[ux] Improve virtual console background settings

Request a feature that you would like to see in QLC+.
Explain in details why you would need it and which is your usage case.
Post Reply
memrex
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:10 pm
Real Name:

I noticed some ux issues and improvements in both v4 and v5 when changing vc widget background settings (in no particular order):
  • Impossible to unset either color or image (applies to font settings as well)
  • Impossible to combine color and image (impossible in v4, implemented in v5 but selecting a color unsets the image)
  • v4: svg files are not selectable at all.
  • v5: selecting a svg file requires manually changing the file type every time.
  • v5: svg files are not scaled up well (unnecessary blur).
  • Inconsistent image handling:
    • v4: buttons have centered images, other widgets have tiled images. Large images are not scaled well.
    • v5: images are always scaled to fit which heavily distorts the images. Upscaling looks ugly due to blur.
    • png images have weird artifacts.
  • Allow to define split background color (especially useful for buttons in combination with color wheels)
  • Visual: add a small padding so that the background image does not touch the edge.
  • Feature to extract and assign color and gobo image from assigned scene and fixture definition.
  • Unusual behaviour of the color pane which stays open after a selection is made.
I think these issues are fairly detached from each other and from the rest of the code and would be a safe spot to start contributing. In fact, I already have a working prototype of a split-color button in v4.
Attachments
distorted image.png
png artifacts.png
svg upscaling blur.png
memrex
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:10 pm
Real Name:

Here's the pull request for split-color widgets in qlc5: https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/pull/1204

The thing I find a bit weird is that there are now three ColorTool objects. The ux feels somewhat unusual because the tool stays open and has no close button. @massimo: do you know why this has been implemented like this in the first place?
User avatar
mcallegari
Posts: 4711
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Italy
Real Name: Massimo Callegari
Contact:

memrex wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:32 pm Here's the pull request for split-color widgets in qlc5: https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/pull/1204
What's this for? I don't think we need it. It complicates thing for a niche usage case (which I still don't understand)
memrex wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:32 pm The thing I find a bit weird is that there are now three ColorTool objects. The ux feels somewhat unusual because the tool stays open and has no close button. @massimo: do you know why this has been implemented like this in the first place?
There aren't 3 color tools. It's one tool with 3 functionalities: basic, full, filters.
Tools are exclusive. You open one, the other closes. It's a wanted behaviour to avoid having lot of tools overlapping each other.
Please study the code before shooting in the dark.

Again, I'm not sure I want to discuss these at this stage. I still might change my mind and change a few things on the UI. In v5 nothing is written on stone right now.
Post Reply