So I always get lost in StudioArtist since there are several hundred variables I can potentially edit. Not to mention the Paint Synthesizer, despite being organized, manages to kinda overwhelm me.
It's basically like using Maya, where you end up with hundreds of variables which are editable, all kinda shoved into pages and pages of tabs. I'm used to seeing lists of variables and settings and so on, but it's just always nice to be able to get directly to places I need.
My thoughts: what if we had a live search function? A search bar where you can enter some words and it'll bring up the relevant attribute.
For example: if I search Modulo, it brings up all the Modulo attributes on every tab, organized by where they're located. If I search "Path Shape Modulo" then it only brings up the Path-Shape attribute.
Just a thought.
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When you say, get lost, are you referring just to finding your way around the paint synthesizer control panels? Or are you thinking about ways to search to navigate the range of effects available in different operation modes?
As far as the paint synthesizer goes, it would be nice to provide some additional mechanisms for people to interact with it where a lot of the underlying complexity was hidden. The wide range of editable features in the various control panels is essential for creating the ability to create such a wide range of paint styles. But it makes editing paint presets more complex for individuals who don't want to take the time to understand how the paint synth is laid out, and what all the different controls do.
You can use gallery show mutation options, or paint synth macro edit commands, or the paint synth evolve commands to create new paint presets without getting under the hood.
I'll think about what you are suggesting.
The Operation menu up in the main menu bar is there to provide a secondary way to navigate to any control panel in Studio Artist. Are there additional things we could do there to make it easier to get to where you want to go?
We also have a new Get Info dialog in V5 that tries to provide useful information about the current preset effect you are working with. For paint synthesizer preset for example, it tells you everything that is pressure modulated. So you can figure that out at a glance, as opposed to having to work through different control panels to figure it out.
This kinda sounds like what I was thinking about when I was using StudioArtist. I guess this goes for many programs but in the end I always wanted some way of consolidating the menus as much as possible. I guess what's presented above IS a solution.
In the end StudioArtist's massive parameter list has both been amazing to work with and also a mild time loss. It's logical, but at the same time... kinda difficult. So any kind of info, consolidation of parameters, macro controls would definitely help here!
Another thing I thought of was something like a way to highlight parameters just so you know which slider you tweaked later.