Updating the UI: Record Settings Edition

[DDR]

The recording settings screen is one of the busier screens on the camera. I've made a few different layouts for it.

Version A:


You will be able to drag the white window around to frame up whatever you have the camera pointed at. We ought be able to get a live video feed from the main screen stuck behind it too, so you can see what you're going to record. Much better to see than to guess!

Does anyone mind the passepartout around the preview just being always present? Every other piece of software I've worked with has had an option to turn it off, but I really don't want to have to stick another option in the settings screen for this.

Version B:


We managed to get the analog gain button and the exposure button on the same line in this version. Analog Gain was sort of floating off to the right in Version A, I feel.

Oh, in all versions, I moved the trigger delay settings button to the Main screen. (I also put a button on the Trigger/IO Settings screen, it seemed logical.) I figure if you're trying to dial something in, timing-wise, you'll want to access the trigger delay screen quite frequently.

Version E:


I'm ambivalent about this version. I actually like Version B a little better, it's got a nicer vertical rhythm with its whitespace. In both B and E, the trigger delay button has gone to the more standard bottom-left corner of the screen. I expect we'll want to put another button on this screen someday though and the Trigger Delay will go back to being by the Done button.


As always, if you have any ideas or comments, please leave them below.
Thanks for reading!

[edit] Fixed version B being the screenshot for version E. Oops. [/edit]

[jasonfish]

B and E are the same file

[BiduleOhm]

I prefer version A mainly because it's more clear, version B is more cluttered.

[Electra]

While 'B' looks better, I'd be a little worried about fat-fingering the other controls when changing a setting, but if this is not a problem in the real world then go for that.
You also have a bit more space to work with: move the 'trigger delay' button to the 'trigger' menu/page where it belongs. Not on the recording screen.

[patrickrebstock]

i kinda like A because its more logical to have the presets resolution above the resolution up down controls

[jasonfish]

I'd opt for B, but place the Presets menu at the top.

But I'm still curious what E looks like.

[DDR]

B and E are the same file

So they are! Sorry about that! Version E was correct. Version B has become, well, Version B now. Thanks for catching that.

Here is the proper version B. I've updated in in the original post as well.

While 'B' looks better, I'd be a little worried about fat-fingering the other controls when changing a setting, but if this is not a problem in the real world then go for that.

I'm hoping it'll be OK. The new controls are a little chunkier than the old ones, so they should be easy to hit. If it turns out it's not, I'll redo the screen. (Maybe it can scroll vertically, like a web page, if it is really bad?)

You also have a bit more space to work with: move the 'trigger delay' button to the 'trigger' menu/page where it belongs. Not on the recording screen.

*checks notes* You're right! It should be a button for record modes, not trigger delay! Trigged delay absolutely belongs somewhere else. Thanks for catching that. I've fixed the button in the image above.

I prefer version A mainly because it's more clear, version B is more cluttered.

i kinda like A because its more logical to have the presets resolution above the resolution up down controls

OK, I uploaded the *proper* version B now. I agree with you, E does seem less well organized to me.

[jasonfish]

Now that the images are correct, I need to change my answer to "I'd opt for E, but place the Presets menu at the top."

I'd opt for B, but place the Presets menu at the top.

But I'm still curious what E looks like.

[DDR]

Like this?

[Electra]

The 'fat finger' effect will need to be tested, but if the buttons are chunkier then I'm happy to hold off judgement until it's tested.
Please never use scrolling on any of the major windows, it really disrupts both look and ease of use.

I like the latest version.  It presents everything in a nice easy to understand way. It also gives space on the right for more buttons as needed.

And I don't know if this is the right place for it, but would a 'save as preset' button be out of place here?  Edit/remove/reset presets can be elsewhere, but being able to set everything up then 'save' them might be handy.

[DDR]

I like that idea. We could add a saved preset to the list of presets at the top, and then have little ✕s to remove the custom presets. I don't think you'd need much more than that, and it would be a nice feature to have. 

Internally here, we've had some discussion about adding some sort of camera-wide presets. You'd set them from the app that we're going to make. They'd essentially save/restore *all* the settings on the camera, though, which isn't quite what we want here. I think that's going to come after we release the new style UI, so I think it would be a good idea for me to have a look at adding custom presets then. Internally, we've got 0.4 coming up, and then 0.5 will have the new-style UI, and 0.6 will probably be when we address saving/loading custom settings.

[jasonfish]

Like this?

You could get rid of the "Presets" label completely, and stretch the dropdown to fit. The visual alignment might be more pleasing.

[DDR]

Hm, yeah, that actually works pretty nicely when I try it out properly.


I made a second version because I didn't want to loose the label. I suspect that, if I put my ego aside, it could indeed be lost. I like the first version a bit more, graphically.

[jasonfish]

I can't decide. You pick.

But here's a wrench in the works: When changing any of parameters, there'll be a disconnect between what's "selected" as a preset, and what's shown below.

When one alters any of the values, should the presets dropdown "gray out" or otherwise indicate that "what's in this box is no longer accurate, please refer to the individual boxes below"?

[Johnny]

First version looks a bit better because the text doesn't end up being so much of a visual clutter.
I like how clear it is when all the text is on the left side. Makes it easier to use.