Chatting in Blender with Verse
Verse is getting closer and it’s turning out to be more multifunctional than I thought it would be with each iteration. This time, Nathan Letwory has been experimenting with integrating chat in Blender, based on the Verse protocol.
Through the work of Jiri Hnidek there is support for Verse in Blender (see also this article), for which I did also some work (master server support). Verse has also a chat specification, and based on this I have been working on a chat system in Blender.
The chat system consists of a dedicated verse client, which acts as the chat server, tawkserv is the current reference implementation. Other clients can login to tawkserv and join channels. It looks quite similar to IRC, and with some work tawkserv could also function as a gateway to a real IRC-server, bridging the gap between Verse and IRC.
The work is still in progress, mostly related to using the chat window inside Blender, but on the whole Verse Chat works. The Verse Chat specification will undergo a revision in the near future, but in the meanwhile, check out the screenshots: one and two.
I think it’s a pretty wacky idea to build a chat function in Blender, but it does show the flexibility of the Verse protocol. And I know what you’re already looking for a download link but no, Verse support is not available in the 2.42a release; you’ll need a CVS build for that. Nathan will publish a beta-binary as soon as the text area functions correctly.
Rockin’. Is Verse going to be in the next official release??
Soon, members like Sago, Wu-Man and Andy will be cracking jokes on Blender itself instead of the forum at BlenderArtist :)
Unless the IRC wall is broken then it might be interesting to integrate a common IRC channel between Blender and BlenderArtist and even Blender.org devs…
Picture that :
10:28 newbie357 : Hi I am new at blender. How do I spawn a cube?
10:29 Wu-Man : It’s hero time !
10:29 Sago : Let me do a funny drawing :D
and so on…
17:47 newbie357 : What was I asking… uh…
17:48 Ton : For a cube, just #lengthy explanation#
Interesting idea it will work Great for smc!
Blender:
model – animate – shade – render – composite – chat
I want a t-shirt like this…
Maybe Blender will check my email for me next ;)
It is great for educational purposes. Thanx.
When can we expect integrated VoIP? :D
I think it’s really a cool feature. The multiuser inspection and modification of 3D objects via verse combined with this is gonna help a lot with the learning process of the software.
Great for global projects!
Excellent!! I will have fun with buddies in Blender instead in Second Life (secondlife.com)!! Heh, & my own Fork Doodle Game will be just click away in Blender!! :)
okay, so which release is going to have the integrated coffee maker again?
:)
That will be great for tutoring!
But if it gets connected to IRC, I hope it will be safe enough :)
@Zsolt
pff.. not a coffee maker, a blender, a blender! :D
Nice, smc will be super fun!
Heh I am waiting for someone to set up a bridge to IRC/Jabber and have a verse server set up for blender users all over to connect to each other;)
Well that and the acoustics simulation GREATLY interests me.
Seablade
…sounds good, maybe we can integrate a microwave?! ;-)
This worries me. What could be more far removed from 3d graphics/animation than a chat client? Blender is bloated enough just trying to cover multimedia, I think this is going too far
i personaly think that blender (if [LOL] haven’t allready) should Anounce the same thing that VLC media player guys sayed: VLC to rule the world… now lets integrate VLC into blender and all shout: Blender to take over the world! ^^
And let’s not forget the kitchen sink that still needs adding… Maybe as a new primitive mesh?
Does this mean the forums will be redundant? :-(
well cool … :) blender become more and more a blender : it mixes all together :p
Does anyone know of a good “Get yourself up and running” tutorial for verse and blender?
Back when the a Verse enabled Blender was published for the first time I was the first to ask/beg for a chat window to be integrated into Blender.
As soon as you try to work, and I mean real work, not just toying around with Verse and a partner located in a different room than the one you are in, the chat window becomes A MUST to coordinate what you are both trying to achieve.
Of course you could use a third party chat service like MSN Messenger or the like, but the need to constantly swicht between Blender and your chat application becomes distracting and tiresome after a very little while.
Bottom line is: Try to do some REAL WORK with a REAL DEADLINE with Verse and you will see yourself crying out loud for a Chat window inside Blender. So I can only congratulate Nathan for making it real.
nice….who needs AIM anyway…how bout a forum inside blender..
wow… coffee makers, microwaves and kitchen sinks and yet – no *teapot* – lol … hmm – it would be good if somebody intergrated a proper chat client into blender through some sort of interface though – think of gaim or something being sort of useable through the blender interface without having to keep switching between windows when you’re chatting with non-blender friends aswell… or maybe that really is going a bit too far; but it wouldn’t be that much extra if all it did was intergrate the interface into blender while the real chat client worked in the background in a separate process – epat.
This chat will be as proper as any other chat client. The only thing that is needed to have it work with other clients is some sort of gateway, but it should be possible.
I agree with Apollux… and I understand concerns of bloatware, but by adding verse support you’re asking for a collaborative system where people can give/take orders, and solve problems quickly… without goofing with a IM client. otherwise what would you do? chat back in forth in a text object “Hey open msn! But I only use yahoo…”
What about adding annotations to objects? …and perhaps it would be helpful to see these in a forum like view… threaded, so you can comment on objects, respond etc… perhaps this could be expanded from the outliner view?
Is there a public Verse server IP for testing purposes?
i also think appolux has a good point, perhaps the next will be an ajax-voip-server when the accoustic sound is fully operational, then by talking in a normal voice other blenderverse people could hear you in the same city, and if you scream they could hear you in a greater range (accoustic distance)
just kidding ! but i really like that blender lives up to it’s name, how long untill we can make fruitjuice ?