I find it strange that most of the critical settings (Resolution, +1, Tiled, Tile settings…etc.) for building any given Render Extent cannot actually be configured specifically (and permanently) for that Render Extent. Currently, any world file that is used to produce multiple resolutions and/or both single and tiled output will offer no solid clues as to exactly how it was configured during export. Being forced to alter global settings back and forth during a complex export is tedious and prone to error. In my opinion, the structure described below would be ideal for even the most complicated workflow using World Machine.
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[size=12pt]------- RECOMMENDED STRUCTURE for WORLD MACHINE’S PROJECT SETTINGS -------[/size]
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[size=11pt]GLOBAL:[/size]
1. Global Resolution (only affects Render Extents set to Use Global Resolution Settings)
2. Global +1 toggle (only affects Render Extents set to Use Global Resolution Settings)
3. Global Tiled Outputs On/Off toggle (affects only Render Extents set to Tiled Output)
4. (OPTIONAL) Global Always Output All Tiles toggle
5. (OPTIONAL) Global Output Tiles list
6. (OPTIONAL) Global Tile Resolution
7. (OPTIONAL) Global Tiles Per Side
8. (OPTIONAL) Global Blending Percentage
9. (OPTIONAL) Global Naming String
10. (OPTIONAL) Global Pad Coordinate Digits
11. (OPTIONAL) Global Tiles Start Numbering At
[size=11pt]RENDER EXTENTS:[/size]
1. Use Global/Custom Resolution Settings toggle
2. Custom Resolution
3. Custom +1 toggle
4. Tiled Output toggle
5. (OPTIONAL) Use Global/Custom Tiled Output Settings…?
6. Custom Always Output All Tiles toggle
7. Custom Output Tiles list
8. Custom Tile Resolution
9. Custom Tiles Per Side
10. Custom Blending Percentage
11. Custom Naming String
12. Custom Pad Coordinate Digits
13. Custom Tiles Start Numbering At
NOTE: The settings marked OPTIONAL are irrelevant to me, but they would be consistent with the other changes and they might be critical to other applications of World Machine.
NOTE: The settings in green are the ONLY ones that would actually require new UI controls. The Global/Custom toggles could allow the same controls to show/edit the Global and Custom settings.
[size=11pt]ADDITIONAL RELATED FEATURES:[/size]
- A Rename Extent button (including the default “Main Extents”)
- New aliases/tags for the current world file name and Render Extent name added to the functionality of the Tile Naming String field (and ALL of the output devices). This would allow maps/tiles to be named using the world and tile names automatically. This feature would make World Machine easily compatible with projects that use flat folder structures and/or strict naming schemes (e.g. where all files related to “Graphic0105” need to be prefixed with “Graphic0105_”).