|
 I created this plugin firstly for my own use. Though I don't have too much trouble coming up with expressions that link objects together in the way I want, it does get tedious sometimes to keep retyping those same old lines over and over. With Puppeteer, I have tried mainly to invent a flexible interface for some of the more mundane uses of expressions. I assumed that whatever lines of code I typed for my expressions, there would be a way to do it in a point-and-click fashion. It should be perfectly possible for a plugin to link whatever variable to whatever other variable. Nevertheless, I decided that for Puppeteer I would only concentrate on the position, scale and rotation data of objects, and believe me, those brought me enough problems already! But with those parameters being the main animation tools, there's really just a few things that you cannot do with Puppeteer as it is now.
Puppeteer being mainly a plugin I wrote for my own use might mean that the concept I tried to build on may not appeal to everyone. I find it highly logical, as it mirrors the way in which I see coded expressions working. But for people never having coded, it may seem completely illogical and strange, I really don't know.
Furthermore, Puppeteer is a 'work of love' for me, a pet-project. I do not consider myself a plugin-develloper, I merely create tools when I need them, and can't be bothered too much with manuals, user-friendlyness, making money, and giving tech-support. It also means that the current version of the plugin may be geared towards the uses that I see for it, and there may be problems using it for things I haven't thought about. I am releasing this plugin as-is, to see what other people can make it do. There's probably some things not really working correctly, though I have been using it for some time myself now, and it seems to handle all situations I put it through. Nevertheless, there may still be bugs in there. If you find one, please let me know, but don't expect a speedy fix to the problem. Again, I'm no develloper, but I will fix stuff that is broken. If I consider it broken enough to be fixed that is.
This manual may seem overly detailed for a non-develloper to write, but I thought, if I am to release this tool, I better make sure people understand it beforehand. I'd hate to have to take people by the hand one at a time, just because the plugin is a little tek-minded, so I have elaborated the concepts and ideas of Puppeteer as far as I can, hoping that this will save me from too many questions from users making heads nor tail from it.
Keeping all this in mind, I can only end by wishing you a lot of fun using Puppeteer. I hope you come to understand the use and flexibility of it, and that it serves you well!
Cheers!
naam@happyship.com
|
