User:Metin Seven/Reports

Reports 2021

May 03 - May 10

• Added multiple new Geometry Nodes demo scenes to the Blender.org file server and Demo Files download page, including a parametric building generator (temporarily deactivated until the Blender 2.93 release).
• Updated three 2.92 Blender demo scenes that didn't work correctly in 2.93: 'Spherical eye', 'Cubic whirlpool' and 'Text morph'.

April 26 - May 02

• Daily checking, moderation, participation and answering at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Added a new Geometry Nodes demo scene to the Blender.org file server and Demo Files download page, titled Ripple Dreams (temporarily deactivated until the Blender 2.93 release).
• Reported a possible Cycles-X bug to Brecht at Blender.chat, and initiated and moderated a Cycles-X feedback thread at Devtalk.
• Made three Blender builds for the Experimental branch download page:

─ A new version of the Sculpt Dev branch after the 3.0 Master build was merged on April 22nd.

─ The BMesh Multires branch, so there's a download for some first public testing.

─ Update of the Cycles-X branch.

─ Posted notifications of the availability of these branch updates at the Blender Artists and Devtalk communities, to stimulate testing.

• Discovered a reproducible crash in the new Sculpt Dev build. Sent a download link to the crash scene and info to Pablo Dobarro. The issue turned out to be caused by the Dyntopo version that was used in the Sculpt Dev branch, and the issue does not occur in the BMesh Multires branch I initiated today, featuring a newer version of Dyntopo. So the issue has been solved.
• Noticed an issue in the Sculpt Dev build regarding a selection highlight color remaining visible in a separate camera view. Reported it to Pablo Dobarro in the Sculpt-Paint-Texture-Module at Blender.chat.
• While testing the Temp Bmesh Multires build I encountered a sudden slowdown issue, which I reported to Joseph Eagar at the Sculpt-Paint-Texture-Module channel at Blender.chat, and sent a download link to the problem scene. The bug was discovered and fixed.
• Initiated a discussion in the Staff section of Devtalk and the BF Committers mailing list, about the (current lack of) inclusion of a tag that would unify the different types of meeting notes, so it would be easier for Blender users to follow all meeting notes.
• Approached the creator of a scene featuring parametric buildings generated using Geometry Nodes, asking for submission of the scene as a Blender demo. The creator responded positively.

April 19 - April 25

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Continued creating and improving assets for the Blender Assets Bundle.
• The Blender Asset Bundle task (T55239) was reassigned to me. Started indexing and managing the Asset Bundle, including contributions from other Blender artists.

─ Approached Vilém Duha from Blenderkit to ask if he would like to contribute materials to the Asset Bundle. He responded positively.

• Processed several procedural materials and textures by Simon Thommes into the material assets Blend file, including renaming, adding Asset Manager descriptions, keywords, committing to the repository, and updating the Asset Bundle task (T55239).
• Added a new Geometry Nodes demo scene to the Blender.org file server and Demo Files download page, titled Abstract Monkey (temporarily deactivated until the Blender 2.93 release).
• Established a new Blender Asset Bundle info Wiki page, reorganizing content from a design note by Julian Eisel and combining it with the Asset Bundle task (T55239) intro text.
• Simplified the Asset Bundle task (T55239) intro text, referring to the new Blender Asset Bundle Wiki page for more info.

April 12 - April 18

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Continued creating assets for the Blender Assets Bundle (details: T55239):

─ Car paint material with automatic angular discoloration and procedural flakes.

• Approached two Blender artists to ask if they would like to share their interesting Geometry Nodes demo scenes via the Blender.org Demo Files download page.
• Checked and added two new Blender demo scenes to the Blender file server and the Blender Demo Files page CMS, in deactivated state.
• Updated the Blender feature demo scene info Wiki page.
• Checked and added a new Geometry Nodes demo scene by James Redmond to the Blender file server and the Blender Demo Files page CMS, in deactivated state.

April 05 - April 11

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Finished studio lighting setups for the Built-in Assets project (T55239).
• Requested a repository folder for the Built-in Assets, so they can easily be connected to the Blender releases.
• Set up SVN in order to be able to commit asset updates to the Phabricator.
• Committed the first version of the Blender Asset Bundle blend file (rBL62609).
• Created various metal materials for the Blender Assets Bundle (rBL62611), featuring:

─ correct Fresnel conversion of IOR to Specular value, as described in the Blender documentation;

─ node groups for procedural scratches and brushed surface textures.

• Split previous assets Blend file into Materials.asset.blend and StudioLights.asset.blend , and extended and improved the studio lights (rBL62612).

March 29 - April 4

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Performed some language corrections in the Blender community sites page.
• Added the 'meeting' tag to all meeting threads in Devtalk, so visitors can search across different types of meetings (general, rendering, UI) using the 'meeting' tag.
• Built a new Sculpt Dev branch build for the Blender Experimental Builds.
• Continued creating assets for the Built-in Assets project (T55239):

─ More lighting setups with softbox mesh lights.

─ Lighting setups with fine control over light falloff (Cycles).

March 22 - March 28

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Checked and prepared Blender 2.93 demo scenes from the Blender feature demo scene submissions list, including addition of 'README' info texts.
• Uploaded the demo scenes to the Blender file server, and added temporarily deactivated entries to the Blender.org Demo Files download page.
• Approached Blender demo scene creator James Redmond regarding a rendering issue in one of his Geometry Nodes demo scenes. We subsequently agreed that he will submit four new 2.93 Geometry Nodes demo scenes in time before the 2.93 release.
• Approached Blender demo scene creator Grigoriy Ignatyev because a number of elements turned out to be invisible in the March 23 Alpha of 2.93. He will take a look at it. It's probably caused by changes in Geo Nodes.
• Added an observation to my T84513 bug submission.
• Approached Blender artist Erindale Woodford regarding a Geometry Nodes scene that would be eligible for the Blender Demo Files page and possibly also the 2.93 splash screen. He prepared the scene.
• Updated the Blender feature demo scene submissions list, including addition of a dual screenshot to show how multiple info text blocks can be included in a demo scene.

March 15 - March 21

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Received the previously mentioned Blend file containing two new Geometry Nodes demo scenes for the 2.93 release. Updated the Blender demo file contributions note, and will check and prepare all 2.93 demo scenes soon.
• Confirmed an apparent bug in the Grease Pencil Time Offset modifier: the Reverse option repeats the animation once (so it is played twice), then stops. Checked this by request of Frogstomp in the #blender-coders channel on Blender.chat.
• Approached a Blender artist on Twitter who shared a nice potential 2.93 demo scene, but the scene turned out to contain commercial 3D models.
• Transferred the Blender demo file contributions note to a new Blender Wiki page, including conversion of Markdown tags to Wiki markup tags.

March 08 - March 14

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Continued creation of a demo scene to showcase the improved Random Walk SSS algorithm in Blender 2.93.
• Finalized the Random Walk SSS demo scene, and created two renderings, one in 2.92 and one in 2.93, for a comparison in the 2.93 Cycles Release Notes.
• Added the Random Walk SSS demo scene to the Blender.org Demo Files download page.
• Removed all 2.92 requirement indications from the Blender Demo Files page now that 2.92 has been officially released.
• Updated the Blender demo file contributions note with new Blender demo scenes, to be processed into the Demo Files download page.
• Added a 'Demo scene submission guidelines' section to the Blender demo file contributions note.
• Edited 'README' text, renamed file, rendered and added the 'Taco rice' 2.92 Geometry Nodes demo scene to the Blender Demo Files page.
• Approached a Blender user via Twitter, asking if he would be interested to submit his 2.93 Geometry Nodes demo scene(s) for inclusion in the Blender Demo Files page. He turned out to be interested. The scene(s) will follow. Added entry in Blender demo file contributions note.

March 01 - March 07

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk and Blender.chat.
• Checked a report of the APIC vs FLIP solver fluid simulation demo scene inexplicably not rendering in F12 production rendering mode (it only worked in the Eevee viewport). Fixed the issue by appending everything into a fresh Blender scene, and updated the Demo Files page download of the scene.
• Prepared and added an APIC solver fluid simulation lava demo scene to the Blender Demo Files page, after approval by Dalai Felinto and fluid sim developer Sebastián Barschkis.
• Posted a reminder at developer.blender.org that my T83623 bug report hasn't been picked up yet. The issue is still there at the time of writing.
• Updated Glen Melenhorst's Mr. Elephant demo scene, which had become very slow due to Eevee having changed. Changed the Volumetric Shadows to a value of 1 for a significant speed-up. Will update the Demo Files download around the 2.93 release, so the current version will remain compatible with current Blender versions.
• Updated the Blender demo file contributions note to reflect the above.
• Submitted Sculpt Mode UI / UX feedback to Blender.chat and Devtalk.
• Submitted bug report T86331 (Preferences window save menu issue).
• Continued creation of a demo scene to showcase the improved Random Walk SSS algorithm in Blender 2.93.

February 22 - February 28

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Added a 2.92 splash screen download entry to the Demo Files page, including credits, links and the right Creative Commons license type.
• Created a marked-up HackMD note containing Blender demo file submissions, authors and related information, which I will keep up to date.
• Prepared and added a fluid simulation solver demo scene by Sebastián Barschkis to the 2.92 Demo Files page.
• Inspected the Geometry Nodes demo scenes from the Demo Files page, which turned out to look correct in the viewport, but incorrect in the production rendering. Approached the creator, who fixed the rendering issues. Added credits for newly embedded HDRI files to the 'README' text editor data blocks, and reuploaded the scenes to the Demo Files page.
• Unlocked cameras in the Geometry Nodes files, to avoid user confusion, and updated the Demo Files page downloads.
• Approached a concept artist to ask for permission to translate a drawing of his to a 3D demo scene to showcase the improved Random Walk SSS algorithm in Blender 2.93.
• Started creating a demo scene to showcase the improved Random Walk SSS algorithm in Blender 2.93.

February 15 - February 21

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Created variations of the Blender 2.92 splash screen in several sizes and two image file formats with the appropriate filenames for the Steam release, according to the Steam image submission guidelines.
• Established a GIMP XCF template with all splash variations as layers, including fitting logos as separate layers for each size, to ease future creation of the Steam splash screen variations.
• Final management of Blender 2.92 demo content submissions, including discussing with the participating artists, asking for adjustments, presenting a list of final demo scene submission download links, author names and website links to the Blender staff on Blender.chat.
• Prepared the selected demo scene submissions, combining some Blend files into one Blend file with multiple scenes, adding credits and instructions in a 'README' text datablock, and making sure they're saved from Blender 2.92.
• Uploaded the demo scenes to blender.org, created thumbnails, added new sections and demo scene download entries with credits to the Demo Files page.

February 08 - February 14

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Continued management of Blender 2.92 demo content submissions, including discussing the content with the participating artists, asking for adjustments, planning delivery and posting updates on Blender.chat. Reported the first final demo scene submissions to the Blender staff.
• Continued creating the first assets for the Built-In Assets project (T55239): studio lighting setups, including creation of limbos and pedestals, adding every item to the Asset Library and tagging everything.

February 01 - February 07

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Continued management of Blender 2.92 demo content submissions, including discussing the content with the participating artists, planning delivery and posting updates on Blender.chat.
• Started creating the first assets for the Built-In Assets project (T55239): studio lighting setups.
• Discovered and submitted issue T85454. This turned out to be a known limitation though.

January 25 - January 31

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk. Among the activities is closing these topics: An open letter to the Blender Foundation and When will real caustics be implemented.
• Blender Wiki maintenance: checked links in Addons section, fixed broken Blender Add-ons link, added a list entry with advice to subscribe to the Add-ons (Community) project, and some more minor updates of that page.
• Posted to #Blender-coders on Blender.chat that the Submit Add-on and Add-ons (Community) pages on developer.blender.org both reference the, no longer used, Addon Catalog and should be updated.
• Submitted a proposal for an Apply Scale option with automatically corrected modifier values to Devtalk and Blender.chat.
• Posted a request for Blender 2.92 demo content on Blender community platforms and social media: BlenderNation, Blender Artists and Twitter.
• Corresponded with the Blender users who responded to the request for 2.92 demo content.
• Submitted issue T85224, regarding Sculpt Mode Auto-Masking. This turned out to be an unclear difference between local and global settings.

January 18 - January 24

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Created and rendered a Blender demo animation scene to showcase the fluid system's Viscosity feature.
• Added a compilation of rendered frames from the Viscosity demo scene to the Blender 2.92 Release Notes.
• Initiated a discussion with Julian Eisel about the Built-in Assets project (T55239), as a preamble to working on content for the Built-in Assets.
• Tested if bug T84049 I reported still causes a crash in the latest Blender 2.92 Beta. The crash still occurred, indicated that.
• Submitted a proposal for Subdivision Surface modifier improvement to Devtalk and Blender.chat. The proposal has been initiated in patch D10187.

January 11 - January 17

• Daily checking, moderation and participation at Blender Developer Talk.
• Researched potential artists for the Blender 2.92 splash image, and communicated 11 portfolios and related contact info to Blender staff members.
• Wrote two iterations of a Copyright Rules concept text for the Blender Wiki.
• Finalized the Copyright Rules text and implemented it in the Blender Wiki, including an introduction text in the Communication section.

January 04 - January 10

• Researched a number of things, such as tasks to perform on a regular basis, who is responsible for which Blender tasks, where and how to submit my reports, and more.
• Added issue report T84513
• Asked Ray Molenkamp (Lazy Dodo) to inform me of his Devtalk moderation activities, so I can start relieving him from those tasks.
• Performed various moderation tasks at Devtalk, including moving threads to appropriate sections, answering questions and participating in discussions.
• Asked Bastien Montagne to create a Blender Wiki account for me.
• Created my personal Blender Wiki profile and pages.
• Approached two potential Blender developers.