Has anyone ever though about making a Blender package. I was think about BRMT and the US Army’s cad program BRL cad. These programs are really just packages of a few or more.
What if we got some people and made a package (either zip/tar or individual download at their sites) in which we could take a raytracer (povray, bmrt, etc…), a collection of plugins and python scripts, Blender, perhaps a couple other utilities, and some docs on how to use them all together. We could make sure they all work together before.
I think it would be a nice tool to use, so that you wouldn’t have to rig things together, then not have your scripts work because your docs was out of date…
Even if for licensing reasons we can’t put it all in a conveinient downloads, we could at least set up a page of “Most recommended Blender additions” with the proper docs and links to the recomendations.
I just think not having a recommended package is part of the reason theres so many redundant questions and confusion. One answer only works on a certain percentage of peoples systems, and having more than one answer confuses a lot of people.
I agree, I share the need for a recommended tools section.
Especially for all newbies in blender, I really would be in debt to anyony compiling such information.
The very best solution is to get Blender as source code, find some qualified programers who implement Raytracing/DOF/caustics and some more nice features. So you haven’t to build up a package with dozens of different programs.
Well, I’m dreaming …
BTW: are there Blender to BMRT or Povray scripts available? I’m still searching for the best Raytracer - BMRT, Povray, lightflow or VirtuaLight.
BTW: are there Blender to BMRT or Povray scripts available? I’m still searching for the best Raytracer - BMRT, Povray, lightflow or VirtuaLight.
Xtra: There is an exort for POVRay. Check the “Plug-In & Python” section here. There was one posted recently. I don’t think there are any english versions of it though, (I could be wrong). Also, check for posts by Graphinc and then go to his site. He has the export script there for download as well.
Blender is an excellent tool, but we know it can’t do all jobs. What we need is a toolbox full of the best tools.
I get tired of whenever I’m thinking about doing something I have to check to see if I have this and that, then if I don’t I have to search for it, then it usually don’t work right. This is the typical scenario for me. I might try and do this here soon.
I think it would be a good idea if Blender was left out of the package and the package was posted as an addon to Blender. If you think about it, most of the people who would use it already have Blender, so to include it would be pointless.
I would however include as many plugins and python scripts as possible. It’s just too hard to find a good site that has all the really usefull plugins and scripts, so having them in one downloadable package is a good idea.
As for including BMRT and Lightflow, go for it. It’s always a good idea to have alternate rendering abilities. A good library of textures wouldn’t hurt either, perhaps gather the “best of the best” from around the web to include in the package.
The one thing I would highly stress in undergoing this project is documentation. Someone should setup a help file with documentation for all of the plugins, scripts, python use, and how to use the alternate rendering tools with Blender. Otherwise, what we wind up with is a package of hundreds of files which no one knows precisely what they do.
Overall I think this package idea has good potential. Since Blender comes in a very basic form with no extras, it would help people to build on what they already have. Every other 3D package out there has a large amount of pre-packaged plugins, textures, tutorials and other such items, so this post-package addon for Blender would simply provide people with what NaN didn’t give us to begin with.
Ok, I’ll do it. Good advice CKnapp, howabout this, I’ll make a Blender addition package, and instead of including Blender, I’ll make a couple or few differnt versions packages for whatever version of Blender you have.
Does anyone have any ideas for external ‘free’ video or audio programs we could include. I would like to offer a basic addition pack, and a full production pack for doing something as complex as a movie.
Most of the scripts and stuff I find don’t work without modification in the newer blenders. One of the things I’m working with that I’m going to put in the package is the grass and hair scripts by Alan Dennis. I’m going to try and mix them into a gui interface as more of a strand generator for grass, hair, fur, threads, etc…
Would this be useful in the Blender package do you think??
It’s all very well having a large package, but if it is 100s of megs in size, not a lot of people will be downloading it!
What might be an idea is one web page which has a list of recommended “add ons” for blender, for example, BMRT, virtuallight, and docs on how to set up and use them with blender. That way, bandwidth limited people can download just what they need.
I’ll offer options of packages and individual or link for download. I was going to make different packages such as a light, standard, and pro (which would be full). I’ll probably make textures and such seperate downloads by type of category. When making the individual packages I would like to keep in mind the gap between someone just starting to learn and a pro. A newbie probably would be confused by a pack full of export scripts and raytracing docs, where a pro probably wouldn’t want to sift through tutorials on how to extrude and scale.
Right now I’m just going to start making a list of the programs, scripts, and docs. Then once I have the whole collection, I’ll start breaking them down.
Hmmmmm…STROKES STUBBLE. Interesting. I’m sorta surprised no one’s thought of this before, actually…
Well, I’ll volunteer to help. I’m not much of a programmer, to be honest, but I can make documentation and stuff - I got a PDF writer, as well as Quark Express, which is handy.
Can I also suggest that if we’re adding general python scripts, and we’re not just limiting it to import/export scripts and stuff, then I suggest that we add Manuel’s head creator script and the IPO editor - these are the most useful scripts I have ever used.
If you’re interested, send a direct message to me here at Elysiun, or email me at [email protected]. It’s a good idea, and I’ll be glad to help as soon as my exams are over (roughly 1 month).
