cak3g@astsun8.astro.Virginia.EDU (Colin Klipsch) (02/01/90)
Uniters of the world, work! __________________________________________________________________________ gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes: >If you look at the programs coming out these days, many of them are beginning >to have "3 D" controls, etc., sometimes similar to those Next uses. Each >developer/company is using their own best judgement as to what these controls >should look like. kazim@apple.com responds: >The "3 D" look isn't a full 3 D image, but more "raised 2 D". The Lisa >team worked on 3 D icons (like the trash icon), but the problem was >perspective. If you moved the icon around on the screen, then the >icon should change as the perspective changes. I don't think we have the >raw computing power to this nicely and quickly yet. >We could use the "raised 2D" controls that NeXT has, but do you notice how >much nicer their controls look as opposed to similar ones on the Mac. Look >at the shading. A NeXT has, what, four bits per pixel? You can do some >really nice shading IF you can assume this depth. Unfortunately, Macs have >1 bit per pixel screens and the transition from control to shading is a >little too harsh. Actually, the NeXT has two bits per pixel, if I recall, which yields four possible colors. >I like the NeXT controls: I think they're very pretty. But they're about >as 3D as 3D glasses are. This does not mean we should dismiss the issue. There is an INIT available from sumex-aim.stanford.edu (can't recall the name at the moment) which replaces the standard WDEF routines that Apple gives us with NeXT-ish looking 3D windows. It uses white, light gray, dark gray, and black -- as far as I can tell -- to give an appearance of depth and structure to the window frames. I think the effect is a great aesthetic improvement, and the program _still_ works even when there's only one bit per pixel! In this case it uses white, black, and dithered gray patterns to approximate the same results. The Lisa icon sounds pretty, but that much work is unnecessary as far as I'm concerned. I use this INIT all the time now, though I wish it could go a bit further and spruce up the standard controls, like scrollbars, checkboxes, etc. In any case, I think the Human Interface section of Apple should at least consider these cosmetic improvements to the Macintosh interface in the near future. As if they don't have enough to think about. . . ______________________________________________________________________ "May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house." -- George Carlin Sincerely, | DISCLAIMER: Colin Klipsch | Every word in this text is University of Virginia | actually a horrendous misspelling (cak3g@astsun.astro.virginia.edu) | of the word "fettuccini".