Krita useable for Blender movies

[Boudewijn Rempt]

On Monday 02 November 2009, enki wrote:
> My suggestions for UI/features improvements :
> 
> 1.Improve stamp-based brushes :
> Why :
> - Because they are the fastest brush type.
> - they are easy to tweak.
> - they makes migration from others apps easier (as artists will want to
> keep brushes they used for years).
> What is missing :
> - Predefined Brushes should be resizable (in pixels).
> - Resurrect the Custom Brush dialog : The user should be able to select
> a part of the image and add it to Predefined Brushes. He should also be
> able to organize, delete, load and save brush dabs easily [1].

Good points all.

> - Photoshop brush import (there is a dolphin plugin that shows .abr
> brush previews, maybe it could be useful ?[2]).

Up to a certain extent: that only supports v6 .abr brushes, and those are 
getting rare, with thanks to Adobe's open source policy.

> 
> 2.Improve basic tools/features :
> - Display a gradient preset that use foreground/background, and
> foreground/alpha=0.
> - Make it easier to create new gradients (ideally it would use the same
> docker than vector gradients).

We should even try to use the koffice-wide gradient tool and editor, it's very 
cool :-). Maybe a challenge for Sven?

> - Allow to move selections.

Damn, even masks cannot be moved with the move tool currently. That's a bug.

> - Improve the transform tool (when you drawn something bad, the
> transform tool is often the last solution before redrawing everything).
> - Remember the position when pasting (paste in place?). Useful when you
> want to copy a part of the image without losing the old data.
> - Remove the "hidden" layer property change from the undo stack (if you
> just want to compare a new version to an old version, you will have to
> undo several times).

Good point. I think there's even a bug for that :-).

> 
> 3.Faster workflow:
> - Modifier key need to be used more :
>    * for selection tools : to switch easily between
> add/replace/intersect modes.
>    * for paint tools : pan, color pick, change the brush diameter.
> - Features that are tools in other apps are composite mode or paintops
> in Krita[3]. We should make sure that it is as easy and as fast to
> select them than in others apps. For example, if I want to erase with
> the current brush:
>    *in krita I must click the mode combobox, go down in the drop down
> menu, and select "Erase" (3 clicks).
>    *in photoshop, I would just click the erase tool or hit the "e" key.
>    I suggest to make it possible to assign a shortcut to composite modes.
> - use more sliders in brush settings.
> - remove a selection by a single click outside the selection.
> 
> 4.Backward compatibility:
> - With brush presets, the user will expect than his brush work the same
> between two versions. If it's not garanteed, the brush engine should be
> labeled as experimental or unstable.
> 
> 5. better koffice integration:
> -Use the same dockers for flake and pixel tool when possible : gradient
> creation, color selector...
> 
> 6.learning curve :
> - show units in spinbox and curve widgets.
> - show help about tool and paintops in the status bar.
> - rename some features with better names (scale to new size -> scale
> image, etc..).
> - add a search input box. It would highlight every menu items or docker
> that contain the text.
> - write documentation about the Krita "spirit" (why the line tool is a
> tool, what is the difference between a generator and a filter, etc...and
> why it is better :) )
> 
> 7.stylus/tablet pc :
> - With a stylus, it's hard to click, but easy to drag&drop. We could
> keep existing widgets, but add a feature that increment or decrement the
> value depending on how much the button is dragged.
> 
> 8.to gain space :
> - replace radio buttons by combo box.
> - replace some label+checkbox by button+icons.
> - use icons instead of label in docker tabs, don't display two labels
> when docker are tabbed (take a look at Gimp's dockers).
> - make dockers reduce into a pop-up-button (good for tablet PC users, or
> to use krita as sketch app).
> - make item of the Brush and Stuff toolbar a docker. (that allows users
> to remove the toolbar completely, and make the brush dialog contextual
> to the tool like other features).
> 
> voila, that's all :p

Wow... How about making this the begin of the 2.3 roadmap on the wiki? 

> 
> [1]In the long run, maybe a "resource manager" would be a good idea. It
> would be used to organize everything : brush presets, gradients,
> patterns, colors palettes, curve presets, vector shapes, filter effects,
> text styles... Koffice-wide.

That's been on the todo for at least nine years now :-(.

> [2]http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/GimpBrushThumbs?content=107128
> [3]blur, desaturate = filter paintop, dodge/burn tool = dodge/Burn
> composite mode, eraser tool = eraser mode, duplicate tool = duplicate
> paintop, ...
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-- 
Boudewijn Rempt | http://www.valdyas.org