Mediator Design Suggestions

Hey,

Since I couldn't sleep (too hot here) I put together some basic design ideas and suggetions for the ReShade Mediator.






I kicked alot of elements out to clean it up a bit. The EffectOrdering tab isn't visible at all. Instead the On/Off button is next to the individual effect. Sorting could be in an "advanced settings" tab with other unstable/test features.The main goal was to make it very user friendly with less stuff to click. Things like bigger sliders and custom value fields - suggested by others - are already shown. Inspiration came from the new Windows 10 design and the good old GemFX from Hawk and random stuff. .

Maybe we can share some of our Mediator ideas here?

If something like this isn't welcome - let me know.

Thank you for the effort Sassy I will have a closer look at it!

Please keep in mind that most elements in the mediator are not hand made but generated automatically from the configuration files

Your and everyone's ideas are always welcome and we will do our best to bring them all together

(effect ordering is not a unstable/test feature )

I do suggest you use something like this: viperneo.github.io/winforms-modernui/ (since you are using WinForms). Can still be autogenerated, but would give the UI a fresher, more modern look, which it really would benefit from.

effect ordering is not a unstable/test feature

That's not what i meant. It's something that can easily break things if effects are ordered randomly hence my idea to not make it visible for silly users like me.

I do suggest you use something like this: viperneo.github.io/winforms-modernui/ (since you are using WinForms). Can still be autogenerated, but would give the UI a fresher, more modern look, which it really would benefit from.

I was actually using PS but i'm glad it looks like that (since it was the goal). I will look into your suggestion - thanks.

Sassy wrote: I was actually using PS but i'm glad it looks like that (since it was the goal). I will look into your suggestion - thanks.

That was targted at Lucifer. The mediator is using the WinForms framework for the UI part.

Current ReDesign Preview

Its completely redone so this is an early stage preview

Today's implementation (combining a request from Crosire and a few of you)

A separate offline preview window which is arbitrarily re-sizable

Very nice!

I don´t know if my suggestions are feasable but I want to share them.

• "Apply" and "reset" shouldn´t be so close together unless reset can be undone - in my opinion. This can and will be fatal if not able to undo.
• Options for ON or OFF shouldn´t have a slider, instead a checkbox.
• For the many items which are 3 rows now I suggest a nested Tab-System like this on the very bottom: keith-wood.name/uiTabs.html .
Tabs above horizontally - and nested vertically.[/li]

I

s it possible to add a keyboard shortcut for "apply"? Would be useful too.
____
The first release of the mediator I used was totally confusing to me when it came to add games and add profiles.
But I will make suggestions for that part some other time.

If you are interested in some visual mockups Lucifer - just let me know.

Regards

Thanks Solano, everyones feedback is welcome and important for each iteration!

I will not go in order here but answer your questions in the following

Tab controls are limited but I will see whats possible on that end. I could always simply disable multi lines and make them scrollable but at least the stock scroll arrows look not okay.

Checkboxes will (most likely) come sooner or later. Slider and text boxes are in currently cause they can already cover everything functionally.

Apply and reset will stay "close" cause they belong to the same action/domain. To tweak presets/settings ppl will hit apply more often than they would hit save in dark souls . Reset is only reseting to the last applied setting so will have no huge impact. Though, if more ppl think that would be a problem for them in case they miss the button, I can implement an OK - Cancel message that promts the user for confirmation?

That said, I will see to get an apply hotkey and maybe some other hotkeys integrated

Regarding visual mockups, that sort of thing is currently in works so its maybe better to wait for its first design overhaul release.

However, if you have any good idea supporting that, shoot!

I reduced the size of the suite tab controls and the user will be prompt to select the image for the preview. Additionally there is now the LUT rendered on top of the preview picture and some of you will know how very useful that will be

EDIT: Some of the things I wrote here actually come down to user-in-experience with the Mediator. You can actually right click to select the individual shader you want when the mediator highlights all the shaders that share the same technique. And you can also change the order of shaders in effect ordering. Both these things I overlooked from my admittedly limited usage of the mediator (I was stubborn and preferred the old way of editing and was reluctant to change).
Sorry for any confusion I caused anyone.


Since this seems to be the go-to topic for Mediator Suggestions I have a few too from my time using the mediator:
I'm really sorry if I am repeating some of these suggestions. I didn't read through all the topics/pages before posting this.

Possible Alterations/Changes:

//- When hovering over one Shader, the mediator will highlight ALL the shaders from that particular Shaderpack. This is extremely annoying as it turns on all shaders, then you have to turn off all shaders and manually use some mouse-hovering wizzardry to select the individual shaders of that pack you want on. It would be much much more simple to just get rid of that feature all together. When using SweetFX shaders. I've never used all of them at the same time in my life. There's not really a reason to have this happen at all.//
(you can right click to activate that individual shader)

//- Effect ordering tab should probably be renamed Enable/Disable effects since you cannot re-order effects at all from that tab.
I tried to figure out how to put deband at the end of the effect ordering but I don't think it was possible. Yet I can do so manually from the effectordering.cfg//
(you can indeed re-order shaders from Mediator)

- Effect ordering shaders should have bigger checkmark boxes and more space inbetween each shader.

//-Mediator needs a new make-over and a more user-friendly skin (but I see that's already being done, so disregard this)//

- It would be great if the mediator closed to task-bar instead of icons tray. It's actually more difficult for me to open it back up especially when you are like me and have 10 or more icons in your little icon tray. An option would be great to have it close to task-bar.

- We should be able to re-size the mediator (if possible)

//- We need to be able to manually enter in Numbers instead of using the slider for everything. LiftGammaGain changes are a complete nightmare with the mediator atm because of the slider. If I could just type 0.980 It would be a lot easier. I know I can use arrow keys to go up one value but it just takes so long.//
(not really that big of a deal anymore. When clicking the bar for the color you are changing it moves in intervals of 5 which is great)

Constantine PC wrote: - When hovering over one Shader, the mediator will highlight ALL the shaders from that particular Shaderpack. This is extremely annoying as it turns on all shaders, then you have to turn off all shaders and manually use some mouse-hovering wizzardry to select the individual shaders of that pack you want on. It would be much much more simple to just get rid of that feature all together. When using SweetFX shaders. I've never used all of them at the same time in my life. There's not really a reason to have this happen at all.

Not all shader from a suite but all shader from a technique get selected. Globally, you can only reorder techniques. Some shader are combined in one technique (SweetFX shared shader, GemFX bloom shader,...). It is not possible to reorder those shader individually, thats why they HAVE to be selected together. You can deselect them by clicking on them.

Constantine PC wrote: - Effect ordering tab should probably be renamed Enable/Disable effects since you cannot re-order effects at all from that tab.
I tried to figure out how to put deband at the end of the effect ordering but I don't think it was possible. Yet I can do so manually from the effectordering.cfg

When ever a shader or group of shader is selected, two buttons appear that allow moving the selection "up" and "down" in the ordering.

Constantine PC wrote: - Effect ordering shaders should have bigger checkmark boxes and more space inbetween each shader.

I will see what I can do about that but same as for tab controls, I am limited, since I do not draw those controls myself (its know to be very difficult especially when having checkboxes in it)

Constantine PC wrote: - It would be great if the mediator closed to task-bar instead of icons tray. It's actually more difficult for me to open it back up especially when you are like me and have 10 or more icons in your little icon tray. An option would be great to have it close to task-bar.

To implement and option for that should be possible.

Constantine PC wrote: - We should be able to re-size the mediator (if possible)

Might come but not in the near future I think.

Constantine PC wrote: - We need to be able to manually enter in Numbers instead of using the slider for everything. LiftGammaGain changes are a complete nightmare with the mediator atm because of the slider. If I could just type 0.980 It would be a lot easier. I know I can use arrow keys to go up one value but it just takes so long.

Not as trivial but possible and I know many want it. I will work on it. In the meantime, it is possible to set the range of values to "undef" which summons text boxes instead of sliders.

Hope I answered all your questions

Would it be possible to have an on\off control in each shader's own page? I'm finding myself instinctively searching for one there each time before referring to the ordering list.

I was about to suggest selectable preview pictures and a hotkey for "apply", but it seems you have already taken care of things

For now I would not like to add redundant functionality to avoid inconsistencies and confusion.

What I am thinking about to add though is a function to search for shader in the ordering tab but am not sure yet how that should actually look like

So I just tested the All effects sharing the technique highlighting issue where it activates all of them and discovered you can indeed right click the effect that shares that technique to just turn on that one effect. Maybe it would be better to simply reverse the buttons so left click activates that one shader instead of it turning on or off all shaders that share that technique. Still though I have never turned on all shaders of the same technique before. I get they use the same shared sweetfx technique but I don't want to activate all of them at the same time. Highlighting them to let me know that they share the same technique is good enough for me.

Like for instance right now if I hover over vibrance and left click. I turn on all the sweetfx shared shaders at the same time. I only want to turn on vibrance though so I have to right click. Seems a little backwards, maybe it should do the same functionality but left-click turns on that individual shader instead of right-click.

What about if -- as has been suggested -- you can enable or disable an effect within that effect's tab. This is afterall logically consistent.

Then, in the re-ordering tab, you _only_ list those effects that have been selected. This will make it so much easier to order effects, since most people use anywhere from 2-8, I'd say, on average.

And yes I know some effects are grouped in blocks, like SweetFX. That's ok, you simply have if any one effect in that block is chosen, then for eg the 'SweetFX' block shows up in the ordering panel -- but note again, you're showing the block title, not the long list of effects included in that block.

Thanks for feedback and suggestions guys!

@Constantine, I agree, activating mutliple shader with one click is definitly not useful. Deactivating multiple shader with one click is.

I will see what I can do about swapping left and right click functionality. Did you try double click a shader yet?

@Martigen, just to make sure, its not that I WANT to say NO to some things and I will always try to find a good solution but sometimes its gonna also be a no

Is it technically possible to add shader toggles to the shader variable tab? Yes it is!

Is it technically possible to only display activated shader in the reordering tab? Yes it is!

Does it make sense to to add toggles to the shader variables tab? It might.

Does it make sense to only display activated shader in the reordering tab? Unfortunately not.

Some explanation:
We need a separate list of toggles for shader cause that functionality differs from editing its values and you also dont want to browse all shader only for that. That list already exists with having a reordering list and prevents adding another list. (That does not mean that there is no chance to add another toggle in individual tabs but is debatible)

Now, why do we have a complete reordering list and not just a subset of active shader?
First of all, for transparency. It helps to see the individual shader we move and not just shader groups. Otherwise we would miss a relation to the individual shader tabs.
Second, if we would move only active shader we will run into a problem when activating another shader after the reordering. Where do you want to put that shader? Do you really want to always reorder every time you activate a shader? What about a user that does not know a suggested order? In short, hiding disabled shader in the ordering causes a lot more problems. Activated shader are already highlighted and should be easy enough to be found

(For the future I am looking for a graph engine [eg graphx] which I can use to render the ordering)

LuciferHawk wrote: Second, if we would move only active shader we will run into a problem when activating another shader after the reordering. Where do you want to put that shader? Do you really want to always reorder every time you activate a shader? What about a user that does not know a suggested order? In short, hiding disabled shader in the ordering causes a lot more problems. Activated shader are already highlighted and should be easy enough to be found

Some good points there Lucifer.

The suggestion comes from the fact that the full shader list is confusing for newbies, and tiresome to navigate for experts. And afterall, you really only need to re-order the shaders you're actually using. For practical purposes, any shader you haven't toggled should be the equivalent of commented out '#' in the raw config file.

What about this: default to showing all shaders, but have a checkbox in the shader re-ordering tab that says 'Show only active shaders'. This way you toggle it, re-order, and untoggle if necessary. As for where a shader goes if you activate one after re-ordering this way, the same place where it goes now. The 'Show only active shaders' toggle would be visual, effectively a display filter for the list.

Or another idea: any shader that's toggled, automatically move it above any de-selected shaders (so you get all the toggled ones near the top, in the order they would naturally be by default). This way you only have to play around with the top of the list, and not move a shader past a dozen others everytime you toggle a new one.

The only thing I could do is skip every deactivated shader when reordering (though that is not trivial due to the shader groups) which then could allow to only show activated shader and give the illusion you only move them (of course both only optional and activated at the same time -> so if all visible it will be moved individually; -> if only active visible, deactivated are skipped). However, the current algorithm is already quiet difficult considering all the cases I have to be aware of. It is possible but not easy so I cannot definitely guarantee it to be in the next release.

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Algorithm
[A1]
[D1]
[D2]
[A2]
[A3]<- Move up

[A1]
[D1]
[D2]
[A3]<- Move up
[A2]

[A3]<- Finish
[A1]
[D1]
[D2]
[A2]

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Actual Display
[A1]
[A2]
[A3]<- Move up

[A1]
[A3]<- Move up
[A2]

[A3]<- Finish
[A1]
[A2]