The overall trend in the industry though is that more and more things in more and more 3D programs are getting node trees for use in areas like shading.
If we only had more advanced ways of building a group node interface (like embedding widgets and number rows as seen in the normal and mapping nodes along with boolean checkboxes and boolean nodes that can be anywhere in the tree), one can then just create a big group node that does all the meticulous work for you. On top of that, if the user was able to make preset settings for the group nodes, then you can just plop a material on an object and get an instant asset (since it seems like some would rather have as much of the work done as possible for them and just accept that you won’t have much overall control or flexibility).
Already though, one could probably just create an addon to make Blender into a tool that creates instant scenes by way of adding tons of wizards and material presets and hide away 95 percent of the options and tools. A simple dumbed down tool if you will that would purely be an option (noting the fact that a lot of power users would riot in front of Blender HQ if it wasn’t).
A simple dumbed down tool if you will that would purely be an option (noting the fact that a lot of power users would riot in front of Blender HQ if it wasn’t).
Ace there must be a disconnect here. Is there really a rabbit hole in Kansas and a tin man. I’m talking about a program truly made for artist who don’t speak nerd and have no desire to. Meaning most of this forum would be irrelevant to them. They don’t want to deal with UV unwrapping and all that shit as we know it. And, in a few years I’m saying they won’t have to. The talent will win out. Retopo will be a mouse click.
But, only because business is business anywhere you go. And, what studio doesn’t want a talented individual on board. And, if they have a program on the work stations that puts very little between that individual and the creative process that is money well spent.
And, the power users you mentioned well that remains to be seen. They might well be like me. Dragged screaming from 2.48 into all this scrolling. Ace you might think it won’t happen and I understand that. But, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Also known as make-art button in some forums. Not going to happen :evilgrin:.
If anything, I see a general trend in the industry to provide more and more powerful, realistic and real-physics based tools to create images (from physics based materials to physics based motion, object interaction etc. etc.). Just as an examples, to create the black hole representation in Interstellar they enlisted Kip Thorne, a prominent expert of gravitational physics and the result of his work for the movie will not only be “published” as the movie but also in physics journals. A bit more complex than some nodes…
You say there’s a disconnect, but then you follow up with the suggestion that some would rather want the program to do the UVmaps for them and have retopo be a mouse-click.
This is the exact definition of the hypothetical addon that would dumb down Blender to the point where people just click together their scenes in a matter of minutes rather than go through with such complex things as modeling and putting together shaders. If you just want to grab some assets and click together your scene, then you might want to use the DAZ software suite rather than Blender, as it comes the closest to doing everything for you providing those things are even so much as mildly technical.
Ace, obviously there is a problem here. And, it is my command of the English language and writing skills. Nobody is suggesting anything like DAZ. One of the reasons I haven’t downloaded Fluid Designer is also because I’m wondering how much I can change a asset after it’s in place. Going from one extreme to another would inhibit any creative endeavor it seems to me. If I was suggesting that all renders would end up looking like the same cookie cutter was used. And, there’s a good chance a watermark saying CG render might be in order.
And, yes I did run off the rails attempting to explain my thought with the one click UV unwrapping. But, even in Blender how many times have you used a preset since they started showing up. And, yes I’m calling ‘Project From View’ a preset.
For those of us interested in animation suddenly we can pull up ‘Lead In - Lead Out’ Which I would think can speed up the workflow in a small studio on tight deadlines. So it’s not like the Blender developers aren’t moving in that direction. However, it’s a long way from a make art button or dumbing Blender down. As far as retopo being one click I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t already the case in some programs. And, occasionally they might get it just right or at least to a acceptable level with a few tweaks. And, as the software gets more sophisticated who the hell knows.
It’s not so much a preset as just another way to unwrap a model, most people are not going to use the more automated unwrap tools like ‘Project From View’, ‘Follow Active Quads’, or ‘Smart Project’ on every part of the model, but only where it works best.
To echo an earlier suggestion, some “pre-packed” starter node groups would be helpful. After all we already have Quick FX and automated scene setups for the tracker etc. I think that it would be a good introduction for new node users and a potential educational tool for experienced users to introduce new concepts to the community.