tried waht you suggested, PP. V & E works in tweak, but F don’t - maybe a reinstall or redefine keyboard would solve the problem. But I would like to reassign hotkeys that I already use sor normal mode. I haven’t figured out where to change tweak mode’s selection type hotkeys.

Btw, thakx for the link, PP! How can someone’s idea be on this list? Is it something that’s Bjorn’s choice from forums (or somwhere else), or it’s up to people to post here ideas?


#6

I don’t see an issue why toggle of the visibility & lock of objects are disabled while in Tweak mode. Please enable it, I constantly go out/in of Tweak just to toggle these.

I was an oversight. It will work in the next release.

Align to selection work together with temporary hilighted selection.

It will in the next release.

A tool to distripbute selected vertices evenly, yet maintain the original form approximately.

Have you tried Tighten?

Many of the other wishes are on my list (material libraries too). I don’t know when any given feature will be added to Wings - some things that seems simple could be surprisingly difficult to implement correctly or fast enough.


#7

<< How can someone’s idea be on this list? >>

Just post it there - that’s all - some are very old - as you’ll see, if you have a look

Whilst posting feature requests (and bug reports) at SF was really the preferred option (easier tracking etc) - it wasn’t followed / used by many people …

In earlier days, there used to be a ‘Wings Wants’ compilation - of stuff mentioned in the forum - hoping that people would read such a list - before - adding what they thought was a ‘new’ idea.

It quickly became obvious that this wasn’t being done …

<< where to change tweak mode’s selection type hotkeys >>

I still use the defaults - presumably you’ve changed yours via the 'Select | Adjacent -> v/e/f/b route and only v and e replacements work?

Try moving your prefs (don’t delete) - restart wings (will have default prefs) and try re-assigning v/e/f to keys of your choice - and see what happens.

Sometimes stuff gets left behind/ forgotten :slight_smile:

If this works (with fresh prefs) it’ll be an indication that there’s possibly some sort of conflict

pp


#8

To bjorng:

A tool to distripbute selected vertices evenly, yet maintain the original form approximately.

Tighten also scales the selection, it’s molre like a tighten, without scale. The surface retains the same volume (as close as it can), but the vertices are distributed evenly along the surface. It even’s the geometry.

To PP.:
Thanks it solves the problem! I always copied the old prefs, I had. Some things may left behind, and invalid…

What do you guys think of the masking feature? I don’t know about such implementation in other 3d software, but It could work out well.

Also, if something isn’t clear that I wrote down, please ask and I’ll try to explain.


#9

Clacos’ Tweak_s plug has ‘masking’ facilities - but this is more a geom lock (another of those above) than a visibility toggle…

You’ll have to revert to a previous wings version to be able to take it for a test drive, tho’ and see how he went about implementing same :slight_smile:

I’m sure a (selective) vis toggle would have uses - but having said that, it wouldn’t be very high on my personal list of new / improved features either :slight_smile:

pp


#10

<< where to change tweak mode’s selection type hotkeys >>

I still use the defaults - presumably you’ve changed yours via the 'Select | Adjacent -> v/e/f/b route and only v and e replacements work?

Try moving your prefs (don’t delete) - restart wings (will have default prefs) and try re-assigning v/e/f to keys of your choice - and see what happens.

Originally posted by Xaint
To bjorng:
To PP.:
Thanks it solves the problem! I always copied the old prefs, I had. Some things may left behind, and invalid…

Humm… I overlooked something, It doesn’t work. Could somebody try to re-map these hotkeys? Just to see, if only I have the problem or it’s common.


#11

A couple of more ideas/feature requests when working with facets:

  • Radial Move - Radial Scale is implemented, but why not Radial Move also ?

  • Additional option in Radial Scale (and Radial Move when it gets implementet) -> Radial Scale/Move from Centre Point (of facet or computed centre point of several facets)

Cheers
Rune


#12

“When Editing in smooth-shading mode, don’t chnge back to flat-shaded it’s disturbing.”

Is it possible to implement this in Wings in the near future? It doesn’t sound too complicated, but maybe it is.
It would be a great advantage to me, 'cause I model characters, and I often switch to smooth shaded mode to get a better view of the figure. Then when I tweak I loose the contact with the smooth form - because the applixation changes to flat shaded view.
:shrug:

Btw, how can I define a temporary selection? I tought it’s what is hilighted in green, under the cursor.
“Align to selection work together with temporary hilighted selection.”
I meant: Green hilighted element+A -> View aligned to it.
it’s obvious that I miss something here.
Edit
I got it, checked in the advanced menu
But it would be also nice if it would work with ‘frame’ also. It’s useful, when virtual mirror is on, and it calculates both side of the mesh to the ‘frame’.
Thanx!


#13

The 2 lights would be cool, but it’s too dark to be useable. It’s brightness sholud’ve been the same as with one light. An option in the preferences would come in handy for adjusting the brightness, so everyone find his/her liking. Or just simply make it brighter, 'cause the black edges can’t show up clearly this way.

Please comment!

I included a sample:


#14

Oh man! Ideas always come after I’ve posted!
So, to make the model brighter I tuned up the emission in the material. That’s it. It works fine.:buttrock:


#15

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