[-empyre-] RE: FWD: squidsoup/altzero5 intro



hi jim ++

the interface in the altzero composer isn't totally polished it's true, but the environments that it generates have had much love and care poured over them. i'm interested in what the composer does and makes, rather than what it looks like itself (and i guess that shows).

i take your point about instructions, and yes they should probably be clearer (and they will be when i get a moment...), but surely whether it is an 'art app' or not is irrelevant here. i have assumed that anyone interested enough to download the app and want to use it won't mind reading a bit of info on what it does and why. for others there are the various navigable environments on the site which are far more accessible and have (and i hope need) little or no instructions.

all the best

 -- ant

re yr question on amplitudextra: we've had no problems - seems good - but it's only used in the composer.

At 12:05 PM 6/12/2003 +1000, you wrote:
hi anthony,

i'm a fan of the squid soup work, as i said.

the composer tool seems preliminary, however, at least in its interface; perhaps the underlying
functionality is finished. i don't think the PDF should be required. It's no fun. Art apps
should need no manual. By saying this, I don't mean that their functionality should be
simplified to the point where a manual is not required. But the interface should have its own
built-in (toggleable) help system if help is required. Do you agree? I built a help system into
http://vispo.com/arteroids . Perhaps it should be toggleable also, that is, one should be able
to turn it on and off. CTRL+drag is not something I'd have figured out without help. I know it
is sometimes necessary to have CTRL+drag if drag is assigned to some other simpler or more
frequently used operation and it's great it apparently needs CTRL+drag, but it needs Help.


Also, the interface is pretty dialog boxical. I think the user should mostly have fun in their
face, not what looks like a complex dialog box. windowing.


But that's how it goes in interface design, isn't it. the difference between version 0.5 and
version 1.0 in interface design is sometimes dramatic.


Do you agree?

Anyway, I *will* look at the PDF because I am very curious about your work at www.altzero.com ,
but normally when reading a manual is required in an art app I don't bother because it is bad
interface design.


> >what Director Xtras, if any, are you using in this piece?
>
> the 3D xtra (obviously...) and amplitudeXtra in composer tool only (not in
> the player), and a couple of other xtras (again in composer only) for file
> management. the rest of it (even sound synchronisation) is native director.


how did you find working with the amplitudeXtra? Is it fast?

ja





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