Release time for v2

[yanrubi]

Hi. Could you tell me when will be the estimate release time for v2? Thanks.

[julien-moreau]

Hey, I'm happy that you ask :) I plan to release the v2 during July. Time for last fixes etc. Anyway you can access the "stable preview" here: http://editor.babylonjs.com/v2/

What feature are you expected exactly that is not present ?

[gabrieljbaker]

I would love the ability to load a gltf model right from the editor.

[julien-moreau]

From now you can drag’n’drop gltf and glb files into the editor to load the scenes. You can also export scenes as gltf and glb

I’ll update the editor to the latest bjs versions and everything will work file :)

[Nodragem]

Can't wait the release!

[julien-moreau]

It is planned to end of July! =D For instance, you can test the latest version here: http://editor.babylonjs.com/v2/ An Electron version will be available as well :)

[Nodragem]

Yes, the link was already above :P There are things puzzling me though in that new version:

• the property tabs have names that are less clear than in v1 (Node, Physics, Standard in v2, against Scene, Behaviour, Post-Processes, etc in v1) ... I would suggest:
  • rename the window "Properties" to "Inspector" (which is a more usual naming)
  • then rename Node, Physics, Standard to Properties, Physics, Material
  • using the new naming, why is there a Collision and Rendering variables in Properties? wouldn't it better to move them to Physics and Material?
• where are all the tools of v1? (Behaviour Editor, Material Builder, Dynamic Texture Builder) if I understand some of them have been moved to View?
• Would it make sense to also have "Add > Behaviour", "Add > Material", etc?
• Please, please, please do not use unusual names like "Material Builder" or "Material Creator", I spent half an hour on google to find out that yes, there is a Material Editor in BabylonJS Editor. Note that a more trendy name would be: Shader Editor. Unreal has a Visual Material Editor, Unity has a Visual Shader Editor, Godot Engine has a Visual Shader Editor. Unity is the most popular engine, so that Visual Shader Editor will become the name for it for a lot of people. BabylonJS Editor does not provide a node-based visual editor though, so I would name the Material Creator: Shader Editor or GLSL Shader Editor. That is a complicated choice, because the word Material is more intuitive than the word Shader to the newcomer... but at least use the word Editor.
• just as an aside, here are some of the improvement that Godot did to its Shader Editor: https://godotengine.org/article/making-shaders-more-accessible That may be useful to check if you did the same mistakes / improvements as them.
• I found the default layout very confusing, you wonder where are the tools; you need to find them and open them. So to give the new user a direct access to all the useful stuffs, you can expose these useful tools in the default layout. I try to organise a layout that will be more welcoming here: Based on that layout you would need to make few improvements, which actually makes sense:
  • to switch between the tab Code to the tab Preview takes too long (should be instantaneous)
  • you can see that I kept the stats windows on the bottom left because it might be useful but not essential. There is no good reason for these stats to be written in big font, make it small or adjustable, so that you can keep it in a corner. Even better: it could become a small and semi-transparent panel on the preview window.
  • I cannot scroll down enough to see all the "Node" properties in the Properties window; the properties at the bottom are hidden by the Stats window.
• If I understood correctly, when I create a script, the script is attached to the selected object in the hierarchy/scenegraph window. This is not clearly stated. Try to add the name of the object we are adding code to in the code editor. For instance, put a string "Scripts attached to [Game Object Name]:" next or under the "Import From..."
• could we show the scripts attached to the game object in the scenegraph?
• what if I want to attach one script to many game objects? if this is possible or becomes possible, then please do not repeat Unity's mistake: provide a way to quickly know which game objects are attached to a specific script (the opposite of the scenegraph which tells us which scripts are attached to a specific game object).
• Ask for a name when I create a Script, if not people won't bother and will end up with a lot of unnamed scripts. Alternatively, just make the keyboard input focus on the text field of the script's name when we create a script, so that we just need to write to give it a name then press enter (minimise clicks).
• could you add more options when we right-click an object in the scenegraph or 3D window: add Script, add Material, etc...
• In v1, there were rendering options: wireframe, bounding box, helpers, focus object, debug layer. Where are they in v2?

I hope my feedback will help :D that sounds like a lot of work, but most suggestions I made are just about renaming, adding text and reorganising what's already here.

I think your editor will be awesome :) and I hope it will attract a new wave of users! Good luck!

[julien-moreau]

That would be cool to know what ! =D Bug & usage reports are welcome so I can update the editor to fit your needs :)

[Nodragem]

I pressed on the send button unwillingly, so it was an incomplete comment :D Now you can see the edited message with all my suggestions above. I guess we could open a new issue based on them ^^.

[julien-moreau]

Awesome feedbacks! I’ll create the issues one by one or you can create them :) Will take the easier feedbacks today and integrate them. For the rest, I’ll let you know once done

[Nodragem]

Cool! please create the issue, cause I won't have the time today (I think you did already) :)

[julien-moreau]

Hey, for the screenshot above about default layout, I just added a way to save your layout when you exit the editor (electron and web) so you'll retrieve your layout everytime :)