Styles/Actions/Layers Panels on the the left* side...

[Phazor]

I'm not sure why moho didn't add this feature even though the software is over a decade old, but there should be an option to snap the panels on whichever side the user prefers, and I would imagine that would be a very simple script to implement.

Instead of having the tools on the left, we should be able to snap them to the right side. Instead of having the layers and styles panel on the right side, the user should be able to snap them to the left side.

Not every user is going to be left-handed, and not every user is going to be right-handed as they use the software, and not everyone is going to want to have the same preference, and not only do I think this should be a feature in moho, I think this feature should have been added a long time ago.

If anyone knows how to swap the sides of where the panels snap to, that would be fantastic! Whoever takes a look at this, Thank you very much..

[synthsin75]

Not possible with scripting.

Remember, Moho has never had a very large development team, and has spent most of its life with only one developer. We'd all like a more customizable UI, but things that help us animate are usually a bigger priority for the limited development time.

And you can always undock the windows and arrange them any way you like.

[Phazor]

Undocking is not a good solution because you have to do it manually every time you open or refresh Moho. It doesn't remember where you placed the panels. Not only that, but the panels take up more space on the screen when you undock them and make your interface more cluttered. Also, any of the panels that expand or collapse will overlap other panels instead of resizing both panels, so if you want to use the advanced settings on the styles menu, for example, you wouldn't be able to use the layers panel at the same time, not to mention the occasional accidental moving of the floating undocked windows and accidental closing of the windows because floating windows have the close X Button at the top right when they do not have that for the docked panels.

If this cannot be done with scripting, then this should be shared with the developers to make something. One thing I think we should not do is not look into this. Either we should accomplish this with scripting or make this known to the developers so this can be added.

[Greenlaw]

Undocking is not a good solution because you have to do it manually every time you open or refresh Moho. It doesn't remember where you placed the panels.

This is incorrect. Moho does remember the state of windows between sessions. I keep certain windows (Tools, Actions, Style, Layer Comps, Keyframes) undocked all the time, and the windows that I leave open and undocked stay that way in the location where I left them, even after closing and relaunching Moho.

Note: in Moho 12.5 and earlier, the undocked Styles window does not remember its closed state but it does remember its position. All other windows however are correctly remembered in Moho 12.5. In Moho 13.5, the closed state of the Styles window is properly remembered. (Yay!)

To see a demonstration of how this works, see my video Better Default Settings For Moho Pro and scrub to 2:30.

Not only that, but the panels take up more space on the screen when you undock them and make your interface more cluttered.

This is why I made this tool: MQC for Moho Pro, For me, this button panel makes it easier to open and close undocked windows, so each window is visible only when I need it. This reduces a lot of screen clutter, and there are other useful features in the panel. I mainly use it to minimize screen clutter and to give me quicker access to the most commonly used commands. (Designed for a stylus but MQC works great with a mouse too.)

As described in the video, the buttons are grouped in three categories. The third group, on the right, relates to Moho's windows.



To further reduce clutter for the Styles window, I keep Swatches set to None. Unless I'm using a specific color palette for my project, it's unnecessary to keep this section active. Besides, I find it easy enough to sample my colors from another window or from an imported image (like a character sheet or color script.)

BTW, the Better Default Settings video mentioned above has more tips for reducing screen clutter and optimizing the UI. For example, keeping the Styles Window undocked maximizes the vertical usability of the Layers Window, which is way more important to me. Since I only need Styles open when I'm rigging, I keep this window closed when I'm animating. If you want to make Moho more efficient to use, this video might give you some ideas.

Hope this helps.

[synthsin75]

Speaking of MQC, which Dennis wrote using AutoHotkey, AHK (Windows only) can also remove any window's title bar and close X. AHK could also automate repositioning undocked windows when you change the size of one. But it requires some programming knowledge.

[Phazor]

This is incorrect. Moho does remember the state of windows between sessions. I keep certain windows (Tools, Actions, Style, Layer Comps, Keyframes) undocked all the time, and the windows that I leave open and undocked stay that way in the location where I left them, even after closing and relaunching Moho.

That's not the case for me. Moho doesn't remember where I last placed the windows. Each time I open Moho it isn't where I left them.

To see a demonstration of how this works, see my video Better Default Settings For Moho Pro and scrub to 2:30.

It still doesn't work for me

This is why I made this tool: MQC for Moho Pro, For me, this button panel makes it easier to open and close undocked windows, so each window is visible only when I need it. This reduces a lot of screen clutter, and there are other useful features in the panel. I mainly use it to minimize screen clutter and to give me quicker access to the most commonly used commands. (Designed for a stylus but MQC works great with a mouse too.)

The tool kinda adds clutter because it is designed horizontally and so it will always be in the way of something because one wouldn't want to put it at the top because it is the furthest reach away and the tool is designed for quick access, meaning it should be nearby. If you put it at the bottom, it covers the timeline. If you put it to the left or right, it will cover the side panels and even stick out too far into the viewport. This is why I think the tool would work best vertical like the tools window so it can be stored to the side when not in use. I know horizontally makes the buttons easier to access, but it makes the tool more intrusive because there's no proper place for it on the screen. However, it's a good tool and useful.

[synthsin75]

Complaining about the advice others try to offer ain't really going to accomplish much. Dennis wrote his tool to work for his layout and work flow, and he learned some programming to do it. That's how committed he was to solving his own problem. If it's that big of an issue for you, you could go down that same path, pay a programmer to help you, or try to work with what you have. Sometimes we just have to be adaptable.

[Phazor]

It's a good tool. I apologize if I didn't communicate that as thoroughly as I should. I was giving suggestions about how to make it better. He doesn't have to take my advice. It was meant to be constructive. That's why I tried to compliment the tool at the end of my points because I recognize it is a really good tool and a good idea, and I don't want to give the impression you might have taken with my post.

I agree that because of these reasons the tool isn't a fit for me, but the tool is still a good tool, but if what I'm saying is true concerning the tool and will improve its use, then it is constructive advice.

If you may have taken issue with my advice or that I haven't accepted it as a full solution, I apologize for that.

His advice was helpful in sharing a good tool and in other ways too, and I probably should have mentioned that. There were certain settings that I was able to change in his video that did make some improvements as I boot up the software, so I'm grateful for his video. Concerning the main issue, Moho doesn't remember where I put the panels even though it seems to be working for him, and I don't know why.

If the tool doesn't work out for me, I have to either let the reader assume that my problem is solved when it may not be or make mention as to why it may not be, and neither of these options seem ideal because on one hand my issue isn't solved, and on the other hand I don't want to be perceived as ungrateful for a person's help. Now, instead of receiving help, I'm being sent away.

I understand what you're saying about learning to code to make your own tools. With that said, there seems to be a misunderstanding due to lack of some background information, so I would like you to consider a few things. I am a new writer and have to study in depth material which takes a long time to do in exploring things that other people are not exploring, which means I cannot go to other people for this information, I have to learn it on my own as I perform certain studies. I'm also new to animation and new to moho, so I'm at a stage where everything is especially difficult. It has been so difficult for me that it is taking me over a month to rig a single character for several reasons, but just to name a few; as I use smartbones and make adjustments to the vector art, something else goes out of whack and I have to fix that along with the first thing I was trying to fix and it takes a long time (all day), or that I find out that there are better methods in designing the character so one doesn't run into these issues, so I have to redesign the character in a more efficient way, and so on. Sometimes these issues take all day or longer to fix, and sometimes when you press undo, Moho crashes and isn't able to recover the autosave file which means I have to start the work over again.

When you're new to animation, new to moho, new to art, new to writing, and you have to do a lot of studying in order to write, and you have large projects that will take a long time to make, and you don't have money to spend, then help from forums is the best option, especially because that is the purpose of forums, to use one's skills or knowledge to help someone else who may not know the same thing or have the same skill.

Anyway, this is not a complaint. What I'm saying is that I believe your comment has to make certain assumptions that aren't necessarily the case. Perhaps mine are too in some ways, which I consider just to have an open mind about it.

So, let me just say I apologize if I have given the wrong impression. Thank you all for your help. If anyone has any more suggestions, thank you in advance. If not, that's okay too.

[Greenlaw]

Sorry for the late reply....yesterday was a very busy day.

It's a good tool. I apologize if I didn't communicate that as thoroughly as I should.

Thanks, and no worries. As Wes mentioned, I created MQC for me and my co-workers to make Moho easier to work with. But I understand that other users can have different needs so I included the uncompiled version, which can be easily modified and recompiled.

If it helps, I’m happy to explain why MQC works the way it does...

The tool kinda adds clutter because it is designed horizontally and so it will always be in the way of something because one wouldn't want to put it at the top because it is the furthest reach away and the tool is designed for quick access, meaning it should be nearby.

The window layout and my preferred position is by design. I don’t feel this adds clutter because when the window is placed in that location, all it covers is a big empty space in Moho’s UI. For example…



When I use a Wacom stylus, it’s really not a big to deal to point to the buttons in the corner. But sometimes I use a mouse to work in Moho, so I understand that distance can be a big deal. When I’m using a mouse, I will move the MQC window closer to the area of the screen I’m working in.

BTW, after installing it, I believe MQC's default position is the center of the screen, but when it's moved to a different position, MQC remembers the new position when you close the window, and will open there the next time you launch it.

Regarding ‘quicker access’, the big one for me is Copy Layer and Paste Layer. These two commands are only ever used in the Layers Window and, when I'm using a mouse, it’s tedious to keep moving between the Layer Window and the Edit menu. By keeping MQC in the upper right side over the Layers Window, the distance I have to travel with the mouse to use these commands is much shorter. (I'm still hoping right-click commands for Copy Layer/Paste Layer will be added to the Layers Window so I can remove these buttons from MQC.)

The horizontal layout is my personal preference. MQC was inspired by Wacom’s OSC window, which is what I used with Moho until I ran out of programmable buttons (OSC allows only 8 buttons.) Also, when I’m using another Windows program, I’d probably be clicking on buttons in a horizontal tool bar under the program menus anyway, so the horizontal layout seems natural to me.

As mentioned earlier, the source code is included in the download package. Please feel free to modify the window shape and button layout to suite your needs. The coordinate system is easy to figure out, and you can change the values to resize the window and move the buttons around.

As a script, what MQC does is pretty basic...half the script creates the button panel, and the other half assigns Moho’s hotkeys to each button. I think only one or two buttons do anything unique, and that’s mainly for compatibility.

BTW, creating MQC was a good way for me to start learning AutoHotkey scripting. If you’re new to scripting, tinkering with AHK is a good way to start.

Moho doesn't remember where I last placed the windows. Each time I open Moho it isn't where I left them.

That’s very strange. Which version of Moho are you running? FWIW, this is how it works in Moho 12.5 and 13.5 on my computers at home and the one I use at work. Sorry, I don’t remember if it worked in ASP 11 and older, and I no longer have those versions installed to check.

If you are using Moho 12.5 or 13.5, something must be wrong with your installation. It sounds like Moho is unable to update its configuration file; could this be a permissions issue? Try running Moho from a shortcut using the Right-Click 'Run As Administrator' option. I’m curious to hear if that makes a difference.

Anyway, even without doing that, Moho should remember its window positions. If this doesn’t work on your computer, I would consider performing a clean re-install.

Good luck, and I hope this is helpful.

[Phazor]

Thank you very much for your advice. I'll probably take a look at the auto hotkey source file and address the buttons.

I completely agree concerning the right click menu in the viewport workspace/stage. As it stands now, a user moves the stage around by holding right click and dragging. After testing out what the middle click button does, it doesn't really seem to do anything other than what the left click button already does, so I feel like the functionality that is currently assigned to the right click should be assigned to the middle click, and the right click should allow you to access menus in the stage area of moho so you do not have to travel to the menus at the top of the screen. I think that's a fantastic thing you mentioned there.

Also, you might be right about the permissions issue. I didn't think of that. I'll give it a try and see if it works. I hope it does because I also use my computer as a tablet and prefer to work that way when doing artwork or animation, and it would be great if development in software took these things into consideration to make the experience with a tablet as natural as possible while being just as efficient as using a desktop computer.

Thank you so much for your help. I'll implement your ideas and I think they're very good. Thank you and God bless.