Modding Blender for Interior Design - download.blender.org · © 2013 Microvellum, Inc. All Rights...

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Modding Blender for Interior Design Presented by: Andrew Peel & Ryan Montes


Fluid Designer

• Built on Blender

• Provides an Intuitive and efficient way to design

interior spaces.


Quick and Easy Design Tools

• Drag and Drop (Objects, Groups, Materials)

• Simplified User Interface

• Consistent Data Structure

• Automate complex time consuming procedures


Who is Microvellum?

• Software company founded in 1991

• Develops design, engineering, and manufacturing software for the woodworking industry

• Fully funded development for Fluid Designer to give their users a free design solution that

connects directly with Microvellum’s Manufacturing Tools


How did this project start?

• Started development of Fluid Designer Prototype in August 2012

• Presented the prototype on February 2013 to Microvellum

• Started full time development February 2013

• Featured Fluid Designer at IWFS


Development Strategies

• Don’t reinvent the wheel – Blender has great tools, so we tried to utilize as much as Blenders

functionality as possible.

• Develop Fluid Designer as a Blender Add-on – To keep this project easily updated with

Blenders Development most of the development was done in Python.

• Use Microvellum’s Data Structure – To allow a seamless connection with Microvellum’s

Manufacturing Tools we used their existing architecture as a template to write the data structure.

• Development Based on a Workflow – Develop a workflow then break down the needed tools

for that workflow.


Library Management

• Easily Manage Assets

• Save assets to the Library

• Thumbnail Previews


Library Panel – Drag and Drop

• Automates and Simplifies Appending

Objects, Groups, Materials, World Env.

• Automates placing objects in the correct

location.


New Data Structures

• Products, Inserts, and Parts

• Prompts

• Libraries


Automating Blenders Functionality – Draw Wall

• Drawing a Cube Mesh

• Easy… Right?



• Add Cube (for base point)

• Go into Edit Mode

• Select All

• Merge vertices at center

• Exit Edit Mode

• Add Cube (for wall mesh)


• Toggle Face Select Mode

• Select Bottom Face

• Translate Z Origin to 0

• Select Front Face

• Translate Y Origin to 0

• Select Left Face

• Translate X Origin to 0

• Exit Edit Mode

• Parent Mesh to Base Point

• Add Empty (for X Dim Hook)

• Parent to Base Point

• Set Location

• Add Empty (for Y Dim Hook)


• Set Location

• Add Empty (for Z Dim Hook)


• Set Location

• Select X Hook and Mesh


• Select Right Face

• Hook Verts to Selected Object

• Exit Edit Mode

• Select Y Hook and Mesh


• Select Back Face


• Exit Edit Mode

• Select Z Hook and Mesh


• Select Top Face


• Exit Edit Mode

• Then… Take a Nap



• Automating all of those steps

• Eliminates user error

• Improves efficiency

• Less steps for new users to understand


What’s Next?

• Finish connection to Microvellum’s Manufacturing Tools

• Get vendors to develop Fluid Designer libraries that can be sold on the Microvellum Webstore

• Write development documentation and develop an open source project

www.microvellum.com


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Modding Blender for Interior Design - download.blender.org · © 2013 Microvellum, Inc. All Rights...

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