[Bf-committers] Armature total mess?

[Ton Roosendaal]

Hi,

As part of the animation project, I've been diving deep into the  
current code.
It's important to grasp how it currently works, to ensure a maximum  
compatibility for a painless transition. But here's where I completely  
get stuck...

There's a very complex design of data definitions which all seems to  
cross-reference, gets created and copied, and even all gets saved in  
files. Hardly no clear priority structure, no simple hierarchy in  
function calls, no clear distinction between basic data and  
derived/temporal data. And that for the complete set of Armature data,  
bones, poses, channels, actions, bone constraints, vertexgroups and so  
on.

My impression is that's a total confusing and wrong internal design,  
which is the main reason why development on this area was doomed.

Current conclusion; it not only has to be rebuilt from scratch, but we  
also have to drop any attempts for compatibility... and try to get a  
conversion coded *after* a new design has proven to work. If that's  
even possible.

For the devs here who ever tried to grasp it (Hos, Theeth); is this  
conclusion correct? Or should I not give up and try to reveil the  
hidden treasures of the current implementation?

Sigh! :)

-Ton-

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Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation ton at blender.org  
http://www.blender.org