Previously the non-keyframed value was stored as a static keyframe but this
introduced issues when an input was in a state of keyframes being enabled but
0 keyframes existing. Having a standard value makes much more sense.
Since all NodeInputs will generally only need their data type and default
value set once, we place it all into the constructor for cleaner and easier
to manage code.
Previous iteration used some "magic code" that added clips automatically to the
timeline. This was functional but ultimately outside of the undo commands'
control meaning nodes could be infinitely added and abandoned. This makes the
add process part of the undo command which means it's all undoable as the user
would expect.
Since all Nodes have an output that provides all output values now, we now
never need to add an output from a Node derivative. These changes remove the
last of them and disable the ability to add more outputs from a derivative.
If Nodes only have the one output, we don't need to do so much differentiation
between them. Previous iteration used outputs as like a distinct function
within a Node (e.g. length output would return one result, buffer output would
produce a different result - each run different code to produce their results).
Now in this iteration, it's more accurate to say a Node is just one function
(which seems more appropriate for a node system anyway).
Since the nodes won't be holding any rendering data themselves in this system,
we may as well enforce some level of non-write access by setting all the
functions to const. They were already const-friendly, they just weren't
labelled as such.
Fixes recurring design issue that the Blocks were a frequent exception to the
DAG concept. The Blocks connecting to each others inputs/outputs while not
necessarily being "dependent" on each other to produce an image continually
causes issues while trying to create a rendering code path. This redesign
should provide a more "directed" approach to the directed acyclic graph.
It was becoming inevitable to get rid of this, it was continuously an exception
that had to be made to the DAG concept seeing as blocks are never really
"dependents" on each other, i.e. the images they produce have nothing to do
with other blocks. The only exception is a transition which will also be
easier to accomplish with this slightly different design.
The new rendering pipeline strives to simplify the nodes themselves as much
as possible and move much of the logic to an external rendering engine. This
change removes all of the responsibilities that no longer belong to the
nodes themselves and will soon be folded into the renderer.
This design, while not completely illogical, seems to betray the DAG design
and borders on impossible to actually recompile. The plan is to build this
functionality into the renderer instead.
Nodes were previously written to be "strongly typed" in that a parameter's
"type" enforced whether it could be connected to another. All code related
to that has now been removed since not only is it hard to maintain and
likely unnecessary, it's possible the nodes will work differently later on
anyway.
itsmattkc