From BlenderWiki
Multi-resolution Improvements
Nicholas Bishop nicholasbishop@gmail.com
Synopsis
Extend multi-resolution tools to support more than vertex coordinates. This will be accomplished by creating a new type of CustomData that stores a grid of arbitrary CustomData. I will use this new grid CustomData type to implement multi-resolution vertex colors and multi-resolution masks for all the paint modes.
Benefits to Blender
Arbitrary multi-resolution data provides a clear benefit for the sculpt tools, since we can now add masks. Similary, we will be able to use vertex colors on all levels of a multi-resolution mesh, whereas now you can only paint on the base mesh.
Deliverables
- Make the multi-resolution data generic.
- Add masks to sculpt and paint modes.
- Multi-resolution vertex color painting.
Project Details
My first goal will be to create the grid type and convert existing multi-resolution vertex coordinate data to it. Then I will add masking support to sculpt mode. Initially this will be very basic support for non-multiresolution meshes with minimal UI.
The next step is making masks work for multi-resolution meshes. This is probably the trickiest part of the project; doing it right will be important for making other data work with multi-resolution. Some concerns include undo support (sculpt mode has its own undo system), ensuring good memory usage, and making sure I don't break any existing functionality such as external files backing multi-resolution modifiers.
Next I will add support for multi-resolution vertex colors, providing an alternative to regular texture mapping.
The next goal should be fairly quick: adding masks to all the paint modes.
Next I will add more complex masking controls and UI (should include things like UI for clearing masks and controls for converting weight groups to masks.)
Finally, I'll add conversion from multi-resolution vertex colors to regular textures using UV coordinates from the base mesh.
Project Schedule
I do not have any vacation or other work scheduled for the duration of the project, so I will be available for all twelve weeks.
Week 1: Add the new CustomData Grid type and convert existing multires data to it.
Week 2: Add a new CustomData type for paint masks. Implement basic support for masks in sculpt mode on non-multires meshes.
Weeks 3, 4, 5, and 6: Generalize the CustomData Grid type to support subdivision and editing of sculpt masks. I'm giving this step four weeks to ensure a correct implementation. This will include undo support for sculpt and writing a nice release notes page.
Weeks 6, 7, and 8: Add multi-resolution support for vertex colors.
Week 9: Add masking support to vertex colors, to keep features the same between sculpt and paint.
Week 10: Add more mask controls and create a nice UI for it.
Week 11 and 12: Add conversion from multi-resolution vertex colors to regular textures.
Bio
I am a computer science major at the University of Maryland, College Park. I have four years of coding experience with Blender, working on the sculpting and multi-resolution tools. I have completed projects in the Google Summer of Code for Blender in 2006 and 2008, and with the Inkscape project in 2007.
