[x3d-public] description field for all light nodes?

[Michalis Kamburelis]

I am not convinced, I'm afraid. I do not see the use-case in your description.

> Essentially there is no way to tell what lights might be present other than "figuring it out" on small scale.

As a user, I view a scene lit by lights. I am not specifically looking
to find lights, or to find their descriptions.

It is not a purpose of X3D to allow user to "figure out where are the lights".

> Otherwise lights will remain mysterious obscure and unknowable.

That's not true, in my eyes :) Lights are visible, they are nodes in
the scene, have a DEF/USE name. We are only talking about light
descriptions.

> As before, not seeing any downsides to allowing this. "Can't hurt, can help, and consistency is always good."

"not seeing any downsides" is not a good argument to add something to
the specification :) Sure, this field will not hurt anyone. But it
will also be ignored by browsers and authors, if it has no real use.

Regards,
Michalis

pt., 23 paź 2020 o 21:51 Don Brutzman <brutzman at nps.edu> napisał(a):
>
> Agreed important to have use cases.
>
> Agreed important to figure out interface exposure of information to users.  Perhaps via console is a good start.
>
> Not proposing description for all nodes.
>
> Metadata works within carefully prepared content but does not support multiple sources, nor do we have any common semantics provided.
>
> Essentially there is no way to tell what lights might be present other than "figuring it out" on small scale.
>
> Definitely useful for TextureProjector nodes since they may have varying content and understanding source/intention is valuable.
>
> If we want to start paying attention to lights in composed scenes, it will help.  Otherwise lights will remain mysterious obscure and unknowable.
>
> As before, not seeing any downsides to allowing this. "Can't hurt, can help, and consistency is always good."
>
>
> On 10/22/2020 6:56 PM, Michalis Kamburelis wrote:
> >
> > I admit I do not see the point of such field on the light source.
> >
> > Users do not select/interact with light sources directly in the X3D
> > browser, so there's no need to have some description of them. I would
> > not know when and where to display it, esp. with DirectionalLight or
> > future EnvironmentLight.
> >
> > This is unlike e.g. pointing device sensors, where textual description
> > makes sense to show some info when the user "hovers" the pointer over
> > the sensor.
> >
> > You can make a case that X3D editor would benefit from some
> > description at the light node, but that is true for *all* X3D nodes :)
> > And this need can be satisfied by using MetadataXxx nodes, they are
> > already a general mechanism that can be attached to any X3D node.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Michalis
> >
> > czw., 22 paź 2020 o 20:17 Don Brutzman <brutzman at nps.edu> napisał(a):
> >>
> >> X3D4 has a many description fields that are helpful ways for an author (or authoring tool) to express model purpose/intent in a simple way that can be communicated to others, namely users or other authors.
> >>
> >> Default value of /description/ is empty string, so these are always optional.
> >>
> >> Am tuning the specification definitions of both TextureProjector nodes, which we've decided implement X3DLightNode.  They also already have /description/ fields.
> >>
> >> Wondering, shouldn't we similarly add /description/ field to X3DLightNode (DirectionalLight PointLight SpotLight) as well?
> >>
> >> Can't hurt, can help, and consistency is always good.
> >>
> >> Opinions welcome please.
> >>
> >> all the best, Don
> >> --
> >> Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
> >> Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
> >> X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> x3d-public at web3d.org
> >> http://web3d.org/mailman/listinfo/x3d-public_web3d.org
>
> all the best, Don
> --
> Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
> Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
> X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman