Redesign of the Modifiers Panel

The goal of this proposal is to provide an evaluation of the current separationof the particle and physics modifer properties from the modifiers panel, and topresent a viable solution for their elimination and the subsequent migration oftheir contents to the modifiers tab of the properties panel. Emphesis is put ona redesigned modifier stack that will more efficiently display modifer propertiesboth individually and in multiples.

A Proposal for the

Currently the there are two additional tabs within blender's properties panelheader for the sole purpose of interacting with blender's particle and physicssystems, as seen in (figure 1).

The Story so Far...

Fig 1: The two tabs at the far right are for particlesand physics sytems respectively.The separation of the particle andphysics systems from the modifier stackis not without reason. The particlesystem by itself is composed of anumber of dropdown panels of relatedsettings and variables, and can easilytake up the entire vertical length of evena large monitor when several areexpanded. The same can be said of thephysics panel as well.To have all of these propertiesaccessable within the modifier stack'scurrent design would undoubtedly leadto excessive scrolling, visual confusion,and not the least bit of frustration.

Fig 2: Partial view of the particles panel.

courtesy of Cole Reed (0knowledge)

So What's the Problem?While the current solution of separating the particle and physics settings fromthe modifier stack solves the issue of overloading the modifier stack with acumbersome amount of settings, it is not without its problems.

It's Not You It's MeIn essence the particle and physicsmodifiers are currently in a quasi status,where they are neither completelyintegrated with the modifier stack norcompletely independent of it. Thesepanels being too large and unwieldy to fitwithin the restraints of the currentmodifier stack, yet by their nature mustbe represented within it.This results in being a somewhatconfusing relationship to the modiferstack, and a lack of consistency withhow other modifier properties are edited.

Fig 4: Modifier settings in physics panel.

Fig 3: Particle and physics stubs in themodifier stack.

You're Physicsly ObeseThe next issue occurs within thephysics panel. Whereas the particlespanel only needs to contain propertiesand ui elements related to the particlesystem modifier. The physics panelmust account for many different physicsmodifers, some with several dropdownpanels a piece. This can quicklybecome cumbersome for the user tonavigate when more than one physicsmodifier is being applied to an object,and simply additional visual clutterwhen they are not active.

Actually,... It's You.The modifier stack, even with only itscurrent content, is not without its flaws.After adding just a few modifiers to anobject a user can quickly becomeburdened with excessive scrolling andvisual scanning for the modifier theywant to adjust.While individual modifiers can becollapsed to create less distraction thiscan become tedious in practice.When a user changes the order of themodifier stack the modifiers leapfrogeach other. Trying to move onemodifier up or down several levelsquickly becomes visually disorienting.Although a drag and drop solutionwould help overcome thisdisorientation it would still becumbersome to reorganize a suffientlylong list of modifiers.

Fig 5: List of standard modifiers

Don't Panic. There Is A Solution!The author of this proposal believes that the addition of a simple list based uielement along with some intuitive controls would greatly enhance theorganization and efficiency of the current modifier tab ui, while eliminating theproceeding issues.

Show Me The Mockups!The following mockups and text arepresented to demonstrate how this newmodifer panel would look and work.As can be seen in (figure 6) adding alist view to the modifer tab greatlyincreases the ability of the user toquickly see what modifiers have beenadded to the object and in what orderthey are being applied.Modifiers can be quickly turned off or onin the 3d view display or for rendering inthe list view.The up and down arrows at the bottomright of the list view make the reorderingof modifiers a simple and preciseprocess.Modifiers can be quickly removed fromthe stack by selecting them from the listand clicking the x on the upper right ofthe list view.The arrow just below the X (figure 7)opens and additional options panel tocopy, paste, and duplicate modifierswithin the list or to other objects quickly.

Fig 6: Redesigned modifier tab with list view

Fig 7: Additional options panel

Fig 8: Shift select to show multiple modifiers

It is at times convenient to have thesettings for multiple modifiers visible forediting. To accommodate this themodifier list will provide controls toselect and display more than onemodifer at a time.Shift select (shift + left mouse) to selectall modifiers between the first and lastmodifier selected in the list. (figure 8)Control select (cntrl + left mouse) toselect specific modifiers from the list todisplay. (figure 9)By allowing the user to view settings forindivdual as well as multiple modifiersthere is no comproming coherence andcontrol for convenience or vice versa.

Fig 9: Cntrl select to show specfic modifiers

After estabilshing a new mechanism fororganizing and viewing modifiers theinclusion of modifiers with manyvariables becomes practical.In (figure 10) the cloth modifier hasbeen reintroduced into the modifierspanel in its complete form. It stillretains collapsable sub­panels for betterorganization and the ability to onlydisplay relevant information.The cloth modifier can now be shownby itself and no irrelevant or unusedpanels dedicated to other physicsmodifiers need clutter the interfacewhile adjusting its settings.

Fig 10: Cloth modifier shown in newmodifier panel.

In this redesigned modifier panel,since it is no longer necessary toshow every modifier at the sametime, there is also less need tocreate such a defining separationbetween each modifier.In (figure 11) an alternativemockup shows what the modifierstack might look like with out eachmodifier being placed in acontaining box, keeping themvisually more inline with the rest ofthe 2.5 panels.While the pros and cons of such achange are debatable, the fact thatit becomes more practical basedon this redesign is probably not.

Fig 11: Modifiers stack shown without surroundingframes

And Finally...Though Blender 2.5 is quickly approaching a point of stability in its userinterface, with tutorials already beginning to surface on the internetdemonstrating its new ui, there is still room for improvement.The author of this document proposes that the redesigned modifiers panelpresented herein would provide further organization and coherence to thecurrent modifier stack. Furthermore the improvements presented in thisproposal would provide the ability to fully integrate the particle and physicsmodifiers into the modifiers panel. This unification would provide the benefitsof greater consistency in how modifiers are accessed, eliminate the need tocluster the physics modifiers together, and free up space for future tabs in theproperties panel.

Cons:1. Becomes hard to navigate andreorder modifiers after several havebeen applied.2. Impractical for displaying modifierswith numerous settings when mutiplemodifiers are being applied.3. Particle and physics modifiers aretreated inconsistently from others doto item 2.4. Particle and physics modifiers'relationship to modifier stack can beconfusing to users do to the item 3.5. Physics panel is visually crowded,hard to navigate, and will likely onlyget worse in the future.6. Additonal tabs in the propertiespanel are currently necessary forparticles and physics modifiers do toitem 2.

Current Modifier Stack Pros And ConsPros:1. Convenient access to allmodifiers applied to an object withonly scrolling needed to view them.

Cons:1. User must first select multiplemodifiers from list to view theirsettings at the same time whenmore than one modifier is applied.

Redesigned Modifier Stack Pros And ConsPros:1. Easy to navigate, reorder anddelete modifiers.2. Ability to easily copy, paste, andduplicate multiple modifiers at once.3. Clearly shows what modifiers areapplied and in what order at aglance.4. Allows user to view modifiersindividually or in multiples of theirchoosing.5. Becomes practical to displaymodifiers with numerous settingssuch as current particle and physicsmodifiers do to item 4.6. Particle and physics modifiers canbe treated consistently with othermodifiers do to item 5.7. Relationship of particle andphysics modifiers with othermodifiers is no longer confusing doto item 6.8. Eliminates need for addtional tabswithin the properties panel do toitem 5.

The author may be contacted for further discussion at ichabodcole@gmail.com