[Soc-2005-dev] Sketch based modeling

[Pablo Diaz-Gutierrez]

Hi Ton, thanks for the comments.


Ton Roosendaal wrote:

> Hi Pablo,
>
> Also thanks for the Wiki doc!
> http://wiki.blender.org/bin/view.pl/Blenderdev/SketchBasedModelling
>
> I really miss in the current doc implementation/design information of  
> how it is going to work... it is probably summarized in the "3.1 
> Tasks"  section, I think the most important part to know more of!
>
> If you want to introduce a new modeling method in Blender, it's  
> important to also try to fit in the current conventions for 'object  
> mode' and 'edit mode'... and find a way for efficient storage of the  
> data.
>
> - Why not define a new object type "Sketch", which can store the raw  
> curve data and all relevant stuff that needs to be saved in files.

I had thought of adding a Sketch object type before, and integrating it 
with the current object/edit framework. But I assumed it wasn't easy to 
hijack the mouse for editing the sketch. After chatting with Daniel 
Dunbar, I saw it's not that bad. So I'm going this way. I'll update the 
wiki and email here as I advance.

> - This object type then can go into EditMode, which then will allow 
> the  methods as you describe to paint. I really think that's much 
> better  than turning the 3d window into 'sketch mode'... that's not 
> how things  work in Blender. :)
>
> - Then make a displist.c function, which continuously 'converts' the  
> curve data into the proper format for displaying.
>
> - As option, the ALT+C conversion then can make this a Mesh (or  
> Surface?).

Regarding the conversion to mesh or surfaces, I'm not sure the current 
method can handle correctly some simple types of sketches. I guess 
adding a new conversion method is the way to go, but this is not 
directly related to the sketching itself, so it'll be done later.

-Pablo.