What Camera Mode Do You Use?

[optigon]

It is interesting that there are so many ways of operating the camera and that no standard has arisen. There have been lots of arbitrary reasons for setting up a camera to use certain keys over the last 15 years. Different input devices, platforms, conventions all affected by the consumer electronics culture. But the real problems start whan trying to take a keyboard built for typing, and assign its keys to be used as a 3d modeling controller. Shift, Control, Alt? Computers aren't single use appliances like refridgerators and toaster ovens.

A machine, designed for the purpose of 3d modeing and only 3d modeling would be designed to make the task very efficient. It would be a 3d modeling appliance instead of an application.

Several things come to mind with this topic.
How many other 'mainstream / major' 3D apps support multiple cam modes in the same way that wings does ... I have no idea since I don't use any of them.

Does Maya support Max or Blender or any combo ? I suspect not, but don't know

If they don't then why should Wings support any other cam mode than the one that best suits Wings (and its devs) purpose?

Removing support for all cam modes that need mod keys is the exact opposite from 'taking out features' ... it's allowing more features to be added in an easier way for the devs, because they don't have to consider all of the mod key conflicts that they have to do at the moment (hence your reason for starting this thread)

As soon as it's considered important to maintain Maya/Max/Blender cam modes then all 3 mod keys remain tied up - so removing others (using mod keys) probably doesn't make much sense either.

Wings is unique in its support for multiple camera modes. It seems Wings has positioned itself as a tool chain addon to some users, and this makes supporting various camera modes relevent.

And yes this comes at a cost. The variety of "free" combinations is very limited.

But, on the other hand, Wings has focused on a relatively small and focused set of features. From this point of view, it could be argued that we can afford the mod keys.

However the reality is that Wings is becoming restricted in its development as features and capabilities are expanded.

I think that supporting other camera modes is simply good public relations and an enticement to users of other software to give Wings3D a try. If a person doesn't have to first get used to a new camera mode they may get to know Wings3D quicker and fall in love with it.

I agree. Wings has tried to be the goto app for base modeling. Where a mainstream app has a convoluted workflow, Wings tries to cut to the chase. But we don't say our camera is better, we say the overall Wings workflow is faster.

The devs will ultimately do whatever they want, and whether that is consider their users opinions or simply cut off a good chunk of their existing user base, well hey.

Well, that would be the be all and end all. Maybe we would lose some users, but they would probably just stick with an older version. Over past versions we have lost some users because of features being changed and them wanting to stick to the version they were used to. Happened with Tweak iirc.

However, when it comes down to it, there are 3 major camera functions, and most probably only use 2; Tumble and Zoom. Panning is not used as much since the Aim function puts the camera on the correct plane. And if you use Zoom Aim, all the better.

So requiring Wings users to remember 2 or 3 fingerings to operate the camera isn't a big deal. Also, camera moves are the most commonly executed function in Wings, so the muscle memory would kick in pretty quick.