Color Palette GUI in LDD 4

[Superkalle]

OK everyone. I think the Color palette in LDD 4.0 is really bad. First it mixes old and new colors, as well as colors that aren't even used for bricks (at least so it seems). Then it's annoying that very common colors such as Black, doesn't have it's own color swatch. And to top it off, it's a nuicance to have to click first on the Bucket icon, then on the color swatch and THEN on the color. It should be faster to reach the color palette.

So, how should it work instead. What kind of setup do we want for future versions of LDD? What colors would be good to have "shortcuts to", and which should be in the "expand" window? To start off with, below is one idea of new layout I've been playing around with. But is it too lame, do we need a more radical change in coloring feature?

[Calabar]

I agree with you.

Another issue of the present arrangement of LDD tools is related to the use of the bucket tool.

In LDD3 when I wanted to change the colour to a group of bricks, I simply selected the bricks, then I selected the colour and all selected bricks was recoloured.

In LDD4 this procedure is much more uncomfortable. I have to select the colour, then select the bricks, then select the bucklet tool. And when I do that selection is lost, so, if I want to change again the colour, I have to select bricks again, and not ever selection is simple. Besides, working with LDD, I usually have a ready selection before I choose the colour, so that I have to change colour (loosing selection), reselect bricks and than using bucklet.

I think LDD3 solution was much better, and using bucklet should not bring to loose the selection.

Beside, in the left panel, I think that "Collapse Dividers" and "Flter Bricks by Colour" buttons should be moved from the bottom of the panel to the side of search textfield.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Calabar

[Aanchir]

One problem is the vagueness of "Old Colors." Almost everything that wasn't on the 2010 Color Palette released earlier this year is an "old color". That means that most of the metallic colors are "old colors" besides a few choice exceptions.

I personally am fine with the current color system. But if it were to be made better, I'd probably take the 2010 color palette I mentioned and turn every "column" of solid colors into a category. Which is basically what we have now, besides that old colors share the same categories as current colors (which IMO isn't a real problem).

Separating out old colors wouldn't prevent mistakes by people who aren't used to the colors. People sometimes use Light Nougat (a current color) when they mean to use brick yellow (also a current color). They sometimes use Light Royal Blue when they mean to use Medium Blue. They sometimes use light stone grey when they mean to use medium stone grey. Separating old and current colors wouldn't prevent any of these problems.

More important than changing the LU color palette, IMO, is changing the DesignByMe color palette. In 3.0, when you went to filter the brick palette by color, there would be no color "categories"-- you'd just click the swatch that looked like a DesignByMe color, and it would give you that color. And the "filter bricks by color" tool would give color options that weren't the default modes. Now, the filter tool has the same color palette as LU mode, and that means someone who doesn't know the colors might have to click several colors before they find one that's actually current and in DesignByMe mode. Since DBM is for all fans, not just AFOLs, simplifying it should get top priority.

[Superkalle]

Interesting points guys.

@Aanchir, I see your point about defining what is "old colors". I guess I was thinking colors that haven't been used the past 5 years (or something like that). The reason is twofold: 1) avoid the most common colors (mixing old greys and brown with the new ones) and 2) make the list of colors small.

I guess one could put the question like this: Which colors ought to have their own swatches "up front" and which can be burried one level down (i.e. used less frequently). I've been playing with this concept of a color circle, with the most important colors in the center. So far only solid colors, but it looks something like this:

[Brickdoctor]

Maybe it's just because I use it so much, but I think grey deserves its own swatch up front, with light bley as the 'first' color of said swatch. And then I guess brown would be nice too. Eight is a good, even number. I think I'd like to actually see the choices in a menu bar of their own, and that if you select a brick, you can then click a color automatically color it, like in Bricksmith. (not sure how it works in other .ldr applications) The menu bar would be customizable, with two tiers of colors, viewable with the applicable 'More' or 'Less button in the bar, like in the Paint.NET image editor. The bar would of course be customizable, so I could stick whichever colors I use most up in the first tier; and it could be hide-able for those who want a cleaner interface. Those people would have to use the bucket tool like normal. I think doing so would also solve Calabar's problem.

Hope that made sense.

[Aanchir]

OK, looking at the 2010 palette, this is what I think good "categories" could be:

YELLOW (Bright Yellow, Cool Yellow)

ORANGE (Bright Orange, Flame Yellowish Orange)

RED (Bright Red, Dark Red)

PURPLE/PINK (Bright Purple, Light Purple, Bright Reddish Violet, Medium Lilac)

BLUE (Bright Blue, Medium Blue, Sand Blue, Earth Blue, Light Royal Blue)

GREEN (Bright Green, Sand Green, Dark Green, Earth Green, Bright Yellowish Green)

BROWN (Reddish Brown, Brick Yellow, Dark Brown, Sand Yellow, Nougat, Light Nougat, Medium Nougat, Dark Orange)

NEUTRAL (White, Light Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey, Dark Stone Grey)

TRANSPARENT RED (Transparent Red)

TRANSPARENT YELLOW (Transparent Yellow, Transparent Fluorescent Green)

TRANSPARENT ORANGE (Transparent Fluorescent Orange, Transparent Fluorescent Reddish Orange)

TRANSPARENT PURPLE/PINK (Transparent Medium Reddish Violet, Transparent Bright Bluish Violet)

TRANSPARENT BLUE (Transparent Blue, Transparent Light Blue, Transparent Fluorescent Blue)

TRANSPARENT GREEN (Transparent Green, Transparent Bright Green)

TRANSPARENT NEUTRAL (Transparent, Transparent Brown, Nature)

EFFECT (Phosphorescent Green, Dark Grey Metallic*, Silver*, Warm Gold)

*On a 2011 palette, these two colors would be replaced with Titanium Metallic and Silver Metallic, respectively.

Note that this only covers "current" colors on the 2011 palette. On a chart of "old" colors, it would be totally impractical and we're much better with the chart that we already have. Note also that if it were up to me, Brick Yellow and Sand Yellow would go with Yellow rather than Brown-- but since we're dealing with the appearance of the color rather than its derivation on the color palette, into the browns they go. Also, in a "complete" palette of current colors, Lacquered Gold, Cool Silver Drum Lacquered, Metallized Silver, and Metallized Gold would also go under Effect. This would cause a ridiculous amount of confusion, but it's probably not a problem yet since of those four only Cool Silver Drum Lacquered even works on LDD (and doesn't even show up on the LEGO Universe palette).

I kept neutral colors together because, in my opinion, that makes sense, and is easy to get used to. It took some adjusting after the shift from 3.0, but then, so did getting used to Brick Yellow and Sand Yellow no longer appearing under Yellow. This keeps the number of categories down to a convenient 16-- eight for solids, seven for transparents, and one for effects.

Anyone got any comments on this current layout?

[prateek]

I think your first diagram would be the best, but I think the old metallic colours should be under the old colours. I can't even count how many times I've gotten frustrated with the many confusing colours in 4.0