For those of you willing to roll the dice on a very early beta program, I'd love to hear what you think of the first pass at the FaceMaker applet I've been working on. Only about half of the item slots have content, but the feature set is complete and I think there's enough "there" there to get a sense of how it's all going to operate. If you get a chance in the next few days, please head over to the temporary home for the beta and give it a twirl:
http://www.heromachine.com/ugo/facemaker4.htm
If your Internet connection is a bit on the slow side, be advised that the applet is about 540KB.
I'm going to be slammed until Monday or Tuesday working on a custom HM-style designer for UGO (last minute deal, huge rush, etc.) so I won't be tinkering with FaceMaker at all, making this the perfect time to gather feedback. Some things to look out for:
* Did the "Save" (i.e. Save as a JPG) feature work for you?
* Does the scaling feature work properly and act as you'd expect?
* Does being able to drag the features around help put together the right image?
* Do you like the ability to save your custom colors while you're working?
* What kind of content is missing that you would want to be there in the final version (either whole new item slot categories or items within a category)?
* Any other thoughts you have about the applet overall, or about specific features, or anything in between.
Let me know what you think, any changes you think should be made to make it better, whether you think it's worthwhile or not, how the interface works for you, concerns or reservations you have, or even (goodness forbid!) things you like about it.
Thanks in advance for any input you want to make!
Cool, nice work.
OK, i’m Mexican and my english sucks, so… if i say something that doesn’t make any sense it’s probably because of that.
I don’t know if this is important but i want to state that i’m using Opera’s latest version.
I’ll answer your first 4 questions:
* Yes, the save feature worked perfectly fine with me and i love it, it’s quite practical.
* Yes, the scaling feature worked properly for me and No, it didn’t act the way i was expecting at the beginning but it took me only a few seconds to understand how it works.
* Yes, being able to drag the features around helped me to put together the right image.
* Yes, i like the ability of saving colors. With the Hero Machine 2.5 i have to constantly write down RGB codes just to have the same color in 2 different items.
Now, these are some issues that i noticed:
* I think i found some kind of bug in the “scale chart”. If you click and drag the “scale pointer” up to the chart’s border and then keep moving the mouse pointer out of the chart and then release the button, the scale pointer will move as if you hadn’t released the mouse button. The scale pointer will move even if the mouse pointer is out of the scale chart.
* In the scale chart, the position of the scale pointer is not changed when you select another item. For example, you start a new face by adding the eyes, you change its scale by moving the scale pointer to the bottom of the chart and then add the eyebrows, then you want to move the scale pointer to the upper part of the chart, but you notice that the pointer is still at the bottom (it should be at the center because its a new item and has the default value), anyway, you move the pointer to the upper part, then you select the eyes again and notice that the pointer is in the upper part (it should be at the bottom).
* I don’t know if this is also a bug or if this is the regular behavior, but when you are in the custom color palette, every time you click on a color, it’s stored in a different slot. If this is how it’s supposed to be, then i suggest that the first non used slot is selected every time you open the custom color section and every time you chose a new color it is stored in the same slot until you select another slot.
And finally, these are my suggestions:
* Add the option of using the RGB code for the colors like in Hero Machine 2.5.
* Add a reset button for the position of the items.
* Show (with numbers) the values for the scale and position.
* Let us see the items before choosing them like in Hero Mchine 2.5 (for example, if i click on “Eyes” show me all the available eyes, then i’ll be able to quickly choose the pair i want).
* Add the option of “Separation” for eyes and eyebrows. Just change the distance between them, not the size or position.
Well… other than “lots of different items” i think that’s all… for now lol.
I hope you that something of what i wrote turn out to be useful for you. Thanks for working on these awesome projects.
Great feedback, thanks Neon!
Very nice. I like the ability to chance scale and position, it’s a nice feature. Like Neon, I’d like to suggest a reset for position, the ability to see the items before choosing, and the ability to use the RGB code for choosing colors.
Other than that, I really didn’t see anything I didn’t like. In fact, I can see I’m going to be spending a lot of time playing with this!
Mm. Sorry this is so long.
A. Customizable line color rocks my socks. Awesome.
B. Being able to drag features is grand.
C. The scaling feature worked well, but when I’d scale an item and then move to another item, the scale wouldn’t reset. So I got the lips looking the way I wanted, but then I clicked eyes and that same scale setting that made the lips look awesome made the eyes look warped and I’ve got to reset it.
D. I’d prefer to be able to view the items all at once, or in batches, instead of scrolling through them. It makes it easier to compare.
E. While being able to save custom colors is another wonderful innovation, I think the custom colors process could be improved by providing a lightness darkness scale. I can get the color I want, but it’s often very intense and darker than I want, especially when I’m using it for skin tones.
F. I second NEON_N64’s comment about the eyes and eyebrows.
G. Did I mention the customizable line colors are the best thing since Marvel started making movies?
The only problem I found is that the chin, jaw and Forehead portion don’t line up. It makes for a pretty ugly face. But that’s all.
Mhhh…. a couple of ideas:
1.- Mirror button, flips the current item horizontally.
2.- The ability to rotate objects.