twod
The Compact UI level was the one designed to address the concerns of users on the alpha/beta forums (reducing the size of large icons, spacing, margins, button height, stowbars, splitbars, shelf icons, tabs). Small UI was meant as a more extreme version of Compact (and Large as solution for ultra-high resolutions). Node tiles aside, as they've been pretty well covered by this thread, what other areas of the UI still require size tweaking in this mode? I thought that I'd covered most of the hotspots back when it was implemented, so I'd be interested in hearing what was missed.
please refer to the many posts regarding general UI size that have been posted in the last few months. in particular, h9 still is very space inefficient compared to h8. specifically, parameter panes are v inefficient (especially in the vertical) - and obj/sop node layouts are a mess compared to h8. byw, i use HOUDINI_UISCALE 100 - with with compact setting (off the top of my head - the smallest).
i think you misunderstand how people like to layout their space when they have a high rez screen. we don't want larger ui widgets, but want to fit more of them onto the screen. ie, i have a 2560x1200 screen and still use the small setting. however, even at small, as i mention above - i see less ui on the screen compared to h8. this, is the crux of the issue.
rather than go though each part of the system - please just open houdini 8 and compare how much UI you can fit compared to h9. we just want to see the same amount of information on the screen - it's as simple as that.
forgive me if i sound frustrated (not with you, but the process) - but i am. i and others have been going on and on about this for months. it's a real surprise to hear sesi people say “please tell us if your not happy” about things that we *have* been very vocal about for over six months now. ie, posts of “bugs and polish” from just seven weeks ago have been forgotten (resizing parameter panes). there's been many other examples like this. too many rfe's seem to be falling though the cracks - or not prioritised correctly. there's some great information already there - please reread. i feel we're going round in circles and wasting valuable time.
ok, rant off. getting back to the issue - here's some specifics:
parameter panes:
- there's many vertical pixels wasted between each field. look at the height of the text entry fields (of say a transform sop). the numbers/text ‘floats’ in the fields themselves ie, you could hald the pixels straight off.
- the same goes for menu boxes - lots of space is wasted both vertically and horizontally. again, look at h8 - this is really pixel efficient in many cases. am i being anal - yes! does it really matter - yes! ;-) being anal is the only way to make things perfect…
- i think a more space efficient font should also be used. or, allow the font to be user defined. however, i'm reticent to suggest this - as this really should be fixed first by yourselves. (i've always thought the small/compact was a poor quick fix). also, the font scales poorly - it sometimes appears too large - other times too small.
…i think that sorting out the spacing in the parameters will get us 90% there. i generally stow everything else unless i'm in the first 30s of a project and use the shelf to put down a primitive box. ;-) (thats a joke - haha)
- the stow bars seem kinda fat. they could be leaner by a pixel or three. again, h8 had a better size.
playbar:
- again so much vertical space is wasted. there's at least five pixels used for the frame range slider. h8 did this better. also, the playbar wastes lots of space in the horizontal. does this matter? yes. because, often the playbar is moved to the viewport - which can be often a much smaller space than taking the whole of the bottom of the screen.
- the forward, reverse icons seem too ‘sharp’ and not up to the standard of the other new icons in h9. i think these should be filled in/solid. they seem a little busy right now. again, they “float” in their boxes. everything could be much smaller/compact/finished.
ok, by now - i hope you get my drift. everything needs to be ‘tightened up’ in a major way. this is as much a design issue as a UI one. however, the current “design” is inhibiting the “function” of what the ui needs to do. ie, present us the maximum amount of information in the smallest space. as i've said before, h8 may not have been “designed” - but in it's naivity - it didn't manage to pack a lot in a small space. there's no reason why h9 cant do that too - and look better as well. i dont want the h8 look back - just a more functional h9. only forward…!
regards, p