...I'm perfectly comfortable with Hexagon's UI as from a traditional artists viewpoint using a pointer driven setup feels more natural than dealing with multiple key combinations.
Blender is free. That's the main thing for me. I'd love to be able to afford ZBrush and some of the other sophisticated but expensive software that many here seem to think are essential. But I can't, so it's Blender or Hexagon and I find Blender easier to use than Hexagon - and Blender doesn't crash on me. I agree about searching Google to find out how to do simple things being a pain - wholeheartedly agree - but, again, it's free so I'll Google.
On the other hand, I have never been comfortable using GIMP so I bought a very inexpensive Photoshop alternative called Affinity Photo and that suits me fine. Cost less than the latest X-Morph script for DAZ Studio and it does all the things I used to be able to do when I had access to Photoshop CS6 (at work, before I retired).
with zBrush you all so need a worthy tablet n a killer PC to run it all.Blenders sculptor works rather well with a mice.Still advice tablets.
Think you can get a small wacom n a descent pen for a couple hundred.Mudbox is $10 a moth last I looked.
I guess I don't understand what you are trying to do then.
I tried it and I can change that window or the original one to anything I want and can pan and zoom them independently if I keep them both as camera views - they don't have to stay the same.
Do you mean that you want one window in Edit mode and one in Object mode? That's definitely not possible as far as I know.
The guy in the video is using Blender 2.65, so the feature has been included since 2012 at least.
Nope have tried that before it just duplicates the other window and you end up with two instances running
Maybe they made a change last time I tried it both windows were the same if you moved a vertice in one it moved in the other when you loaded an object it loaded in both also that opens another set of the left side panels In short the new one was nothing more than an active copy of the first and used the same amount of memory effectively doubling the amount of ram used by the program
What I want is just the working window/workspace /viewport where you see your object/scene that your working on, No tool bars,menus timeline, or anything else
Blender is free. That's the main thing for me. I'd love to be able to afford ZBrush and some of the other sophisticated but expensive software that many here seem to think are essential. But I can't, so it's Blender or Hexagon and I find Blender easier to use than Hexagon - and Blender doesn't crash on me. I agree about searching Google to find out how to do simple things being a pain - wholeheartedly agree - but, again, it's free so I'll Google.
On the other hand, I have never been comfortable using GIMP so I bought a very inexpensive Photoshop alternative called Affinity Photo and that suits me fine. Cost less than the latest X-Morph script for DAZ Studio and it does all the things I used to be able to do when I had access to Photoshop CS6 (at work, before I retired).
with zBrush you all so need a worthy tablet n a killer PC to run it all.Blenders sculptor works rather well with a mice.Still advice tablets.
Think you can get a small wacom n a descent pen for a couple hundred.Mudbox is $10 a moth last I looked.
...for myself I am unable to use a tablet and stylus due to arthritis so only a more conventional pointing device works (I use an ergonomic trackball) This means any programme that benefits from or requires pressure sensitivity to work is out for me.
Blender is free. That's the main thing for me. I'd love to be able to afford ZBrush and some of the other sophisticated but expensive software that many here seem to think are essential. But I can't, so it's Blender or Hexagon and I find Blender easier to use than Hexagon - and Blender doesn't crash on me. I agree about searching Google to find out how to do simple things being a pain - wholeheartedly agree - but, again, it's free so I'll Google.
On the other hand, I have never been comfortable using GIMP so I bought a very inexpensive Photoshop alternative called Affinity Photo and that suits me fine. Cost less than the latest X-Morph script for DAZ Studio and it does all the things I used to be able to do when I had access to Photoshop CS6 (at work, before I retired).
with zBrush you all so need a worthy tablet n a killer PC to run it all.Blenders sculptor works rather well with a mice.Still advice tablets.
Think you can get a small wacom n a descent pen for a couple hundred.Mudbox is $10 a moth last I looked.
...for myself I am unable to use a tablet and stylus due to arthritis so only a more conventional pointing device works (I use an ergonomic trackball) This means any programme that benefits from or requires pressure sensitivity to work is out for me.
It's not just the pressure ,It's angles also.So you really need a pen,and natural born skill ,Some with all the best tools still can't draw a straight line.
Give me a Gibson n I still can't play worth a dang.Where all here to do ,What where all meant to do.
...I have the "natural" (well over the years developed), skill as I was a traditional artist pretty much all my life with pencil drawing one of my strong mediums. I no longer have the deftness, control, and strength of grip anymore. This is one of the reasons I ended up in CG art just so I still had a creative outlet.
@kyoto have you tried something like lazy nezumi (or for free Krita is a painting program with similar smoothing features built in)? as someone who could never draw a smooth line I find it invaluable. Obviously if the issue is holding a pen etc being painful it won't really help but if the issue is purely one of control you really should consider some experimenting.
..it is also related to pain and extreme stiffness. This is why I had to leave painting and drawing behind. There are also times when I am holding a pen or pencil it simply will fall out of my hand as my grip is extremely weak. Without the trackball I have I wouldn't be able to do anything (another reason I won't move to W10 because it is an older device that needs to be run in XP mode). For a hardwired replacement similar to the one I have that takes pressure off the wrist, I am looking at 500$ - 700$. Don't want wireless because of the potential for lag.
...I have the "natural" (well over the years developed), skill as I was a traditional artist pretty much all my life with pencil drawing one of my strong mediums. I no longer have the deftness, control, and strength of grip anymore. This is one of the reasons I ended up in CG art just so I still had a creative outlet.
I get what ya mean I need my Art like I need to breath .Thank the CGI Gods for DAZ.
I half to get shots for my joints to work n I'm not as fast as I use to be n the 20 hour days are long past.I know I'll half to retire soon.hopfully DAZ soon ;) Maybe I can make some change as a vender.
Non intuitive. Inconsistence. Bad GUI. Menu items are not where they would normally be. Doesn't follow many Windows or Mac GUI standards/guidelines.
Seriously. Can't even use it on my laptop with 2 buttons because it needs 3 buttons. I can figure Daz out pretty easily. Can't even figure out how to pan, rotate, and move the camera in Blender. Had to google search and look up youtube to know that I have to turn on 3 button emulation.
There is a plus sign to add panels, but how do you close a panel? Shouldn't there be a minus sign or a menu to close the panel? Nope. Yet again, more goole search.
It's the craziest thing.
That's kind of what I was saying though... Yeah it's way easier to use DS, and discover all it's features but that's because DS has maybe a hundredth of the features of Blender. Look at Blender's UI compared to Maya or Zbrush and its a lot more comparable in complexity. Again, yes there are things it can totally do better, but if your bar is as simple as DS that is nevergoing to be possible because the 2 softwares are not comparable.
Those 2 examples I mention had nothing to do with features of Blender. Just poor GUI design.
Having lots of features doesn't excuse bad GUI. It's not the features that makes blender hard to use. Having a non-intuitive, inconsistence, and bad GUI just gets in the way of doing things with the program.
On the 2 mouse buttons I had something written but then deleted because I thought I was being a bit rude so here goes: Most people have 3 button mice... you're in the minority. Seting up the program for only 2 buttons would waste something that most people have. The defaults are designed to be the most useful for the most people... that said it takes all of one click to set up blender for a 2 button mouse. you then save those preferences and never have to worry about it again.
Could the side panels have buttons to pop them away... sure, no real argument there
(also which menu items are't where they would be in other programs? the meny bar is at the top beyond that I'm not sure what standards you mean)
Sounds like a bunch of excuses for poor GUI design in Blender. You can do this, you can do that. Just google search and learn it.
If you have to google search just to do simple things like closing panels and manipualing cameras, you are already off to a bad start.
Just because an application doesn't require a 3 button mouse, doesn't mean the application wasted the 3rd button. I can have a 10 button mouse and assign shortcuts to all 10 buttons. That's how many applications with tons of features work.
Why doesn't Blender add simple menu controls in the Viewport for pan, move, zoom like many other Applications that has a 3D viewport?
"Which menu items are't where they would be in other programs?"
It doesn't even have an "Edit" in the menu bar. Everyone using Windows or a Mac is familiar with the "Edit" menu bar. Another big oversight of Blender GUI.
Many others? Not in Max, Maya or Modo as far as I know. Frankly, the idea is horrible. Imagine modelling something and everytime you wanna rotate, you have to move the cursor away from the model and onto some little icon? I wanna see anyone model productivly like that. I get that people have issues with Blender UI but that is certainly not a real issue.
No one said to get rid of existing mouse button or keyboard commands to move, pan, and zoom. Adding those menu controls for pan, move, zoom doesn't make existing functions disappear.
Having mouse/keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys are great and will tend to be faster than menu controls. But requiring it just goes against good GUI design.
Here's 3D Studio Max's Camera Viewport Controls:
Here's Maya's object rotate, move, scale tool:
Here's Modo's move, rotate, zoom, and scale tool:
And here's Poser's camera/object move, pan, rotate, zoom controls:
I guess I don't understand what you are trying to do then.
I tried it and I can change that window or the original one to anything I want and can pan and zoom them independently if I keep them both as camera views - they don't have to stay the same.
Do you mean that you want one window in Edit mode and one in Object mode? That's definitely not possible as far as I know.
The guy in the video is using Blender 2.65, so the feature has been included since 2012 at least.
Nope have tried that before it just duplicates the other window and you end up with two instances running
Maybe they made a change last time I tried it both windows were the same if you moved a vertice in one it moved in the other when you loaded an object it loaded in both also that opens another set of the left side panels In short the new one was nothing more than an active copy of the first and used the same amount of memory effectively doubling the amount of ram used by the program
What I want is just the working window/workspace /viewport where you see your object/scene that your working on, No tool bars,menus timeline, or anything else
The new window does open as a copy of the current window, but you still have complete control to change that. Here's what I did to achieve what I think you want based on what you described:
Start Blender, and once the window is open, go to the Info bar's menu and choose Window > Duplicate Window. Blender opens a new window identical to the current one except that its view name changes from "Default" to "Default.001" so the settings for the two window layouts can be kept separate.
Move the new window onto your second screen.
Go up to the control where it says "Default.001" and click the icon to the left of those words to choose a new layout. I chose "3D View Full". Now the new window contains nothing but a 3D editor.
Click the + on the bottom of the new window to open back up the 3D View's header bar so you can see its menu (as well as the controls for mode, selection type, and the manipulator widget).
On that menu, choose View > Quad View. Now you have five views of the scene you're working on.
If you really really want to everything with hotkeys instead of using the menus or other controls, you can drag the top of the 3D View's header bar back down again to hide it.
I don't have dual screens on the computer I'm using now, so in my screenshot I just put the two windows side by side on the same screen.
I have to admit, that I'm not quite sure why I even bother anymore. I think Blender users have been more than understanding for newcomers; we have offered help and alternative solutions, but unfortunately nothing seems to be enough. Sometimes I think, that people just love to hate Blender, and they post in this thread to start an argument in hope that moderator would close the thread. In other forums that's called trolling. For example, in that upcoming Windows 10 update thread moderators said, that if you don't use W10, don't post in that thread to complain how terrible W10 is. It's not really constructive, and it definitely does not help anybody. Why is it different with this thread? It's the same whining all the time. Blender UI is horrible and it's not working like <insert your software here>. It's just that I used to think that Generation Z was that whiny spoiled generation, that has attention span in seconds, but this forum proves me wrong every time. Apparently a single google search is too much nowadays for us grown ups, and if you have to do that to learn how to navigate in a new program, the program is garbage.
To make my point clear, Blender is not Max. It's not Maya either, and it's definitely not Hexagon, Modo or Poser. Just like Gimp is not Photoshop nor Daz Studio is Poser. Those are all different programs/software, and you have to learn their quirks if you want to use them. Sure, there are similarities, but they are not clones. It's not any different with Blender. I don't see ex-poser users spamming forums how DS should look and work like poser. Of course most humans have problems when they start re-learning something, but with little patience most can do it. At least what I've seen, most ex-poser users have been quite happy with DS after they learned how it works. Some even use both at the same time. Why we constantly see these UI complaints from people that have used Blender for 5 minutes, when obviously thousands of people have been able to learn how to use it, is beyond me. Nobody said that it's easy to learn a full scale 3D suite, so there's no shame if one can't do it. Of course it's possible to blame the program UI or whatever, but at some point it's time to take a reality check, and have a long look at the mirror and wonder if the problem really is in Blender and it's user interface...
I don't mess so often with Blender but I use the keyboard shortcuts most of the time but it's not like once you start a shortcut in Blender it's done. Depending on the shortcut the user enters a numerical or angular keyboard entry or they often must directly manipulate the target of the shortcut directly in the viewport. And it's oh so much easier than finding, clicking and typing a numerical change in some obscure Maya or 3DS Max dialogue box.
The Blender shortcuts are much faster & more accurate. And yes that can already be done via mouse & menu too. I don't object to Blender adding visual object and viewport manipulations in the Blender US but having seen Maya, 3DS Max, and such all they will really be doing is assigning icons to already existing menu entries and rearranging and changing how those menus are accessed, eg strings them in functional groups divided into tabs with somewhat large icons ala the Microsoft Word ribbon menu concept that Maya / 3DS Max have copied.
Blender is hard because the menus and navigation is confusing. They need to fix the GUI.
Define hard to use. Hard compared to what? DS and Hexagon well yeah, it does a *lot* more so it's always going to be "harder" because there's more to learn.
That said this upcoming version of blender looks like another leap in usability a la 2.5 was (I love blender I could not use it before 2.5. hopefully 2.8 is similar for some other folks)
Non intuitive. Inconsistence. Bad GUI. Menu items are not where they would normally be. Doesn't follow many Windows or Mac GUI standards/guidelines.
Seriously. Can't even use it on my laptop with 2 buttons because it needs 3 buttons. I can figure Daz out pretty easily. Can't even figure out how to pan, rotate, and move the camera in Blender. Had to google search and look up youtube to know that I have to turn on 3 button emulation.
There is a plus sign to add panels, but how do you close a panel? Shouldn't there be a minus sign or a menu to close the panel? Nope. Yet again, more goole search.
It's the craziest thing.
That's kind of what I was saying though... Yeah it's way easier to use DS, and discover all it's features but that's because DS has maybe a hundredth of the features of Blender. Look at Blender's UI compared to Maya or Zbrush and its a lot more comparable in complexity. Again, yes there are things it can totally do better, but if your bar is as simple as DS that is nevergoing to be possible because the 2 softwares are not comparable.
Those 2 examples I mention had nothing to do with features of Blender. Just poor GUI design.
Having lots of features doesn't excuse bad GUI. It's not the features that makes blender hard to use. Having a non-intuitive, inconsistence, and bad GUI just gets in the way of doing things with the program.
On the 2 mouse buttons I had something written but then deleted because I thought I was being a bit rude so here goes: Most people have 3 button mice... you're in the minority. Seting up the program for only 2 buttons would waste something that most people have. The defaults are designed to be the most useful for the most people... that said it takes all of one click to set up blender for a 2 button mouse. you then save those preferences and never have to worry about it again.
Could the side panels have buttons to pop them away... sure, no real argument there
(also which menu items are't where they would be in other programs? the meny bar is at the top beyond that I'm not sure what standards you mean)
Sounds like a bunch of excuses for poor GUI design in Blender. You can do this, you can do that. Just google search and learn it.
If you have to google search just to do simple things like closing panels and manipualing cameras, you are already off to a bad start.
Just because an application doesn't require a 3 button mouse, doesn't mean the application wasted the 3rd button. I can have a 10 button mouse and assign shortcuts to all 10 buttons. That's how many applications with tons of features work.
Why doesn't Blender add simple menu controls in the Viewport for pan, move, zoom like many other Applications that has a 3D viewport?
"Which menu items are't where they would be in other programs?"
It doesn't even have an "Edit" in the menu bar. Everyone using Windows or a Mac is familiar with the "Edit" menu bar. Another big oversight of Blender GUI.
Personally, I wish Daz didn't have them; they get in the way; I'd prefer a way of using the keyboard and mouse - now there is one, but requires two keypresses as well as the use of a mouse.
I have to admit, that I'm not quite sure why I even bother anymore. I think Blender users have been more than understanding for newcomers; we have offered help and alternative solutions, but unfortunately nothing seems to be enough. Sometimes I think, that people just love to hate Blender, and they post in this thread to start an argument in hope that moderator would close the thread. In other forums that's called trolling. For example, in that upcoming Windows 10 update thread moderators said, that if you don't use W10, don't post in that thread to complain how terrible W10 is. It's not really constructive, and it definitely does not help anybody. Why is it different with this thread? It's the same whining all the time. Blender UI is horrible and it's not working like <insert your software here>. It's just that I used to think that Generation Z was that whiny spoiled generation, that has attention span in seconds, but this forum proves me wrong every time. Apparently a single google search is too much nowadays for us grown ups, and if you have to do that to learn how to navigate in a new program, the program is garbage.
To make my point clear, Blender is not Max. It's not Maya either, and it's definitely not Hexagon, Modo or Poser. Just like Gimp is not Photoshop nor Daz Studio is Poser. Those are all different programs/software, and you have to learn their quirks if you want to use them. Sure, there are similarities, but they are not clones. It's not any different with Blender. I don't see ex-poser users spamming forums how DS should look and work like poser. Of course most humans have problems when they start re-learning something, but with little patience most can do it. At least what I've seen, most ex-poser users have been quite happy with DS after they learned how it works. Some even use both at the same time. Why we constantly see these UI complaints from people that have used Blender for 5 minutes, when obviously thousands of people have been able to learn how to use it, is beyond me. Nobody said that it's easy to learn a full scale 3D suite, so there's no shame if one can't do it. Of course it's possible to blame the program UI or whatever, but at some point it's time to take a reality check, and have a long look at the mirror and wonder if the problem really is in Blender and it's user interface...
There is at least one very low hanging fruit: change the default to left-click select. Yes it's easy to change, but first impressions matter. When people right away are confronted with one of the most backward things ever conceived in the history of software usability, it sticks. It's not hard to see why people expect everything else to be completely backwards too. This is free software, we do whatever the hell we want and don't give a damn about standards. This is everyone's welcome to Blender.
Another tiny thing I noticed. Quit Blender with an unsaved document. Instead of asking, like any other application out there, wether you want to save before qutting, you get a message saying that you will lose unsaved content if you continue... what the hell, who thinks of this stuff? Now I have to cancel quitting, save, and then quit again.
I know these are small things that a user can overcome without much trouble. I know Blender rocks and would never call it crap because of it, but the impression that it left over the years was caused by nobody other than the developers who showed no restraint whatsoever. Luckily it is getting better.
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
Can't close Gimp with a unsaved pic with out warning.
Over the decades At some time or another I've used about all the 2D n 3D app's.I can't count the dead n irrelevant app's n plugs I have.I'm on my 4th n 5th or 5th n 6th PCs.
All I know is with CGI I don't half to deal with toxic paints n cleaners you had to replace all the time that stank and did give you head Headaches.n make u nauseous.you'd have paint up ya nose, ruined close n needed a huge space for it all n airbrushes ya needed air compressor LOUD n booths.sculptures ya needed a 3000 degree Celt n humidity had to be right.
We all no matter what CGI app's we use have it so good now :)
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
I agree with the proviso that being critical of some features of Blender should not result in removal of the posts. I use Blender out of financial necessity and, while there are aspects that drive me nuts, I am very glad it is there and it is free. I come to this thread to see how others use it and when some people complain about some quirk, a workaround is often proposed. This is helpful to occasional users like me. Otherwise, you are quite right in saying that blanket dismissal should be discouraged.
By the way, I'd love to see more discussion of interaction between DAZ Studio and Blender for things like sculpting morphs, rendering a scene in Blender (Eevee looks exciting) and animating figures (preferably with DAZ rigging). I wouldn't know where to start with some of those subjects.
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
I agree with the proviso that being critical of some features of Blender should not result in removal of the posts. I use Blender out of financial necessity and, while there are aspects that drive me nuts, I am very glad it is there and it is free. I come to this thread to see how others use it and when some people complain about some quirk, a workaround is often proposed. This is helpful to occasional users like me. Otherwise, you are quite right in saying that blanket dismissal should be discouraged.
By the way, I'd love to see more discussion of interaction between DAZ Studio and Blender for things like sculpting morphs, rendering a scene in Blender (Eevee looks exciting) and animating figures (preferably with DAZ rigging). I wouldn't know where to start with some of those subjects.
I know DAZ sells Unity meshes.Maybe DAZ could make a Bleder market as well.It's fun to blow stuff up n all in Blender :)If I didn't make my own meshes I'd rig DAZ meshes in Blender.
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
Who is lots of people? I don't know anyone who doesn't have a numeric keypad except for some people with very small light laptops (which they don't use for 3D work anyway). I don't think I've ever seen a desktop computer that didn't come with a keyboard with a keypad. I just did a quick Google search and then searched on Amazon and every result on the first page came with a keyboard that included a number pad.
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
I agree with the proviso that being critical of some features of Blender should not result in removal of the posts. I use Blender out of financial necessity and, while there are aspects that drive me nuts, I am very glad it is there and it is free. I come to this thread to see how others use it and when some people complain about some quirk, a workaround is often proposed. This is helpful to occasional users like me. Otherwise, you are quite right in saying that blanket dismissal should be discouraged.
By the way, I'd love to see more discussion of interaction between DAZ Studio and Blender for things like sculpting morphs, rendering a scene in Blender (Eevee looks exciting) and animating figures (preferably with DAZ rigging). I wouldn't know where to start with some of those subjects.
Also 2.8 update is not only about Eevee ( I admit, it looks and feels really cool and seems to steal all the thunder currently ), but also Cycles is getting improvements as well: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Source/Render/Cycles/Roadmap . Microdisplacement, IES lighting and cube map rendering all sound interesting news to me.
Here's one more page that some may find interesting also: https://code.blender.org/2016/10/asset-management-and-pipeline/ The one thing that really won me over to Daz world, was the ease of posing. The leap from makehuman/blender combo to G3/DS was just unreal. Now maybe we finally get a pose library functionality in Blender too. I assume there's probably still some way to go to reach DS level ease of use, but it's a start. And yes, a real working material library would be a really nice addition. Of course you can already kind of create your own libraries, but it's just not very easy to use, when you have to append those materials between blend files without previews etc.
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
I agree with the proviso that being critical of some features of Blender should not result in removal of the posts. I use Blender out of financial necessity and, while there are aspects that drive me nuts, I am very glad it is there and it is free. I come to this thread to see how others use it and when some people complain about some quirk, a workaround is often proposed. This is helpful to occasional users like me. Otherwise, you are quite right in saying that blanket dismissal should be discouraged.
By the way, I'd love to see more discussion of interaction between DAZ Studio and Blender for things like sculpting morphs, rendering a scene in Blender (Eevee looks exciting) and animating figures (preferably with DAZ rigging). I wouldn't know where to start with some of those subjects.
Also 2.8 update is not only about Eevee ( I admit, it looks and feels really cool and seems to steal all the thunder currently ), but also Cycles is getting improvements as well: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Source/Render/Cycles/Roadmap . Microdisplacement, IES lighting and cube map rendering all sound interesting news to me.
Here's one more page that some may find interesting also: https://code.blender.org/2016/10/asset-management-and-pipeline/ The one thing that really won me over to Daz world, was the ease of posing. The leap from makehuman/blender combo to G3/DS was just unreal. Now maybe we finally get a pose library functionality in Blender too. I assume there's probably still some way to go to reach DS level ease of use, but it's a start. And yes, a real working material library would be a really nice addition. Of course you can already kind of create your own libraries, but it's just not very easy to use, when you have to append those materials between blend files without previews etc.
Thanks for taking the time to add that information. Yes, I have tried the Teleblender script but I found it requires changing all the materials to 3Delight and then tinkering with them to get the materials to look right in a Cycles render. That was so time consuming that I gave up on it (not to mention being terrified of that material node system in Blender). The same reason I abandoned rendeing with Reality/Luxrender - all that time spent tweaking materials. I've often mentioned on this forum that a fully functional Blender Bridge would be a dream plugin. I just don't get on with Hexagon at all and I can't afford ZBrush.
Unfortunately I don't understand some of the basics and some of the language even though I've had this hobby for over 10 years. I tend to stay in my comfort zone sometimes so I am intimidated by the jargon used by many Blender experts. I wouldn't have a clue what "cube map rendering" means, for example.
Yes, being able to pose DAZ figures in Blender would be another fantastic feature but, again, I couldn't begin to guess how that could be done. If it could, animating DAZ figures in Blender would be a logical next step.
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
Who is lots of people? I don't know anyone who doesn't have a numeric keypad except for some people with very small light laptops (which they don't use for 3D work anyway). I don't think I've ever seen a desktop computer that didn't come with a keyboard with a keypad. I just did a quick Google search and then searched on Amazon and every result on the first page came with a keyboard that included a number pad.
Granted most people look at 101 key keyboards but there actually are a fair number of 87 key keyboards available some of which ain't exactly cheap especially if they're listed as gaming keyboards
zBrush isn't really mint for rendering,they use to promote a plug for a 3rd party render engine n there's GoZ. animation etc etc Z doesn't have rigs or alot of things you see in any main app's like Blender.
zBrush is mint to make DAZ HD's,games normals n movies vetor maps n that's it.
We would have different poses in each key frame.to save as a pose libary.
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
Who is lots of people? I don't know anyone who doesn't have a numeric keypad except for some people with very small light laptops (which they don't use for 3D work anyway). I don't think I've ever seen a desktop computer that didn't come with a keyboard with a keypad. I just did a quick Google search and then searched on Amazon and every result on the first page came with a keyboard that included a number pad.
Granted most people look at 101 key keyboards but there actually are a fair number of 87 key keyboards available some of which ain't exactly cheap especially if they're listed as gaming keyboards
That makes sense I guess. I don't know very many serious gamers so I wasn't aware of that. Most of my friends are accountants or engineers, and if they play alot of games they do it on their console of choice, not their computer, so that may be affecting how representitive my sample is.
Comments
...I'm perfectly comfortable with Hexagon's UI as from a traditional artists viewpoint using a pointer driven setup feels more natural than dealing with multiple key combinations.
with zBrush you all so need a worthy tablet n a killer PC to run it all.Blenders sculptor works rather well with a mice.Still advice tablets.
Think you can get a small wacom n a descent pen for a couple hundred.Mudbox is $10 a moth last I looked.
Maybe they made a change last time I tried it both windows were the same if you moved a vertice in one it moved in the other when you loaded an object it loaded in both also that opens another set of the left side panels In short the new one was nothing more than an active copy of the first and used the same amount of memory effectively doubling the amount of ram used by the program
What I want is just the working window/workspace /viewport where you see your object/scene that your working on, No tool bars,menus timeline, or anything else
...for myself I am unable to use a tablet and stylus due to arthritis so only a more conventional pointing device works (I use an ergonomic trackball) This means any programme that benefits from or requires pressure sensitivity to work is out for me.
It's not just the pressure ,It's angles also.So you really need a pen,and natural born skill ,Some with all the best tools still can't draw a straight line.
Give me a Gibson n I still can't play worth a dang.Where all here to do ,What where all meant to do.
...I have the "natural" (well over the years developed), skill as I was a traditional artist pretty much all my life with pencil drawing one of my strong mediums. I no longer have the deftness, control, and strength of grip anymore. This is one of the reasons I ended up in CG art just so I still had a creative outlet.
..it is also related to pain and extreme stiffness. This is why I had to leave painting and drawing behind. There are also times when I am holding a pen or pencil it simply will fall out of my hand as my grip is extremely weak. Without the trackball I have I wouldn't be able to do anything (another reason I won't move to W10 because it is an older device that needs to be run in XP mode). For a hardwired replacement similar to the one I have that takes pressure off the wrist, I am looking at 500$ - 700$. Don't want wireless because of the potential for lag.
I get what ya mean I need my Art like I need to breath .Thank the CGI Gods for DAZ.
I half to get shots for my joints to work n I'm not as fast as I use to be n the 20 hour days are long past.I know I'll half to retire soon.hopfully DAZ soon ;) Maybe I can make some change as a vender.
No one said to get rid of existing mouse button or keyboard commands to move, pan, and zoom. Adding those menu controls for pan, move, zoom doesn't make existing functions disappear.
Having mouse/keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys are great and will tend to be faster than menu controls. But requiring it just goes against good GUI design.
Here's 3D Studio Max's Camera Viewport Controls:
Here's Maya's object rotate, move, scale tool:
Here's Modo's move, rotate, zoom, and scale tool:
And here's Poser's camera/object move, pan, rotate, zoom controls:
I see... at least those in Maya have nothing to do with the viewport though. They rotate/move/scale the object.
The new window does open as a copy of the current window, but you still have complete control to change that. Here's what I did to achieve what I think you want based on what you described:
I don't have dual screens on the computer I'm using now, so in my screenshot I just put the two windows side by side on the same screen.
I think most Blender users are navigating with mouse, but it's also possible to use num keys to rotate etc. Blender wiki has lots of info about navigation, although I'm not 100% sure if everything is still up to date: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.4/Manual/3D_interaction/Navigating
I have to admit, that I'm not quite sure why I even bother anymore. I think Blender users have been more than understanding for newcomers; we have offered help and alternative solutions, but unfortunately nothing seems to be enough. Sometimes I think, that people just love to hate Blender, and they post in this thread to start an argument in hope that moderator would close the thread. In other forums that's called trolling. For example, in that upcoming Windows 10 update thread moderators said, that if you don't use W10, don't post in that thread to complain how terrible W10 is. It's not really constructive, and it definitely does not help anybody. Why is it different with this thread? It's the same whining all the time. Blender UI is horrible and it's not working like <insert your software here>. It's just that I used to think that Generation Z was that whiny spoiled generation, that has attention span in seconds, but this forum proves me wrong every time. Apparently a single google search is too much nowadays for us grown ups, and if you have to do that to learn how to navigate in a new program, the program is garbage.
To make my point clear, Blender is not Max. It's not Maya either, and it's definitely not Hexagon, Modo or Poser. Just like Gimp is not Photoshop nor Daz Studio is Poser. Those are all different programs/software, and you have to learn their quirks if you want to use them. Sure, there are similarities, but they are not clones. It's not any different with Blender. I don't see ex-poser users spamming forums how DS should look and work like poser. Of course most humans have problems when they start re-learning something, but with little patience most can do it. At least what I've seen, most ex-poser users have been quite happy with DS after they learned how it works. Some even use both at the same time. Why we constantly see these UI complaints from people that have used Blender for 5 minutes, when obviously thousands of people have been able to learn how to use it, is beyond me. Nobody said that it's easy to learn a full scale 3D suite, so there's no shame if one can't do it. Of course it's possible to blame the program UI or whatever, but at some point it's time to take a reality check, and have a long look at the mirror and wonder if the problem really is in Blender and it's user interface...
I don't mess so often with Blender but I use the keyboard shortcuts most of the time but it's not like once you start a shortcut in Blender it's done. Depending on the shortcut the user enters a numerical or angular keyboard entry or they often must directly manipulate the target of the shortcut directly in the viewport. And it's oh so much easier than finding, clicking and typing a numerical change in some obscure Maya or 3DS Max dialogue box.
The Blender shortcuts are much faster & more accurate. And yes that can already be done via mouse & menu too. I don't object to Blender adding visual object and viewport manipulations in the Blender US but having seen Maya, 3DS Max, and such all they will really be doing is assigning icons to already existing menu entries and rearranging and changing how those menus are accessed, eg strings them in functional groups divided into tabs with somewhat large icons ala the Microsoft Word ribbon menu concept that Maya / 3DS Max have copied.
Personally, I wish Daz didn't have them; they get in the way; I'd prefer a way of using the keyboard and mouse - now there is one, but requires two keypresses as well as the use of a mouse.
+1
There is at least one very low hanging fruit: change the default to left-click select. Yes it's easy to change, but first impressions matter. When people right away are confronted with one of the most backward things ever conceived in the history of software usability, it sticks. It's not hard to see why people expect everything else to be completely backwards too. This is free software, we do whatever the hell we want and don't give a damn about standards. This is everyone's welcome to Blender.
Another tiny thing I noticed. Quit Blender with an unsaved document. Instead of asking, like any other application out there, wether you want to save before qutting, you get a message saying that you will lose unsaved content if you continue... what the hell, who thinks of this stuff? Now I have to cancel quitting, save, and then quit again.
I know these are small things that a user can overcome without much trouble. I know Blender rocks and would never call it crap because of it, but the impression that it left over the years was caused by nobody other than the developers who showed no restraint whatsoever. Luckily it is getting better.
We have been a litle hesitant to step in as there did seem to be an element of genuine discussion, but it does seem that the tiem has come for people who have made their decision not to use Blender to move on to another thread and leave this ne those who do use it or who are considering its use.
#pad 5 gets u in & out of perspective view so.
Can't close Gimp with a unsaved pic with out warning.
Over the decades At some time or another I've used about all the 2D n 3D app's.I can't count the dead n irrelevant app's n plugs I have.I'm on my 4th n 5th or 5th n 6th PCs.
All I know is with CGI I don't half to deal with toxic paints n cleaners you had to replace all the time that stank and did give you head Headaches.n make u nauseous.you'd have paint up ya nose, ruined close n needed a huge space for it all n airbrushes ya needed air compressor LOUD n booths.sculptures ya needed a 3000 degree Celt n humidity had to be right.
We all no matter what CGI app's we use have it so good now :)
I agree with the proviso that being critical of some features of Blender should not result in removal of the posts. I use Blender out of financial necessity and, while there are aspects that drive me nuts, I am very glad it is there and it is free. I come to this thread to see how others use it and when some people complain about some quirk, a workaround is often proposed. This is helpful to occasional users like me. Otherwise, you are quite right in saying that blanket dismissal should be discouraged.
By the way, I'd love to see more discussion of interaction between DAZ Studio and Blender for things like sculpting morphs, rendering a scene in Blender (Eevee looks exciting) and animating figures (preferably with DAZ rigging). I wouldn't know where to start with some of those subjects.
Another thing that actually bothers me. Lots of people don't have a numpad anymore, me included. I'd like to stay as close to default key bindings but in this case I just can't. Granted, this is a case where you could say it's not a weakness of Blender but a weakness of my keyboard
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blender+no+nuber+pad
Youtube is Blenders bestest friend :)
I know DAZ sells Unity meshes.Maybe DAZ could make a Bleder market as well.It's fun to blow stuff up n all in Blender :)If I didn't make my own meshes I'd rig DAZ meshes in Blender.
Who is lots of people? I don't know anyone who doesn't have a numeric keypad except for some people with very small light laptops (which they don't use for 3D work anyway). I don't think I've ever seen a desktop computer that didn't come with a keyboard with a keypad. I just did a quick Google search and then searched on Amazon and every result on the first page came with a keyboard that included a number pad.
I really don't know much about animating, so can't really help there, but there's really nice script here in Daz forums to move scenes and render them in Blender. "Support" thread is here: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/2877/mcjteleblender-daz-studio-scenes-animations-w-blender-s-cycles-engine . There you can find script/plugin, that does most of the heavy lifting.
Also 2.8 update is not only about Eevee ( I admit, it looks and feels really cool and seems to steal all the thunder currently ), but also Cycles is getting improvements as well: https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Source/Render/Cycles/Roadmap . Microdisplacement, IES lighting and cube map rendering all sound interesting news to me.
Here's one more page that some may find interesting also: https://code.blender.org/2016/10/asset-management-and-pipeline/ The one thing that really won me over to Daz world, was the ease of posing. The leap from makehuman/blender combo to G3/DS was just unreal. Now maybe we finally get a pose library functionality in Blender too. I assume there's probably still some way to go to reach DS level ease of use, but it's a start. And yes, a real working material library would be a really nice addition. Of course you can already kind of create your own libraries, but it's just not very easy to use, when you have to append those materials between blend files without previews etc.
Thanks for taking the time to add that information. Yes, I have tried the Teleblender script but I found it requires changing all the materials to 3Delight and then tinkering with them to get the materials to look right in a Cycles render. That was so time consuming that I gave up on it (not to mention being terrified of that material node system in Blender). The same reason I abandoned rendeing with Reality/Luxrender - all that time spent tweaking materials. I've often mentioned on this forum that a fully functional Blender Bridge would be a dream plugin. I just don't get on with Hexagon at all and I can't afford ZBrush.
Unfortunately I don't understand some of the basics and some of the language even though I've had this hobby for over 10 years. I tend to stay in my comfort zone sometimes so I am intimidated by the jargon used by many Blender experts. I wouldn't have a clue what "cube map rendering" means, for example.
Yes, being able to pose DAZ figures in Blender would be another fantastic feature but, again, I couldn't begin to guess how that could be done. If it could, animating DAZ figures in Blender would be a logical next step.
Granted most people look at 101 key keyboards but there actually are a fair number of 87 key keyboards available some of which ain't exactly cheap especially if they're listed as gaming keyboards
zBrush isn't really mint for rendering,they use to promote a plug for a 3rd party render engine n there's GoZ. animation etc etc Z doesn't have rigs or alot of things you see in any main app's like Blender.
zBrush is mint to make DAZ HD's,games normals n movies vetor maps n that's it.
We would have different poses in each key frame.to save as a pose libary.
I think it was Keyshot render engine that zBrush promoted for zBrush
That makes sense I guess. I don't know very many serious gamers so I wasn't aware of that. Most of my friends are accountants or engineers, and if they play alot of games they do it on their console of choice, not their computer, so that may be affecting how representitive my sample is.