[freearchitecture] Blender-Developments

[Steve Hall]

On Sat, 2006-05-06 at 14:36 +0300, Lars O. Grobe wrote:
> 
> > But I don't think there is (as yet) "one right project" to back on
> > this goal -- there is rather a number of promising puzzle pieces
> > that don't quite fit together yet.
> > 
> > What do you think?
> > 
> > I'd be happy to compose an email advocating a course of action,
> > but I am not myself sure what the right course is.
> 
> I have the following in mind. I do not think as much about promoting
> the development of an application at the moment, more to bring a
> workflow environment (or however I could call it) some steps
> further.

I agree, the current state of CAD related to the building industry is
the wrong model to follow. We're still using the concept of CAD from
twenty years ago, which is fine for engineering machine parts but has
little to do with the art of architecture.

> I see that for architecture, we could define a certain typical
> workflow including

I love to see lists like this, they are irresistible to make aren't
they? ;)

However, I think the big picture is too complicated to solve. The fact
is, *none* of the layers in the stack are currently met by Free
Software (beyond typical desktop stuff).

Not that I want to quell interest in Lars' formative group, I just
think FOSS problems are best solved at the local level by somebody
scratching an itch. This explains Blender's attractiveness, it is
obviously scratching a lot of people's itches.

I guess we're saying that architecture, and the building industry in
general, is not met very well by Free Software. There are probably
other industries with just as big a need, but we know this one better
than most.

I'd rather us figure out which itches are the worst, rather than spend
the next ten years trying to design the perfect backscratcher. 

As an architect practicing today, I personally need two things: a high
end 2D CAD and a great 3D modeler. Once those are solved, THEN I'm
going to have this spot in between. 

I honestly don't think there is any proprietary system that delivers
this yet either. There is considerable promise, but to date I've only
witnessed smoke and mirrors. In reality 2D and 3D are distinct, and
specifications, schedules, and cost estimates the stuff of word
processors and spreadsheets.

So we still have time. Let's get the basics done, then we can work up
to excellent.


-- 
Steve Hall  [ digitect mindspring com ]