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TPDesign4 3.2.661

Hi there,

I have downloaded the latest version of TP4 that supports Modero X Touch Panels.

After briefly using TP4, I was slightly disappointed that it does not contain the following features,

-the ability to scale graphics inside buttons
-Vector Based Image format support
-Adobe Flash object support
-New Border, button styles (current styles are extremely dated)
-New Glow, shadow styles (current styles are extremely dated)
-Gradients and 3D effects (not just flat colors)
- A resource manager that you don’t have to manually delete unused resources and that has some kind of folder/ file management system
-layering of objects
-the ability to zoom in & out on the TPD4 file you are working on without it pixelating text & images beyond recognition

Overall I am looking to create an interface that is as fluid, seamless and as stunning as any tablet/phone interface in a Reasonable! amount of time.

The current offering of native button styles/shadows/glows and text styles that accompany TPD4 are rather dated and don't really provide the outcomes we are seeking for our corporate clients.

Corporate customers expectations of their user interfaces is increasing reflecting not only the look and feel of their organisation, but even the theme of a floor or meeting room. So it is getting ever increasingly harder to support these expectations set by the customer.

For example; Having to externally resize or modify each state of all of the effected graphics at every System Design Change across each system throughout the entire building can be very time consuming.

This is further exacerbated by the fact that we are currently supporting multi-zone/display solutions which are both Analog and Digital, meaning there are more graphics, icons, and instruction that needs to be relayed to the user than ever before.

All of which has to be resized and modified externally to TPD4 every single time there is a inevitable System Design Change.

Also has anyone managed to find the "Pantastic UI" .TP4 file available anywhere?
(I saw it in the UI resource center banner not long ago)

Just for interest sake, I checked-out ********'s Core 3 UI toolkit which seems to support the above list of features and more (as shown in the link below) and I am hoping that TPD4 will support these features in the near future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_KYwk-r1RQ&feature=player_embedded

How does everyone else feel about TPDesign4?

Comments

  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    Hear, hear! Someone buy this man a drink!
    I am hoping that TPD4 will support these features in the near future.
    Don't hold your breath. In order for any of that to work, a whole new graphics engine would need to be developed, think of it as G5; I highly doubt that is even in the works.
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    Wow, after watching that presentation I'm ready to cross over to the dark side.
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    vining wrote: »
    Wow, after watching that presentation I'm ready to cross over to the dark side.

    Me too. These are the kind of tools AMX lacks. AMX has the custom code advantage, but lacks in tools & UI capabilities.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • As long as you don't mind having to spend twice as much time programming and debugging for the same price.
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    That was kind of my point.

    The beauty of AMX is that it employs a very custom language where you are in control, 100%. From what I know / seen, AMX could spin circles around C-tron's coding capabilities. But - is that what clients care about? Seriously - does a client say, "Let's make sure the code is fancy, and the panels are dull." Or do they want a fancy panel, but simple code? I speculate it'll be at least one year, maybe two, before AMX gets into doing very cool panels. But by then, it'll already be too late.

    I can only support a company and their technology as long as they're keeping up with the times.
  • the8thstthe8thst Posts: 470
    jjames wrote: »
    Me too. These are the kind of tools AMX lacks. AMX has the custom code advantage, but lacks in tools & UI capabilities.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    This is what we have been saying for years, and we have been asking for the features in this list for years as well.

    We were all hoping that the new pantastic and X panels were the introduction pieces for G5, but it isn't looking that way.
  • PhreaKPhreaK Posts: 966
    jjames wrote: »
    I can only support a company and their technology as long as they're keeping up with the times.

    +1. There's a good reason I'm moving more and more away from AMX jobs and contracting in other languages.
  • ppdkppdk Posts: 31
    I am programming both Amx and Cr3s systems for quite some time and the new 3 series from Cr3s moved both the Touch Panel design AND code design to a new level. From Amx point of view only the Touch Panel design got a
    refresh with the release of the Pantastic panes.
    jjames wrote: »
    The beauty of AMX is that it employs a very custom language where you are in control, 100%. From what I know / seen, AMX could spin circles around C-tron's coding capabilities.
    Well, each system has it's own design. There are things that can be done easily in Amx and things that can be done easily in Cr3s.

    jjames wrote: »
    But - is that what clients care about?
    101% agree. They care mostly about stability and usability.
  • I've been in both worlds for the last 5 years and I'm really torn.

    I tinkered with the CORE3 UI stuff last fall while it was in beta and it was TERRIBLE to use. Very inflexible and unless something's changed you CAN'T start with an existing TP design and build upon it with new features. So it's a fresh start in the CORE3 world.

    I hope that AMX comes out with new tp features because I prefer to program in Netlinx. I feel that the biggest advantage to netlinx is in it's flexibility with large scale changes and additions.
  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    I like to have total control over the UI process and TPD allows a lot of flexibility, but can be painstaking to use. Inertial scroll is something that, although I don't like it myself, many users are accustomed to it and so its a glaring omission on AMX's part not to provide that in some fashion since its so cumbersome to do in code. Even if they got the list boxes working on all UIs that would help. I don't think I would give up AMX to program using this application, but it would be nice to see AMX support programmers with better UI tools. But if you know Photoshop or other graphics programs well, and have a good eye and an artistic bent, you can make graphics that make that stuff look like Fisher Price on acid. I have found that on touch panels, simpler is almost always better. Too much 3D this, and scrolling that, animation here and drag and drop there, can actually take away from the experience. Its counterintuitive, but the best compliment a client can give me when I ask if they like the UI look and feel is "Umm, yeah it seems fine. I hadn't really thought a lot about it..."
    Paul
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