[Bf-committers] The Future of Blender Projects WAS meeting notes

[Patrick Shirkey]

On Mon, June 18, 2012 9:47 am, Campbell Barton wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 9:38 AM, Patrick Shirkey
> <pshirkey at boosthardware.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, June 18, 2012 8:55 am, Campbell Barton wrote:
>>> @Patrick Shirkey,
>>> please don't request specific features on this thread - this has the
>>> effect of turning all planning threads into wish-lists which active
>>> devs tend to skip reading & not take so seriously.
>>>
>>> This is a developer list - if you want some specific engine or one
>>> feature back from 2.4x you can code it right?
>>>
>>
>> Of course.
>>
>>>
>>> What you _could_ suggest is an api for game engines to be more easily
>>> integrated - so adding engine support worked better (something Apricot
>>> project was supposed to resolve but didn't really).
>>>
>>
>> I was attempting to make the point that the whole process of exporting a
>> model with an active rig is not obvious.
>
> Could you explain what you mean by this? - for the developer or for the
> user?
> What should be changed/improved?
>

>From a Developer perspective it seems to be a bit hard to program for the
exporter API when someone like Eihrul has troubles with getting the iqm
exporter to work cleanly. That suggests to me that the learning curve for
getting things right is a bit steep.

>From a users perspective it's really quite difficult to export a skinned
and rigged model correctly. So that suggests the interface is too complex
or abstract. Perhaps there needs to be a wizard that steps through the
process.

>From an advanced user perspective I see no good reason apart from "no one
has had the time/money" that it is not possible to apply a set of standard
(preset) movements to any mesh (or mesh type). That would allow very quick
prototyping of potential models for game engines and virtual 3d
environments.

arm, finger, leg, toe, head, eye, mouth

These are rig configurations that are essential to exporting 3d models and
it seems like a glaring omission that Blender doesn't provide some sane
and well tested defaults which can be quickly applied by a normal user. If
they are already there then they are well hidden or abstracted.


> I used cube/iqm as an example but
>> I think it applies across the board. It seems to be an
>> interface/usability
>> issue. From my research it also seems that it is a low priority for
>> developers but I think it would be a very powerful project to have some
>> renewed focus on as blender could be used to spit out whole armies in
>> batch mode. In that regard I am more than willing to discuss some
>> possible
>> improvements but I am not sure that this list is the correct place to
>> discuss such interface issues.
>>
>> An API to integrate games engines more effectively is definitely a good
>> thing(tm). Perhaps they go hand in hand?
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--
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd