I could definitely see some use for a system like this! Basically what it sounds like to me is node-based mesh construction macros (which sounds quite awesome!). Even just being able to edit the properties of a primitive/ generator object after doing another operation sounds like a very useful feature to me.
The strength of this to me is the fact that it's not use-case specific, as Lukas mentioned. I'm guessing it will need quite a bit of fleshing out and coordination with the dev team (i.e.: What to record/ support, how to handle unsupported actions such as mesh edits, etc), but I very much like the general idea of it. Also, I think an interest for something like macros has been expressed before, so might be worth looking that up (could be wrong on this though). Good luck! -Patrick > Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 10:26:00 +0200 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Bf-committers] Procedural generation for summer of code! > > Hmm, how about parametric modeling? Sort of like a blend of macro, > modifiers and drivers: > 1. user records a sequence of operations (the end result must be one > or more objects) > 2. user can change parameters of any constituent operator at any time > afterwards (thus regenerating the object(s)) > 3. user can modify the operator node graph (add/delete/reconnect > operator nodes) at any time afterwards (thus regenerating the > object(s)) > 4. user can declare "high-level parameters" that drive some parameters > of constituent operators > > Implementing it as a Python addon currently is not feasible, for the > following reasons: > - from Python, there's no way (or at least I couldn't find one) to > monitor what operators are being successfully applied (if operator has > been canceled, it shouldn't be recorded; if operator has finished, we > must use values of arguments with which it finished) > - "parametric" object must be a special kind of Object which can be > modified only by changing the operator node graph and/or its > parameters (though user can convert "parametric" object to normal > object(s) in backwards-incompatible way, like in curve->mesh > conversion) > - regeneration of such object requires special handling of context -- > to have reproducible results and to avoid side-effects in the main > scene, the operator node graph must be applied in a separate "pocket > dimension" with fixed initial conditions > > Parametric modeling is probably most useful when you need many similar > objects with some variability (houses in a village, armada of pirate > airships, etc.), or when you want some animated complex fractal > effects in a video. Addons like sapling/ivygen/masonry can benefit > from such mechanism too, since it would allow to edit their parameters > not just immediately after creation. > Also, parametric generation may aid procedural generation. > > It's just a rough description, but I hope the idea is clear :-) > _______________________________________________ > Bf-committers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers _______________________________________________ Bf-committers mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
