When Editing Multiple Values in Input Field (drag select), math operators should be applied to each value individually.
In Blender we can select multiple input fields by clicking and holding the first value and then dragging over them.
We can also type in math operators; for example, *2 will multiply the value.
The current behavior is that if we drag and select multiple input fields and then try to use a math operator, all input fields are set to have the value that is in first selected input field, and the math operation is applied to that value. This makes all selected input field values the same:
It would be much more useful if the math operations would be applied to each field individually.
So, for example, if we select scale inputs with values 1,2,3 and multiply them 2, the result should 2,4,6 instead of 2 in all input fields
- X 1 * 2 = 2
- Y 2 * 2 = 4
- Z 3 * 2 = 6
And the same for other math operations. For example, if we use addition, results should be like this :
- X 1 + 0,1 = 1,1
- Y 2 + 0,1 = 2,1
- Z 3 + 0,1 = 3,1
This would be much more desired behavior than the current one, which is rarely useful when using math operations.
The current behavior could be kept the same as it is now. If the user selects values by dragging and clicks outside the field, the values would be made the same. And if a user inputs a value and hits enter, all fields would be applied the same value, as there are no math operators.
The only case where there would be a difference is when user would like to use math operation for a single field and use this result for all the fields. In this case, the user can simply do the math in a single input, and then drag to select all the inputs and click to apply. same value to all inputs.
3 Comments
A better implementation might be to keep the current behavior as is but have blender switch to this "individual" behavior if while clicking and dragging, Shift is pressed.
I think both "shared" and "individual" behaviors are useful. Perhaps Blender could support both by using a specific syntax for the individual behavior?
For example, Python has augmented assignment operators such as
+=,-=,*=, and/=. Unlike a plain expression, an augmented assignment applies the operation to the current value,So assuming we have multiple values selected:
Entering
*2could keep Blender's current behavior, where the expression is evaluated once and the resulting value is assigned to all selected fields.Whereas
*=2could perform a per-value operation, producing:This would allow users to choose between assigning a shared result and applying an operation relative to each field's existing value, using a syntax that is already familiar from Python and other 3DCCs like Maya.
Furthermore, it could be used when selecting multiple objects/elements and editing a unique value shared across them. E.g.:
That would also be very powerful.
T his just seems like common sense to apply the operator to each channel individually.