Datasheet

For more information about using images in Blend, see Chapter 6 and Chapter 9.
FIGURE 1.8
Opacity masks have been added and text overlaid onto this collage of images to create art for a button.
Creating Innovative and Elegant User
Interfaces
Blend provides you with an array of standard layout panels and pre-built controls such as list
boxes, menus and buttons to assist you in creating user interfaces. These layouts and controls can
be so easily deployed and activated that the designer no longer needs to design first and then
implement. The implementation can be part of the design process. This saves time and allows you
to more precisely craft your user interface design — and to immediately see how it actually works.
Many other features of Blend also save you time, including:
n
The ability to nest objects, to create hierarchical designs that are easy to manage (as
described in the section “Nesting layout panels and controls for a hierarchical design”
later in this chapter)
n
The ease with which you may integrate interactive video, audio, 3D, and animation into
your designs
n
The Objects and Timeline palette, which contains a list of objects that makes it easy for
you to navigate through complex hierarchies in your design
All this makes it possible for you to spend more time on finding creative and elegant new
approaches to user interface design.
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12
Designing Next-Generation User Experiences
Part I
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