Re: [Inkscape-devel] Google Summer of Code Ideas
On 3/8/07, Gail Banaszkiewicz <gbanaszk@...1686...> wrote:
Inkscape is a 2D drawing tool. However, very often it is used to draw 3D objects. It would be very cool to have more support from the program for doing that, instead of just drawing everything manually. I think this is a really cool idea. DRAW has a few tools that you may be thinking of such as Extrude and Perspective. However, I must say that the UI isn't the greatest, probably in large part because this functionality has been around for a long time. I have attached a screenshot of each tool in action on a simple rectangle to see if this is the kind of thing you were picturing.
I'm not entirely sure, as screenshots are static and don't show all the options, but it seems to me that it's not quite what I had in mind. Perspective distortion of an arbitrary path is something we very definitely need (and we even have an effect for that though it's rather flakey and inconvenient). Extrude is also nice, especially for text headings. But they are both effects that, most often, just add a 3D aspect to existing objects. They are closer to the "eye candy" category than to real work tools. What I envision is a tool for a draftsman, a technical illustrator; something that lets you draw entire scenes in one common perspective easily.
Drawing with the 3D box tool gives you a box with 4 handles on the box (3 for changing its dimensions and one in the center for dragging it in 3D) and 3 more perspective handles. If some dimension has a vanishing point, its perspective handle is (for example) diamond; if that dimension has infinity vanishing point, the corresponding handle is round (and can adjust only direction from the center). Dragging box handles without Shift moves them in X/Y plane, with Shift in Z. All very simple and obvious - you can drag anything anywhere and see the result at once. If multiple boxes selected and their perspectives are compatible, the corresponding handles snap together and dragging them affects everything selected.
And then, this tool can be used as a generic "definer" of the perspective. You can take one such box, copy its perspective, and paste on other boxes. Or project a path onto a side of the box ("perspective envelope"). Or apply the box's perspective and bounds to any object to extrude it. Or subdivide the box into subboxes to create 3D grids. Or even enable ellipse and other drawing tools to draw in the currently selected box's perspective.
That's just some of the ideas. The main point of my proposal is, let's do the fundamentals right, before we do any eyecandy. And in the world of 3D, a basic 3D box is as fundamental as you can get. Everything else stems from it or can be defined by it.
That's just some of the ideas. The main point of my proposal is, let's do the fundamentals right, before we do any eyecandy. And in the world of 3D, a basic 3D box is as fundamental as you can get. Everything else stems from it or can be defined by it.
Yes, makes sense. Perhaps Corel's Technical Designer has what you are describing. I have a copy but it is not yet installed. Here are some links about it with screenshots - let me know if you think this could be closer to what you picture (since pictures are worth a thousand words and all that). Just want to be sure I can get a good feel for what you are describing in text.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1152105071141 http://thephotofinishes.com/coreldesigner.htm http://www.designer-info.com/Draw/designer.htm
Gail
From MAILER-DAEMON Mon Mar 12 10:43:08 2007
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:43:05 +0100 From: Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@...123...> To: inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Message-ID: <20070312174305.GB13243@...1413...> References: <45F589DC.5030104@...1686...> MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <45F589DC.5030104@...1686...> Priority: normal X-Mailer: Mutt User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.13 (2006-08-11) X-Spam-Score: 0.0 (/) X-Spam-Report: Spam Filtering performed by sourceforge.net. See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details. Report problems to http://sf.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=1&atid=200001 Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Google Summer of Code Ideas X-BeenThere: inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.8 Precedence: list Reply-To: t_w_@...123... List-Id: <inkscape-devel.lists.sourceforge.net> List-Unsubscribe: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-devel, mailto:inkscape-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=unsubscribe List-Archive: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum=inkscape-devel List-Post: mailto:inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net List-Help: mailto:inkscape-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=help List-Subscribe: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-devel, mailto:inkscape-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=subscribe X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:43:08 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Disposition: inline
On Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 01:11:56PM -0400, Gail Banaszkiewicz wrote:
DRAW is the base of Corel Technical Designer, so I have to assume (possibly incorrectly) that what you are talking about is possible. I can't quite picture what you mean exactly though, so maybe if you can attach a quick sketch I can see what you mean?
This should make clear what I was talking about: http://www.khulsey.com/perspective_basics.html
On 3/12/07, Gail Banaszkiewicz <gbanaszk@...1686...> wrote:
Yes, makes sense. Perhaps Corel's Technical Designer has what you are describing. I have a copy but it is not yet installed. Here are some links about it with screenshots - let me know if you think this could be closer to what you picture (since pictures are worth a thousand words and all that). Just want to be sure I can get a good feel for what you are describing in text.
Yes, this is a little closer to what I want, but still not quite there. Take the first movie for example at this link:
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1152105071141
It starts by drawing a box. But it does so by drawing 3 sides separately. My proposed tool would draw entire box at once. Also, it uses the predefined 30-90-30 perspective without vanishing points. Later it changes it to "custom" but the angles are still input numerically and there are still no vanishing points. In my idea, all directions and vanishing points are all draggable on canvas (though you can probably also select from some predefined perspectives too).
Of course my tool would also be much simpler, at least at first. Less bells and whistles, but a solid drawing-oriented 3D foundation.
It starts by drawing a box. But it does so by drawing 3 sides separately. My proposed tool would draw entire box at once.
Ok, awesome - I can picture how it would work now (more or less). Sounds very useful, and an interesting challenge in usability (though what you described sounds like it would work fairly well).
So many projects... which to propose for SoC... hopefully I will have time during my Masters to continue contributing and so maybe I can work on more than one if nobody else does so first in SoC ;)
Gail
Note to all aspiring GSoCers: it is highly recommended that you submit at least a couple patches for Inkscape before the program starts. We will look at this when evaluating proposals. Based on past experience, successful patches at this stage are perhaps the best predictor of a successful SoC project.
Just fix any bugs, or implement any RFEs, or address something that annoys you personally - no matter how small.
I definitely intend to do this, it's only a matter of when. I suppose the latest would be when the student proposals are due ;)
Gail
bulia byak wrote:
Note to all aspiring GSoCers: it is highly recommended that you submit at least a couple patches for Inkscape before the program starts. We will look at this when evaluating proposals. Based on past experience, successful patches at this stage are perhaps the best predictor of a successful SoC project.
Just fix any bugs, or implement any RFEs, or address something that annoys you personally - no matter how small.
bulia byak wrote:
On 3/12/07, Gail Banaszkiewicz <gbanaszk@...1686...> wrote:
Yes, makes sense. Perhaps Corel's Technical Designer has what you are describing. I have a copy but it is not yet installed. Here are some links about it with screenshots - let me know if you think this could be closer to what you picture (since pictures are worth a thousand words and all that). Just want to be sure I can get a good feel for what you are describing in text.
Yes, this is a little closer to what I want, but still not quite there. Take the first movie for example at this link:
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1152105071141
It starts by drawing a box. But it does so by drawing 3 sides separately. My proposed tool would draw entire box at once. Also, it uses the predefined 30-90-30 perspective without vanishing points. Later it changes it to "custom" but the angles are still input numerically and there are still no vanishing points. In my idea, all directions and vanishing points are all draggable on canvas (though you can probably also select from some predefined perspectives too).
Of course my tool would also be much simpler, at least at first. Less bells and whistles, but a solid drawing-oriented 3D foundation.
Just ran across this old thread on the mailing list archives:
https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=15180785
Aaron Spike
participants (3)
-
Aaron Spike -
bulia byak -
Gail Banaszkiewicz