[Bf-committers] Summer of Code Node Editor Project

[Tyler Fric]

Hi,

I've been lurking on here for a while but this is my first time posting.

I have applied for the Google Summer of Code project dealing with the
node editor as described here with a few additions of my own:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/BlenderDev/GSOC_2008_Ideas


Elaborating on the "Improve colour correction tools with better nodes"
task I added:
  Add auto white balance node implementing the Gimp filter
  Add auto equalize node implementing the Gimp filter
  Add auto normalize node implementing the Gimp filter 
Adding nodes implementing these simple methods for colour correction
with a "factor" slider for mixing the result with the render output or
black and white factor input for adding a mask will make colour
correction quick and easy. The same functions can be performed by other
nodes but having a quick and easy way to perform colour correction will
encourage novices to try out the somewhat intimidating node editor.

I also added a few more tasks that I've wanted to see in blender:

1. Add support for applying colorbands to image textures in the Texture
Buttons (F6) menu.
This will allow for quick adjustments to image textures without
launching an image editor. For example, one could change a brick
bump-map's gradient from a very shallow one like a tiled walkway would
have to a relatively deep one like a brick wall would have by just
adjusting the gradient. This would also make it very easy to combine
image textures like dirt maps with procedural textures developed in
blender.

2. Simplify rearranging the order of the texture stack with an interface
similar to the modifier stack (up and down arrows)
This would allow for efficient rearranging of textures and encourage use
of the powerful but often overlooked stencil textures.

3. Add support for reusing colorbands between the compositor and
material windows
This occurred to me when using some other applications like MapZone,
Gimp and Inkscape which allow for reuse of gradients which encourages
creation of very complex gradients. In MapZone in particular the complex
gradients make the procedural textures much more powerful.

4. In addition to adding tile-based processing to the node editor I
would also like to investigate rendering previews of the nodes on the
GPU since many of the nodes perform functions that can be reproduced
efficiently as fragment shaders. 

Please let me know what you think of my suggestions and the Node Editor
suggestions on the blender SOC site.

Thanks,

Tyler Fric