GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 458816
Is the visualization pop up really needed?
Last modified: 2011-07-24 23:06:28 UTC
I mention an idea in bug 458806 for how to get rid of the visualization mode combo box with out loss of much of the functionality. I don't really see the point in exposing the quality setting in such a prominent place. It is not like this is something that is changed often if at all (I don't even notice a difference between the different settings here although I know there should be from using Totem). Also, this is only for "XV visualizations", right? So... should the setting exist at all? I don't know if there will ever be any other visualization stuff (like something that uses OpenGL for some nifty effects...) and haven't really looked at the code so maybe that is a moot point. Maybe selecting effect is something that should remain in a fairly prominent place though. Or how about putting it in the menu or prefs dialog and randomize between what effect to use by default (and have Random/GOOM/Monoscope/etc in a menu or combobox in the prefs dialog)? Or maybe type should stay in the pop up... If the pop up can be eliminated completely, one idea might be to automatically pop into the browser when you hover over the relevant part of the UI, and show the effect when the mouse leaves that area or after some time of user inactivity... donno, just thinking out loud... but this way, you could get rid if the "oh, I want to change song... have to press visualization button... select song... press visualization button again..." problem.
Created attachment 155419 [details] Rhythmbox mockup for alpha blended settings icon over visualization in place of toolbar Pasted from Ubuntu bug #279302: My idea for a better solution would be a button in one of the corners of the visualization itself, as seen in the attached mockup. Clicking the button would pop up a context menu that has the same options as the hover toolbar currently. This would not only save space, but prevent the (quite distracting) jumping around of the visualization, as the hover toolbar resizes the canvas instead of appearing over it (like for example the seekbar in a fullscreen Totem). Optionally, the Options button could fade in and out as the mouse cursor hovers over the visualization. I realize that the current implementation might not allow for an alpha-blended smoothly animated button, or would take too much time to add, but even then, a single button for settings that are probably not changed too often would be a way better solution than a large toolbar.