[ptx] Re: manual ctrl point creation

[JD Smith]

On Mon, 2006-08-14 at 21:43 +0200, Pablo d'Angelo wrote:
> Hi JD,
> 
> > Right, but my point is that "not yet added" and "easily removed" are (if
> > implemented correctly) entirely equivalent, so that if all points are
> > automatically added, independent of the zoom-in/zoom-out, etc. modes,
> > but the latest point is left "active" until something is done to create
> > a *new* point, a simple delete can remove it.
> 
> Isn't this the behaviour if "auto-add" is switched on? The point that has
> just been added will be the selected one. Pressing the "del" key will delete it.

Yes, it is, but then the user has to look at that "auto-add" button and
scratch their heads, and wonder, is it different than auto-pano, and if
so, why?  Just a barrier to entry, that's all.

> > This I think would
> > present a much easier to understand interface to the new user, with
> > fewer options to puzzle over.  The zoom-out person could click,
> > (auto-)zoom to 100%, nudge the position if they got it close, and if
> > they don't like what they see, hit delete.
> 
> But then how do you zoom out again, if you want to select the next point?
> Then one needs another key or mousebutton for this.

I don't use it like that, but I suppose it is convenient.  When Auto-Add
is off for me, I always manage to get myself into a state where I've
started to add a control point, and then decided against it, then have
to "add" and "delete" it to get rid of it.  

If all CP's existed on a stack, were always added to the top of that
stack by default, a simple keystroke shortcut for "zoom to 100%" (e.g.
"1") would suffice (as would the "zoom" pop-up at right).  This would be
as easy for the zoom-in user, where he'd:

     1. Click to pick first CP.  
     2. Click for 2nd, or auto-estimate does its magic.
     3. Refine point.  Hit delete if he doesn't like it.  
     4. Hit "1" to go back out.

The advantage would be, it doesn't invoke any special magic or create a
named option that sounds mysterious like "Auto-Add".  Instead, a single
preference would be "Zoom to 100% when Control Points are Added", and
would be of generic use to anyone, not just 100%-CP-pickers.   While I'm
at it (sorry for the barrage), how about selecting multiple CP's to
delete them, allowing arrow keys to nudge the current CP by one pixel,
and have the box showing the fine-tune area show up for more than the
first CP?

> > Things like this could cut
> > down on interface clutter and make Hugin a bit more approachable.  
> 
> > That said, the biggest interface issue, in my opinion, is to get the
> > column list widgets to behave.  On both Linux and OSX, the columns start
> > too small, they don't resize to fill the full space available, and the
> > text in the column headers is often cut off at the bottom.  These may
> > all be wxWidgets deficiencies, but if the widget layout issues could get
> > dealt with, this would improve the "first glance" interface impression
> > by about 2x.
> 
> Yep, little annoying things. But unfortunately I don't have time to spend a
> day or so on this right now.

Do you think it's an inherent limitation of wxWidgets, or something that
just needs some attention to get it working better?  If the latter,
maybe it's possible for me to take a look (not that I know anything
about wxWidgets).

Thanks,

JD