since 2.8 changes are mostly in a spirit of simplification, I am quite puzzled by the way New file operation works right now. It overcomplicates an action which is very simple in pretty much any other software. Hitting Ctrl+N or selecting “New” in the file menu should simply create a new general file, instead of of opening a menu of startup file presets which may confuse newbies.
For example VFX preset was created by someone who has clearly never done any serious VFX work, otherwise such person would know that VFX work is so diverse one only rarely starts by tracking a footage. Since we have layout tabs now, so it’s very easy to switch to preferred workspace right after creating a new file, do we really need to make “New” file operation more complicated than it needs to be?
So as I said, solution would be change Ctrl+N shortcut to just always create a general file, and make “New” entry in the file menu clickable, so it can immediately generate new “General” file.
If you’re a newbie interested in using Blender for 2D animation, Sculpting or Video Editing, then I think these templates are helpful to get started. It simplifies the list of workspaces for each and sets up the objects and scene in a way that you can get started quickly, it’s not just screen layouts.
It’s pretty standard in software to present templates to users when creating a new file. The Ctrl+N menu is as fast as it was before though, so I don’t think it harms more experienced users.
The VFX template contains workspaces that are specific to VFX as opposed to general 3D animation, I don’t really see that as a problem. It could get more workspaces, but then we likely end up adding everything from General and it’s kind of pointless.
Yes, because VFX work is pretty much generalist work. It involves pretty much everything. Then maybe just rename it to matchmoving or tracking, but VFX != Motion tracking
The VFX template is for compositing and integrating live-action footage and CGI. If we name it matchmoving or tracking I’m not sure that covers it entirely.
For example Nuke brands itself as VFX software, and the functionality in this template is somewhat similiar. It doesn’t mean Nuke is the only software a VFX artist would use, but communicating that is not the point of the name.
We want to present 2D Animation, VFX and Video Editing as first-class citizens, not tucked away in a secondary menu. If you don’t use that functionality much I can understand wanting it out of the way, but for the Blender user base as a whole I think it’s better this way.
Then why not make some of those workspaces available in the General template as well, the same way like you did with Sculpting?
I think it would be even better for discoverability.
Because the templates are not just workspaces, they also have different scene and object settings. And the list of workspaces would become so long that those workspaces would be scrolled off screen, making them harder to discover.
Yeah I know, I’m just talking about the Workspace part of it. The full templates would stay as it is, just like sculpting has a workspace in the general template but still has a full sculpting template on it’s own.
I don’t know, but it feels like 2D Animation, VFX and Video Editing are very important features of Blender, and not having any indication of those when you launch Blender doesn’t seem like a good thing.
Well, I don’t think that adding more 3 tabs would make a huge difference.
There’s plenty of room still:
Each template has its own startup.blend that you can save. There is an option in the File menu to install templates, though creating them is quite technical still. There is currently no option to remove/disable the built-in templates, though this would be good to add.
They are in the splash screen.
It depends on the display resolution, and the list of workspaces will grow over time.
The issue is that if you go to the 2D Animation workspace this way, you will have to do some steps before you can start. In the template it’s already set up so you have a white background, grease pencil object and draw mode activated, so you can just start drawing immediately.
For more experienced users it’s easy to add that workspace with the (+) button, but for new users it seems better to guide them to the template that’s set up and ready to go.
I am quite puzzled by the way New file operation works right now
Isn’t it literally the same?
Blender 2.7 Ctrl+N spawns a menu where you have to click/hit Enter/press 1. Blender 2.8 Ctrl+N spawns a menu where you have to click/hit Enter/press 1.
By default the first option is selected, if you click it the next time that option will be selected.
Literally nothing has changed in terms of workflow. The new options are there if you use them. When custom templates are implemented you’ll be glad this Ctrl+N menu exists because all your favorite layouts will be there.
I agree that templates should have it’s own menu entry like suggested above.
My issue with it is that this not standard at all.
When I hit ctrl+n in any app, all that I’m expecting is immediately a new document/scene, and if my current scene is unsaved then the usual dialog box (at the center of the screen btw, not at mouse cursor) for save/cancel etc, nothing more.
maybe have it an option to toggle which template should be shown in the new file menu and with only one template selected it automatically creates the appropriate new file whenever Ctrl+N is invoked.
Well, yes. But that’s not really a win either. Blender has confirmation dialogs all over the place where they aren’t needed, such as delete confirmation, or new file confirmation.
Ctrl+N should simply create a new file without popping anything up; unless you have an open scene which you have not saved recently, in that case a pop up asking you to save or discard changes should appear. And it 2.8, I believe it does. So now, creating a new file using shortcut is even 2 step process. One pop up to pick file type, and another pop up to confirm saving or discarding changes to the opened file.
Overall, I think that choosing a different new file type will be such a niche and uncommon feature it should not occupy a new file hotkey which is meant to perform that action quickly, without thinking much.
Honestly, all of the weird confirmation pop ups should go away. They are archaic artifacts of times when undo wasn’t a thing.
how many times could a user reset a new scene in order to do a second click become a serious time waster?
I dissagre with this statement in particular, until 2012 i used 3DSmax like seven years in studio work, during crunch time or long working periods on big and complex scenes, the warning on the delete would come really handy to avoid backtraking in the backup files because objects where delete (or move left click select by the way) and no one notice that until was too late to undo and by no one im referring to myself and people that work with me, other people that used max and also fall in the same problem, so removing the confirmations i don’t agree at all, make them optionally for sake of customization, that would be a little bit nice feature to have for some people that likes no warnings.
Seeing the amount of comments that are ultimately hidden… moderators should rethink the rules of forum moderation. It seems that with one or two people reporting anything they just don’t like, the comments start to be hidden.
Flagged should be used only for really disrespect, not for any comment that has a humorous or ironic tone.
The current functionality is perfect and doesn’t change anything about the Ctrl + N shortcut. This is a well-implemented feature that shouldn’t change.
