[x3d-public] How’s John? What I’m working on next

[John Carlson]

My first thought is reading .blend files in c/c++ using SDNA.

I’ve heard that .blend files are TLV, which leaves me to believe
STEP/EXPRESS might be useful if binary is encoded in hexadecimal.   I will
make an informed choice on ARM vs Intel endianness.

I have downloaded the latest blender source code.

So I will begin by tracking down how open files, and see what Blender does.

John

On Sat, Jul 10, 2021 at 5:19 PM John Carlson <yottzumm at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> I think Blender needs a JSON, XML, STEP/EXPRESS or python dict full export
> of .blend files.   I do not know if either Collada or glTF support that.  I
> will probably start working on a native UTF-8 export for Blender.   I
> believe that Blender will become more useful and open with a full, human
> readable export, similar to how NeXT’s .nib format got converted to .xib
> format.   I think there’s still plenty of room for things like typed arrays
> in webGL and webgpu.   I’m not opposed to dropping into JavaScript or
> shading language if they can be parsed with an import tool.
>
> So that’s what I’ll be pursuing.   I don’t think we’ll ever see a good X3D
> export from Blender unless the Blender team is convinced it’s useful, or if
> someone starts fresh with the newest Blender API.   I do see usefulness in
> “outing” the Blender format, and providing an upgrade path for Blender
> import/export tools.
>
> I’m guessing the final result will be something like STEP.
> Alternatively, I may pursue a “class grammar” as popularized by Cameron
> Browne on the Ludii project.
>
> I hope to protect import/export tool writers from the versionitis of the
> Blender API.   If you’re a good designer or architect, I welcome your
> effort on my team.
>
>
> John
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://web3d.org/pipermail/x3d-public_web3d.org/attachments/20210712/74d80bfc/attachment.html>