I would like to see a new automated visual cue added to SU scene tab labeling.
When a user selects a scene tab or one is active, and then makes any changes/modifications an “asterisk symbol” is added to the end of the scene tab label or the scene tab text changes to red or etc.
When the scene is updated or another scene is created and updated or if a different scene tab is selected the cue reverts back. I am submitting this request based upon my experience with using tabs in MS Expression Web4 (hopefully no patent limitations) which uses the asterisk symbol.
The purpose is to help new users and us multi-taskers keep track of whether a changed/modified scene has been updated.
Yes, good idea.
The standard views have a notification in the top left of the model area (Top, Front , Left, etc)which disappears as soon as you move the camera, but scenes involve a lot more properties…
The circular update arrows over the style preview might also be a source of inspiration for designing this cue. Clicking it could update the scene. Maybe this fits better to the UX style of the web version than the desktop version though.
In any case, if a cue is added within the scene tab itself, I think some extra padding is needed so the scene tab doesn’t change size from showing or hiding the cue. Doing so would make all scenes jump a few pixels and would be quite annoying.
I agree. I use adobe software primarily and have become accustomed to the asterisk appearing after the file name in the open document as soon as there are unsaved changes. It’s such a simple indicator but it says so much. It would adapt perfectly to the scene tabs and would be a welcome update for me.
But changing font wouldn’t tell what’s going on, unless you have read is a manual or been told that’s what it means. The asterisk is a quite widespread convention.
One way to fix the changing size issue would be to always “display” it, just in a transparent color when the scene is saved, making it invisible but still taking up its space.
I don’t agree. Unless it is spelled out explicitly in words, a user always has to learn what a symbol means on a UI. Doesn’t make much difference whether it is a font, a color, an asterisk or some other marking. The user has to learn what it means. Asterisk may be widespread on Windows, but not so common on Mac I think.
I can’t speak for mac but in the Window word this is definitely a widespread convention. Adobe, visual studio, SolidWorks, Sublime, Inkscape and AutoCad uses it, just to name a few. Possibly this could be a Windows only feature if Mac users aren’t used to this pattern. Also the word “Modified” could show up in a tooltip when hovering to make it more explicit, but that assumes the user knows what the word modified means.
I don’t think their use of this convention is unique to Windows. From my experience, this is normal on macOS as well, at least in specific software packages.
I would like to see attention also given to the graphical representation of an “Active” scene tab compared to the balance in the row. As an example would be great to increase our productivity by decreasing the effort to identify the active scene when updating a scene (right click on scene tab and select update) to know which one is active (or not). Here is 2021 graphic of scene tabs:
Here are a couple examples of similar tabs in MS Excel and Adobe PS. Thanks for your consideration in improving are productivity and enjoyment of SU.
