Panning and zooming the HUD "layer"
Nyx Onyx
I'd like to be able to have multiple HUD components off-screen or in easy reach (seeing just a part), and have them be reachable by panning the HUD. Also, for those tiny HUDs made for lesser screen resolutions, I'd like to be able to zoom in on them - or out if they're too large on the screen (reducing the need for a scripted scaling feature or mod perms).
Panning could for example be possible by holding some key while pulling on a visible HUD component with the mouse (or just anywhere on the screen), or holding the same key and using the arrow keys. It could also be an option to just hold the middle mouse button and moving the mouse. Zooming could be done by using the same key and scrolling with the mouse-wheel (or page-down / -up). And some way to get back to "home" / default view / center and neutral zoom. Of course, this should all be configurable in the viewer. For the zooming, it would be great if it did so towards wherever the mouse cursor is on the screen.
Today it's possible to move HUDs into and out of the visible area by going to edit on a HUD component and then zooming out with the scroll-wheel, but you can't zoom back into an off-screen HUD component and / or use it while in edit mode. Can we just make the HUD work like a layer on the screen that we can navigate as we need to? Oh, and to help with that navigation, showing a small map of the entire HUD workspace with clickable squares representing the HUDs would be great.
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JaneRustle Resident
Not sure about n-gons, but when you have three or for HUDs the viewport the visible space becomes cramped, an easy way to move between them without continually repositioning would be very welcome.
Bavid Dailey
As i read your request, I imagined, first a cylinder with the HUDs painted on the surface, then a n-gon (for straightness) - that rotated around one axis X or Y - and which brought a HUD into 'focus'. Just a fancy.
Nyx Onyx
Bavid Dailey I imagine it more like having a sheet of glass put on top of the viewport that is the view into the SL 3D world. The sheet of glass has all the HUDs mounted on it, and you can move this sheet around to see the HUDs mounted on it, as the different HUDs move into the viewport space. You can also zoom in and out (as if moving your head closer or farther away from the sheet on which the HUDs are). The map feature would help to navigate in the HUD space, instead of having to pan around manually, and / or guessing where on the HUD space that your HUD is. It also helps if you're zoomed out and is trying to find a smaller HUD.
That said, one can have different ways to accomplish something like this set of features, and have different conceptual models for it as well.
Making it a cylinder kind of model would be distorting the HUDs though, wouldn't it? Since they'd be placed on a curved surface. Having a multi-faced model for the HUD space would be like workspaces on your phone for example, a paged set of HUD spaces you "flick into", rather than panning smoothly.
I personally think it would be easier to just have a single flat "sheet" to navigate on.
I was coming up with this feature request as I was composing an outfit, with customization HUDs for six different clothing / accessory / bodypart items on my screen at once...
Bavid Dailey
Nyx Onyx Sorry, saying n-gon probably wasn't anywhere near clear enough. i meant shaving off the long surface of the cylinder - to make a flat surface and making as many cuts as you have HUDs. for 4 HUDs, 4 cuts make essentially a cube that clicks between positions . For 2 HUds, it would be a plane with a hud on either side .
And I understand the need, i mess with too many clothing HUDs also
Nyx Onyx
Bavid Dailey No worries at all! I did understand that you meant something like that, and I described that as 'a paged set of HUD spaces you "flick into"' in my reply to you. Which is a good way to handle it on a phone and perhaps a tablet device where you might only want to see a single HUD at a time. On a desktop device it could very well be an option or optional way to browse and display attached HUDs, but it's not quite what I seek with my feature request. I'd like to be able to place HUDs on the 2D surface just like today, and just like today be able to move them off outside of the viewport.
But unlike today, I'd like to be able to easily reach and use those off-screen HUDs without having to go to edit mode and move them inside the viewport to use them, and then move them out again. Basically, panning the HUD space that already is there. And while at it, let me zoom into and out of the contents in that space. Add a clickable HUD space map for easy navigation and I think it would be perfect!