I largely use the program for hobbyist modeling and animation, and gravitate towards low poly.
My current version is github blender-2.80.0-git.d966c2f0c2ad-windows64
Positives:
Really like eevee.
Issues:
With new layer model it is impossible to quickly switch layers while editing mesh, which is something I do a lot while mesh modeling. Basically in a situation where you have a mesh you dedicate attention to and some sort of reference geometry in another scene, in 2.79 it is possible to stay in mesh editing mode and flip layers. With “Collections” fast layer switching is impossible, which feels like a step back.
2.79 had a tiny “page corner” thing on its viewports, which you could drag to split the viewport It was extremely convenient and now it is gone. This feature was extremely convenient, as it was much easier to grab that thing and drag isntead of aiming at viewport separator and right clicking. Especially with a pen. Removing it feels like a step back.
With 2.8 keymap enabled, z key now brings circular menu, however, toggling solid/wireframe view is something I used to do a lot while doing destructive mesh modeling. Literally every few seconds. Now it takes multiple keypresses, and it is a massive slowdown.
It took me half an hour and multiple google searches to find grid settings. I feel like having them available in “T” panel was a better idea as you could stumble upon them easily.
In 2.7 keymap Ctrl+Space does not maximize 3d view. This is a big deal, as it is an operation that I use a lot, and 2.7 keymap has features not present in 2.8. Extremely frustrating.
I disliked the change which bound Shift+Space to “play animation”. I’m more interested in modeling, and “play animation” is not an opeartion that is done frequently. It is also much more convenient to have Shift+Space isntead of Ctrl+Space for vieport maximization, as Shift+Space is something you can press while your hand is naturally resting on the keyboard (for me at least).
Really hated the circular menu, good thing that I can disable it.
One thing that is really conerning is broken viewport maximization hotkey, as I have to choose between being annoyed by the new Z-key behavior during mesh modeling and being unable to maximize 3d view. It would be nice if new collections approach allowed quick switching between collectiosn which would be comparable to the old layer behavior. Quickly flipping through layers is something I’ve always been doing a lot, and having to setup collections for them now feels incredibly awkward.
It looks like your issues would not stay real issues after a little bit of customization.
In object mode, there are shortcuts to switch collection visibility.
Simply adding those shortcuts to Mesh keymap will solve the issue.
Into sidebar, there is also a collections visibility panel that allows user to click on an eye icon to hide/reveal collections.
The feature is still there. There is no more visual indicator at corners in 2.8.
Because feature was improved. Instead of working only on 2 corners of an area. It works at 4 corners.
Not by default. It is only the case if you enable Extra Shading Pie Menus item option.
Anyways, that is just a shortcut that can be disabled.
It was placed into Overlays popover. That is the place for any visual mark or extra line into Viewport.
Button next to it is equal to old Render Only option.
That is a logical grouping that was made into this popover.
Popover system is new. You have the right to dislike it. But at moment you learned that all visual extras of viewport is there, you will not have search things anymore.
That is an oblivion. In 2.79, Ctrl Space is used to hide gizmo. Shift Space is used to maximized area.
In 2.8, gizmos has changed a lot. That is why Ctrl Space of 2.7x keymap is not working to hide/reveal gizmo. But shortcut is there for that.
So, Ctrl Space to maximize area is not working.
But if you go to view menu, do a right click on Toggle Maximize Area item and change shortcut to Shift Spacebar : it works as in 2.79.
So, it is not a big deal at all.
If you dislike it, don’t use it. That is just a shortcut. Any shortcut can be disabled or changed.
It looks like your issues would not stay real issues after a little bit of customization.
I’ve used blender since version 2.47 and one thing I liked is that it acted like Vim of 3d modeling. Meaning you get out of the box a reasonable defaults that allow you to work at high efficiency.
While a lot of things can be customized, i think it is a good idea to aim at having said “reasonable default” enabled out of the box. The fact that the feature is there but not enabled by default is arguably an oversight, and that’s the reason why I posted feedback in the first place. So this can be improved.
That is what they are aiming by changing shortcuts.
Trying to use defaults that most people are familiar with, not just blender users since 2.47.
You are complaining about pie-menus and shift-space for playing animation. That is not an issue for most of people. That is quite common things into other applications.
If you use blender 2.7x keymap, you may encounter some problems.
That does not mean that 2.8 defaults are requiring a lot of customization to look like 2.7x.
I agree that work may be done about collections visibility. I am not the only one. That is still an high priority task for developers before releasing 2.80.
“Extra shading” checkbox in 2.8 options does not return the old behavior, and simply switches the Z menu between 4 and 8 options. In both cases quick wireframe toggle is no longer possible.
The purpose of the pie menus is they can use gestures. So if you press Z and drag left it’ll go into wireframe mode. Z and drag right back into solid. After you get used to which direction things are at, it’s really fast.