[Bf-funboard] Mango Targets...

[David Silverman]

One of the most time consuming parts of production is to remake work (not
reuse). A model can take anywhere from a few hours to a week or more
depending on the amount of detail required, especially when you add on time
for UV editing and texturing. Even a few minutes per small object can add
up to a lot of time lost. (I'm sure I'm not the first person to remake a
silly box, because I didn't think it would take as long as looking for the
file)

*Blender already has the ability to link and append files, but this is a
limited workflow for reusing assets.*

*Problems:*
-No previews of assets
-User must remember if something already exists, and know which file
contains it
-Organizing assets takes time


*Suggestion:*

*It may pay to create a basic framework with limited functionality in order
to efficiently reuse resources, especially from  past open movies.*

*Most Basic Version:*

- Created as an add-on, this protects blender the most from
problems/bugs/regressions

-User sets asset library location

- New UI Panel with file browser and buttons for export/import of assets
(Not necessarily fullscreen)
----Saves out a screenshot, material preview, texture preview of the asset
when exporting (Can use sameNameAsFile.png)


*Less Basic version:*

- Created as an add-on, this protects blender the most from
problems/bugs/regressions

- Export to asset manager functionality
----Include children option
----Include materials option
----Export materials
--------Export textures

- Browser functionality, able to see at least(easiest implementation)
opengl screenshot, or open the file in another blender seesion (does not
interupt current session)
----Filter/Search by type of asset (can be done by tagging)
--------Material
--------Character/Rig
--------Texture
--------Animation strip
--------Particle Effects
--------Whatever a user can think of, etc.

-Handles archiving and compression
----Can be as simple as keeping a folder somewhere with blend files, and
later make more sophisticated



*Future:*
-Make pretty
-Make work with internet sites like blendswap or whatever else might be
usefull
-Replace Link, Append Dialogs
-Part of blender package?
*
*
This is a piece of functionality that any artist would be hungry for, it
may be more of a question of resources though.
For some inspiration: http://shadertools.tuxfamily.org/  (an add-on someone
created for keeping material library)
*
*
Thanks,
David