[Bf-committers] Materials Library for Blender

Brendon Murphy meta.androcto1 at gmail.com
Sat Jun 15 14:45:16 CEST 2013


Hi,
I would like to propose a materials library in Blender, initially this
would be for Cycles but could be extended to include BI.
To this end, I would ask the Blender developers if they want a materials
library in Blender? & how best to go about it?

Currently:
The materials library UI would be done in py.
We can read write cycles materials including osl in xml format, similar to
themes.
We could then use the scripts addon directory for testing & move to the
presets folder if in Blender.
It is also possible to use a file append system & pack a .blend full of
mats with fake user & append by name. (not as nice imo)
What would be the preferred method for the Blender development team to
include a materials library in Blender Release?

There may be some small work by Blender dev's, mainly api considerations
which can easily be solved with mutual co-operation. File size can be kept
down, the matlib would be 2 - 3 meg extra to Blender at most. Larger
matlibs & individual mats could be easily distributed between Blender end
users as they are now with xml theme's & .blend material libs.
One of the best example so far is the online matlib in contrib. We know it
needs some repairs & are working towards this.

The goal is to provide Blender with a system to load & save materials & to
provide users with decent starting point with materials types from within
Blender.
What 'We' (Peter Cassetta, Myself, Blendswap & any other interested coders,
consultants, sponsors) can offer is a smallish material library in Blender,
with load & save settings & the option to browse a larger lib online from a
trusted source, be it b.org or blendswap or other.

We are asking this 'Proposal' because to undertake this takes many
manhours, some of which will be sponsored, If it's agreed on methods for
Release status, Blender devs will only be asked to let the mat lib devs
know before any major api changes so we can be prepared in advance to
repair & avoid 'Release' breakages well before they happen., or to do as
ideasman does & fix, where possible, the breakages caused by new api/c
code. (which is wonderful & much appreciated.)
Let's get a materials Library in Blender for 2.70
What do you think?

Thanks :)
Brendon Murphy (meta-androcto)


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