Are there any news on proper multiple object editing in 3.0? So that what currently takes very unreliable holding down of the Alt key when editing parameters on multiple selected objects would happen by default without the need for Alt key? There was some task for it, but it ended up forgotten.
It feels very sad that even after all these years, we still need to be careful about making errors when editing parameters on more than one selected objects at a time.
I was hesitant about the change of default, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt. Probably as with all changes, I’ll adapt. My issue is that it’s not supported in all places, so if multi-object property editing becomes default we’re going to end up in a situation where some parameters don’t get edited at all and I think it’s quite error-prone. I haven’t made a list of these but from memory, modifiers and constraints don’t work, as well as f-curve modifiers. Since modifiers and constraints at least are named, it should be unambiguous to support them. F-curve modifiers on the other hand, I don’t know… and I almost forgot custom properties ! supporting those would be great for character animation.
I am aware of the problem it doesn’t work everywhere, but it just inverts the problem. Right now, how do you know that if you are holding down Alt, your change will propagate to all selected objects or just one?
It’s an issue that needs to be addressed either way, and from what I remember, part of that proposal somewhere on developer.blender.org was some visual distinction in the user interface, to let the user know which UI elements support multi editing and which don’t.
Well it’s just more “in-your-face” if it is default, that’s it. It is indeed the same problem. Seasoned users will know, but it’ll add on the pile of inconsistencies experienced by new users. The point of my message was to encourage the support of multi-object property editing as widely as possible before changing the default.
I think @Harleya recently made an attempt to address this again:
https://developer.blender.org/D12207
To me it sounds reasonable to give it a try 
Yes, I agree. The main reason I want to see this addressed is the errors caused by current inconsistencies. For example in some cases, holding alt already before interacting with the UI elements will trigger the multi edit, while in other cases, you need to hold alt while confirming the UI element interaction, such as pressing enter after typing in a value field number. It’s just so clunky half the time I don’t know if it did not happen because I pressed the hotkeys in wrong order or because the given UI element doesn’t support multi edit.
Interface part of this is planned ⚓ T54862 Multi-Object Properties Editing but I don’t think it will make it to 3.0.
Ah yes, this also happens with dropdowns (enums) : I assume this is because the actual value change happens when the enum item is clicked, not when the menu is expanded.
This is probably one of the largest time sinks when it comes to production efficiency - this should be a performance milestone.
The patch to invert to ALT to only active… is interesting. I hope this UX is visited, this was one of the key features that held me back from Blender years back, and where other software excel.
so I was trying to alt edit and didnt work , saw this and was wondering if you just delete that option instead of upgrading it , I just shift delete blender 3.2 I had , back to 2.8
that option alone helped me a lot , its stupid to just remove by default something after we get used to it
You are supposed to hold the alt key on confirming the value, not on typing it.
Though on the subject, the idea of multi-edit being tucked behind a key appears to be a thing exclusive to Blender. Even though it would in fact be possible to easily crash Blender on large scenes with it being default (ie. changing values in the modifier stack), it does appear that having it done by default is what is expected in modern software.
There is an existing design to make the multi editing behavior default, and requiring modifier key to affect only the active object. But unfortunately, as with most designs, it ended up forgotten.
https://developer.blender.org/T54862
What’s even more sad is that there are 3 different patches from 3 different people, all of them forgotten. So it’s definitely not a matter of there not being enough developers or will to do this.
https://developer.blender.org/D4948
https://developer.blender.org/D12207
https://developer.blender.org/T54987
alt key actually works on some stuff like changing a value in shared modifier if you press alt at start or with press enter at the end or while you click on arrows , but wont work on transform or other properties like curve settings at all
funny that I read it in somewhere in blender pages that it only works on properties and not modifiers