[Bf-committers] Armature total mess?

[Roland Hess]

Ton - it seems you've gotten lots of advice from others, but I'll 
chip in as well. I spent a lot of time tracing through the armature 
and NLA code while working on my match-move feature for the NLA. Just 
when I'd think I understood it and had a clear picture of what 
happened where and why, I'd discover a new set of functions and just 
be left wondering "Why oh why?"

I, like others here, would have to ask for a rewrite, breaking 
backward compatibility. If one of the goals of this project is to 
allow easier future development, then this is almost a must. I have 
to believe that a less convoluted internal system would produce 
better results AND be better for the future of the code.

As far as breaking backward compatibility, to me it is does not seem 
like so much of a problem. Due the limitations of the character 
animation tools, projects that I began that included character 
animation were simply never completed. I doubt that there is a large 
body of work out there that uses the more advanced features of the 
current tool set. Therefore, the impact of a  break i compatibility 
would be minimal as compared to one in Mesh, IPO, or Material 
structure. Blender's character animation tools have been little used 
(note - not NEVER used), and with good reason. It's nearly impossible 
to go beyond the basics in an efficient manner.

We're on a short peak with the current tools. We'll need to climb 
back down and choose a higher mountain this time.
-- 
Roland Hess - harkyman