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Ribbons- Why?

13 REPLIES 13
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Message 1 of 14
SMILES
635 Views, 13 Replies

Ribbons- Why?

I know Ribbons have been out for a while, but I just finally updated to ACA 2010 from ACA 2008, and I am hating life.  Can someone please justify to me why these ribbons are suppose to be so much better.  I can obviously re learn where everything is... but it takes multiple steps to get to a command that I used to be able to access in one click- just curious if anybody has an actual explanation to what Autodesk was thinking and why they think this is beneficial.

 

   Thank you,

 

 

13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
David_W_Koch
in reply to: SMILES

You may want to do a search on this Discussion Group, or go back to posts from spring of 2009 (when 2010 came out) and thereafter, to read multiple discussions on this topic.  You will likely find more in those older threads than anyone will have the energy to repost to this one.

 

In a nutshell, yes, there is a learning curve while you become familiar with command locations and some commands do require more clicks to get at.  I find the contextual tabs that show up when selecting an AEC object, and that contain commands related to that object, to be quite useful and likely offset most, if not all, of the other extra clicks.  Depends on the task at hand, of course.  Don't forget, you still have tool palettes for (style-specific) command access, right click menus and the good old command line.  FWIW, I was not a big user of the pulldown menus in AutoCAD/ACA, so dropping those was not a big deal for me.  If you used the pulldown menus extensively, then you may have more issues with the current interface.


David Koch
AutoCAD Architecture and Revit User
Blog | LinkedIn
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Message 3 of 14
SMILES
in reply to: David_W_Koch

Thank you David,

 

  I will continue to read some old posts- but they dont seem very favorable to the topic.  I guess I would disagree at this point about the AEC object related commands that pop up when you select an AEC object, as you can get all those same commands in the right click menu (it appears at first glance). 

 

  Furthermore, if I have a wall selected and then want to jump to an iso view, for example, I cant get to that ribbon without unselecting the object, changing ribbons, changing the view and then changing ribbons back to what i was doing. 

 

 The real purpose of my post is to see how others are using the tools provided and whether or not I am missing somthing or if it was just as frustrating the first time for everyone- which it does appear to be as I read old posts.  I will give it some time, and continue to fumble through this- I am just use to production type work and I understood and used the old interface quite efficiently. 

 

  Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

 

Message 4 of 14
David_W_Koch
in reply to: SMILES

It does take some time to get used to it (more if you choose to dislike it, as many have done).  With an object selected, you can change to one of the other ribbon tabs.  If you execute a command, it might clear the selection, depending upon the command chosen.

 

One tip - if there is a ribbon panel that you use frequently (and find you always have to change tabs to get to it), you may want to consider "tearing it off" that ribbon panel and leaving it as a "floating" panel.  Then it acts somewhat like a floating toolbar, and is always available.  The View panel from the Home tab is a popular item to tear off, although in 2011 and later, the Navbar can be used to get a most of what is on that panel.

 

To tear off a panel, click and hold on the panel title, then drag it off the ribbon.  To return a panel, you can either click/hold the title and drag it back over the ribbon (with any tab current, it knows the tab to which it belongs - but you may want to have its panel current if you want to be certain you are dropping it back in its original location) or, if you hover over the panel title, you will find the panel grows "wings". On the right side, at the very top click on the icon that looks like a line with a triangle under it to return the panel to its former location on the ribbon.


David Koch
AutoCAD Architecture and Revit User
Blog | LinkedIn
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Message 5 of 14
SMILES
in reply to: David_W_Koch

Thanks again David,

 

    All good tips that I will try today- I will try "tearing it off", that sounds like it may be a good solution to some of my frustration.  I realize it will take some time to get used to, and I will do my best to give it a fair shot.  Thanks again for the insight and hints.

Message 6 of 14
MarySeufert
in reply to: SMILES

I'll reply as to why I believe Autodesk switched to the ribbon interface: GUI consistency across their entire product line and with MS products. It's not that it adds function, but if you are 'light weight' user, it makes it easier to use. I've noticed that with users who only use ACAD rarely (about 1 to 2 times per week) they have an easier time with the new interface than with the old. It looks and functions more like Word, Excel and Outlook. Users that use it every hour of each work day, tend to hate it at first, since they already have their work pattern set and it is ingrained from years of pull-down/toolbar bliss.

 

I've added the panels that I always seem to want from the home tab to my context tabs, and that has made it better for me.

~ Mary

EXPERT ELITE MEMBER
Message 7 of 14
SMILES
in reply to: MarySeufert

Hi Mary,

 

   I was wondering about that, I assumed that they did it partially because of what Microsoft was doing, as well as trying to make it easier to use for somebody who does not use the program often, or know it well.  I guess my thought on that would be that I think Autodesk is missing there target market- the user who does this every hour of every work week and then some. 

 

  I obviously dont know for sure, but I would be surprised if there is a greater group of people/market that are buying this program to use once in a while, than the market of the everyday production users. 

 

  I will read up on the "context tabs" you mentioned and see if I can arrange things to be more suitable to my liking.  Thanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts- its good to know how others percieve it, so I know I am not going crazy.  As with any new product, it takes time to get used to, so I will continue plugging away.

 

Steve Miles

Message 8 of 14
MarySeufert
in reply to: SMILES

Check out the JKing post about Getting the Properties Panel into ACA 2012. Tried to insert the link, but it keeps messing up the message...

 

Its an easy to follow guide to start customizing your ribbon tabs. Same procedure (from step 15 on) to add any ribbon panel to any context(ual) or any type of tab. Just back up your CUI before you start fiddling with it.

 

~ Mary

EXPERT ELITE MEMBER
Message 9 of 14
David_W_Koch
in reply to: MarySeufert

Here is a link to the thread Mary mentioned.


David Koch
AutoCAD Architecture and Revit User
Blog | LinkedIn
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Message 10 of 14
ntellery
in reply to: SMILES

Hi Smiles,  I'm one of the 'hate the ribbon' crowd (have the t-shirt) I would have enjoyed an actual improved product rather than messing with the interface.  Some tips from the other side.

If you are going to mess with the ribbon make sure you know how to save your changes otherwise you'll be back here complaining when you upgrade or install an update that all your customisations are gone.

David has some great disecting of the ribbon on his blog. http://architects-desktop.blogspot.com/ 

lots of other good stuff there too.

For me I have gone from 6 to 9 and now playing with 12 and will move there soon.  I have the robbin there all rolled up at the top ( I didn't close it).  I do use it for the block editor and I think in 12 for some rendering things because it pops open.  For everything else I use keyboard shortcuts and doing it this way your life is much easier. Here's why. do you think they are not going to change things again?  Sure get used to the ribbon and in a couple of releases it will all be overhauled again.  So for me I bring my keyboard shortcuts with me via lisp and the acad.pgp file and I barely notice the interface.  Anything I want that I have to search for I learn or create anew the shortcut and I don't have to worry where they put it or even if they hide it as they do with some commands (like some that didn't make the ribbon).  I have also loaded my own customisation of the acad cui so I have access to other items missing.

The ribbon is a way to learn new commands and ones you have not tried out. It also tells you the mindset of the programmer and the methodology (workflow) that they are designing for.

 

The dashboard lasted only 2 releases!

www.ausaca.blogspot.com
Do you know all about the Roof Object? Learn it's secrets
http://ausaca.blogspot.com.au/p/roof-object-video-links.html
Message 11 of 14
ToanDN
in reply to: ntellery

I use keyboard shortcuts, drop down menu, toolbars, and ribbon all together.  Certain things are easier to access from one than the others.  And I do agree with you that keyboard shortcuts are the most reliable command sources.

The screenshot shows a busy screen but I CTRL+0 quite often.

Message 12 of 14
pedroaroso
in reply to: ToanDN

After reading all these posts I came to the conclusion that staying with ACA2010 was the right decision. Now I don't lose my precious time configuring my workspace at each new release.

Upgrades should occur in a 3 year cycle and include new tools (not a new interface at each new version).

 

Pedro Aroso

http://ferramentasdearquitecto.blogspot.com/

Message 13 of 14
mikeashton8316
in reply to: SMILES

I find the Ribbon just too big and it really doesn't save any time when you consider how many times it thinks it knows what you want to do but is wrong.

I imported the toolbars from  2007 and turned off the ribbon ...more screen space less confusion.

now if you could just turn off the global cut plane when limits your view too much and won't adjust and the instructions don't tell enough to fix it.

 

Message 14 of 14
ntellery
in reply to: mikeashton8316

The reason I do keep the ribbon there (but rolled up) is that it took me some time to find out how useful palletes are and I'm hopeful that I might find the ribbon useful for something.

 

On your cut plane, I found out that overriding the standard wall style cutplane was really helpful but that depends on what outcome you are after.  As frames follow the cutplace of the wall, that does help lots of items become more visible.  Unfortunately MVB's don't follow suit.

www.ausaca.blogspot.com
Do you know all about the Roof Object? Learn it's secrets
http://ausaca.blogspot.com.au/p/roof-object-video-links.html

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