[Bf-committers] Bloxel project roadmap (Farsthary)

[Raul Fernandez Hernandez]

Hi all :)


This is a first draft of a todo for the Bloxel project (Blender Voxel
system as has being suggested in a joke, but is very cool :)
Note that this roadmap could and possibly will change over time according
to priorities but is a rough sketch of what I will
aim at this project, quite ambitiuos! also I will need to leverage my
skills in the road :) and make pauses
for research/learning and continue development of others projects.

Iteration 1: Keep things simple ------------------------

.Add a new object type: VoxelObject (VO) into Blender
  .Implement VoxelObject as an array of floats
  .basic drawtype for testing/experimenting
  .saving/loading into blends and/or external files (VO's could be very
very big)

.Implement a new 'Voxel Sculpt' mode for VO´s
  .basic sculpting tools
  .basic sculpt drawtype
    .marching cubes for meshing/sculp drawtype


(First public release)

Iteration 2: Wellcome flexibility -----------------------------------

.Generalize the VoxelObject type to allow any data structure as VO's
  .Generalize all the previous defined methods and the new ones that will
be added
.Replicate the previous funtionality
.basic meshing/triangulation/voxelization
.basic unification with voxeldata texture and smoke simulator.

.Implement a new 'Voxel Paint' mode for VO's
  .basic 'Magic Paint' feature, directly painting/editing VO's
(smoke,temperature,ligth cache,etc painting)

(Second public release)

Iteration 3: Warming engines -------------------------

.Add more production ready data structures as VO's
  .Implement possibly Octree VO,BVH VO,KDtree VO, BTree VO
.Add more draw types
  .for scalar VO's
    .iso-surfaces (solids)
    .volumetrics (smoke like)
  .for vectors VO's
    .flow lines/flow vectors/etc.

(Third public release) Candidate for new Branch

Iteration 4: Complication things-------------------------------

.Further refining the whole project
  .improving memory management of VO's
  .Out of core VO's management (VO's larger than aviable RAM)
.Implement a complete set of sculpting tools
.Implement a complete set of painting tools
.refine all basic implementation into the advanced ones

Iteration 5: Retopo tools--------------------------------
.Implement basic retopology tools
.Implement advanced retopo tools


In this huge task I hope to rely on the help of the restless blender devs,
 and the support of the community. I think both are the most important key
to the project since there's no way I could accomplish that alone :) , I
hope also God and life give me strengh, knowledge and oportunities to
carry that task.

                                          Cheers to all    Farsthary