GSoC idea

[Boudewijn Rempt]

On Monday 23 March 2009, Aca Markovic wrote:
> Hello Boudewijn,
> Thanks for a quick reply!

Too quick it turns out -- I had some problems with my connection, which was 
slow, and pressed enter instead of ^O to postpone for some later additions. 
Anyway...

> I took a look at Art Rage, and I really like it! Now I understand the
> project a little bit better, but I still think that my experience with the
> project I mentioned might help me :)
> Is there a place where I can look at the interface of the existing tools
> and functions already implemented in Krita, which I could than use to make
> the Sketch-pad interface?

Sure -- you can check out the code. You would need to -- probably -- fork 
krita/ui. There are useful bits in that library, like the krita/ui/tools
and krita/canvas. But you would need to make new main window and new widgets 
to select colors tool/brush preset combinations. A good way to get started 
would be to draw a nice mockup of the intended interface (which should not be 
100% cloned from Art Rage, of course -- also take a look at 
http://gamma.cs.unc.edu/impasto/).

> Also, I was wondering how would you like the sketch pad to be added? Like a
> special "view", like a completely different program (Krita lite, Krita
> sketch ? :) ), like a special "mode"...?

I would prefer a separate application using as much of the Krita libraries
and plugins unchanged as possible.

> I was first thinking about just
> implementing a toolbar, but because of the multiple to single layer
> transition, I think that is not an option?

No -- in fact, I think that there shouldn't be toolbars in this application at 
all :-). You also don't need to care about handling layers: for now, just one 
layer should be fine.

> Also, I was wondering is the design of the interface (color choosers etc)
> already predefined? Should it be similar to Krita, or perhaps, should it be
> something more appealing to children who like to sketch? :)

Think tablet devices like tablet laptops or the maemo -- that is, as much as 
possible keep the paper central and make the widgets to choose colors, brushes
and so on at the fringes. Tuxpaint isn't a good example :-)

-- 
Boudewijn Rempt | http://www.valdyas.org