Houdini UI Needs to Change

Forums Houdini Lounge Houdini UI Needs to Change

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ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 0:58

I've made some mockups of my dream version of Houdini UI and I was hoping to talk a little about them with you.

If can you do me a favor — just please take a look at it. Fullscreen it on your big monitor and see if you:
- Find anything unintuitive.
- Can't find something.
- Think there are any critical flaws / mistakes.
- Have any suggestions / requests / questions.
- Want to share your overall thoughts
- etc. etc.

No harm in just talking, right? Let's remain civilized people.

Download hi-res mockups (4K):
https://mega.nz/file/92MAXJTL#Bh6moSc8HgFiGHBgHtpkOZf6dlJdKs6Ekiv4K0mUrAk [mega.nz]

Download hi-res mockups (8K):
https://mega.nz/file/R7t2ATbB#E8ZHt9E-drlPN4WFMv6fnmud6gdC5iNnl3z8ePaxtm8 [mega.nz]

Thanks.

P.S.: New stuff to talk about here [www.sidefx.com].

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年9月2日 19:00:17

Attachments:
01_main_4K.png (1.8 MB)
parameters_animation.gif (732.0 KB)
nodes_demo_2.png (94.1 KB)


wanglifu: Member; 182 posts; Joined: 2月 2017; Offline

2024年8月27日 4:02

Cool!


animatrix_: Member; 4621 posts; Joined: 2月 2012; Offline

2024年8月27日 5:04

Nice work! You can submit it to SESI but possibly breaking it up into smaller actionable suggestions rather than a single monolithic RFE.

IMO the title bar should be gone just like how many other apps hide it in full screen mode. I use it like this:

I plan to make a short video about this showing the new COP context since it supports it and it's really productively to work in this manner IMO.

Senior FX TD @ Industrial Light & Magic
Get to the NEXT level in Houdini & VEX with Pragmatic VEX! [www.pragmatic-vfx.com]

youtube.com/@pragmaticvfx | patreon.com/animatrix | pragmaticvfx.gumroad.com


lucasmorgon: Member; 2 posts; Joined: 1月 2023; Offline

2024年8月27日 8:47

ruffemotion
I've made some mockups of my dream version of Houdini UI and I was hoping to talk a little about them with you.

If can you do me a favor — just please take a look at it. Fullscreen it on your big monitor and see if you:
- Find anything unintuitive.
- Can't find something.
- Think there are any critical flaws / mistakes.
- Have any suggestions / requests / questions.
- Want to share your overall thoughts
- etc. etc.

No harm in just talking, right? Let's remain civilized people.

Download hi-res mockups (4K):
https://mega.nz/file/92MAXJTL#Bh6moSc8HgFiGHBgHtpkOZf6dlJdKs6Ekiv4K0mUrAk [mega.nz]

Download hi-res mockups (8K):
https://mega.nz/file/R7t2ATbB#E8ZHt9E-drlPN4WFMv6fnmud6gdC5iNnl3z8ePaxtm8 [mega.nz]

Thanks.

blender or c4d feel, not needed imo too much distractive. it feels esthetically new but too bold

Edited by lucasmorgon - 2024年8月27日 08:48:05


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 9:19

animatrix_
Nice work! You can submit it to SESI but possibly breaking it up into smaller actionable suggestions rather than a single monolithic RFE.

IMO the title bar should be gone just like how many other apps hide it in full screen mode. I use it like this:

This is basically a 3D Viewport Display Overlay feature. It would be nice if you could toggle the nodes on and off, just like you toggle Display Point Numbers, for example. I agree about the title bar.

lucasmorgon
blender or c4d feel, not needed imo too much distractive. it feels esthetically new but too bold

This page workspace design principle actually comes from Modo, then Blender -> C4D -> Others. IMO, successful UI designs work for a reason, so there's no shame in adopting and iterating on them.

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年8月27日 09:50:43


raincole: Member; 529 posts; Joined: 8月 2019; Offline

2024年8月27日 9:56

I honestly don't believe the flat icon design is better than what Houdini currently has. The "*.abc" one is good though.

In this case, Houdini's pie-like menu is simply better. The buttons cover more "solid angle". You just need to aim for "upper right" roughly instead of aim for the button.

No transition animation, please.

Attachments:
Screenshot 2024-08-27 215319.jpg (34.3 KB)
parameters_animation.gif (732.0 KB)


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 10:16

raincole
I honestly don't believe the flat icon design is better than what Houdini currently has. The "*.abc" one is good though.

The icons can be not flat and can be colored, but they have to be low in complexity -- otherwise it all turns into mush at smaller sizes.

raincole
In this case, Houdini's pie-like menu is simply better. The buttons cover more "solid angle". You just need to aim for "upper right" roughly instead of aim for the button.

I don't quite understand what you mean, but the idea is to use some hotkey to bring this panel up / hide it. EDIT: Strike that, I just realized that you were still talking about the node. Ok, I will make note and try to correct it soon, thanks for the feedback.

raincole
No transition animation, please.

That's an easy checkbox in Preferences.

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年8月27日 13:52:35


alexwheezy: Member; 284 posts; Joined: 1月 2013; Offline

2024年8月27日 11:07

I like the idea of Task Manager Bar in Houdini. It would be nice to have a Task Manager for system tasks and processes going on inside.


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 11:26

raincole
In this case, Houdini's pie-like menu is simply better. The buttons cover more "solid angle". You just need to aim for "upper right" roughly instead of aim for the button.

How do you feel about something like this? You can even click a little bit outside the circle, before it disappears. The idea is to make it feel kind of like marking menus from Maya -- you just flick the mouse in a direction you want and click, without thinking about it much. Or like wheel selector in videogames.

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年8月27日 11:55:38

Attachments:
Ez8hUQOnzF.png (32.8 KB)


BabaJ: Member; 2110 posts; Joined: 9月 2015; Offline

2024年8月27日 11:27

I prefer the existing UI.
However, changes to utility(UX) refinements/changes are always welcome.
The window 'pop in/out' I especially don't like.
LightRoom has some of that, which I find annoying.


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 11:38

BabaJ
The window 'pop in/out' I especially don't like.

It can exist in 2 modes, as a full window and as a pop out, just like Node Editor or a 3D Viewport or any other. Maybe it would be a good idea to make the ability for any window / viewport to be put into the pop out.


animatrix_: Member; 4621 posts; Joined: 2月 2012; Offline

2024年8月27日 11:38

ruffemotion
This is basically a 3D Viewport Display Overlay feature. It would be nice if you could toggle the nodes on and off, just like you toggle Display Point Numbers, for example. I agree about the title bar.

Yes indeed. You can toggle the entire network editor on and off with a single key. I show it in action here:

Senior FX TD @ Industrial Light & Magic
Get to the NEXT level in Houdini & VEX with Pragmatic VEX! [www.pragmatic-vfx.com]

youtube.com/@pragmaticvfx | patreon.com/animatrix | pragmaticvfx.gumroad.com


LukeP: Member; 352 posts; Joined: 3月 2009; Offline

2024年8月27日 18:14

So interesting observation.

I shared the screenshots with a couple of my friends who work as professionals in the vfx industry.

They hated them. Said they couldn’t imagine looking at this high contract stuff 8 hours a day.

Common comments were this is a work tool not a colourful eye candy / toy.

I like it but I don’t use Houdini 8 hrs a day.

Just proves how different we all are when it comes to UI and how polarizing changes could be.

Simple example is the node info panel.


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 18:54

LukeP
So interesting observation.

I shared the screenshots with a couple of my friends who work as professionals in the vfx industry.

They hated them. Said they couldn’t imagine looking at this high contract stuff 8 hours a day.

Common comments were this is a work tool not a colourful eye candy / toy.

I like it but I don’t use Houdini 8 hrs a day.

Just proves how different we all are when it comes to UI and how polarizing changes could be.

Simple example is the node info panel.

I suspect that like many established people, they are simply afraid of change. It's common. But I could be wrong.

If colors is the only thing they have a problem with, then this UI is highly themable — Dark Mode, Light Mode, Midnight, Winamp, etc. Whatever you can imagine.

But anyway, the right way to transition to the new UI would be a prolonged (few years at least) beta period, with collecting tons of feedback, testing stuff and making sure all of the legacy stuff is taken care of. It would be quite the pain, but the result would be worth it and the sales would go up.

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年8月27日 19:08:28


LukeP: Member; 352 posts; Joined: 3月 2009; Offline

2024年8月27日 20:14

Agree with most points except… do you really think Houdini sales would go up if SideFX invested time to refresh the UI?


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 20:48

LukeP
Agree with most points except… do you really think Houdini sales would go up if SideFX invested time to refresh the UI?

It will make Houdini less scary and intimidating and make the learning curve easier. Look at what happened to Blender after the 2.8 release, where they did a major UI overhaul. SideFX is practically leaving money on the table.

Edited by ruffemotion - 2024年8月27日 21:02:13


BrianHanke: Member; 446 posts; Joined: 4月 2018; Offline

2024年8月27日 21:50

Oh man this looks SO GOOD!

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LukeP: Member; 352 posts; Joined: 3月 2009; Offline

2024年8月27日 22:39

ruffemotion
LukeP
Agree with most points except… do you really think Houdini sales would go up if SideFX invested time to refresh the UI?

It will make Houdini less scary and intimidating and make the learning curve easier. Look at what happened to Blender after the 2.8 release, where they did a major UI overhaul. SideFX is practically leaving money on the table.

I think that less scary and easier to use is mostly a function of user experience (UX) rather than eye candy. Either way I personally do agree that screen mockups look good


ruffemotion: Member; 34 posts; Joined: 8月 2024; Offline

2024年8月27日 23:21

LukeP
I think that less scary and easier to use is mostly a function of user experience (UX) rather than eye candy.

Aesthetics ≠ UI Design. For me, it's primarily about creating order, like tidying up a cluttered workshop, organizing and labeling everything - making an efficient workspace. If you look at the mockup closely, you'll notice I've already already changed how you would use it quite a bit, thrown stuff out. Yet, so far the discussion seems to be focused mainly on aesthetics.

LukeP
They hated them. Said they couldn’t imagine looking at this high contract stuff 8 hours a day.

Can you show them this and see what they think:

Attachments:
houdini_new_theme.jpg (3.0 MB)


LukeP: Member; 352 posts; Joined: 3月 2009; Offline

2024年8月27日 23:51

For me - I love the new look. I don’t want to go back and get opinion as honestly don’t think the two people I know can / should be seen as the UI experts either. I just wanted to pass in their comments in the earlier post. Thank you for doing this and mocking up this what could be the new look.

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