Web: some rewording & markup changes to 'mission' page

Some rewording & reformatting of the 'mission', and extending the
'development/getting started' page.
This commit is contained in:
Sybren A. Stüvel 2023-05-01 10:55:01 +02:00
parent ded6f35347
commit 3c1871cf0b
4 changed files with 106 additions and 133 deletions

View File

@ -1,111 +0,0 @@
---
title: Design Principles
weight: 25
---
This page describes some of the design ideas & principles behind Flamenco.
## Target Audience
Flamenco is meant for **smaller animation studios and individuals** at home.
Think of roughly **1-10 artists** using it, and **1-100 computers** attached to
the farm to execute tasks. [Blender Studio][studio] uses a handful of servers,
and combines those with various desktop machines when they're not used by the
artists.
## Design Principles
The following principles guide the design of Flamenco:
Blender.org Project
: Flamenco is a true blender.org project. This means that it's Free and Open
Source, made by the community, lead by Blender HQ. Its development will fall
under the umbrella of the [Pipline, Assets & IO][PAIO] module.
[PAIO]: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/wiki/Module:%20Pipeline,%20Assets%20&%20I/O
Minimal Authentication & Organisation
: Because Flamenco is aimed at small studios and individuals, it won't offer
much in terms of user authentication, nor the organisation of users into groups.
[Custom job types][jobtypes] can be used to attach arbitrary metadata to jobs,
such as the submitter's name, a project identifier, etc.
[jobtypes]: {{< ref "/usage/job-types" >}}
Minimize External Components
: Running Flamenco should be extremely simple. This means that it should depend
on as few external packages as possible. Apart from the Flamenco components
themselves, all you need to install is [Blender][blender].
: The downside of this is that development might take longer, as some things
that an external service could solve need to be implemented. This trade-off of
developer time for simplicity of use is considered a good thing, though.
[blender]: https://www.blender.org/
No Errors, Guide Users To Success
: Instead of stopping with a description of what's wrong, like "no database
configured", Flamenco should show something helpful in which you're guided
towards a working system.
Customisable
: Studio pipeline developers / TDs should be able to customise the behaviour of
Flamenco. They should be able to create new [job types][jobtypes], and adjust
existing job types to their needs. For this, Flamenco uses JavaScript to convert
a job definition like "*render this blend file, frames 1-100*" into individual
tasks for computers to execute.
Work offline
: Like Blender itself, Flamenco should be able to fully work offline. That is,
work without internet connection. If any future feature should need such a
connection, that feature should always be optional, and be disabled by default.
Data Storage
: Data should be stored as plain files whenever possible. Where a higher level
of coordination is required, an embedded database can be used; currently
Flamenco uses [SQLite][sqlite] for this.
[sqlite]: https://pkg.go.dev/modernc.org/sqlite
## Infrastructure & Supported Platforms
Setting up a render farm is not as simple as pushing a button, but Flamenco aims
to keep things as simple as possible. What you need to run Flamenco is:
- One or more computers to do the work, i.e. running Flamenco Worker.
- A computer to run the central software, Flamenco Manager. This could be one of
the above computers, or a dedicated one.
- A local network with file sharing already set up, so that the above computers
can all reach the same set of files.
Since Blender Studio fully runs on Open Source software, Linux is the main
platform Flamenco is developed for. Windows and macOS will also be supported,
but will need help from the community to get tested & developed well.
## Software Design
The Flamenco software follows an **API-first** approach. All the functionality
of Flamenco Manager is exposed via [the OpenAPI interface][openapi] ([more
info](openapi-info)). The web interface is no exception; anything you can do
with the web interface, you can do with any other OpenAPI client.
- The API can be browsed by following the 'API' link in the top-right corner of
the Flamenco Manager web interface. That's a link to
`http://your.manager.address/api/v3/swagger-ui/`
- The web interface, Flamenco Worker, and the Blender add-on are all using that
same API.
[openapi]: https://projects.blender.org/studio/flamenco/src/branch/main/pkg/api/flamenco-openapi.yaml
[openapi-info]: https://www.openapis.org/
## New Features
To add a new feature to Flamenco, these steps are recommended:
1. Define which changes to the API are necessary, and update the [flamenco-openapi.yaml][openapi] file for this.
1. Run `go generate ./pkg/...` to generate the OpenAPI Go code.
1. Implement any new operations in a minimal way, so that the code compiles (but doesn't do anything else).
1. Run `make generate` to regenerate all the code (so also the JavaScript and Python client, and Go mocks).
1. Write unit tests that test the new functionality.
1. Write the code necessary to make the unit tests pass.
1. Now that you know how it can work, refactor to clean it up.
1. Send in a pull request!

View File

@ -126,3 +126,33 @@ enable the race condition checker, and all other kinds of useful things.
If you're interested in helping out with Flamenco development, please read [Get Involved][get-involved]! If you're interested in helping out with Flamenco development, please read [Get Involved][get-involved]!
[get-involved]: {{<ref "development/get-involved" >}} [get-involved]: {{<ref "development/get-involved" >}}
## Software Design
The Flamenco software follows an **API-first** approach. All the functionality
of Flamenco Manager is exposed via [the OpenAPI interface][openapi] ([more
info](openapi-info)). The web interface is no exception; anything you can do
with the web interface, you can do with any other OpenAPI client.
- The API can be browsed by following the 'API' link in the top-right corner of
the Flamenco Manager web interface. That's a link to
`http://your.manager.address/api/v3/swagger-ui/`
- The web interface, Flamenco Worker, and the Blender add-on are all using that
same API.
[openapi]: https://projects.blender.org/studio/flamenco/src/branch/main/pkg/api/flamenco-openapi.yaml
[openapi-info]: https://www.openapis.org/
## New Features
To add a new feature to Flamenco, these steps are recommended:
1. Define which changes to the API are necessary, and update the [flamenco-openapi.yaml][openapi] file for this.
1. Run `go generate ./pkg/...` to generate the OpenAPI Go code.
1. Implement any new operations in a minimal way, so that the code compiles (but doesn't do anything else).
1. Run `make generate` to regenerate all the code (so also the JavaScript and Python client, and Go mocks).
1. Write unit tests that test the new functionality.
1. Write the code necessary to make the unit tests pass.
1. Now that you know how it can work, refactor to clean it up.
1. Send in a pull request!

View File

@ -1,51 +1,105 @@
--- ---
title: Mission title: Mission & Design
weight: 1 weight: 1
aliases:
- /design-principles/
resources:
- name: components
src: flamenco_components.png
title: Flamenco Components
--- ---
Flamenco is a true [blender.org](blender.org) project. Flamenco is a lightweight, cross-platform framework to dispatch and schedule rendering jobs for smaller animation studios and individuals at home. Flamenco is a lightweight, cross-platform framework to dispatch and schedule rendering jobs for smaller animation studios and individuals at home.
## Target Audience ## Target Audience
Flamenco is meant for smaller animation studios and individuals at home. Think of roughly 1-10 artists using it, and 1-100 computers attached to the farm to execute tasks. Flamenco is meant for **smaller animation studios and individuals** at home.
Think of roughly **1-10 artists** using it, and **1-100 computers** attached to
the farm to execute tasks. [Blender Studio][studio] uses a handful of servers,
and combines those with various desktop machines when they're not used by the
artists.
Blender Studio uses various desktop machines for the render farm when they're not used by the artists, and some developer machines are powerful enough to run Flamenco and work on coding Blender at the same time. There is no need to compile or build anything. The Flamenco project distributes
executables and a Blender add-on for you to install and run ([downloads][downloads]).
There is no need to compile or build anything. The Flamenco project distributes executables and a Blender Add-On for you to install and run. [studio]: https://studio.blender.org/
[downloads]: {{< ref "/download/" >}}
## Design Principles ## Design Principles
Here is a list of guiding principles for this Flamenco project... The following principles guide the design of Flamenco:
1. Flamenco is a true blender.org project. This means that it's Free and Open Source, made by the community, lead by Blender HQ. Its development will fall under the umbrella of the [Pipeline, Assets & IO](https://developer.blender.org/tag/pipeline_assets_i_o/) module. Blender.org Project
: Flamenco is a true blender.org project. This means that it's Free and Open
Source, made by the community, lead by Blender HQ. Its development will fall
under the umbrella of the [Pipline, Assets & IO][PAIO] module.
2. Minimal Authentication & Organisation: Flamenco is aimed at small studios and individuals where application and user security are lower priorities. [PAIO]: https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/wiki/Module:%20Pipeline,%20Assets%20&%20I/O
3. Minimize External Dependencies: Running Flamenco should be straight forward to setup and run. Apart from the Flamenco components themselves, all you need to install is [Blender](https://www.blender.org/), [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/). Minimal Authentication & Organisation
: Because Flamenco is aimed at small studios and individuals, it won't offer
much in terms of user authentication, nor the organisation of users into groups.
[Custom job types][jobtypes] can be used to attach arbitrary metadata to jobs,
such as the submitter's name, a project identifier, etc.
4. No Errors and Guide the User To Success: Instead of stopping with a "no database configured" error, Flamenco should show a helpful interface in which you're guided towards a working system. [jobtypes]: {{< ref "/usage/job-types" >}}
5. Customisable: Studio pipeline developers / TDs should be able to customise the behaviour of Flamenco. They should be able to create new job types, and adjust existing job types to their needs. Minimize External Components
: Running Flamenco should be extremely simple. This means that it should depend
on as few external packages as possible. Apart from the Flamenco components
themselves, all you need to install is [Blender][blender].
: The downside of this is that development might take longer, as some things
that an external service could solve need to be implemented. This trade-off of
developer time for simplicity of use is considered a good thing, though.
6. Work offline: Like Blender itself, Flamenco should be able to fully work offline if required. [blender]: https://www.blender.org/
7. Data Storage: Flamenco data storage should be simple and not require any database support, such as a local [SQLite](https://sqlite.org/) database file on the Flamenco Manager workstation. No Errors, Guide Users To Success
: Instead of stopping with a description of what's wrong, like "no database
configured", Flamenco should show something helpful in which you're guided
towards a working system.
Customisable
: Studio pipeline developers / TDs should be able to customise the behaviour of
Flamenco. They should be able to create new [job types][jobtypes], and adjust
existing job types to their needs. For this, Flamenco uses JavaScript to convert
a job definition like "*render this blend file, frames 1-100*" into individual
tasks for computers to execute.
Work offline
: Like Blender itself, Flamenco should be able to fully work offline. That is,
work without internet connection. If any future feature should need such a
connection, that feature should always be optional, and be disabled by default.
Data Storage
: Data should be stored as plain files whenever possible. Where a higher level
of coordination is required, an embedded database can be used; currently
Flamenco uses [SQLite][sqlite] for this.
[sqlite]: https://pkg.go.dev/modernc.org/sqlite
## Supported Platforms ## Supported Platforms
Since Blender Studio fully runs on Open Source software, Linux is the main platform Flamenco is developed against. As the Blender.org project is built on free and Open Source software, Linux is
Windows and MacOS will also be supported, but best-effort with community testing. the main platform Flamenco is developed against. Windows and MacOS will also be
supported, but on a best-effort basis with help from the community.
## Infrastructure ## Infrastructure
Setting up a render farm is not simple but Flamenco aims to keep things as simple as possible. Setting up a render farm is not as simple as pushing a button, but Flamenco aims
to keep things as simple as possible.
<img src="flamenco_components_workstations.drawio.png"> What you need to run Flamenco is:
For the simplest deployment, Flamenco is: - One or more computers to do the work, i.e. running **Flamenco Worker**. You'll
probably also want to install [Blender][blender] there.
1. One or more computers to do the work, i.e. running Flamenco Worker. These machines also need [Blender](https://www.blender.org/) and [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/) for video processing. - A computer to run the central software, **Flamenco Manager**. This could be
2. A computer to run the Flamenco Manager. This could be one of the above computers, or a dedicated one. one of the above computers, or a dedicated one.
3. A local network with file sharing already set up, so that the above computers can all reach the same set of files. - A local network with **file sharing** already set up, so that the above
computers can all reach the same set of files.
[blender]: https://www.blender.org/
{{< img name="components" size="small" lazy=false >}}

View File

Before

Width:  |  Height:  |  Size: 300 KiB

After

Width:  |  Height:  |  Size: 300 KiB