modifier : change from stack to node base
When i add more and more modifier, the stack mode will begin hard to manage and it's not fun anymore. It will be great if the modifier is arranged in node base system, something like houdini non-destructive modeling. In node base the flow interface is making modifier so much easier to be controlled and managed. Also the flow logic become more clear when we have to combined mutliple object with multiple modifier. This method make blender getting close to procedural modeling. I used houdini and the node base system really awesome but i know not everyone fit with the procedural modeling workflow , it can be slow for some case , but let make it as an options.
UPDATE *** i'm not trying to make Blender like Houdini. it's just for node-base reference . Here's i add new image to represent what i'm talking about. So as you can see in the image. Maybe i can preview at any point without have to on/off the modifier. i can branch to see the result of different setting . i can alter easily : disable , moving mutliple nodes. the key is Flexibility and better interface . For example , when combining 2 object , each having multiple or many modifier, sometime i can't get result as expected and need to scrumble the order of modifier to get correct result and the stack system is hard to debug ! so using node system i can esily debug , i can detach , branch , group, or maybe copy group of modifier and paste to other object.
i'm new to blender (i used modo and houdini) and just tried some addons like booltool and bevelr which add a lot of boolean and bevel modifier on the stack and by looking at the stack , it already made me having a headache :-) . Don't get me wrong , those addons are great and i love to use it a lot, but the problem is in how Blender handle the load.
Btw, of course Blender can make the node shape more fancy than this :-)
7 Comments
Its not a make it like Houdini proposal. More like add basic node support for modifiers. Would be very useful. Animation nodes is the closest to this funtionality. Im sure the Animation Nodes dev could really help with this.
Hi all, maybe i'm not clear enough, i'm not trying to make blender like Houdini :-) . I've updated my post by adding new image to show roughly wha't i'm trying to propose. Pls have a look. Those node base to replace the stack system in modifier.
The Sverchock Nodes (add-on) are similar to this. I do also want to see a more procedural "Node Based" modeling approach:
nikitron.cc.ua/sverchok_en.html
I do agree though that there needs to be much more aggregation of gathered input to undertake such a huge task.
"Make it like houdini" is not a constructive proposal. Something like this is already planed but if will need work of multiple developers for multiple months. Change like that require solid technical design and rewriting several thousands lines of code. For meaningful proposal you have to write HOW system like that should work and provide use-case examples.
@Bartosz Moniewski:
Thanks for the comment. But i don't make proposal to make like houdini and i don't want blender to become Houdini. Houdini is all node base from the root. But make it like houdini is not like writing thousands of code .... to make it like houdini it will need to rewriting all codes from scratch ! But this is not what i'm trying to propose. It's jut for reference. You make it like houdini, i bet many artist will leave blender.
The thing here is the modifier stack become hard to control when you have many of them. So i rather have them like the material where you can expand them as nodes, so you can easily manage it rather than layering stack.
I'm really sorry if i'm not clear enough, but i've updated my post and add new image to represent what i'm trying to propose. Pls check the new image. Anyway thanks for 'pushing' me to make the illustrations :-)
@Bartosz Moniewski: except as you mentioned nodes everything is on the horizon for blender. it's still listed as a future goal. it may not end up actually being everything though so it's not so much make it like houdini as much as what concepts have other softwares explored which blender hasn't and from their example what do we think having in blender would make blender better?
besides they they did point out use case. a lot of people don't seem to understand that the modifier stack actually works in effect like a node string already (modifier order matters for outcome of results) having the visual of what it's doing in what order should help them understand why modifier order in the stack matters. this should also help with working with modifiers in a more reasonable fashion when you've got a big stack of them.
for my own part, i've long since thought that i'd like to be able to add in a sort of boolean mix or possibly math nodes in the tree for driver purposes which would enable some neat stuff. that isn't something you can do with a simple stack. sure you can add drivers to your variables on a modifier setting in a stack but you can't add drivers that affect the path of the stack itself because stacks can't branch out and meet up purely because they're simply a stack.
good news : youtube.com/watch