The idea is to be able to pause a render and then to be able to resume the render later, either during the current Blending session or at some future time after having exited and restarted Blender.

The render state could be kept in an external file (e.g. example.blend.renderstate) while render image could be maintained in its own subdirectory (much like what was done with particle caching) so renders could be continued not only on one system but multiple systems if necessary (assuming in this example the same version of Blender is being used on all systems involved).

That last part could also offer potential benefits for advanced renderfarm applications. One example being where a custom (i.e. Blender-specific) renderfarm with potentially multiple different systems (render nodes) could, upon finding calculating an opportunity (either predetermined via benchmarks before production time rendering or through realtime performance checks) for faster rendering on a newly available node with faster/higher computational capacity (e.g. multicore system/more RAM), terminate the slower render node (while not losing its progress by virtue of a rendestate) and then advance the job (blend file) to the better node with renderstate information so as to resume the render.

Just some thoughts :-)


Thanks for considering,

RobertT

Currently we can import nodes from a .blend file provided they have been grouped before saving.

Groups do not support Render Layers when attempting to select all nodes and creating a Group.

There have been times it would have been very helpful to be able to import entire render settings and complete node setups, especially where animations and settings (such as FFMPEG, OSA, render size, etc). can be concerned over multiple blends after a project became quite involved and altered over various stages of production.

Perhaps the upcoming architecture of Blender will enable such data being importable in future .blend files.


Thank you for considering this idea,

RobertT

When animating objects and armatures and going back to refine or eliminate some movements, I have often wished it was possible, within the 3D View, to bring up a menu where I could clear, selectively or completely, a keyed rotation, location, or scaling for an object or bone on the current frame.

Pressing ALT K could produce a menu for context appropriate key removal options, just as it happens inversely for settable keys after pressing the I KEY.

That is to say, if hovering over an object/bone, there would be the expected LocX/Y/Z/etc. key options (and possibly an All Keys option), while hovering over a material window produces the appropriate list of options (RGB/Alpha/etc.).

The result of such an action would be that key(s) selected by the user would be removed, if present on the current frame, from the corresponding IPO curve(s).

The current manual way we can do this is by going into an object's IPO and selecting multiple curves, entering edit mode for those curves, selecting the keys, and then deleting them.

This involves a number of steps (and at least one more if IPO window is not in current view setup) and much care when attempting to select the keys where complex actions (multiple keys in close proximity) are involved.

It is often necessary to zoom in to select certain keys, and, if vertical key positions in the curves are beyond the current IPO window, extra panning up/down is necessary to locate keys in order to select and delete them.

I believe the ease of being able to set a key in the 3D View via I KEY would be greatly complemented by an option to delete specific keys later via an ALT K KEY combination.

The animation workflow, for example, after main poses are blocked out and finer keyed motions/translations are keyed in later, could be substantially expedited and made easier by having the ability to delete keys without leaving the 3D View and hunt for IPO curves.

[....]

It would be very helpful if Tex fields in things such as constraints and modifiers (e.g. Displace modifier) and Obj fields (e.g. Array modifier) could be automatically populated (as they are in other areas, such as Tex in the Material window's texture slots) with available names of Textures or Objects as appropriate.

This could greatly expedite workflow and make the UI more pen-computing friendly as such editing actions would then be more point-and-click instead of having to type in Texture/Object names in certain fields when in others they are automatically listed and selectable.

Perhaps this will be addressed and made consistent in the upcoming UI refresh.

Thank you for considering,

RobertT

Replace static OSA 5/8/11/16 buttons with simple OSA slider.

A level of OSA 2 or 3 can help expedite animation renders (especially test renders where some but not much OSA is desired), saving several seconds or more per render (depending on factors such as AO, ray tracing, render size).

Some renders, where crisper/sharper lines are preferred (without resorting to nodes or no OSA) could benefit from

Currently the "N" key menu in the 3D View brings up the Transform Properties of an object.

I often like to work in "full screen mode" in Blender, especially when creating meshes or editing a scene.

Unfortunately, to access things such as materials or lamp settings, I have to exit the full screen mode, select the proper display panel, make the necessary adjustments, and then re-enter full screen mode.

This situation is not a prerequisite for what I am about to suggest, as the following proposal also benefits regular screen mode (especially those where screen layouts are configured for other things, such as IPO, sculpting, etc.).

The idea:

In this same window that appears when pressing N there could also be, by way of small tabs (as tabs presently automatically appear when multiple panels in the material window are stacked), there could also be displayed (upon clicking on the appropriate tab in the "N Window") various aspects of "Buttons window" type information pertaining to the currently selected object.

For example:

I am in "full screen mode."

I select a lamp in the 3D View, or I add a lamp.

I press N.

Instead of simply the Transform Properties window that currently appears, I now see an Object Properties window.


[....]

Octree resolution is one of those little understood yet powerful settings that can make a dramatic difference in render time.

While a setting of 128 is often suitable for projects, there are times an octree setting of 256 or 512 can lead to faster render times given the size, complexity, and ray settings of the scene.

It would be great if Blender could determine what is the optimal octree resolution for the current object(s)/scene to be rendered.

Perhaps some sort of bounding box could assist the analysis prior to rendering, in addition to an objects/faces count and a determination if any ray tracing is going to be performed.

In terms of interface implementation of this feature, there could simply be an additional "Auto" setting in the Octree Resolution drop-down box or a little Auto icon to the left of the drop-down box (as is currently done with threads as of 2.46).

During animations, where objects can literally come and go, change size, and switch layers even, an automated Octree resolution per frame (if it could be determined fast enough) could possibly reduce render times across multiple frames.


Thank you for considering this idea,

RobertT

There are times I wish I could grab the 3D cursor with a simple keystroke and place it wherever I want on the screen:

- without having to click anywhere in the 3D View

- without having to select any vertices/faces/objects and use any cursor snap functions

- but with full x/y/z axial constraining as can be done when moving a regular object

- and possibly with Blender-unit snapping (i.e. as when holding CTRL down when moving an object).


Precision placement of object insertion is one major reason -- as opposed to moving an object after it has been added to a scene (kind of ironic in a sense, given a cursor generally is where you want the object to be, most notably when you type). :-)

Fine-tuning a position of 3D cursor is another reason.

Other benefits could come of it.




Thank you for considering this idea.

RobertT

The existing Blender Specials menu in the 3D View (brought up with W key) already has a Flip Normals function.

In the interests of convenience, completeness, and consistently (and also thinking of potentially more logical function groupings that could conceivably be achieved during future 2.50+ UI updates), it would be nice to have a Recalc Normals In (CTRL SHIFT N keys) and a Recalc Normals Out (CTRL N keys) included in that Specials menu.


Thank you for considering this suggestion,

RobertT

Blender presently has the ability to render a region of the entire render.

This is extremely helpful for preview/tweaking purposes as a project develops.

As a project approaches completion, there are times when small adjustments are made to an area of a project that would not merit a complete re-render.

For these times, I think it would be great if Blender could have this additional render option (possibly only for non-animated scenes):

The ability to re-render a portion of a scene and then to re-incorporate that re-rendered portion back into the previous render.

If render nodes are used, the reincorporated render could then be processed as normal, since it will occupy its own input render layer.

This, of course, would not be an option without issues, especially if objects or lights in a scene are relocated and then partially re-rendered.

Possible issues a user must consider before performing a partial re-render include: ray-tracing considerations (reflection/refraction), shadows (raytraced or not), radiosity solution, materials.

Once a user understands these potential issues, a determination could then be made as to whether or not a total re-render is necessary.


Thanks for considering this concept,

RobertT

Some operating systems and programs attempt to increase accessibility by offering users with visual difficulties the option of displaying content in "high contrast" mode.

Since Blender does not inherit color schemes or other GUI elements from the local operating system, Blender does not presently conform to such existing user preferences.

I think it could be helpful to at least have a user-selectable "High Contrast" theme in Blender, which could then be saved by a user to be the default.

This added option would not affect users who did not need it, as it would merely be a selectable preference in the settings menu.

For more information on what this means to users, use the following search terms in your favorite search engine:

accessibility "high contrast"



Thank you very much for considering this idea,

RobertT

I think it could be quite educational for viewers of Blender video tutorials if there were an option (preference) available to tutorial creators to display keys currently being pressed along with mouse buttons (left/right/middle) being clicked in the current view, much like the current object and/or camera names can be viewed on screen in the 3D View.

Due to how fast certain keystroke combinations can occur, and the disparity of frame rate of video capture, this might not be practical/possible in all situations where there are complex modeling or other activities underway.

One solution to the speed problem could be to offer the key/mouse combinations as "last key" pressed/"last mouse button" clicked and to display that information with a delay or to make it persist until the next keystroke/mouse click occurs.

Another solution, of course, is to proceed at a slower pace :-)

This came to mind after I posted a speed modeling session of mine a while back at BlenderArtists.org and someone expressed interest in what keys I had been using.

Under more ideal circumstances, such as someone intentionally going slower for tutorial purposes and recording the session at a higher frame rate, the real time visual key click/mouse click indicators could be extremely helpful.

These visual cues can also be helpful in the following manners:

- For new users, they can pay more attention the keystrokes/mouse clicks as necessary.

- For advanced users, they can ignore the visual cues and concentrate more on the work flow and tutorial provider's commentary.

- For the tutorial provider, there are at least three immediate benefits:


[....]