Add "Import Images as Planes" to Blender as an Operator #122223

Campbell Barton · 2024-05-24T16:11:13+02:00

Campbell Barton commented

2024-05-24 16:11:13 +02:00

Add the operator from the io_import_images_as_planes add-on,
making it a built-in operator.

The main differences with the add-on are:

Compositor integration has been removed.
The file handler for dropping images has been removed
to avoid conflicting with Blender's default drop handler.

Otherwise all other functionality has been kept.

Background: when moving add-ons to extensions this was one of the add-ons many users mentioned as being important to them and preferred it not be moved to an extension. Given this seems to be such a useful feature this PR proposes to make it part of Blender.

Note: I'm sure how significant the compositor integration was, given the workarounds that were needed to make it work, I don't think it's acceptable to include the functionality. There may be some users who want this still.

Add the operator from the io_import_images_as_planes add-on, making it a built-in operator. The main differences with the add-on are: - Compositor integration has been removed. - The file handler for dropping images has been removed to avoid conflicting with Blender's default drop handler. Otherwise all other functionality has been kept. ---- Background: when moving add-ons to extensions this was one of the add-ons many users mentioned as being important to them and preferred it not be moved to an extension. Given this seems to be such a useful feature this PR proposes to make it part of Blender. Note: I'm sure how significant the compositor integration was, given the workarounds that were needed to make it work, I don't think it's acceptable to include the functionality. There may be some users who want this still.

👍 2 ❤️ 7

Campbell Barton added 8 commits 2024-05-24 16:11:22 +02:00

Initial working images-as-planes 072d9d2346

Co-authored-by: Aaron Carlisle <carlisle.b3d@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Bastien Montagne <bastien@blender.org>
Co-authored-by: Brecht Van Lommel <brecht@blender.org>
Co-authored-by: Brendon Murphy <meta.androcto1@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Campbell Barton <ideasman42@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: CoDEmanX <codemanx@gmx.de>
Co-authored-by: Dalai Felinto <dalai@blender.org>
Co-authored-by: Damien Picard <dam.pic@free.fr>
Co-authored-by: Daniel Salazar <zanqdo@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Florian Meyer <florianfelix@web.de>
Co-authored-by: Jacques Lucke <mail@jlucke.com>
Co-authored-by: Jesse Yurkovich <jesse.y@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Jonathan Smith <j.jaydez@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Luca Bonavita <mindrones@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: meta-androcto <meta.androcto1@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Philipp Oeser <info@graphics-engineer.com>
Co-authored-by: Pratik Borhade <pratikborhade302@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Rick Astley <mrbimax>
Co-authored-by: Sergey Sharybin <sergey@blender.org>
Co-authored-by: Sibo Van Gool <SiboVG>
Co-authored-by: Sun Kim <perplexing.sun@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Thomas Dinges <blender@dingto.org>
Co-authored-by: Victor Chedeville <victor-09@noreply.localhost>

Remove compositing integration 4dd8e5c6c0

This relied on drivers and depsgraph hooks in a way that wouldn't be
acceptable for core scripts.

Also defer imports where possible.

Cleanup: remove \ line wrapping 095ac66d7b

Prefer parenthesis & remove wrapping in some cases.

Cleanup: use str.format ed8db7c046

Cleanup: use double quotes c4bd9d2e8a

Cleanup: use more conventional formatting for properties 49fb6a9a6b

- Wrap property arguments onto their own lines.
- Avoid declaring variables in the class scope.

Cleanup: comments, spelling b6fb6d6f3c

Cleanup: remove unnecessary loop 675ed362d7

Dalai Felinto requested review from Bastien Montagne 2024-05-24 17:39:31 +02:00

Dalai Felinto pinned this 2024-05-24 17:39:35 +02:00

Bastien Montagne approved these changes 2024-05-24 18:37:39 +02:00

Bastien Montagne left a comment

Generally LGTM, though did not check each and every details.

The main differences with the add-on are:

Compositor integration has been removed.

I am indeed unsure about how many users rely on this feature... It feels fairly corner-case? In any case, should it really be needed, I'd hope we could implement it in a way less hacky way nowadays?

But agree this can be left aside for now.

The file handler for dropping images has been removed to avoid conflicting with Blender's default drop handler.

Am a bit more unsure about this removal... On one hand it's a very recent one, not present in any release afaik. On the other one, from a usability perspective, I can see it as a big plus - if it was implemented properly.

On the other hand, current implementation is not that useful, since planes are created at point of origin, not oriented to face the current view, etc.

So for this PR I think it's fine to remove it.

We could use a design task to define how both image as empty and image as plane could be integrated into a single drop handler. And/or how to make having more than one handler for the same data effectively usable for the user (current solution, showing an additional choice menu, essentially defeats the purpose of drag'n'drop imho).

Generally LGTM, though did not check each and every details. > The main differences with the add-on are: > * Compositor integration has been removed. I am indeed unsure about how many users rely on this feature... It feels fairly corner-case? In any case, should it really be needed, I'd hope we could implement it in a way less hacky way nowadays? But agree this can be left aside for now. > * The file handler for dropping images has been removed to avoid conflicting with Blender's default drop handler. Am a bit more unsure about this removal... On one hand it's a very recent one, not present in any release afaik. On the other one, from a usability perspective, I can see it as a big plus - if it was implemented properly. On the other hand, current implementation is not that useful, since planes are created at point of origin, not oriented to face the current view, etc. So for this PR I think it's fine to remove it. We could use a design task to define how both `image as empty` and `image as plane` could be integrated into a single drop handler. And/or how to make having more than one handler for the same data effectively usable for the user (current solution, showing an additional choice menu, essentially defeats the purpose of drag'n'drop imho).

👍 1

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2024-05-24 20:42:36 +02:00

@guishe has been doing a lot of work on these kinds of drop handlers as well, maybe he has an idea for how best to integrate this.

👍 1

Jesse Yurkovich commented

2024-05-24 21:07:57 +02:00

You should see a conflict resolution popup if you drag/drop onto a space with multiple handlers enabled for a given file type. For example, using a build from mid April with the Image as Planes addon enabled, you would see:

You should see a conflict resolution popup if you drag/drop onto a space with multiple handlers enabled for a given file type. For example, using a build from mid April with the Image as Planes addon enabled, you would see: ![conflict-resolution.png](/attachments/0499eff5-f28b-4b7d-a1bc-1d235274a68e)

conflict-resolution.png

7.1 KiB

👍 1

thorn-neverwake commented

2024-05-25 03:28:42 +02:00

First-time contributor

I am indeed unsure about how many users rely on this (compositor) feature... It feels fairly corner-case?

Was not even aware it existed, and I don't think that I've needed whatever it is that it does.

>I am indeed unsure about how many users rely on this (compositor) feature... It feels fairly corner-case? Was not even aware it existed, and I don't think that I've needed whatever it is that it does.

Bastien Montagne commented

2024-05-26 18:45:54 +02:00

You should see a conflict resolution popup if you drag/drop onto a space with multiple handlers enabled for a given file type. For example, using a build from mid April with the Image as Planes addon enabled, you would see:

Yes it works, but imho this extra clicking defeats the whole purpose of drag'n'drop... If I need to click through two different pop-ups every time I drag an image, I'm likely just as well using the regular import workflow. But this is not really a discussion for this thread anyway. ;)

> You should see a conflict resolution popup if you drag/drop onto a space with multiple handlers enabled for a given file type. For example, using a build from mid April with the Image as Planes addon enabled, you would see: > > ![conflict-resolution.png](/attachments/0499eff5-f28b-4b7d-a1bc-1d235274a68e) Yes it works, but imho this extra clicking defeats the whole purpose of drag'n'drop... If I need to click through two different pop-ups every time I drag an image, I'm likely just as well using the regular import workflow. But this is not really a discussion for this thread anyway. ;)

👍 1

Campbell Barton referenced this issue from a commit

2024-05-27 04:44:35 +02:00

Support "Add -> Image -> Mesh Plane" as a built-in operator

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2024-05-27 10:32:28 +02:00

Yes it works, but imho this extra clicking defeats the whole purpose of drag'n'drop... If I need to click through two different pop-ups every time I drag an image, I'm likely just as well using the regular import workflow. But this is not really a discussion for this thread anyway. ;)

I think the popup is still much more convenient than going through the file browser. It's clicking an option that is right under the mouse, versus easily a dozen clicks to do the same thing through the file browser. Personally I'd vote to keep the popup, especially as I think users want to do this more often than create an image empty.

> Yes it works, but imho this extra clicking defeats the whole purpose of drag'n'drop... If I need to click through two different pop-ups every time I drag an image, I'm likely just as well using the regular import workflow. But this is not really a discussion for this thread anyway. ;) I think the popup is still much more convenient than going through the file browser. It's clicking an option that is right under the mouse, versus easily a dozen clicks to do the same thing through the file browser. Personally I'd vote to keep the popup, especially as I think users want to do this more often than create an image empty.

👍 5 👎 1

Nika Kutsniashvili commented

2024-05-27 11:13:43 +02:00

I personally dont want popup, probably ever for this. 9 our of 10 times im importing reference image for sculpting or modeling, as Im sure most users are.

What I think is best solution is what I did for my version of addon. Empty image should have Convert >> Mesh operator that makes it into mesh plane. This code can be reused for that.

Its more consistent with Blender and MUCH better UX i think. Having to click this everytime I import refenrence would annoy the heck out of me. But going through add menu is annoying as well. Drop & concert is fast

I personally dont want popup, probably ever for this. 9 our of 10 times im importing reference image for sculpting or modeling, as Im sure most users are. What I think is best solution is what I did for my version of addon. Empty image should have Convert >> Mesh operator that makes it into mesh plane. This code can be reused for that. Its more consistent with Blender and MUCH better UX i think. Having to click this everytime I import refenrence would annoy the heck out of me. But going through add menu is annoying as well. Drop & concert is fast

Dalai Felinto unpinned this 2024-05-27 11:17:13 +02:00

Roggii commented

2024-05-27 12:21:15 +02:00

First-time contributor

It is important to consider that many users, particularly in architectural visualization, import images as planes for use as cutouts or backgrounds in their scenes.

I really like the current popup design as it caters to this common use case by offering a quick and convenient way to convert the image to a mesh plane upon import. This eliminates the extra steps of selecting the image, right-clicking, and navigating through menus to find the conversion option(operator).

While there might be a slight annoyance with the popup for some specific workflow, it significantly improves the experience for many other users. Additionally, popups for drag-and-drop imports is already a thing in blender; providing users with the opportunity to customize their import options.

Perhaps a compromise could be explored where the popup offers a checkbox to "Always import images as empties" for users who prefer such behavior. This way, you can avoid the popup in the future, while others can still benefit from the functionality.

It is important to consider that many users, particularly in architectural visualization, import images as planes for use as cutouts or backgrounds in their scenes. I really like the current popup design as it caters to this common use case by offering a quick and convenient way to convert the image to a mesh plane upon import. This eliminates the extra steps of selecting the image, right-clicking, and navigating through menus to find the conversion option(operator). While there might be a slight annoyance with the popup for some specific workflow, it significantly improves the experience for many other users. Additionally, popups for drag-and-drop imports is already a thing in blender; providing users with the opportunity to customize their import options. Perhaps a compromise could be explored where the popup offers a checkbox to "Always import images as empties" for users who prefer such behavior. This way, you can avoid the popup in the future, while others can still benefit from the functionality.

Dalai Felinto commented

2024-05-27 16:08:07 +02:00

Follow up task for fixing it for EEVEE next: #122315

Follow up task for fixing it for EEVEE next: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/issues/122315

Campbell Barton manually merged commit b5003fa56c into main

2024-05-28 04:11:00 +02:00

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Add "Import Images as Planes" to Blender as an Operator #122223