[texrat]

As some have brought up, a custom MeeGo avatar (meegon) generator would be a great attraction for the community.

There are numerous avatar creators/modifiers out there, and it's possible that some tool already available could be made to work. Or one could be designed from scratch.

Here are the requirements as I see them (feel free to add or revise):

- menu of available characters, props, poses, etc
- customizable colors, orientations, etc... and possibly expressions
- web-based
- SVG master design with transparent PNG export
- user account + database for future avatar changes/additions

A web-based solution should also host the PNG images, or perhaps (even better) link up with Gravatar or similar. An example of Gravatar API support: http://gravatarnet.codeplex.com/ (.Net)

From timoph, 2 similar services to what we are discussing:
http://www.sp-studio.de/
http://doppelme.com/

If you're interested in helping, please provide examples of existing tools, references to coders and/or your own ability to code up such a solution.

Thanks all!

Reference:
custom avatar thread - http://forum.meego.com/showthread.php?t=1134
wiki page - http://wiki.meego.com/Meegons

[timoph]

Two examples of existing similar services:
http://www.sp-studio.de/
http://doppelme.com/

[texrat]

Thanks timoph.

I will make some time today to flesh out the Meegon wiki page (wiki.meego.com/Meegons) and we can organize the info there. But this thread will be a good brainstorming place.

[timoph]

btw, is the plan to do a web service or a standalone application? I'd prefer the standalone one. It would be a cool app for MeeGo devices.

Edit: actually the application's implementation part could be done as a mentored project if we find some Qt guru willing to mentor it. This would give a few people change to improve their Qt skills and contribute to MeeGo. Tool for the community by the community.

[physalis]

Originally Posted by timoph

btw, is the plan to do a web service or a standalone application? I'd prefer the standalone one. It would be a cool app for MeeGo devices.

I definitely have to agree with that.
Then it could be integrated in the installation process as an optional way to personalize MeeGo.
Though this would make everything a little bit more difficult, we may add movable joints to the MeeGon's (www.zefrank.com/puppets/index.html) which allows for animation and would be unique among the 'puppet designers' that were mentioned so far.

[texrat]

Why not both? Web service first I would think. Although it *should* be possible to do a single web solution for both... one that could run offline...

[timoph]

Originally Posted by texrat

Why not both? Web service first I would think. Although it *should* be possible to do a single web solution for both... one that could run offline...

The on-device client for the web service could be done using web runtime after the APIs are available. This way we would have both. Dunno about offline possibility in that case.

http://meego.com/developers/meego-api

[physalis]

A simple & minimalistic UI suggestion I did with gimp:



This is definitely possible with a desktop application and I am sure an equivalent result can also be achieved with web-technology.

Reference: wiki.meego.com/MeeGo_Style_Guide

[texrat]

Good ideas physalis. I was thinking earlier that it would be good to have it a combination of parametric element management and user manipulation.

As for color selection, I think there should be a MeeGo official pallette along with a general pallette.

[lindqvust]

I'd like to be part of this project as well.

Just throwing some UI ideas:



I borrowed some UI ideas from physalis as well. This could be used for both in the web or a stand-alone application. I've seen some character designers using Flash or Java. That could be used, or we could also try experimenting around HTML5. For the application, I believe Qt would be the obvious choice.

I was also playing with the idea that the MeeGon creator would be able to sync with your devices, thus updating your profile avatar over various devices. We should also decide on a pre-set template. Such as the head, base, available accessories, etc.