[Bf-committers] Question about external Blender interface

[Toni Alatalo]

btw there is an existing protocol for these things, TUIO which is for
user input over OSC (which the UDP/IP based MIDI-replacement):
http://www.tuio.org

i wrote a simple asynchronous TUIO server to feed input to whatever
system (or do mouse emulation) from TUIO input a bit over a year ago,
is py 2 with the PyOSC lib: https://github.com/antont/tuioinput . the
network receiving part is here, a function that you are supposed to
call in your apps (in this case Blender) main / update loop:
tuio_rcv.each_frame() in
https://github.com/antont/tuioinput/blob/master/tuio_rcv.py#L80

have used it for a display wall setup with 6 hd display tiles which
are own independent touch displays that send the inputs for the single
control & display compu over the net:
https://twitter.com/an_toni/status/277165790149627905 :)

i don't know if this discussion is really fit for this list as is not
blender-core, perhaps to bf-python or some forum - i'm happy to
discuss this anywhere and try out things too.

Cheers,
~Toni

On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 8:26 PM, Jacob Merrill
<blueprintrandom1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> If this allowed accelerometer data and dead reckoning it would allow for
> old phones to become 3d mice....
> On Apr 5, 2014 10:23 AM, "Toni Alatalo" <toni at playsign.net> wrote:
>
>> i did this kind of thing a hundred years ago with py in the 2.25 game
>> engine or so. i think it will work in current normal blender ui
>> because i think there is now a way to hook a python function to be
>> called periodically.
>>
>> in a periodically updated py func you can poll your socket for
>> incoming data in an async/non-blocking way. that way you can handle
>> input from external sources but still not block the main ui.
>>
>> python 3 seems to have a nice looking revised lib for that,
>> https://docs.python.org/3.4/library/asyncio.html#module-asyncio . back
>> in the ancient bge experiment i think i used just the basic socket
>> api's select(). otherwise when doing this recently in a different app
>> i used the Circuits Python library but I bet that asyncio is simple
>> and nice with py 3 now.
>>
>> so given that you can hook blender to call your network-reader
>> periodically it should be straightforward - i can try to help if there
>> are trouble with the async socket reading. i wouldn't go via any DB
>> system for things similar to mouse dragging & button clicks.
>>
>> ~Toni
>>
>> On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 2:57 AM, <pablo /> <pablojmuratore at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > My original idea (crazy as it might be) was to develop an app in Android
>> > that could be used to control Blender.
>> > Imaging like dragging two fingers on the screen to rotate the screen, 3
>> > fingers to rotate the element, buttons to do specific functions and the
>> > like.
>> > Mainly the screen and objects rotation would require high bandwidth which
>> > I'm not sure using SQLite would cover, that's why I was asking if it
>> could
>> > be done using with a python add-on.
>> > I really don't know if that's possible but wanted to know about it and
>> > think it's a very interesting project.
>> > If a blender add-on could start socket with python then I will start
>> > digging into add-on development and find out the way.
>> > Another advantage is that if Blender can expose a socket then users will
>> > not need to install anything else on their computers to make the
>> connection
>> > with the devices.
>> > This will allow a tablet/phone or whatever connect to the computer:socket
>> > directly.
>> >
>> > Well that's my ideal, from there all I have to know what's possible (or
>> > could be developed to make it possible) and what isn't.
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Pablo
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 6:00 PM, W. Nelson <indigitalspace at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> In #blenderpython on freenode.net a couple other coders and I have
>> talked
>> >> about similar ideas a few times recently.  When I get a chance to post
>> my
>> >> notes I will share them.
>> >>
>> >> We recently talked about PyQT as module and SQLite.  Using SQLite for a
>> >> messaging system instead of using sockets.  Sockets are probably the
>> best
>> >> way to go though.
>> >>
>> >> The hardest part we decided was the messaging system and the timing of
>> >> it.  Also keeping any C code additions to Blender to a minimum.
>>  Hopefully
>> >> it can all be done it Python.  That was the hope using SQLite
>> transactions
>> >> as a messaging system.
>> >>
>> >> I will add more when I have more time.  This is an interesting topic to
>> me
>> >> also.
>> >>
>> >> JTa
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ________________________________
>> >>  From: "<pablo />" <pablojmuratore at gmail.com>
>> >> To: bf-blender developers <bf-committers at blender.org>
>> >> Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 10:16 AM
>> >> Subject: Re: [Bf-committers] Question about external Blender interface
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for answering!
>> >> I don´t know anything (yet) about python dev inside Blender, could it be
>> >> possible to implement it as a plugin?
>> >> I´m interested and could dedicate some time in this topic and think
>> doing
>> >> it would help the project.
>> >>
>> >> Regards,
>> >> Pablo
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Dalai Felinto <dfelinto at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Hi Pablo,
>> >> >
>> >> > This can be implemented via Python, but you will need to handle all
>> >> > the socket connectivity part.
>> >> >
>> >> > It would be nice to have this built-in in Blender (maybe as new
>> >> > bpy.app.handlers). But I don't think anyone is working on this it at
>> >> > the moment.
>> >> >
>> >> > Dalai
>> >> > --
>> >> > blendernetwork.org/dalai-felinto
>> >> > www.dalaifelinto.com
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > 2014-04-04 13:05 GMT-03:00 <pablo /> <pablojmuratore at gmail.com>:
>> >> > > Hi,
>> >> > >
>> >> > > * My background:
>> >> > >
>> >> > > I started using Blender a couple of months ago, I´ve been always a
>> fan
>> >> of
>> >> > > 3D and Blender in general since I think it´s an excellent product.
>> >> > > I work as a Web and Android developer
>> >> > >
>> >> > > * The object of the email:
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Ultimately when using Blender, I thought about using all 5 mouse
>> >> buttons
>> >> > > then it came to me that I have a Joystick with 3d movement and lots
>> of
>> >> > > buttons would be interesting using it with blender.
>> >> > > Finally I came to the idea of developing an Android application to
>> >> > replace
>> >> > > the main use of the keyboard.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > What I don´t know is if Blender allows any kind of connectivity out
>> of
>> >> > the
>> >> > > app.
>> >> > > For example, it could use a port or something to which apps could
>> >> connect
>> >> > > and send in commands, or something else you guys might think of.
>> >> > > The possibilities are really big since virtually anything could be
>> used
>> >> > to
>> >> > > control blender.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > I would like to know if this is possible and if there are already
>> >> efforts
>> >> > > towards it, I couldn´t find any info on the Web.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > If this is not the right place to post please let me know.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Thanks!
>> >> > > Pablo
>> >> > > _______________________________________________
>> >> > > Bf-committers mailing list
>> >> > > Bf-committers at blender.org
>> >> > > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
>> >>
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