Play games much? What’s your favorite way to choose your destination, toggle options, select items or swap weapons?
I prefer radial menus as the best way to turn “lists” of options into “branches” of option. Some say “touch means a Renaissance” for the radial menu and I agree! Unfortunately this leaves mouse users with the typical lists… which only get smaller and smaller with each increase in resolution. GAH!
I created a post on odforce.net about radial menus and how I’d love to see something like this in Houdini. Maya has something very similar that they call “Marking Menus”, which are great… especially since they can be customized.
I’m a big fan of gesture based control as it helps eliminate mouse strain AND helps the digital artist stay more focused on the task at hand. I find lists to be very distracting, and I end up devoting too much energy into “searching” instead of “activating“. Radial menus create option gestures!
Speaking of gestures and radial menus, I just came across this update for the Leap Motion, where the artist is molding clay without getting his hands dirty. So much fun, though I’d have the weakest wrist of all clay sculptors. I can only imagine that UIs that are in development. Hopefully the big corps don’t pattent the ideas before they become widely available.