[Bf-committers] Proposal for 8 bpc sRGB / 32 bpc linear float

[Troy Sobotka]

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion with regards to the two
different buffer formats in Blender and how they are handled
internally.

>From an artist perspective, this is deadly complicated as if you are,
for example, painting in 8 bpc sRGB space, your overs are not linear
whereas in 32 bpc, they are.

I propose two simple changes within Blender that would help artists
understand where and how they are working with respect to the buffers:

1) A readout in the UV Image viewer that shows that a buffer is either
8 bpc sRGB, 32 bpc linear, or any other format. The grey area where
the RGB values and Alpha are displayed would be the most logical.

2) A check to force float. Currently via lazy allocation may leave the
values in 8 bpc sRGB for things such as painting. A checkbox (similar
to the VSE minus the confusing sRGB format) would force the float
buffer to be defined and cleared when not.

And most importantly, have a happy New Year...

With respect,
TJS