[FreePV-dev] Pano Authoring GUI/Application

[Yuval L. (sf.net) <sf...@sf...>]

Bernhard Vogl wrote:

>> What is your definition of "Pano-Production Interface"?
>> [snip]
>> - the meta data describing/defining the interaction _with_ the 
>> panorama, the gui and the user
>
>
> ^^^ We need something to create this ^^^
> Maybe we shall call it "Pano Authoring GUI/Application" ?
>
> The authoring application is needed by the panorama creator, not by 
> the end user. It is a separate piece of software, not included in the 
> plugin. It will make plugin metadata creation easy. Timeline: Start 
> after defining a basic set of "metadata" for the viewer, first release 
> should be in synchonisation with the viewer itself.
> Maybe it can also take over the job of converting QTVR/PTViewer/etc. 
> panoramas to the new plugin. But this is a point worth of discussing.

OK, so we need to first define a basic set of "metadata". We currently 
have a number of choices. There is the applet scripting (ptviewer), the 
XML (SPiV, Immerivision) and the embedded sprites of QuickTime.

I think we mostly agree that the viewer should support as many formats 
as possible.

In my opinion an authoring tool should support conversion FROM existing 
formats, but only TO the one format that the team will select as 
"native" to the viewer.

I believe an authoring tool is critical and is one of the reason why 
photographers prefer to work with QuickTime and its panoply of authoring 
tools rather than with SPiV/ptviewer where they are forced to manually 
type the meta-data.

Variety is the spice of life and I think there are a number of different 
philosophies to go about the authoring tool, all of them valid. Some 
software writer might see it as a commercial opportunity, the same way 
that QTVR authoring tools are seen now. This might be in conflict with 
the team's aspiration for a free tool. It might also pitch team members 
into competition on the field of authoring tools. It might mean a 
discussion whether such a tool will be part of the freepv project at 
all, if it will be whether it will be a simple LGPLd one based on which 
others can produce more sophisticated, commercial versions or whether it 
will be a fully fledged state of the art tool (at the risk of having a 
mono-culture of one authoring tool only).

Yuv