URL:
<http://gna.org/bugs/?20340>
Summary: Brush Metadata and Automatic Rating
Project: MyPaint
Submitted by: dementedsnake
Submitted on: Sat 01 Dec 2012 03:08:56 AM EST
Severity: 1 - Wish
Priority: 5 - Normal
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Originator Email:
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Any
Release: N/A
Planned Release: None
Operating System: N/A
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Details:
Similar to how your favorite media application might save metadata about songs
and even keep track of how many times they've been played, I wonder if a
similar feature for MyPaint would be useful.
Metadata might be used to track both the details of the application, as well
as give the user feedback on their workflow. Such information could include:
- Number of times used a brush is used.
- Amount of time (hours/days) a brush is pressed against the canvas. (Total
time used for painting.)
- Author of a brush.
- Version of MyPaint it was made with.
- The sets the brush belong to. (Both default and user added.)
- Type of brush (Watercolor, line work, cartoon, realistic, general use,
etc.)
- The most frequently used brush and brush type. The most frequently used
brush per each brush type.
- The current maximum and average amounts of layers used.
- The current maximum and average amount of incremental saves per piece.
- Current max and average file size.
- Current max and average file dimensions.
- The file with the longest editing period. (Date last edited minus date
created?)
- Total time using MyPaint.
But what good is all this info by itself? What can it be used for? Well, if
MyPaint's brushes are all procedurally generated using sliders and checkboxes,
then it's possible to convert that information into a string of digits, and
share it. Then, MyPaint can even recreate the brush on a different machine
using that string. It's kind of like a hash, only reversible.
This could be useful for debugging brushes, sharing them with friends, or even
just cutting down on bandwidth on a brush sharing website. This string would
be saved in the metadata of the brush itself, and would automatically be
changed whenever the brush is. You could even keep a history of changes made
to each brush by keeping a list of its past strings.
Perhaps the small brush graphic could even be saved the same way; as a set of
instructions for MyPaint to follow in order to recreate the image drawn in the
box. Maybe not.
The rest of the data can be used for opt-in user information collecting, so
you can study how people use the program most often, and so optimize it and
smooth the rough edges.
Metadata can also be used to prevent weirdness due to engine changes. If each
brush saves metadata describing the version of the engine (or MyPaint) it
expects, then it can either be converted, updated, ignored, the user can be
alerted, or the host application of MyPaint could even just use the older
version of the engine for that one brush.
This also prevents brushes made with newer versions of MyPaint from freaking
out on older versions. If MyPaint checks the brush's version number against
its own, then it'll know if they are incompatible.
In addition to all of that, the most appealing idea to me, would to have a
hidden, automated rating system for brushes, backgrounds, etc.. MyPaint can
use the information like "times used" and "times edited" to automatically
create and sort a list of the user's favorite brushes. The brushes would also
have to slowly lose points in order to maintain balance and relevance in the
rating system, but it can be done.
By comparing brushes used to each other, or to the time first used in the
average piece, MyPaint might even be able to learn the order in which a user
normally needs their brushes. This is all very complicated and unnecessary
stuff, but it might make a fun side project for a rainy day. Well, and it's
cool.
I'm sure there are many more possibilities for brush metadata, but this should
give you a good idea of what some of them are.
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