Some observations

[Pavlov]

Hi,
using Octane for some weeks now and loving it !
I'd like to share an observation on GUI; each value into Node inspector takes way too much space, and its modal (you can tweak a node per time).
I strongly feel that a (much) more compact design and a non-modal approach would improve usability a lot, since we could keep multiple panels open and tweak more values at once (finetuning means many tweakings of camera, environment and material's values) without clicking on nodes continuously.

bye
Paolo

[kubo]

you don't need to use the nodes if you don't like them, use the right side panel, there you have everything in a tree like order. IMO nodes rock, but hey, everyone has its own ways.

[radiance]

Hi,

You can do everything in octane without using any nodes, only loading the meshnode and clicking on it, then doing everything with the material picker and swapping/tuning in the node inspector panel on the right.

Radiance

[Pavlov]

Hi,
i've clearly explained badly
I'm just referring to node inspector: once i click on a node i see its parameters listed there.
I'm referring to this way of listing valies: it's too dispersive and each value there takes too much space, a minislider and a dropdown can be done with way less space consumption. This way we could keep many more parameter open at once.


Paolo

[radiance]

Hi,
i've clearly explained badly
I'm just referring to node inspector: once i click on a node i see its parameters listed there.
I'm referring to this way of listing valies: it's too dispersive and each value there takes too much space, a minislider and a dropdown can be done with way less space consumption. This way we could keep many more parameter open at once.


Paolo

yeah, one of the issues is that i make octane on a 1920x1200 display so it ends up looking a bit too big on lower res.
we are working towards making it a bit more 'compact'.

Radiance

[timbarnes]

I think the pro video editing tools like After Effects and Final Cut do a good job of offering a lot of interactive controls in a really compressed space: might be worth a look? The better DAW tools also have to deal with a lot of complexity. If you're interested in looking at some 3D examples, I think modo's UI is one of the nicest: compact and docked tabs (actually a similar look in some ways to Octane).

It would be great to see the properties area on the right become more compact when you can get around to it—I know you have a lot on your to-do list!