FF 4.0 Groups - Be able to save and load groups individually

Vladimir have confirmed that it will not be possible to include a components bar inside FF 4.0, but I had an idea as alternative to this instead that I think and suposse would be easier to make (I really do not know as I am not a programmer) rather than building the components bar inside FF editor.

Quote

Vladimir Golovin Quote Any official comment on a Custom Components Bar being included in FF4? For FF4, alas, no. For future versions, yes. We'd like to implement custom components the proper way (submitting / downloading via online component library, similar to filters, with ratings, tags, editor picks, "official endorsements" etc, as suggested here so this is a bit too much for FF4.0. We're already running late with the existing feature set.

Alternative to component bar - Save and Load groups

I thought that there could be an alternative to have a component bar inside FF Editor and is to be able to save and load individual groups as components, so you could save a group as component to the hard drive and then load back when you need it, I think that this alternative way may be easier than building the custom components bar inside FF editor, at least for FF 4.0

When making a filter I also like to do alternate versions with different components and is tiresome to have to copy the components from one flter to another as it is now and the groups could help much in this.

Because now as it is available is not surely the easiest and good way as you have to do all the following steps to be able to take a group from another filter.

- Save the filter you are working on
- Close editor
- Remember which filter have you stored the group that you want
- Search for that filter
- Select it and open in FF editor
- Select group to copy
- Check that the Size pixels global setting is at Maximum value (or what value it has)
- exit editor
- Search again for the filter that you was working on
- Open it in Editor
- Check that the Size pixels global setting is at Maximum value (or the same value as the original)
- Paste the group in the filter and agree that all this work above breaks sometimes the flow of the work and have to remember what you have been doing.
- Remember that you also need another thing you had in another filter and repeat ALL the above steps again

This is a very bad workflow smile:( and would be easily solved if you could save and load groups to hard drive.

IF SAVE AND LOAD GROUPS WOULD BE POSSIBLE AND AVAILABLE

Instead of all the many steps above it would be much easier

While you are working on your filter you will ONLY:

1 - Open load group and search for the saved group you want
2 - Load the group into your filter
3 - continue working
4 - if you need another just repeat the ONLY 2 FIRST STEPS above

This way you would not have to save the filter you are working on and exit filter editor and would not break the workflow

This definitely won't make into Filter Forge 4.0 but I personally like this suggestion.

i did understand and agree that this was not included in FF 4, but i wonder why it has not been included either in FF 5, two years after?

The groups feature is a very good thing, but I think that many times is more for cleaning the space and make it more tidy than a really useful and great tool for simplifying things and be able to reuse again and again different groups you may have made

Quote
SpaceRay wrote: but i wonder why it has not been included either in FF 5, two years after? smile:?:

Limited developer resources. Prioritization of features that increase FF's image-generation capabilities over filter author quality-of-life improvements. Pragmatism.