Where is elegance in new LW 8 interface?

#1

I’ve been keepin an eye on interface changes from first shots (rounded buttons…ugh!!), till today.
I’m very dissapointed with the looks of it. While usability hasn’t been changed (maybe just one bit to better) from [6], slickness is definately gone.
This looks like 5.x version.
Flat look would be mucho better…anythinhg would be better than this.
When You take a look to interface as a whole You can see that viewport buttons stick out, viewports divider sticks out, font doesn’t look good…

Is it possible than no one on Newtek can see that from designers point of view this interface is failure?

#2

Perhaps it’s more customizable then we know yet…

I like it personally.

#3

I personally hated the brushed steel look of LightWave 6 and LightWave 7 - I think it looks tacky. I hate “pretty” interfaces, and have never really understood the necessity for them.

Interfaces should be plain and purely functional, in my opinion.

From what I’ve seen of LightWave 8’s interface, I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
I think that 5.6’s interface was the best ever :drool:

#4

idem for me Leigh :slight_smile:

#5

well, I say no bevels or extensive outlining. I think the retro 5.6 look is way too cluttered. And it looks ole the way Mirage looks old. There were some great proposals at the NT forum site. You should check it out…

#6

I like my UI with flat colors, usually gray and no bells and whistles. I like the simplicity of lightwave’s UI as it doesn’t get in the way of design. Screen clutter is what I dislike about a UI. Max and Maya both I think are overly cluttered. XSI has a sweet UI though. I was very comfy with XSI demo.

#7

I don’t really care too much of the athetics of the Interface as much as the function that it provides…

The problem i have is it takes me days to configure my Interface,
I would really like a drag and drop interface…

The problem is in 6x and 7x the colours are clipped (you can’t use black) can’t change all of the colors… (text etc)
You have to guess colour schemes via RGB numbers in the configs,
It’s all rather clumsey really…

Skins or preset interfaces is really the only way you’re going to keep everyone happy… (and even then, you can only please some of the people some of the time.)

I don’t believe the level of customization will ever be fantastic in LW, because of the underlying Xpanels setup…
But it’s too cluttered as it is now…

I have way too many plugins and Lscripts, and nowhere to put buttons for them… Some keyboard shortcuts are not changable… I could increase my workflow speed dramatically
with better customization.

As it is i have to write Lscripts and plugins to put all my common tools and buttons on the one panel, like AA and renderopts…
Which sucks because not all the options are Lscriptable…
I have to use long workarounds just to group similar tools together… Arrrrgghhhhh!!!

Any extra effort to tidy it up and make it slicker is most welcome.
I don’t know what the final interface will look like, but at least they made an effort and listened to the people…

Rant mode: Off

#8

What I would like to know is what was the deal with the 6.0 interface:

Those buttons just look ridiculously shiny to me!

By contrast, I love the new LW 8 UI design.

Ubik, I would love for you to use your great design sense and create a UI mockup for Lightwave. That would be great!

#9

takkun, those are screenshots of LW[6] beta, fimal interface was much more “flat”, and even this way it looks much better than current LW 8 UI.Sadly I’m too busy (been for 6 months 12 hours workplace) for Photoshop editing, though there was time I was thinking on trying something out.

Leigh, plain and functional doesn’t mean ugly at the same time. Take a look on revised VX interface screenshots from Matt, plain and beautiful, or take XSi. 5.x interface looks much better than LW8’s

Colours should be User chosen and changeable through main interface not .cfg editing. I don’t think that it is impossible to implement such thing right now.
In LW 6,7 colours were very wisely chosen though. Not intrusive yet distinctive. Meni had UI colour variation that worked just as well and was based on the same principe LW original UI was.
I didn’t like slide bars don’t like them now even more.

#10

I agree, lw 8 looks very flat and boring compared to lw6-7. Maybe remove the brushed metal, but the shading on the buttons looked good.

#11

and even this way it looks much better than current LW 8 UI
:eek: Are you saying that you rather have the ultra shiny, incredibly blinding, covered in tanning oil, LW 6 beta UI then the new LW 8 UI?

ok dude.

#12

Changing the color and style of buttons isn’t going to fix the workflow and useability issues in LightWave (Layout).

#13

Changing the color and style of buttons isn’t going to fix the workflow and useability issues in LightWave (Layout).
* takkun says “duh” in a valley girl voice.

#14

Well, hold on here… has anyone actually tried it? Hmm?

I’m gonna go try… YELLOW BUTTONS!!

#15

I like how the new interface has flat colors and no gradients on the buttons. — However I wish they would decrease the bevels on the buttons.

minimalism in all things… (see my username).

#16

I dont know they keep telling us for months now that they’re using a WIP GUI for lw8 screenshots but I like the current colour scheme better than what I’ve seen of 8 so far

on the other hand,some users have made some really great photoshop mockups but not likely that they’ll be used

#17

However I wish they would decrease the bevels on the buttons.
minus, I think they’re currently 1-pixel bevels, I can’t be sure without blowing it up in photoshop.
I dont know they keep telling us for months now that they’re using a WIP GUI for lw8 screenshots but I like the current colour scheme better than what I’ve seen of 8 so far
LNT, Not sure if you’ve seen them but the most recent screenshots seem to have the same color scheme as lightwave has currently. http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14582&pagenumber=1

#18

marking menus,tear off panels,channel box editor
who needs a interface ‘inyerface’?

#19

Originally posted by minus
minimalism in all things… (see my username).

Then shouldn’t your name be - ? :wink:

#20

Who cares about the damn colors or bevels! Just give me some g’damn dockable free floating panels! lots of them!
I am SO sick of repeatedly clicking on Light Properties, then Motion Properties, then Camera Props…etc.etc.etc!
PLEASE let me keep open what I want to see!
Ever want to compare the settings of 2 lights? Cant, sorry, gotta switch between the 2, cant have them both open in front of you…
oyyy.
you all know what I mean?!