Synfig Project Forum

The current version:



The proposal:


source file, in case you would like to play with it




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update, link the proposal to the initial image since it has been updated after discussed.

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time flies...

Does any one can help explain a bit "Half render" button, I never use it, and don't know what it is for.

Thanks.

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time flies...

It is "Halt Render" (stop render) not "Half Render".
"Zoom" is effectively a zoom value but it is in relation to 1 and not a percentage as it should be. So word is fine, it is just that the value entry should be a percentage widget instead a normal real widget.

I have one proposal for the Preview window. I dislike to have the render fit into the window size when it is resized by the user. I would prefer or just adjust the window size to the canvas being rendered or don't adjust and leave the canvas render at full, half, double etc. size as per user request and the window shows just a fraction (or not) of the canvas and offers a scroll bar when needed.

-G

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how careless I was.

I always considered that it is a value to control quality of preview.


Thanks for your reminder, I now remembered that your proposal is somewhere on the wiki pages.


I will update my mockup and (try to) design icons and look into the code soon.

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time flies...

Looks very nice!
Zoom is not zoom but quality. I've posted about this a long time ago here on the forum.

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www.rylanderanimation.se
Synfig scripts, etc.

BTW, I miss something to scrub the time line once the preview is rendered. It is a very important feature. The original dialog uses a horizontal scroll bar to move through the frames.
-G

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Genete - I think that's the little circle on the blue line next to the clock icon.

update:
1) rename Zoom to Quality
2) add a real zoom widget
3) cleanup Render Start/Halt buttons
4) cleanup Play/Stop buttons and
5) need more design details for the Render start/halt, play/stop buttons



with scrollbars

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time flies...

Yeah! I see it now!

Great improvements jcome!
-G

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explain a bit about Start ＼Halt render and Play ＼Stop buttons. see the above image

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time flies...

I don't think that Play would be disabled in any case. Let me explain it:
Play/Stop Button should be a two icon button type, exactly like the one at the canvas window. If when user press "Play" there is nothing to play (nothing rendered) nothing is shown. Pressing Stop button will stop playing. Regardless that, user can move the current time to any time that has been already rendered and Play button should play from there.
If a new frame is rendered and play is active then the new frame is shown if the time cursor was at the last rendered frame.
Start render will continue render form the last frame rendered.
Halt render would stop render routine.
Start/Halt render can be a two states button or similar to Play one (with two icons) but it should be only one button at all.
Erase render would remove all the rendered frames. It should be a single action button separated form the Start/Halt render. It is useful when user gets the Preview window opened and changes the animation for already rendered frames.

I think that you better play with the current dialog to understand how does it work. I think that the current behavior is fine.

-G

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I am planned to change the play button at canvas window to toggle button with one icon as well. I will write down another post to explain why. There is something funny. If I remember correctly, you mentioned it in one post as well.


I should write those explanation more clearly at the previous commit. I added some more words, hope it works now.
What I mean "disabled" play button is at the situation there is no any frames rendered, a) the first time, user open the preview window; b) user clicked [Erase All] button. This function reminds a user that s/he should render some frames to preview (play).



Start/Halt render and Erase render can be grouped from my point of view, because one of them generates preview-able frames, the other deletes those frames.

In my first draft on my local repos, I used two buttons for Play/Stop, two buttons for Start/Halt Render solution, but it wastes horizontal space, since the Quality, FPS and Time settings now live in the same bar, we don't have more space available. And then I use the one shown in the mockup, I think use one toggle button solution is quite clear as well.

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time flies...

Hide the soundtrack widget etc...
The color of toggled buttons is just for better reading of the mockup, will not the same than the final implementation.

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time flies...

What happen when Erase is pressed and Render is pressed?
-G

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Erase is not a toggle button but a normal button, so this never happen. But when rendering, if the Erase button is clicked, the Render button will pop up automatically (Halt render), and those rendered frames will be moved at the same time, we will have an empty preview window.

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time flies...