[Bf-funboard] Wireframe/Shaded/Potato render modes.

[Juho Vepsäläinen]

Greetings,

The current solution (ctrl-click) works for simple situations as one
described. It doesn't scale that well to a real production situation
where you need to produce an overview of the whole scene though.

In a recent production we used multiple scenes (scenes were parts of
an "act"). To get an OpenGL preview render done ctrl-click procedure
had to be done on each scene separately. Further because the way it
works, OpenGL render had to be on the active and visible workspace all
the time. In case workspace was switched or a screensaver got
activated, black frames were produced.

There is no simple and easy way to get a consistent (shading) preview
render out of Blender in case multiple scenes are used!

The way I see it is that OpenGL renderer should be made a renderer
option. This would not replace the current solution but rather
complement it. In optimal case the user would pick "Blender OpenGL" or
similar amongst the renderer options. This would spawn a new panel
containing all relevant options (shading mode etc.).

To make things easier for those who work with multiple scenes, render
options (see render, format and output panels) could be provided as
library data just like "World" is. This goes a bit beyond the original
problem but this is something that could have saved us tons of time.

If those basic options would be provided as library data, all the user
has to do is to define render options only ~once~ and link that data
instead of copying the settings to each scene somehow.

I made a simple script that copied all settings exposed via the Python
API to do this in my case. It did not copy all of the settings due to
limitations of the API but it did work fair enough. I consider this
bit of a hack though.

It is important to note that not all options are worth linking. I
consider options such as animation start and end frames to be such
ones. Should render options become library data, it should be clearly
communicated via the user interface. I believe Matt Ebb's work on
render option panels may be useful in this. If I recall correctly
there were some plans to provide render presets (Python) in that plan
too.

I do think that even making render options library data would be a big
step forward. That combined with OpenGL renderer option should make
life a bit easier for the users in production environment.

I did look into making OpenGL renderer an option during the production
but I did not manage to make it work properly. The basic idea how it
currently works is very simple though. If someone experienced with
OpenGL wishes to continue upon my work, I am happy to share my current
code. I can also provide assistance on the user interface side if
needed.

Sincerely,
Juho "BeBraw" Vepsäläinen