Adobe seeking feedback about panels, palettes, workspaces, and other UI elements

I'd just like some common shortcuts and capabilities between applications.

Duplicate

Move

Rename

Timeline fwd/rew

New project

New layer/comp

Group

If you have what is essentially the same function in one application, it should be standardised to the others.

Ideally it would be great to see Adobe adopt a versatile, customisable UI much like 3D programmes eg Cinema 4D where pretty much everything can be changed to suit the user, including macros, icon sets, tabs and palettes.

Dan

As a compliment to having keyboard shortcuts, it would be nice to be able to make a shortcut button and put it in the top menu bar.

I am tired of using inconsistent and deep menu structures to do things like delete pages, layers, etc. Since I don't believe Adobe is serious about making FW any better in a real way (othewise why have they not done it yet?), it would just be nice if I could take all those disparate, deep UI actions, assign them to a button each, and put them in the top bar.

That would be nice.

Hi guys.
You need to look at this one site for reviews. [removed by moderator]

I use the Production Premium CS5 suite. I use most of the programs on a semi-regular basis. It's nice that the UIs look more or less the same, and that the panels dock and undock the same way.

But it's the little things that are a killer. Adobe should think about standarizing the tools all the way down to the small details. For example, is it "delete", "cut", or "clear"? Pick one. Is transparency shown with a white/gray checkerboard (Photoshop) or black (AE), or something else? Again, pick one (I vote for black actually).

And for goodness sake, spend some time with some tech. writers on the actual words used in the UI. When I want to move from working on a project in PPro to working on it in AE, I do NOT want to "replace with AE composition" in PPro -- I want to continue working on the project I'm working on, just using another tool! IOW, I want to build on what I'm doing, not replace it with something else! And you wonder why newbies have such a hard time learning Adobe? I've been using this stuff for a year and I'm *still* a newbie, partly because of things like this.

For another example, what do I have to do in Encore to re-transcode a sequence? I have to "revert to original". WTF? Are you kidding me? What I want, is to do the transcode again, or at least to mark the sequence as un-transcoded so that Encore with transcode it again. Making me guess that the answer is "revert to original" is just user hostile. It's just not right.

I'd like to see dynamic link become more useful too. It's faintly rediculous that when I have to add some footage to a project in PPro, I see the sequence get longer in Encore, but not the timeline that Encore uses to run the sequence. Not even a warning -- it just lops off the end of your sequence on the DVD you just burned. And no way to manually increase the size of that timeline that I can find -- the answer seems to be to throw away the existing timeline and make a new one (and redo your entire flowchart in the bargain). I mean, come on -- think! How did this make it through testing?

I was a software developer for 25 years, I know a great deal about the complexites of architecting, designing, writing, and testing code. It ain't even slightly easy, and Adobe is to be congratulated on what they've done so far. I'm just sayin' that we aren't at the end of the path yet, so please keep going.

Please [removed by moderator] , please give us the ability to darken the UI in Photoshop the same way as in AE,Pr. etc.

I use a combo of InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop for my technical writing work. The user interface and integration in these applications is excellent. Adobe managed to keep the UI out of the way very well.

Since my work is mostly made of typing, I still miss some better way of zooming and scrolling without getting my hands away of the keyboard.

Also, the way automatic scrolling to follow the text input cursor could be greatly improved. Sometimes, I find myself typing out of the visible area, without InDesign adjusting the view.

I also use Premiere and After Effect from time to time, and find them as well integrated as the publishing combo. Making Premiere a bit less cluttered of unneeded controls (for example, making them appear only when needed) could be a good idea to clean-up things.

Dreamweaver, on the other side, is a disaster. I cannot see any logic in how commands are organized in menus and palettes. And there are menu ridiculously long, with no apparent hint of organization.

Paolo

I use Photoshop and Flash a lot for my website (along with Dremweaver) and I find it illogical that in Flash, you can lock/unlock multiple layers but you cannot delete multiple layers and in Photoshop, you can delete multiple layers but you can't lock/unlock multiple layers.

I find this a pain sometimes, especially that in Flash let's say for example I have imported layered content from Photoshop and then I shift most of it to a few layers, I am then left with 5-10 layers which I have to painstakingly right-click, delete, right-click, delete... I find it a nuisance.

And why does Flash appear to have no alignment guides? And Photoshop does not allow me to modify the gradient after it has been added like Flash does and there is no primitive rectangle or oval tool that I can modify after placement.

My thoughts on the above:  why can't I just drag an item direct from Finder/Explorer window onto a timeline?  After Effects should allow me to do so, and automatically place that item into the project for me, rather than require me to add to the project first, THEN drag to the timeline.

Primarily using AE/PP with often PS as well, some illustrator.

I don't think the UI itself -- panels palettes workspaces etc -- need much work, they are overall greatly improved in the last 5+ years & for the most part much ahead of competition. More attention should probably be put into other items that need improved, many of which already came up listed here.

One thing, I wish text brightness was added as customizable as well as the UI slider; I don't like the text brightness on the lower and higher end of the slider, wish I could customize it.

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BUG since as far as I can remember, maybe CS3 or earlier: workspaces need to remember multiple monitor setups!

The problem is, I snap off my timeline into a separate window, and make it full screen.

Now, if have an explorer/finder window open on the screen where the project & monitors panels where, everything opens fine & my full, double screen layout opens just as I left it.

However, if I open the project from the monitor that say, my full screen timeline is in, the project/monitor panels etc come up in that same screen, undernearth the timeline.  So I have to nudge the timeline window down, and double click the primary premiere pro window, and for some reason that maximizes it to the other screen).  Then bring my timeline window back into place.

For this reason alone I kind of like making a single window layout that's just 2-screens wide (Avid-esk), however, I run different resolutions on the monitor and this really complicates things if I'm trying to use all of my screenspace, when two or more monitors have different heights for resolution.  Also, in this setup, all progress windows appear right in the middle, so it's split between the two monitors.  This could be improved.

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Another request would definitely be to make hotkeys and things like timeline navigation more universal among your apps.  I run Avid+custom setup on my hotkeys in PP--I jump into AE, and every last button is different, and in AE it's not nearly as easily customizable. Same for Encore's, etc.  I'd LOVE for a change in PP's hotkey to reflect how it works in AE, Encore, and even PS in video mode, etc.

Simarly, as mentioned on this forum, I hate how blending mode changes in PS is arrows keys, on AE is shift + or -, and totally manual (mouse--annoying) in PP.  If there's one thing I wished was improved, it would be to make this particular task universal among Adobe apps.

I also really miss the hotkey property drop downs from AE when in any other program (c for opacity, a for anchor, etc).  I'd love to see them make it into other apps.

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Try not to hide things in the panel's window, coming from "hamburger menu's", I like that CS5 has kept things well enough organized to not have a bunch of important options there that are easy to miss.

Speaking of buttons, I think you'd find it rewarding to add 'fit to fill' and other fit clip options into buttons. They are extremely hidden right now, because you only see the options if you set 4 in/out points and don't drag/drop, which most users will never do.  Additionally, "solo" & "mute" buttons for audio tracks, which are right there on the audio mixer, just makes sense, add them.

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Another important one is you need to make everything keyboard mappable.  Like in MC, all buttons and actions need to be mappable--just the drop down menus and the few extras you have listed doesn't cut it.  I agree with others here, the keyboard visual layout would be dandy here.

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Definitely a +1 to improving thumbnail views.  Really quite bad right now.  Need much more customization in sizes thatn just 3 sizes, and a thumbnail + info view (like script view in MC) makes it so you can both see and sort the info, and see the clip at the same time, which is ideal for me.  Be able to customize the thumbnail, maybe a special type of marker that's put in from the preview window?

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Hope this helps.  For the most part the UI's are really great; it's the thing that most other NLE users are complaining about in their software, not Adobe users.  Often in their forums I'll see posts comparing things to PPro's UI and pointing out how much better developed it is & that particular app should do something similar to what Adobe did.  In my experience, anyway

- wb