become invalid because the render database is not immediately freed after the job finishes. To avoid access to dangling node pointers, store the function callback in the exec data itself. The node
pointer must not be accessed in the free function (wasn't used before either), these functions are purely for the execution data.
PyNodes opens up the node system in Blender to scripters and adds a number of UI-level improvements.
=== Dynamic node type registration ===
Node types can now be added at runtime, using the RNA registration mechanism from python. This enables addons such as render engines to create a complete user interface with nodes.
Examples of how such nodes can be defined can be found in my personal wiki docs atm [1] and as a script template in release/scripts/templates_py/custom_nodes.py [2].
=== Node group improvements ===
Each node editor now has a tree history of edited node groups, which allows opening and editing nested node groups. The node editor also supports pinning now, so that different spaces can be used to edit different node groups simultaneously. For more ramblings and rationale see (really old) blog post on code.blender.org [3].
The interface of node groups has been overhauled. Sockets of a node group are no longer displayed in columns on either side, but instead special input/output nodes are used to mirror group sockets inside a node tree. This solves the problem of long node lines in groups and allows more adaptable node layout. Internal sockets can be exposed from a group by either connecting to the extension sockets in input/output nodes (shown as empty circle) or by adding sockets from the node property bar in the "Interface" panel. Further details such as the socket name can also be changed there.
[1] http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Phonybone/Python_Nodes
[2] http://projects.blender.org/scm/viewvc.php/trunk/blender/release/scripts/templates_py/custom_nodes.py?view=markup&root=bf-blender
[3] http://code.blender.org/index.php/2012/01/improving-node-group-interface-editing/
- Cycles materials now render in Blender Internal too, skipping the nodes.
Not very useful, but at least things then show up on renders and in
previews.
- Node editor: if wrong shader nodes are in a tree, they draw with thene
color RED ALERT headers now. (Switching render engine will show it).
Problem here is that muted nodes and reroute nodes are supposed to be removed from the execution node tree during the localize function. However, this is function is apparently only used during preview renders and must be considered a hack (is there anything that is not a hack in BI?)
Now the mute/reroute check happens in the node tree exec functions still used by BI and the legacy compositor and texture nodes. It uses the same internal_connect function from nodes to assign input stack indices directly to outputs (which also avoids overhead). Localize function also still does this. Cycles/Tile should also implement muting/reroute in their intermediate node layers by using this function, then it could be removed from localize too.
This branch adds mostly organizational improvements to the node system by renaming the node folders and files. A couple of internal features have been added too.
Detailed information can be found on the wiki page:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Phonybone/Particles2010
