[Bf-committers] Introducing "Multi-touch Blender3D"

[Hart's Antler]

Greetings Blender Devs,
A new kickstarter project is just underway with the goal to optimize blender for multi-touch tablets.  However, the project also has some goals beyond simply porting to multi-touch devices including: 1. motion capture, and 2. simplified interface for younger kids.  First, motion capture with off-the-shelf-hardware could be a unique selling point for blender, a muti-touch device is already a good device for digital puppetry, so why not support other hardware like the Kinect, and SonyMove.  This 3-way combination packs a very powerful punch, where the limitations of each device can cancel each other out to provide very responsive motion capture.  Second, there is no reason why blender can not have an interface for pros that is fast and powerful while at the same time simplifying it for younger kids.  Currently i have seen dedicated 13 year olds teach themselves blender.  If the UI contained two modes (expert, kid) or became more modal, then kids
 younger than 13 should be able to grasp it.  What i think will attract these younger kids is the motion capture possiblities.  Perhaps younger kids can not master modeling or rigging - but lets say their 15 year older brother already has; and then this hypothetical family can have fun and collaborate together in creating an animation.

As far as timeline, one year is really just a guess, could be plus or minus 6 months.  The kickstarter budget is minimal but enough for me, i know how to stretch that little money for even longer if needed; if the kickstarter goes over 100% funding, of course more buffering is ideal.  Kickstarter recommends not asking for too much money, and i agree with them.

Please visit:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hartshorn/multi-touch-blender3d

-brett