[Bf-committers] Blender roadmap article on code blog

[Campbell Barton]

eeh, there is some misinformation here...

On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 7:54 AM, David Jeske <davidj at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 1:35 PM, Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > Yes, there is a performance cost for Mono/V8 relative to C, but for many
>> > types of code that gap is quite small, about 1-3x
>>
>> Speaking only as an artist:
>>
>> LOL!!!!
>>
>> I dare you to go to BlenderArtist and tell them you have decided to
>> include 2 Microsoft programs in Blender that will slow down there
>> render times by 300%!

Mono follows an MS spec for the language runtime (CLR), not sure what
the second program you refer to is.
At least the technology isn't owned by MS and its open-source.

People may be wary of using MS derived technology but from what I can
tell Mono wouldn't tie us to MS any more then Java would to Oracle.

> A language used for UI extension and tools does not affect render-times.
> OSL is already the way to user-extend cycles and that is not part of the
> discussion.
>
> Python is allowed for 2d compositing nodes now. Using C# or TypeScript/V8
> for these nodes would speed them up 3-10x. However, don't get too excited,
> because a single composite node, even in Python, is probably only 2-20% of
> the total composite time and only 0.1-0.5% of total render time if there is
> a 3d scene.

PyNodes don't allow python to be used for blenders existing C++ compositor,
See:
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/553/is-it-possible-to-create-a-compositor-node-with-pynodes-that-outputs-camera-clip

However there has been some talk of using OSL for compositor nodes,
apparently it could be supported but I dont know details here.

> ..so I think your concern about how this would somehow slow down rendering
> is mis-placed. It wouldn't.
>
> That said, there are many good points in this discussion about extension
> languages. I think it would be nice to see a typed scripting option, but I
> also agree that getting some of the benefits I hope for would take lots
> more than adding the language option. I'm going to have to think on this
> some more, and for now I'm removing/replacing this item in my "personal
> roadmap wishlist" with a different one...
>
> 4) Make Blender UI, launch-state, splash more friendly to users who wish to
> use only a subset of functionality (without compromising the power users).
> The first case-in-point, 2d-compositor-only users. -- Why? -- Blender is
> arguably one of the most powerful open-source 2d compositors. However, the
> UI doesn't make this apparent or easy to do without understanding 3d
> rendering. Making blender more friendly to these users will mean more
> blender users, more potential developers, and more goodness.
>
> Easier said than done, but I think it's worthy.