[Bf-python] Timeline.marks

[Toni Alatalo]

On Monday 24 October 2005 18:19, Ken Hughes wrote:
> If it's not urgent now, then suggest we discuss your proposed changes
> here.  I'd be willing to code whatever we decide on.

i figured it would be useful to see a concrete example of usage. this is the 
code that Basse put together for camera changing (he is not really a 
programmer but finds his ways around and likes his while loops :) .. so in 
fact we are using the markers to get 'ranges', that is time 'areas' where 
certain conditions are to take place, like active camera being a certain one 
or a certain subtitle showed. as there are no typed markers, the guys simply 
prefix the markers to separate camera-changing and subtitling ones.

note that there are still issues with DAG (any news about when those will be 
fixed?), so ppl are doing tricks like 'tab-tab' (enter/exit editmode) to get 
things working.. and we just found out that doing that trick with the Window 
module 'caused a frame in render to be from the UI .. luckily 
Object.makeDisplayList() (which forces a DAG update?) seems to fix those for 
us now

anyhow back to the timeline api, this is how we use it:

import Blender
from Blender import *
import math

cam_prefix = "cam"

empty_ratio = 35.0

y_offset = 0.0
z_offset = 0.0

scn = Scene.GetCurrent()
tline = scn.getTimeLine()
cur = Blender.Get('curframe')

rnd = scn.getRenderingContext()

marks = []
i = rnd.startFrame()
tl = tline.getMarked()


# change the marker list type
i = 0
for i in range(0, len(tl), 2):
	if tl[i+1][:len(cam_prefix)] == cam_prefix:
		marks.append([tl[i], tl[i+1]])	
	
marks.sort()

# add one extra dummy entry 
marks.append(['end', 30000])

curCam = scn.getCurrentCamera()

# travel through markers and do a switch if needed
i = 0
		
while i < len(marks):
	if (cur >= marks[i][0]) and (cur < marks[i+1][0]):
		if curCam.name != marks[i][1]:
			print "switched to " + marks[i][1]
			camobj = Object.Get(marks[i][1])
			scn.setCurrentCamera(camobj)
			
			sizeadj = empty_ratio / camobj.getData().getLens()
			subObj = Object.Get('Fempty')
			subObj.loc = camobj.loc
			subObj.rot = camobj.rot
			subObj.setSize(sizeadj,sizeadj,1)
#			to = Object.Get('Font')
			subObj.makeDisplayList()
#			Window.EditMode(1)
#			Window.EditMode(0)

			Redraw(-1)

	i = i+1

so ideas and implementations for an API that would make that nice are 
welcome :)

> Ken

~Toni