V-RayVFB skin update proposal

[LudvikKoutny]

Hi,

so I recently started to dig deeper into how LensFX works, and finally started to get some good results with it, but there's quite a few obstacles a new user has to overcome to even start getting some good output out of it. Luckily most of them can be resolved with a changes of a few defaults and a few minor changes of behavior.

I wanted to make a new thread about it, and while I was writing it all down, I noticed that one of the issues with LensFX is that it looks quite uninviting, and the outdated UI adds so much visual complexity to the LensFX panel it actually makes this feature appear a bit more complex than it is. Pressing LensFX button results into opening a nest of clunky looking windows 95 styled UI controls that can quickly confuse eye and maybe even scare some people away.

So here is a mockup of a few (hopefully not difficult) changes that would make not only LensFX, but entire VFB a bit more visually comfortable:

and here is screenshot of the old one for reference:


I know we are supposed to get a completely new VFB, but that probably won't be sooner than in a year, so these few, hopefully resource-inexpensive adjustments would probably be worth the time:

1, Use the new panel system and slider UI element created for the post processing panel in LensFX panel as well. (This could perhaps help with some of the LensFX UI bugs that are still present and probably hard to catch, such as unreliable updates, cursor getting stuck in click state, etc...)

2, Reskin checkboxes, dropdown buttons and spinner boxes to match dark theme. These should be hopefully easy to do in wxWidges/QT or what ever VFB uses.

3, Reskin scrollbar to match dark theme. This one could probably be a bit more difficult I am afraid.

4, Make sure spinner box/button/text field heights are not random but consistent across entire VFB UI.

That's it really.

[Art48]

I like it although I had to chuckle a bit at the "scare people away" part - you shouldn't be afraid of a little complexity when working in 3D . As I said, like the proposal but I'm not quite sure if it's actually worth it.

[Dave_Wortley]

I proposed the same thing a long time ago, but I think whats stopping Chaosgroup is some of wxWidgets not allowing them to customise it fully, there is a prototype of a new VFB in another thread somewhere from Chasogroup that is much more like PDplayer. I much prefer yours though!

[Dave_Wortley]

Although as much as I like it, it's not particularly 'accessible' I know this may seem strange but there are lots of people out there working in CG who don't have the best eye-site who would struggle to read the text as it is on yours. The paradoxical world of design....

[LudvikKoutny]

I like it although I had to chuckle a bit at the "scare people away" part - you shouldn't be afraid of a little complexity when working in 3D . As I said, like the proposal but I'm not quite sure if it's actually worth it.

For me, personally, it's not much of an issue. I mean it doesn't scare me away from using it, but I am just not happy that it looks so clunky. It's this random outdated panel that does not look on par with rest of the otherwise relatively professional looking V-Ray user interface. But I know a lot of people, who can indeed get overwhelmed by visual complexity, and actually mistake visual complexity for technical complexity. They will just open the window/pane, go "NOPE!" and then close it straight away.

Improvement of the UI look is just a small piece of puzzle to make LensFX more friendly. I recently started to discover that LensFX is not nearly as bad as I initially though it is. But the big problem is that it has a steep learning curve. Something so auxiliary as an image glare generator should ideally have no learning curve at all, or just a quick one.

I can not think of any flare/glare generating tool in any other renderer or post processing package that I would have to spend some time to learn. I just picked them all up and they mostly did all i needed. Where as with LensFX, it took a few days of occasional experimentation combined with lurking on these forums to find deeply buried knowledge of other users. LensFX has a lot of weird behaviors that are often so confusing it's not even certain if it's really expected behavior or a bug. And also, to get somewhat good results, you often need to use filter generator tool almost no one knows about.

There is just so much information you need to know to get at least somewhat decent looking glare out of it, where as with other tools, getting something decent looking is a matter of few seconds and twisting of 2-3 spinners

I wanted to make other thread about suggestion to make LensFX more user friendly, but since Vlado has clearly stated LensFX is least important feature, I will just let it go

Although as much as I like it, it's not particularly 'accessible' I know this may seem strange but there are lots of people out there working in CG who don't have the best eye-site who would struggle to read the text as it is on yours. The paradoxical world of design....

Yes, I agree. I have very mild astigmatism and I myself see it. The picture was just quick mockup, if I was to refine it further, into final form, text would probably have a bit more contrast.

[kosso_olli]

I wanted to make other thread about suggestion to make LensFX more user friendly, but since Vlado has clearly stated LensFX is least important feature, I will just let it go

Please share your suggestions anyways. If there is enough interest, I am sure Vlado will help. Usually he is the last person that throws a stick between your legs in case you need anything.

[vlado]

Please share your suggestions anyways. If there is enough interest, I am sure Vlado will help.

What kosso_olli said; don't let my negativity bother you I've been known to change my mind...

Best regards,
Vlado

[Nicinus]

I really like it. Besides being more visually appealing and a more modern look, it is much more relaxing for the eyes. Big fan of the gray interfaces that lets you focus on the image without distracting high contrast elements.