Grease Pencil grew into a Frankenstein. We need to get away from mode switching and layerlocking and fragmented properties
Instead of using layerlocking to lock out a tool , the tool should just work on the selected layers instead -> A few worksteps saved. The Paint tool already does that by default , it would be nice if other tools in other modes would do that too.
For people who want to work that way , they can keep locking and unlocking but it would be nice if all tools could get an option to work only on the selected gp layer(s), like any other 2d animation program does it.
I see myself toggle lock on all layers but one so often, then do just a few transforms or what and then unlocking another layer to keep drawing on that and so on. With several layers , this gets quite heavy very fast ... wanna seperate effects and character or use sektch layer and help layers. not nice , locking and unlocking all the time
instead of switching modes so much , the important tools could just be in the main drawing mode , grab brush , smoothing , select tool
Lets take sculpt mode for normal meshes for example -> everything you need is in one mode , you just have to switch the tools , be it masks , brushes, grab. All tools right at hand and you can sculpt all day long.
That experience/workflow would be nice if mirrored in grease pencil. In grease pencil though, all the important tools are exploded over a few modes, it would be better if drawing and sculpt mode at least would be one mode but i think edit tools is easy to integrate too.
I made myself a pie menu to put the most important tools in there (draw, erase, grab , lasso select and fill). But its still kinda a jarring experience.
It would be nicer if the workflow would get an overhaul. when drawing or animating its easy to get "out of the zone" if you have to scroll and switch too much ui.
In short the experience would be more like a drawing program , where everything is made as seamless as possible.
another few nitpicks:
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in draw mode and object mode the modifiers and visual effects modifires are applied , please also apply in other modes
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the offset modifier could just be a default property of a layer without the need to go to the modifier tab. you need it anyways , so saving the work to toggle between tabs in properties.
Or just mirror the settings ui of the offset modifier into the influenced layer properties via script , would that be possible ?
another nice script would be to lock a specific material to a layer so every time you select the layer the proper material is autoselected ... i guess that should be possible , maybe ill try to make it.
11 Comments
Totally agree, everyone I know that used the Grease pencil acknowledges its power and versatility but is turned off by its clunky UX, changing, modes, layers, and materials quickly becomes tiresome.
I understand that there is soo much more happening here than in regular 2D drawing app, but anyways, at least draw, edit, and sculpt modes for GP objects should be one mode.
I agree it is a hassle to have to constantly change modes to get access to a particular tool. The Grease Pencil toolbar needs a common set of tools which will automatically set the mode when a particular tool is selected.
The whole toolbar should be refactored.
EDIT
-Radius and Transform Fill can be grouped
DRAW
I personally think the Eyedropper should be in the TopBar beside the color box
SCULPT
With these changes it might be possible to have only ONE toolbar and mode changes would happen in the background automatically.
auto switching modes with tools can be done by creating mini scripts like this for your favourite tools:
import bpy
bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode='SCULPT_GPENCIL')
bpy.ops.wm.tool_set_by_id(name="builtin_brush.Grab")
and mapping that to a toolbar , pie menu , hotkey
That's a good idea. Can the grease pencil tool's icon be accessed in the python Operator command? It appears they are not part of the Icon Viewer's icon set.
no idea i used some other icon
Following up on the idea of a unified grease pencil toolbar, I put together an addon "gp_QuickTools" for the N panel sidebar that illustrates my thought process. It groups most of the Grease Pencil tools into a single panel and automatically sets the correct mode when a tool is selected from it.
github.com/PongBuster/Blender-Addons
I agree the tools should be in one mode, but for the layer locking stuff there's an option in the layer specials dropdown called "Autolock inactive layers" which will unlock the layer you change to and lock the rest. Seems to be what you're looking for.
this is a very good point for a lot of things in blender, useful tools but separated by clunky UX. I think mastering UX cohesion would really do a lot for the usability of the tools
I've been using " Gp Animator Desk" and "Grease Pencil Draw Transform" add ons to get around the mode switching problems. Gp ani has a Side bar with the common tools that auto switches to the modes you need and changes to that tool.. It also has hotkeys. To be honest with out it i wouldn't even be trying to learn grease pencil at all. The normal interface is way too many steps. It makes using it draining. GP mode should really function this way by default, with auto mode switching tool bar. I get why the modes still need to function this way though. So you can make 3d , 2d hybrid things.
About the "locking", The only reason auto layer locking exist is so you can work with all layers at the same time. When "auto lock inactive layers" is on GP functions the same way it would in any other Art program. With it off you can now just effect all objects at once. Which doesn't work that way in other art apps. In other art apps in able to work on multiple layer you would just select those layers. But in blender you can't select multiple layers in the layer panel.
I agree with you on the colors. In Texture paint there's a toggle call " Unified color " and "Unified Stroke". This shares the color and Stroke size amongst all brushes. But it doesn't exist in GP mode. I get why to a degree because Materials and "Color attributes" are different, But that option would be really helpful on the Color attributes between the Draw, Fill , and tint tool. Also with in all the different brushes you might have.
With the Offset Modifier....I'm a bit confused. I use clip studio paint, and this functions the same way as the tool properties panel but better. Because you can keep the setting there and change it on the fly. i don't understand what you mean by " Default property of a layer without the need to go to the modifier." The modifier properties works the same as the tool properties panel. I'm not sure how it works in other programs like PS though. But wait , do you mean It should work "Frame Specific"? So you can make Multiple frames that all have different Offset modifiers? Because that would be helpful since the animation system is different than other art apps.
The eyedropper tool, and the Eyedropper icon on the color pick are two different Eyedroppers. One is a full tool and will only just make colors selected into martials, or add colors to a palette. The other Eyedropper on the " Color attribute" picker functions like a normal dropper. Which really confused me lol. Also it's not Mappable to a hot key... I get why it's this waaaay...because it's more efficient way of coloring. Keeping neat assigned colors, but it's not very Free Flowing. But I'm not sure why you can't Hotkey the Color attribute picker.
i found an addon by dedouze , which remembers the brush and the material for each layer and reapplys them on layer switch. this saves a ton of going back forth between the properties and material tab and is convinient overall.
i forked it and added the possibility to also select the layers in dopesheet as i find that the most important to select layers there . creadit goes to dedouce github.com/Ulf3000/greasepencilfocus github.com/dedouze/greasepencilfocus
using an outline material with contour option almost feels natural and is easy to use .. with the addon "nijigp" github.com/chsh2/nijiGPen you can boolean all strokes together and create a single big shape from it. Much better than using a fill material with the drawing tool.
I currently use quickfavourites and assign custom keyboard shortcuts for my most used tools of all of these, and this works for me since I heavily use shortcuts in other art software too (I find it efficient and I am a bit lazy) but I agree that for anyone coming from other software and not used to using keyboards, the UI is a bit confusing. Some things feel like they should be visually grouped or somehow easier to understand and use out-of-the-box. On one hand, GP has come a long way from version 2.79, but on the flipside, it feels quite "bloated" nowadays.