Poll

What variant is the best?

Slim buttons on left, icons+text
4 (23.5%)
Slim buttons on left, icons only
2 (11.8%)
Buttons on top
11 (64.7%)
Thick buttons on left
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 15

Author Topic: How should the frame buffer look?  (Read 26003 times)

2013-01-19, 12:52:36
Reply #15

loocas

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I'm sorry to say, but this is a prime example of a horrible UI design.

You don't take into account anything from 3ds Max, so, basically, you're making the very same mistake Autodesk does with additional new features in Max, such as the Ribbon etc...

There is no consistency, no history, no legacy.

The UI is ugly, out of place and looks like designed by a software programmer, not a UI or UX designer.

Besides, one of the most brilliant VFBs, or actually viewers, can be found in Nuke and Fusion. A distant second close would be VRay's VFB.

Just my $0.02

2013-01-19, 12:59:58
Reply #16

lacilaci

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How about this one?


I like it! :)

I like this one too! (maybe without the rounded corners of buttons but it's good enough)
« Last Edit: 2013-01-19, 13:03:41 by lacilaci »

2013-01-19, 13:14:38
Reply #17

lacilaci

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and maybe a little note... what's refresh for?. Also, are clear and stats necessary?

2013-01-19, 13:39:47
Reply #18

Ondra

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Refresh updates VFB (in case you disable automatic periodic updating, or set it to long interval (i.e. for really large renders)). Clear was requested by somebody some time ago, stats is mostly for my debugging use
Rendering is magic.How to get minidumps for crashed/frozen 3ds Max | Sorry for short replies, brief responses = more time to develop Corona ;)

2013-01-19, 13:46:10
Reply #19

lacilaci

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Alright. Understood.... and here, as I like these things as simple and small as possible, a small suggestion maybe... :D However the only and most important thing for me, I think is to keep buttons horizontal and on top (and even that is just because I'm used to it that way :D...)

2013-01-19, 13:49:24
Reply #20

loocas

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Ok, to add a bit more constructive criticism to the debate, here are some examples of what I consider great viewers (vfbs, whatever you wanna call them):

Nuke (one of the very best) - attached

A pinnacle of usability. It's fast, simple, flexible and extremely customizable. Especially color management is at the cutting edge! Viewer processes are also pretty damn useful and great (create whatever nodes and combinations you want and the viewer will treat it as if it was a LUT! which is awesome). The comparison tools are top notch (wipe, fade etc...) and the toolbars are minimalistic, easy to recognize and easy to work with.

Corona should take this as a base for its VFB and copy the shit out of it.

RV - attached.

This is a tool I use for review and inspection. Mainly for animation, but the point is, it is a bloody good viewer. It's fast, robust and extremely flexible (you can customize and integrate the shit out of it). So, the main thing is, it has a great color management via LUTs, scripts and gamma settings. This is a MUST!

In a more extended usage scenario, you can load up several footages (incl. different source types, resolutions, color matrices etc..) then you can start comparing or combinig those in a layered fashion.

SpeedGrade:



I've added this one for the sole reason of the vectorscope, histogram and waveform displayed directly in front of the user.

Corona should consider these features essential.

So, the main purpose of a VFB is, basically, just review. You have to see and inspect what you're rendering. My top features would be:

  • Simple
  • Easy to the eye (no GUI bullshit)
  • Have the option to turn on/off the HISTOGRAM
  • Have the option to turn on/off the WAVEFORM
  • Have the option to turn on/off the VECTORSCOPE
  • Display render elements individually
  • Inspect pixels, i.e. what color, alpha value, position, etc...
  • Comparison tools would be nice, but not necessarily a must have, since we use other tools as well that already do this
  • Integrated Levels and Curves tools, as well as Gamma mapping, this is a MUST HAVE
  • Integrated LUT support (most popular formats, 1D and 3D LUTs are a must - GPU accelerated!)
  • FAST! I cannot stress this enough. The viewer must be snappy. No lags, no chuckles, no stutters, it has to be lighting fast to work with
  • Simple UI. It has to be lucid (synoptical)
  • Support for basic compositing is nice, but definitely not a must have
  • Same goes for support for masking

In a production facility, my approach would be to take RV and integrate Corona into it. It'd be much much easier than writing my own viewer and the features would far exceed what I could ever do on my own. That's just a suggestion.

But generally, the last screenshot here... it's just ugly. Huge buttons with text, round corners, shadows etc... this is kindergarten "artwork", not a production ready tool.

2013-01-19, 13:55:28
Reply #21

Oltskul

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And what about "browser" style?

Sorry about excel - I am not at my PC..



Corona is like some king of addictive game... "Just one... More... Render... Before... Then i will do something... Useful"

HALT!Ausnahmezeit

2013-01-19, 13:58:37
Reply #22

racoonart

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Great post loocas! Totally agreeing with that. Fast, lightweight and please no colorful fancy you-can't-miss-it-with-that-size buttons, simple textbuttons or b/w symbol buttons are enough. No extra distracting colors!
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.

2013-01-19, 14:04:16
Reply #23

lacilaci

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Yeah well... display elements individually for sure is an important feature!

2013-01-19, 14:47:19
Reply #24

Ludvik Koutny

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Honestly, i think that wanting VFB to be a complete post production tool and wanting it to be simple and fast goes against each other.

You should keep in mind that VFB will be most of the time displaying output while rendering, therefore CPU usage will be 100%. At such CPU usage, it's quite hard to get even raw output image without UI elements going at smooth and steady framerate as color mapping has to be recomputed on every interaction. Let alone VFB with dozens of gadgets.

2013-01-19, 14:52:21
Reply #25

Ludvik Koutny

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On the other side, Luxology has managed to pull off something like that. But i believe their VFB itself took at least 3 months of one person's fulltime work.


2013-01-19, 15:01:59
Reply #26

lacilaci

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Well, I would say that as a default only some main functionalities should be visible and everything else maybe through a hidden menu.. Here as an example small bar at the bottom to reveal some possible extended functionality of VFB.

2013-01-19, 15:04:06
Reply #27

lacilaci

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The important question is... Is it really necessary to do now?... I'd say, if not, take your time let this thread possibly evolve and slowly "in the meantime" design some advanced VFB.

2013-01-19, 15:52:06
Reply #28

Dom74

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Icons with help text balloons is a good mix between functionnality and nice look.

2013-01-19, 16:18:31
Reply #29

Chakib

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On the other side, Luxology has managed to pull off something like that. But i believe their VFB itself took at least 3 months of one person's fulltime work.



yeah it's not easy to work on such a well done beautiful layout like that, so guys we should really found someone who do is able to do it  for the good of our beautiful coronian community :D

i'm definitely with the modo style !