Topic: Some observations and disapointments

[yak]

Congratulation on trying to produce a new interface.

But, and this is a BIG BUT, .....Lumion is not the first kid on the block that has tried to evade the Windows way of doing things, Apple has its limited group of followers. Unfortunately its way too late to make such changes in light of the fact the Windows way of communicating is still on 90% of the worlds computer. Far too many computer users expect programs to perform in a Windows type of way. I'm not making a value judgment here, that's simply the way it is.

Its often been said by others "If you want an appliance, you buy an Apple, If you want a computer you buy a PC". I'm a PC guy. I want to remove an replace my own HDD, unlike Apple users that have Apple do that for them for a $350.00 fee.

Lumion has many shortcomings, when it comes to the Windows way of integrating with other 3d programs, yet it hopes to provide easy integration via import, and then expects the user to get used to a whole new "simpler" way of doing things, the Lumion way.
Unfortunately the Lumion Interface is very clumsy. I probably use 20 different window oriented programs every day, and it becomes automatic after a while, no matter which new program I use, I can and do become quickly used to any new program, mainly because the of the Windows standard.

A short list of what I think believe needs attention:

01.The complete disregard of a right-clicking-context-menu is a main programming fault in Lumion, in my opinion.
02.The Eye dropper icon like in PS is missing: so I can readily use and change the properties of my imported terrain, to paint Lumion terrain.
03.The ability to quickly high lite objects from my imported scene: so I can delete them if required. (right click menu item)
04.The option of displaying a Windows menu bar (on/off): so I can quickly go to File/save, Import etc. I'm not impressed by having to learn a whole new bunch of Icons, when simple words will do.
05.Being able to turn on/off if terrain changes will or will not interfere with imported objects, such as walls, foundations etc.
06.Road and Path building Tools.
07.Being able to create a Mirror effect: without having to remember a whole bunch of slider settings.
08.Open source access: being able to add objects to Lumion material list.
09.Open source forum: sharing of materials, and objects in Lumion: like Maxwell.
10.Development of an API scripting language: like Ruby for SketchUp

There are many programs that have developed excellent quasi Window interfaces, which also deserve mention: ArtRage, Cinema 4D, Maxwell, to mention a few.  also Lumion should definitely consult with its users via a beta testing program.

Cheers!

[Littlemeister]

Sounds like a wise guy we have here... But I dont agree about the fact that Jusst becouse we all use windows UI it have to be Windows Ui again... I jusst agree that If your going to do your own Ui... It musst be "better, eyeser and so on" than the Windows Ui, OF COURSE.

A good example of a none traditional Ui that works good is.. Facebook (well its not the best example but anyway) and The sims... or look at the search engines when they arrived... Only a Seracg field in the middle of the screen and nothing more, Talk about a interface.

[darbo]

I have no general complaints with the Lumion UI not looking like a standard Windows interface. I do want Lumion to provide a framework for a lot more user input, such as custom user-content libraries (materials and objects) along with more precise input tools (consistent origin points, transform type-ins, array, etc.), but I'm conceptually fine with the non-standard UI of Lumion.

However, the minimalistic UI has a drawback, it's so minimal that it doesn't support added features very well. For instance, the Lumion reflection controls and cut plane are buried in the Interior Lights section. On the one hand, it is a terribly counter-intuitive location for those features, but on the other hand it's plain that the UI is so rigidly minimal, that there isn't any logical place to put those controls. They don't make sense with interior lights, but they would make sense anywhere else in the UI either. That's a clear sign that the UI is currently to rigid to grow with the program.

PC games never have a Windows-like UI, and that seems to be the whole point with the Lumion UI; it's a game engine for architectural visualization, so it's UI seems more game-like to me. And that's 100% fine with me so long as I can get my work done.

Thing is - Lumion, even now in only release two, is a miraculous bit of program. I purchased a license some four weeks ago and in that span I've delivered two video animation projects for two separate design proposals. Lumion is so quick and easy to import and set up for rendering (production-wise) that it was most least-used program (spent far more time modeling in Max, texturing in PS, and editing in Premiere Pro),  That's getting work done! So, while I definitely want more user control from the Lumion UI, I've found it abundantly sufficient for my production needs already. I'm excited that it's only getting better.

[BMcIsaac]

We are working inside a breathing engine (lumion) that has many dimensions. Real time is an interesting challenge. A truly “realtime” application connects directly to the computing “machine” and uses a machine language…the most universally in use is Assembler.  Because it is not an abstracton of any other language it is lightening fast. So therefore suitable for realtime application.

Lumion needs to be very close to the machine….in this case the GPU…..windows itself is many abstractions above the machine…if every time you made a move in lumion you had to shake hands with windows …well you would be like a lot of other graphics applications and never get anything done…lol.

So the Lumion team has to build a unique front-end for everything they do. 
Using windows to get the job done would be like wearing huge foam boxing gloves while you try to play pick-up-sticks.


Right now as a producer, it is the economics of Lumion that is most attractive.
I have been doing this for some time....I am familiar with a lot of products and Lumion is cutting edge in that respect.

[Morten]

05.Being able to turn on/off if terrain changes will or will not interfere with imported objects, such as walls, foundations etc.

Hi Yak, I'm not involved in the design of Lumuon, so I can't comment on your suggestions for user interface improvements, but regarding #5, did you know that you can lock models so that they can't be moved, regardless of what you do to the terrain? Here's how:

Context menu -> Transformation -> Lock position

[Remko]

I think everyone has their own preferences when it comes to a UI. We do a lot of usability testing and design and in essence we just choose what works best.

Sure, it might not work for everyone but if we knew how to please everyone we would be a lot richer than we are today

For us it does not matter if something is limited in the UI as longs as it was conscious decision. What I mean is that by implying certain restrictions we gain a lot on other fronts so we end up with a better overall user experience. All the programs you named work great for you but maybe there are many people for who this does not matter because it's to complex for them. The essence is that we try to make deliberate and conscious decisions about how everything works. So if we leave out one option we get 2 customers wanting more control and we get 50 more customers who say: "What you are doing here is awesome because now I can finally do things I could never do before."

For every product out there there is there's always another product that does something better. I have no doubt there are programs that can render faster, render more realistic, have more detailed interfaces, more import formats, more export formats and thousands of extra tools and plug-ins. In the end this all just does not matter.

It's like saying one car is better than the other because it has a better engine or something like that. I think we can all agree my mom would probably not like to do shopping in a F1 racing car, just like a race driver would rather not participate in a Toyota Aygo.

A software program is like a composition. It has many ingredients and what really matters is everything as a whole. In our case it's the speed and user experience combined with the final output which defines Lumion.

For a user it's sometimes difficult to see the reason behind things but I can assure you there are good reasons for most things. In the end we do create the program for our users so we try to do things in ways people prefer the most. With Lumion we want to be ahead of the curve so it's difficult for us to see what our users want because very often they don't know it yet. Like Henry Ford once said: If I would have asked my customers what they wanted they would have said: 'Faster horses!'

By the way... most of the remarks concern program functions and not so much the UI. We're always working on adding the new functions people want. Better lanscape painting is just part of the natural evolution of the program.

[tug]

Hi remko and morten, read it but don't waste a precious  time which can be useful to improve  Lumion

[BMcIsaac]

read it but don't waste a precious 

Thats so true...every minute we drag the poor guy in here means more overtime for him!

[Morten]

Yak, Dazomatic, CRhoades, Littlemeister:

Please stay on topic, and refrain from irrelevant personal insults.

I'm not keen on censorship but a lot of the recent posts in this thread were more about flinging mud than about contributing to the original topic, and no one benefits from that, so you left me no choice but to remove them.

Now please take off your mud-stained boxing gloves, shake hands and carry on with the discussion in a civilised manner

Here's the original topic:
The user interface of Lumion.

[RAD]

Thank you.

[kcepaulino]

Thank you.

Let's make it easier for you to realize, don't use the software if its not good for you!! make your own software to satisfy your many needs.. but in other side its better that you mention all that lumion dont have...

[RAD]

   http://lumion3d.com/forum/gallery-best-works/wip-imagery-updated-old-thread-custom-plant-material/