[Bf-committers] Alternate Proposal - Meta-Sculpting

[Jason Wilkins]

I'll have a chance to write up both of my proposals in detail by early
Thursday I hope.  I'm submitting an alternate proposal because I've
been made aware that work on a portable device Blender may cause too
many conflicts.  I understand that the two proposals might make very
different decisions about how to raise the abstraction level of
Blender's drawing code.

This proposal was inspired by Disney's research into an "Implicit Canvas"

So, Meta-Sculpting:

The very basic idea is to enable features that would be possible if we
could retain all of the users brush stroke input.  One thing we could
do is modify the strokes themselves with sculpting tools, hence the
name, "meta-sculpting."

(I do not want to go too far down the rabbit hole, but you could also
conceivably sculpt the strokes that modify other strokes...  but there
is no need to get that complex.)

What could we do?

*Create a path by tracing it along an object.
*Draw hairs onto an object
*Undo, modify, and then reapply strokes to an object with real time
preview of changing parameters
*Create a large set of paths for particles to follow along the surface
of an object
*Use the paths to generate an implicit function, use the implicit
function and dual-contouring to create a new mesh
*Animate the transformation of the paths, and then do any of the
above, but with animation
*Many geometry modifiers could be implemented on paths
*You can project paths into 2D and then use them to do 2D painting
(you could potentially automate a program like MyPaint)

Paths do not have to lay on a surface either.  They could be offset,
or even have a variable offset as you stroke (for hair or feather
paths)

Of course I cannot achieve all of this in one summer, but I could lay
the foundation.

If this idea is too strange then I am left with a grab bag of smaller
features.  I'm still committed getting done the other paint and sculpt
features I've been working on the past couple of years.