[Bf-committers] Fwd: [Bf-docboard] iPad/tablet

Campbell Barton ideasman42 at gmail.com
Mon Aug 15 19:45:54 CEST 2011


Quick note since you mention events C <-> Java.

Using CMake and the advanced build option - WITH_GHOST_SDL builds
blender's windowing system against SDL 1.3 which is available on
android and may also help run blender on
wayland/haiku/syllable/directfb/*other exotic windowing systems*.
I've been using blender with SDL (rather than X11) since it was added,
aside from multiple windows which have a text display issue (SDL api
bug) - it works ok, so perhaps this helps with an android port.

@Alexandr, getting blender running on hand-held/tablet devices could
be used for the BGE rather then attempting to do modeling, rendering
etc.

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:30 AM, Alexandr Kuznetsov <kuzsasha at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi.
>
> Small company called Autodesk released 123D sculpting app for iPad. After
> trying out, I understood why they probably won’t have Maya/Max on iPad. 123D
> is mostly unusable with current controls. Only thing a person can do is the
> small changes to models.  The main problem is controller implementation.
> Rotation gets in the way of sculpting. And zooming results in translation.
> The app requires to use both hands which is not very convenient because then
> iPad is flat on the table or on the laps. If we want to have Blender on
> tablets, we should rethink gestures/control implementation so it would be
> easy for a user to manipulate in 3D with two fingers on one hand plus maybe
> a thumb on the other.
>
> A month ago I looked into Android NDK. From what I can see, the major
> problem is C++/Java communication.  The whole UI is in java, so every input
> must be send from Java to C, which is not that hard. The harder part is to
> callback from C to Java. Here we need someone who knows JNI well.
>
> As for compiling part, Android NDK provides their own tool chain/compiler
> which is derived from GCC, so it won’t be a bigger issue. On the other hand,
> Android has limited support for C++ (but almost full for C). Plus pthread is
> crippled so there won’t be any pthread_cancel() and some other functions.
>
> OpenGL ES 2.0 is derived from OpenGL 2.0 so hopefully a couple wrapper
> functions will solve absence of glBegin and some other functions.
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Alexander Kuznetsov
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 6:16 AM, Ton Roosendaal <ton at blender.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Salvatore,
>>
>> Thanks for the update report, I forward this to the developer list
>> instead.
>>
>> -Ton-
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation   ton at blender.org    www.blender.org
>> Blender Institute   Entrepotdok 57A  1018AD Amsterdam   The Netherlands
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> > From: Salvatore Russo <russose at gmail.com>
>> > Date: 12 August, 2011 22:36:27 GMT+02:00
>> > To: Blender Documentation Project <bf-docboard at blender.org>
>> > Subject: Re: [Bf-docboard] iPad/tablet
>> > Reply-To: Blender Documentation Project <bf-docboard at blender.org>
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> > I planned a long time ago to port my work on BlenderPocket for my
>> > ipod and I gave up for many reasons:
>> > 1) because of time constrains (Blenderpocket site is not really
>> > maintain any more)
>> > 2) because starting to work, I realized that the iOS world is really
>> > closed (really!) and I had to do lot of tricks like jailbreak,
>> > etc... and I imagined that very few people would do that for a
>> > "proof of concept" like BlenderPocket
>> > 3) the reason mentioned here with GPL
>> > Few months ago, I bought an Archos 70IT, with Android. I will not be
>> > able to invest the time to make Blender work on Android based on
>> > BlenderPocket work. I am sure that it is not so complicated to do it
>> > (I could help if someone is interesting in answering any question)
>> > but my previous experience show that it is not "a couple of day of
>> > work"... Android is mainly Java, there is a C/C++ compiler for
>> > Android but I imagine that there will be some small difficulties,
>> > all Blender library (especially Python) need to be compiled and
>> > working... and my OpenGL wrapper for OpenGL ES would need some
>> > rework... but again, if some people needs more detailed information,
>> > feel free to ask or contact me on my website.
>> > For the last information, I installed on my Archos 70IT linux
>> > (debian ARM), "apt-get install blender" installed a crashing Blender
>> > but I managed to compile it from my tablet and it works quite
>> > well ;) Even if I have to admit that the capacitive touch screen is
>> > not so easy to use as the stylus for the resistive screen. I am sure
>> > that the 2.5 UI fully customizable thanks to Python can make easily
>> > a "finder touch Interface".
>> > If some people are interested by the "ARM Blender Package working",
>> > you can find the package (and the compilation settings) here:
>> > http://russose.free.fr/GEN8/
>> > (I will update my Website is some other people are interested, who
>> > knows...)
>> > Sorry for this long post,
>> >
>> > Salvatore
>> > http://russose.free.fr/BlenderPocket/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > 2011/8/12 Juan Dario Rodas M. <jdrodas at yahoo.com>
>> > Hi Willie, Hi everybody!
>> >
>> > For a better understanting of the situation between GPL and Apple
>> > ToS for applications, let me recommend you these posts (yeah, I
>> > Know, they're long and boring but worth the reading):
>> >
>> > Apple's ToS for Apps:
>> > http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#APPS
>> >
>> > A "Deepful" analysis of GPL vs Apple's ToS:
>> >
>> http://mailman.videolan.org/pipermail/vlc-devel/2010-November/077486.html
>> >
>> > To make things short, Under ToS, Free App is only for personal
>> > noncommercial use and you can only share it on five iTunes
>> > authorized computers.
>> >
>> > Under GPLv2, once you have been granted license rights, you may not
>> > impose further restrictions on the recipient's license rights.
>> >
>> > Since Apple ToS is restricting you to use a GPL software just to
>> > personal noncomercial use, there's a conflict. Since you can only
>> > share it to your five iTunes authorized devices, there's a conflict.
>> >
>> > One of the most noticed cases was the VLC Media Player:
>> >
>> http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/no-gpl-apps-for-apples-app-store/8046
>> >
>> > Workarounds:
>> >
>> > 1. Since the blend files are outputs from the program, they're not
>> > covered under GPL Terms. You might write a "GPL free" app ( what an
>> > insanity!!!)  to manipulate the Blend file and license it according
>> > Apple's ToS.
>> >
>> > 2. Like Tony said, Change your tablet for something else that truly
>> > support GPL apps. Android is the first option, not to mention HP
>> > WebOS or some old fashioned Windows/Linux Tablet.
>> >
>> > Hope this might help!
>> >
>> > Greetings from Colombia!
>> >
>> > Juan Dario Rodas (JuanD)
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Bf-docboard mailing list
>> > Bf-docboard at blender.org
>> > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-docboard
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Bf-docboard mailing list
>> > Bf-docboard at blender.org
>> > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-docboard
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Bf-committers mailing list
>> Bf-committers at blender.org
>> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-committers mailing list
> Bf-committers at blender.org
> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
>



-- 
- Campbell


More information about the Bf-committers mailing list