Support for OS native file browser
The blender file browser already made huge jumps forward with the latest releases, but i still think that a lot of people would prefer to use the default file browser of their OS, or at least one that behaves identically when opening and saving files (i get that this would probably not work for linking and appending Blend files).
10 Comments
Yes: the Blender file browser is particularly annoying in that you cannot Tab thru the fields - it forces you to use the mouse, which is slow, slow, ssssssllllloooowwww.....
Yes please!! Before I switched to Blender I always used custom Folder icons and a custom order which makes it soo much easier to klick through the folder hierarchy. (Plus everything else that is already mentioned here in the comments).
Blender is maturing A LOT, and I already removed Max from my workflow. However, I really dislike custom file dialogs. I am not used to them, Windows has its thing, I expect this thing to be used everywhere, just because I am used to it. Adding an option to have the native OS thing OR the built-in thing is a must for better system integration!
If you are on a Mac, this is a very painful. Now beside options I see no feature in Blender s file browser needed. And these option could als be in the references stored and remembered. I‘m so frustrated that I always have to uncheck animation import on fbx again and again… and hey! These options are gone when dragging files directly in your viewport… so crap, remove it and give us the option with a OS folder browser. Can‘t say how much I miss my ordered favorites, tags, super fast search and best oft it all default folder X. On windows so… well you do not see that diffeence. And by the way… please also the OS color picker! I have my libraries there and the eye picker works on the whole window!
Practically every reputable 3dx software allows for native file browsing, I don't understand why Blender can't or won't implement it. When linking/appending .blend files, it can just let the user use the native file browser if they want to, then when a .blend file is selected, close the native browser then open the blender browser. Super basic. Functionality like this, among others, are why Blender will never be adopted by industry, its too amateur.
I'd even be willing to work on this if this feature can be approved, I'd imagine as a checkbox in the user preferences in the system preference tab.
yes! i work on macOS and there is this aspect, that you feel your file system. The Folders have names, but you didn't read them, you see them trough the letters, by capitals, numbers or name-length. but with the blender browser all of this is lost, you have to read them to recognize. thats not good.
Trust me, I know why you say it, but instead of replacing it write down all the features lacking. It has been such a huge job to now throw it away. And even better, say what features you'd like to have in a file explorer, features that nor Windows/macOS/whatever has.
* @gerardtaulats * , well, for one thing, FOLDER CREATION seems to be lacking in the Blender dialog.
Folder creation does exist in the Blender File View. (right click into empty space)
However, here are some of the features that are missing:
• simply drag and drop a folder into the save dialog from finder to select that folder as a target to save
• preview files with spacebar
• show my system wide favorites
• show tags
• show system-wide recent folders that I've worked in
• search
• column view
• show a greyed out version of files that aren't compatible, along with icons and little previews (this helps navigate in large projects to understand better in what context one would be saving their file)
• file name input is inconsistent with rest of system. pressing ⌥ + U, macOS will create an umlaut character (¨) and prepares it for another character to be put under that. (and any macOS app that uses standard APIs for text fields will do that). Blender doesn't show the umlauts until the next character has been entered.
• right click a file or folder, select "show in finder" to open a finder window that shows the same folder
if this can all be implemented, then fine, but I think it would just be easier to write a few lines of code and tell macOS to open a native file browser instead of re-building what Apple already did.
It is missing OS integration of the sort you can't implement in a custom UI. Cloud storage integration, favorites / sidebar organization, macOS file tags, etc. It is about the little things working exactly the same as other programs too. Like being able to drag and drop a folder to the dialog on macOS to change to the folder. If Blender ever incorporates the macOS app sandbox, the native dialog is needed to obtain a secure bookmark to the user selected file. macOS doesn't trust files that are not opened by the standard file chooser.
It should be easy to implement. I would volunteer to write it for the macOS platform if it is something that wouldn't be rejected by the core team. I'm not experienced on other Blender platforms. The file chooser is one of the most frustrating aspects of Blender.
Although most of blender's custom UI isn't too bad on macOS, it would be nice to see three changes for good macOS integration. Native file dialogs, the main menubar moved to the system menubar, and the workspace/scene/layer selection moved to the macOS toolbar space. The later could be done by moving the blender rendered content in to the titlebar area and making room for the standard macOS window controls.