Zoom limitation for sanity

[spyderheart]

I have a bad habit of zooming in too much and then unconsciously trying to make sure that my animation looks smooth enough at 400%. Sometimes I'll spend hours making it work at that level of zoom, only to find out it never mattered at all at 100%.

Of course I should have more discipline and just remember not to do that, but I think it might be an interesting feature to be able to set an optional user-defined limit on the display zoom. This can save time as it prevents us from making the animation unnecessarily precise. It would also be that much more like working on paper. Think of it a positive creative constraint.

For example, If my "Max Zoom" setting is set to 150%, either I simply cannot zoom past that point or some kind of red border shows up around my frame to remind me I'm too close. It doesn't need to be strict. All that is needed is some kind of feedback when you go past your chosen limit. You could change or remove the limit anytime.

Does anyone else run into this?

[slowtiger]

No. Don't you notice by the sheer size of the pixels?

[Peter Wassink]

no, i don't see a need for this.

though i recognize that situation (been there. )

what i recommend for you is opening an extra view window (shortcut=m) at 100%
so you can see what you are doing at normal resolution

[spyderheart]

No. Don't you notice by the sheer size of the pixels?

Yes that is how I eventually snap out of it. But clearly, I am getting too absorbed in the process to continually differentiate between enough zoom and too much zoom for the task at hand - both of which might have large pixel sizes.
I'll adapt either way of course.

[spyderheart]

no, i don't see a need for this.

though i recognize that situation (been there. )

what i recommend for you is opening an extra view window (shortcut=m) at 100%
so you can see what you are doing at normal resolution

Something to look into - thanks. I tend to work on smaller surfaces so screen space is pretty valuable to me and I work with one window with Menu : View > Inlay View selected (this gets rid of the playback and display controls). I've made the compromise of keeping the navigator window open - this is actually helping since it adds a visual indicator of the zoom level. To be honest, maybe all that is needed is a clear readout of the zoom level in the info bar at the bottom of the canvas (yes, the number is shown already if you work in the windowed mode but not in "Inlay View"...). If my idea of having a "Max" setting were adopted, the number could just turn red when you pass that level - pretty non-invasive overall.

Though there is something about having a hard limit (TVP won't zoom beyond x) that I like for reasons of creative flow - a little bit like apps that don't have an Undo option for conceptual reasons.

[Peter Wassink]

Though there is something about having a hard limit (TVP won't zoom beyond x) that I like for reasons of creative flow - a little bit like apps that don't have an Undo option for conceptual reasons.

i see what you mean and i can relate.
though the flip side is yet another little setting switch that gets added to the ever growing christmass tree of buttons and settings to know and remember.

There are so many more fundamental issues that deserve the focus of the limited resources of the tvpaint team
that i might have taken my frustration about the lack of progress on those, out on your suggestion... sorry about that

[spyderheart]

Though there is something about having a hard limit (TVP won't zoom beyond x) that I like for reasons of creative flow - a little bit like apps that don't have an Undo option for conceptual reasons.

i see what you mean and i can relate.
though the flip side is yet another little setting switch that gets added to the ever growing christmass tree of buttons and settings to know and remember.

There are so many more fundamental issues that deserve the focus of the limited resources of the tvpaint team
that i might have taken my frustration about the lack of progress on those, out on your suggestion... sorry about that

No worries
I didn't even read your message that way - You gave a workable suggestion that just happens not to be the magic bullet for me. Someone else might benefit though so always worthwhile.
Also, I have no illusion that this is in any way a high priority request - not that I set the priorities for development anyways I do come from a UI/UX background so I can easily get ahead of myself with ideas like this so perhaps I am misusing the feature request forum for it. I'm just as happy with a discussion around it leading to me changing how I work as I would be with the actual feature added.

[Hjw]

I use the zoom all the time because of a offset problem with my stylus. It's impossible to hit the mark of my drawing in 100% and a lot easier if at 300%. I think it could be nice to be able to flip between two zoom levels with volume up on my android device.

[melanie]

The solutions you brought up are the better ways to cope with large projects. Using an extra view on the side at 100% or using the navigator are best.
We don't want to remove any possibility of use of the current zoom for the sake of all the users.