Hello again Art -
As I said earlier in the week, be on the lookout for my wishlists. Well here is one such compilation. It is a random collection of ideas as they have occurred to me. Enjoy !
1. Some helpful hotkeys: alt-F4 closes the program. F/f to zoom all. R/r to Regen.
2. I would like to add my vote for worms and worm gears. Yes please.
3. On the Circular Gear Module panel, being able to use Rack Fillet on Epi spurs would be very beneficial. Particularly with small module low tooth count pinions. Those teeth or 'leaves' are very thin and radii down in the dedendums add much needed strength. These small pinions can generally only be cut with a Shaped Tool fly cutter. So the cutter profile should have those radii.
4. Would be truly very helpful to have the Perspective panel on both the 3-axis and the 4th axis ribbons.
5. Ability to choose conventional vs climb milling for 4th axis. The Uni-Directional checkbox would become a 3-way toggle: Conventional/Climb/Uni-Directional.
6. The About button (and its popup tooltip) in the upper right most corner currently has a tiny print icon on it. Suggest changing it to a question mark and then making it into a drop down menu that has three choices: 'About', 'User Manual', 'Video Tutorials'. And remove the red question mark from the output Options panel. It's not an output, of course. Also remove the Help button on the About Gearotic dialog, or add a Video Tutorials button to it.
7. The Full Screen button (and its popup tooltip) on the quick access toolbar has an email attachment icon. Suggest using an icon for full screen that is seen on various video player applications.
8. On the Selected Props tab on the lower panel, I think the label on the button "Send to Workbench" would make more sense if it was labeled "Send to 3-Axis" It would then jive with the 3-Axis Modality Select button graphic on the Tools panel and also the label on the 3-axis ribbon tab.
9. The pinwheel escapement would be a nice addition. It's another type of deadbeat.
10. Sort by Linkages added to the dropdown menu of the Project tab on the left side panel. It would look like Sort as List but instead of the Vertices and Triangles, the first order linked objects are listed. Selecting any given parent on the tree also selects the objects in the model that are linked to that parent.
11. Individual checkmarks in the project tree could cycle thru three view style states: solid/wireframe/hidden. An outline of a checkmark would be the icon for wireframe. A nice mod to the "Project Tree" master on/off switch would be to add wireframe there as well so you can cycle thru these three states for the whole project.
12. The status bar currently shows nothing. I vaguely recall a post about some intended purpose but I dont remember what. So how about this: remove the Coordinates panels from all the ribbons. The status bar will have X:<#.#> Y:<#.#> Z:<#.#> justified to the left; things like 'Simulation Active ~ .....' and measurement results justified in the center; Gearotic's current active mode justified to the right.
13. And now a word about Headly McGearhead... My sister says, and I agree, Headly is kinda odd. And in the new video about slicing, you mention that he lives in an STL file named 'Compass' in the install directory. So what did I do? I promptly went noodling around the internet for a more suitable successor. See the attached. But when updating to ongoing releases of Gearotic, Gromit would be deposed. So even though this would be the lowest priority of Gearotic software development, I would like to ask for a place in the options dialog to upload one's own little 3D model. Or just a choice to turn off the compass.
one of my wish lists
Re: one of my wish lists
Hi Al:
Lets look at your suggestions. :)
>>1. Some helpful hotkeys: alt-F4 closes the program. F/f to zoom all. R/r to Regen.
I will look at adding a few. There are a few ALT keys now, like ALT-5 for full screen toggle.. Ill look ato add F and R, might be handy to have quick keys for tht, (though I admit I rarely use hotkeys myself which is thwy the number of hotkeys is low..) Consider it listed for development..
>>2. I would like to add my vote for worms and worm gears. Yes please.
Noted, A great many votes for Worms.. Im still considering how Id make them as yet...
>>3. On the Circular Gear Module panel, being able to use Rack Fillet on Epi spurs would be very beneficia l. Particula rly with small module low tooth count pinions. Those teeth or 'leaves' are very thin and radii down in the dedendums add much needed strength. These small pinions can generally only be cut with a Shaped Tool fly cutter. So the cutter profile should have those radii.
Ill look into allowing this, the reason rack fillet doesnt work on epi's in they follow a horological specification which doesnt call for it, an the fact they arent built using racks, but just spec'ed shapes which call for roots as linear segments to root level.. I'll list this though to see if it can be added without causing too much risk in there. :)
>>4. Would be truly very helpful to have the Perspecti ve panel on both the 3-axis and the 4th axis ribbons.
I too have recently noticed this. Probably be seen soon. Real-Estate is the reason it isnt there now, some people use smaller screens than I and complain if the ribbon gets too large, ( And in XP the ribbon is a terrible thing to deal with developmentally..).
>>5. Ability to choose conventio nal vs climb milling for 4th axis. The Uni-Directional checkbox would become a 3-way toggle: Conventio nal/Climb/Uni-Directional.
Ill consider this one, I do realize the unidirectional really only gives you climb milling on one side, but the complexity of making a true climb mill in there worried me at the time.. Ill put it high on my list to see if I can tweak it to have that capablility..
>>>6. The About button (and its popup tooltip) in the upper right most corner currently has a tiny print icon on it. Suggest changing it to a question mark and then making it into a drop down menu that has three choices: 'About', 'User Manual', 'Video Tutorials'. And remove the red question mark from the output Options panel. It's not an output, of course. Also remove the Help button on the About Gearotic dialog, or add a Video Tutorials button to it.
I Changed the Icons as I looked at this. Its the small things like this that seem to take me forever to get to. I hate boilerplate code, so its always getting bumped to lowest priority. The Video button was added to the top for suport reasons, while its not an output its a quick spot I can point people to as they begin using the program. I do have it listed ot get a better placement in the realestate of the screen. The rest is listed. (Be nice if this was large enough a project to have an interface guy. ( but I guess Im it. :) )
>>>7)The Full Screen button (and its popup tooltip) on the quick access toolbar has an email attachmen t icon. Suggest using an icon for full screen that is seen on various video player applications.
Again, changed as I checked it. :)
>>>8. On the Selected Props tab on the lower panel, I think the label on the button "Send to Workbench" would make more sense if it was labeled "Send to 3-Axis" It would then jive with the 3-Axis Modality Select button graphic on the Tools panel and also the label on the 3-axis ribbon tab.
Changed.
>>>9. The pinwheel escapement would be a nice addition. It's another type of deadbeat.
Listed, your the 3rd request. :)
>>>10. Sort by Linkages added to the dropdown menu of the Project tab on the left side panel. It would look like Sort as List but instead of the Vertices and Triangles, the first order linked objects are listed. Selecting any given parent on the tree also selects the objects in the model that are linked to that parent.
This will be done by a linkages display in planning where a proper link diagram can be done. I think the tree would get a bit unweildy for internal format reasons..
>>11. Individua l checkmark s in the project tree could cycle thru three view style states: solid/wireframe/hidden. An outline of a checkmark would be the icon for wireframe . A nice mod to the "Project Tree" master on/off switch would be to add wireframe there as well so you can cycle thru these three states for the whole project.
Interesting thought.. Ill look into that one..
>>>12. The status bar currently shows nothing. I vaguely recall a post about some intended purpose but I dont remember what. So how about this: remove the Coordinat es panels from all the ribbons. The status bar will have X:<#.#> Y:<#.#> Z:<#.#> justified to the left; things like 'Simulatio n Active ~ .....' and measureme nt results justified in the center; Gearotic's current active mode justified to the right.
Yes, status bar has always been a thorn.. Listed for redevelopmnent or removal..
>>13. And now a word about Headly McGearhea d... My sister says, and I agree, Headly is kinda odd. And in the new video about slicing, you mention that he lives in an STL file named 'Compass' in the install directory . So what did I do? I promptly went noodling around the internet for a more suitable successor . See the attached. But when updating to ongoing releases of Gearotic, Gromit would be deposed. So even though this would be the lowest priority of Gearotic software developme nt, I would like to ask for a place in the options dialog to upload one's own little 3D model. Or just a choice to turn off the compass.
The oblique circles were only added recenty as I figured Id eventually get rid of headly. Problem is Ive gotten so used to him I actually find him handier than the obliques ( which are basically what slicer and other programs use. ). So this one I understamd. I will look into adding an option for at least turning him off. Experienced users can replace him as they wish, much like thay can add spokes or indicators as they wish. Advanced things that I dont really inform people of, but that they can do if they wish.. :0
Thanks for the suggestions, some are now done as I went though this letter.
I should explain, lest someone reading this wonder why such things happen or why icons and such can be so badly inserted, or help files lag or video's not be replaced at times, that Gearotic is a very unique program. I dont look at it as professional development project. Its very unlikely it will ever pay for itself, or could exist at all except as a labour of love. While in Mach3 I had to respond to a community that was fairly voracious of my time, Mach3 generated a great deal of sales. ( Way too much in fact which is one reason I ended up running away from it, its was in 6 figures last I looked. . ). Gearotic is done as my hobby, we who use it are simply too small a community to attempt to make it a commercial success. On the upside, the community that does use it are more closely knit and more focused in one direction which makes it possible for me to do this as a more loosly held project. So things like video's will get out of date, iconography will suffer at times and development will definitely be eclectic at times. I use Gearotic for toys I need, modules I want for projects I get involved in and there are many things in Gearotic not turned on or that work only at my command. I do appreciate such things as the above being pointed out though, I list them or fix then as I can, and place priority on items that I figure are detrimental to someone getting the output they need. I have a list of things people would like to see and I approach them as I can. (I write this just in case anyone wonders how so many bugs can accumulate. -- blame the programmer, at times he's quite a slacker.. )
Thx
Art
Lets look at your suggestions. :)
>>1. Some helpful hotkeys: alt-F4 closes the program. F/f to zoom all. R/r to Regen.
I will look at adding a few. There are a few ALT keys now, like ALT-5 for full screen toggle.. Ill look ato add F and R, might be handy to have quick keys for tht, (though I admit I rarely use hotkeys myself which is thwy the number of hotkeys is low..) Consider it listed for development..
>>2. I would like to add my vote for worms and worm gears. Yes please.
Noted, A great many votes for Worms.. Im still considering how Id make them as yet...
>>3. On the Circular Gear Module panel, being able to use Rack Fillet on Epi spurs would be very beneficia l. Particula rly with small module low tooth count pinions. Those teeth or 'leaves' are very thin and radii down in the dedendums add much needed strength. These small pinions can generally only be cut with a Shaped Tool fly cutter. So the cutter profile should have those radii.
Ill look into allowing this, the reason rack fillet doesnt work on epi's in they follow a horological specification which doesnt call for it, an the fact they arent built using racks, but just spec'ed shapes which call for roots as linear segments to root level.. I'll list this though to see if it can be added without causing too much risk in there. :)
>>4. Would be truly very helpful to have the Perspecti ve panel on both the 3-axis and the 4th axis ribbons.
I too have recently noticed this. Probably be seen soon. Real-Estate is the reason it isnt there now, some people use smaller screens than I and complain if the ribbon gets too large, ( And in XP the ribbon is a terrible thing to deal with developmentally..).
>>5. Ability to choose conventio nal vs climb milling for 4th axis. The Uni-Directional checkbox would become a 3-way toggle: Conventio nal/Climb/Uni-Directional.
Ill consider this one, I do realize the unidirectional really only gives you climb milling on one side, but the complexity of making a true climb mill in there worried me at the time.. Ill put it high on my list to see if I can tweak it to have that capablility..
>>>6. The About button (and its popup tooltip) in the upper right most corner currently has a tiny print icon on it. Suggest changing it to a question mark and then making it into a drop down menu that has three choices: 'About', 'User Manual', 'Video Tutorials'. And remove the red question mark from the output Options panel. It's not an output, of course. Also remove the Help button on the About Gearotic dialog, or add a Video Tutorials button to it.
I Changed the Icons as I looked at this. Its the small things like this that seem to take me forever to get to. I hate boilerplate code, so its always getting bumped to lowest priority. The Video button was added to the top for suport reasons, while its not an output its a quick spot I can point people to as they begin using the program. I do have it listed ot get a better placement in the realestate of the screen. The rest is listed. (Be nice if this was large enough a project to have an interface guy. ( but I guess Im it. :) )
>>>7)The Full Screen button (and its popup tooltip) on the quick access toolbar has an email attachmen t icon. Suggest using an icon for full screen that is seen on various video player applications.
Again, changed as I checked it. :)
>>>8. On the Selected Props tab on the lower panel, I think the label on the button "Send to Workbench" would make more sense if it was labeled "Send to 3-Axis" It would then jive with the 3-Axis Modality Select button graphic on the Tools panel and also the label on the 3-axis ribbon tab.
Changed.
>>>9. The pinwheel escapement would be a nice addition. It's another type of deadbeat.
Listed, your the 3rd request. :)
>>>10. Sort by Linkages added to the dropdown menu of the Project tab on the left side panel. It would look like Sort as List but instead of the Vertices and Triangles, the first order linked objects are listed. Selecting any given parent on the tree also selects the objects in the model that are linked to that parent.
This will be done by a linkages display in planning where a proper link diagram can be done. I think the tree would get a bit unweildy for internal format reasons..
>>11. Individua l checkmark s in the project tree could cycle thru three view style states: solid/wireframe/hidden. An outline of a checkmark would be the icon for wireframe . A nice mod to the "Project Tree" master on/off switch would be to add wireframe there as well so you can cycle thru these three states for the whole project.
Interesting thought.. Ill look into that one..
>>>12. The status bar currently shows nothing. I vaguely recall a post about some intended purpose but I dont remember what. So how about this: remove the Coordinat es panels from all the ribbons. The status bar will have X:<#.#> Y:<#.#> Z:<#.#> justified to the left; things like 'Simulatio n Active ~ .....' and measureme nt results justified in the center; Gearotic's current active mode justified to the right.
Yes, status bar has always been a thorn.. Listed for redevelopmnent or removal..
>>13. And now a word about Headly McGearhea d... My sister says, and I agree, Headly is kinda odd. And in the new video about slicing, you mention that he lives in an STL file named 'Compass' in the install directory . So what did I do? I promptly went noodling around the internet for a more suitable successor . See the attached. But when updating to ongoing releases of Gearotic, Gromit would be deposed. So even though this would be the lowest priority of Gearotic software developme nt, I would like to ask for a place in the options dialog to upload one's own little 3D model. Or just a choice to turn off the compass.
The oblique circles were only added recenty as I figured Id eventually get rid of headly. Problem is Ive gotten so used to him I actually find him handier than the obliques ( which are basically what slicer and other programs use. ). So this one I understamd. I will look into adding an option for at least turning him off. Experienced users can replace him as they wish, much like thay can add spokes or indicators as they wish. Advanced things that I dont really inform people of, but that they can do if they wish.. :0
Thanks for the suggestions, some are now done as I went though this letter.
I should explain, lest someone reading this wonder why such things happen or why icons and such can be so badly inserted, or help files lag or video's not be replaced at times, that Gearotic is a very unique program. I dont look at it as professional development project. Its very unlikely it will ever pay for itself, or could exist at all except as a labour of love. While in Mach3 I had to respond to a community that was fairly voracious of my time, Mach3 generated a great deal of sales. ( Way too much in fact which is one reason I ended up running away from it, its was in 6 figures last I looked. . ). Gearotic is done as my hobby, we who use it are simply too small a community to attempt to make it a commercial success. On the upside, the community that does use it are more closely knit and more focused in one direction which makes it possible for me to do this as a more loosly held project. So things like video's will get out of date, iconography will suffer at times and development will definitely be eclectic at times. I use Gearotic for toys I need, modules I want for projects I get involved in and there are many things in Gearotic not turned on or that work only at my command. I do appreciate such things as the above being pointed out though, I list them or fix then as I can, and place priority on items that I figure are detrimental to someone getting the output they need. I have a list of things people would like to see and I approach them as I can. (I write this just in case anyone wonders how so many bugs can accumulate. -- blame the programmer, at times he's quite a slacker.. )
Thx
Art
Last edited by ArtF on Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: one of my wish lists
By the way, youll notice your name is now ( as of next update anyway ) in the program credits. If you offer advice I use, you end up in the list of people who have contributed to its development. (Share the blame list I call it... :-) )
Art
Art
Re: one of my wish lists
Hi Art,
I love your vision - keep your eye on the dream - there is no replacement for the hobbiest!
John
I love your vision - keep your eye on the dream - there is no replacement for the hobbiest!
John
1% inspiration 99% try, try again
Re: one of my wish lists
Hello Art -
I must say your devotion to your constituency is truly admirable. Your consideration of all my ideas is very kind indeed. Thanks for relaying your view of the Gearotic program. I want you to know that every suggestion or nit-picky thing I might share should only be considered as a take it or leave it sorta thing. I don?t want you wearing your fingers to the bone over which icon or what button or the like.
And I am honored being considered for inclusion in the Share the Blame List.
-alf
I must say your devotion to your constituency is truly admirable. Your consideration of all my ideas is very kind indeed. Thanks for relaying your view of the Gearotic program. I want you to know that every suggestion or nit-picky thing I might share should only be considered as a take it or leave it sorta thing. I don?t want you wearing your fingers to the bone over which icon or what button or the like.
And I am honored being considered for inclusion in the Share the Blame List.
-alf
Re: one of my wish lists
Just noticed that, was fun to be blamed for once :)ArtF wrote: (Share the blame list I call it... :-) )
Art
I did see one error, you have JohnS as "Master Machinist" I would have thought him to be like in Public Relations" :D
Re: one of my wish lists
Ive got other words for him...
:)
Art
:)
Art
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