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06/03/2011 05:15:55

sirih
sirih
Posts: 18 		I don't get it! Why are the animations split up into 3 pages? Why not just give us a palette that allows the user to arrange a larger variety of animations? That is, a kind of big page? It's crazy to limit the size of a dialogue to arbitrary dimensions: shouldn't it be the size that is actually useful?
I love the ideas powering Muvizu and I know it's free, so feel crappy being so ungrateful - but. really, a readily usable interface is crucial and, now that I've been really trying to use it rather than just tinkering around, I'm getting pissed off. Just sayin'...
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06/03/2011 09:16:58

DreekoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dreeko
Posts: 1257 		The arrangement of the actions in a 3x3 box is to correspond with the layout of the numberpad on a keyboard so that you can quickly select from the numbers 1 to 9 to apply animations etc and tabbing pages of 3x3 give you more options to do so
I think that is the standard answer to this

Cheers

D
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06/03/2011 10:55:04

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		Dreeko's on the money here. The dialog boxes for directing are based around the numpad as it's easier and faster to operate that way than clicking buttons, hence the 3x3 grid with a few additional operations on the other numpad keys. The 3 pages correspond to the / * and - keys on the top of the numpad. We did originally prototype a version with 10 pages, but it was considered too difficult to use.

The user interface is currently undergoing a complete revamp and will change radically over several releases, starting with the one after next. If you have any suggestions on how this feature can be improved, I'm always happy to listen.
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06/03/2011 11:32:20

DreekoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dreeko
Posts: 1257 		Neil wrote:
Sigh!

Always?
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06/03/2011 12:14:35

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		Dreeko wrote:
Always?

Always happy to listen, not guaranteed to like what I hear.
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06/03/2011 12:18:16

DreekoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dreeko
Posts: 1257 		Neil wrote:
Dreeko wrote:
Always?

Always happy to listen, not guaranteed to like what I hear.


Good answer lol!
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06/03/2011 14:28:41

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		Dreeko sure keeps you guys on your toes doesn't he? LOL
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07/03/2011 03:29:01

sirih
sirih
Posts: 18 		Neil wrote: "The dialog boxes for directing are based around the numpad as it's easier and faster to operate that way than clicking buttons, hence the 3x3 grid..."
Meh. Not too sure about this approach, for me. Mapping from the numpad to what you see on the screen doesn't seem terribly easy to me. I think a big part of the problem for me is that too much stuff has to be done in real time - I just want to be able to slow things down a bit so I'm not stabbing away at the keyboard (or mouse) in the vague hope I'll get what I want. These frustrations are compounded - a lot - by the fact that so far I've been attempting to animate to a pre-existing dialogue rather than scripting to the animation.
And oh, wouldn't it be fabulous to be able to, say, copy (or cut) and paste on the timeline...
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07/03/2011 10:49:04

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		sirih wrote:
Meh. Not too sure about this approach, for me. Mapping from the numpad to what you see on the screen doesn't seem terribly easy to me. I think a big part of the problem for me is that too much stuff has to be done in real time - I just want to be able to slow things down a bit so I'm not stabbing away at the keyboard (or mouse) in the vague hope I'll get what I want. These frustrations are compounded - a lot - by the fact that so far I've been attempting to animate to a pre-existing dialogue rather than scripting to the animation.

I understand that the numpad approach doesn't suit everyone, but one of our driving principles is to keep Muvizu simple to use for newcomers to animation and in that way, I think it works. In a future release, I'm hoping to rework the directing windows so that they're more accommodating to advanced users such as yourself.

A very early release of Muvizu had a 1/2 speed button so that you could record at a slower pace. It was removed shortly afterwards, but after talking to the other devs, I think we can bring the concept back as a percentage slider so you can have fine control over the recording speed.

sirih wrote:
And oh, wouldn't it be fabulous to be able to, say, copy (or cut) and paste on the timeline...

Yes, it would. That's one of my goals for the new UI.
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07/03/2011 13:16:15

sirih
sirih
Posts: 18 		All these possibilties sound great! I do see what you mean about keeping things simple - but Muvizu is so engaging that a lot of people find themselves wanting to do so much more. And for that the user needs finer control.Tricky one.
Despite my moaning, I really do like Muvizu!
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Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.