I’m not seeing any feedback, or feature request sections. I think the opinions and suggestions of hobbyists/artists/engineers etc professional or not that use Blender, is more valuable than the coders-artists that actually develop Blender.
Ask 1000 users and you’ll get 1000 different features that are the most important thing in the world that prevents them doing such and such and must be implemented immediately if blender is not going to be left behind by such and such.
Read the forums and you’ll see countless threads asking for this and that feature, sucha s the current GSoC wishlist thread
If you want a feature: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Ideasman42/HowToGetFeaturesIntoBlender
Feature request site : http://www.blenderstorm.org/. Watch the tumbleweed blow past
is more valuable than the coders-artists that actually develop Blender.
Do you know how easy/difficult it will be to implement something given the limited resources ? Do you know the priorities of the blender foundation ? What other project would you want to put on hold for a feature you want? Do you think developers are not users as well ? How can you get a volunteer developer to work on something they are not interested in rather than something they are?
Moved from “General Forums > Blender and CG Discussions” to “Support > Blender Artists Website Support”
Ask 1000 users and you’ll get 1000 different features that are the most important thing in the world that prevents them doing such and such and must be implemented immediately if blender is not going to be left behind by such and such.
Read the forums and you’ll see countless threads asking for this and that feature, sucha s the current GSoC wishlist thread
What if some of them are right? Anyway, since Blender is intended to be used by the end user and is developed for many years, it is not wise to reject the end user’s opinion altogether for whatever reason!
Of course this is just raw feedback -I’m not suggesting to accept any single request as is, the feedback data should be analyzed, organized and discussed before you arrive to any useful conclusions, but if done well, there will be a huge difference to a product where “I” the programmer-artist I’m asking “you” the end user what you want, vs another one where “I” am guessing what “you” want!
Do you know how easy/difficult it will be to implement something given the limited resources ? Do you know the priorities of the blender foundation ? What other project would you want to put on hold for a feature you want?
That is one more reason why every feature being implemented should be well considered, ensuring that it will add value to Blender from the user’s perspective -not the developer’s.
Do you think developers are not users as well ?
I’m sure they are -I already said that from the beginning, but I also know that:
A) Blender developers cannot think of everything themselves, i.e they have a finite brain-capacity, artist qualities and usability skills in software design. They also cannot represent 100% the thousands of end users.
B) There is always somewhere, someone “better” than me and you, at least in some specific sector, or just someone with a better idea. Internet has proved this in its few decades of existence.
C) A Blender user who also develops Blender, is always more or less biased vs a Blender user who just uses Blender!
D) You can’t underestimate the massive think-tank! Obviously raw, but there is always gold in there!
How can you get a volunteer developer to work on something they are not interested in rather than something they are?
If the features to be implemented are well-considered, well organized and well planned, taking also into account the user feedback, they will also be well justified -not arbitrary, so the volunteer developers will also be convinced of the added value and they’ll be happy to implement them. If someone wishes to implement a special feature, that could be accepted only if implemented in harmony with everything else, under some decided guidelines, without making the software chaotic, or unintuitive. In other words, more organization and evaluation is needed.
There could be some sort of reward system for the developers, for example each feature could be linked to the developers who contributed and could be presented in some special pages where their volunteer work could be recognized. I think something like that would motivate them to contribute more and be more responsible too.
In sort, at the very least, there should be a feedback channel for the developers in an organized manner, where feedback should be asked for each feature, for the inteface etc, as well as ideas to improve them.
If the question is why BlenderArtists.org doesn’t have a section for feedback and feature requests for Blender, the answer is because it’s the wrong venue. Yes, a handful of Blender developers do have accounts on BA and occasionally post, but quite a few (most?) do not. Posts with feature requests on Blender simply wouldn’t reach their intended audience (developers). There are more viable channels (IRC, the developer mailing list, and even the slightly-less-trafficked forums on blender.org) where those kinds of posts are more likely to reach people who are willing and able to respond to them effectively.
If the question is why BlenderArtists.org doesn’t have a section for feedback and feature requests for Blender[…]
My question is general, not specific to this site, since I can’t find any serious, organized feedback and feature request website or page that both Blender users and developers take part in it. My intent was to discuss the necessity of such a feedback / request channel until it reaches the ears of the head developers. Of course this won’t happen since you’ve moved it in this section.
[…]the answer is because it’s the wrong venue. Yes, a handful of Blender developers do have accounts on BA and occasionally post, but quite a few (most?) do not. Posts with feature requests on Blender simply wouldn’t reach their intended audience (developers).
Aren’t the Blender developers users/artists too? If so, they hang somewhere -other than the developer forums, where they seek to satisfy their artist interests too. So why not on BlenderArtists.org? If there aren’t too many here, probably something is missing or could be improved.
There are more viable channels (IRC, the developer mailing list, and even the slightly-less-trafficked forums on blender.org) where those kinds of posts are more likely to reach people who are willing and able to respond to them effectively.
Users don’t go there and won’t bother to make such an effort to approach developers just to submit their idea. Such a feedback should be collected in common places where both Blender developer-artists and user-artists meet. Even on this site, if done well, it could attract both parties. Since no serious attempt has been done before (by ‘serious’ I mean systematic and organized) here is the chance!
Not true. Behold BlenderStorm.
It’s been tried. The simple truth is that if you have an idea and you can’t/don’t want to/don’t have the resources to develop that idea yourself, then you’ve got to approach a developer to get it done. Fortunately, we in the Blender community are incredibly spoiled. The various developers in the community are incredibly patient, thoughtful, and (perhaps most importantly) accessible. Oftentimes, you need but poke them on IRC or via email. It really is that easy.
Of course, if you want to try building a “serious, systematic, and organized” means of collecting feedback, you’re more than welcome to. Just remember that you’re dealing with a group that predominantly consists of volunteers who code mostly what their interested in. You can be organized and collected as you want, but if you don’t do it where developers are and if they’re not interested in those organized and collected thoughts, you’re going to be facing an uphill battle.