R&D Engineer - Computer Graphics Developing a Blender Add-on for 3D Design Drawing

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Contract type : Fixed-term contract

Level of qualifications required : Graduate degree or equivalent

Fonction : Temporary scientific engineer

About the research centre or Inria department

The Inria centre at Université Côte d'Azur includes 37 research teams and 8 support services. The centre's staff (about 500 people) is made up of scientists of different nationalities, engineers, technicians and administrative staff. The teams are mainly located on the university campuses of Sophia Antipolis and Nice as well as Montpellier, in close collaboration with research and higher education laboratories and establishments (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, INRAE, INSERM ...), but also with the regiona economic players.

With a presence in the fields of computational neuroscience and biology, data science and modeling, software engineering and certification, as well as collaborative robotics, the Inria Centre at Université Côte d'Azur  is a major player in terms of scientific excellence through its results and collaborations at both European and international levels.

Context

Context and objective:

Designers draw extensively to externalize their ideas and communicate with others. However, drawings are currently not directly interpretable by computers. To test their ideas against physical reality, designers have to create 3D models suitable for simulation and 3D printing. But while drawing is visceral and quick, 3D modeling requires careful planning, precision and constraints to manipulate 3D shapes on screen.

The ambition of our research group is to bring the power of 3D engineering tools to the creative phase of design by allowing designers to create 3D models by drawing. To this end, we have developed a technology capable of automatically lifting design drawings to 3D (https://ns.inria.fr/d3/SymmetrySketch/). Our goal is now to demonstrate how this technology can streamline the Computer-Aided-Design workflow, and to take the first steps in industrializing this technology.

Location:

The project will be developed at Inria Sophia Antipolis, in the GraphDeco group (https://team.inria.fr/graphdeco/). The group does research on image synthesis and computer-aided design. Salary will follow the Inria grid and depends on experience.

Assignment

Achieving our goal entails three complementary sub-objectives:

  • Implementing a demonstrator of our 3D drawing technology within a professional CAD software.
  • Testing our demonstrator with expert designers.
  • Transferring our technology to leading CAD software editors.

Based on preliminary discussions with CAD users and software editors, we have identified a set of key features to unleash the potential of our technology. Our first goal is to implement these features as an add-on to Blender, an open-source industry-grade 3D modeling software. Blender will serve as an independent platform to test our technology with expert CAD users, and to demonstrate how our algorithm can seamlessly bridge the 2D drawing and 3D modeling tools available in the established CAD pipeline.

We will hire professional designers and 3D modelers to stress test each of these features, first to make them robust to the diversity and complexity of real-world design drawings, but also to assemble a portfolio of artworks that will illustrate diverse ways in which our technology can be used in practice.

Within each iteration of feature development and testing, we will work hand-in-hand with software companies interested in our technology to assess how it addresses their specific needs.

Main activities

The candidate will be in charge of designing and implementing the Blender add-on based on our technology, and of planning and conducting testing sessions with end users (professional designers and 3D modelers).

Skills

The candidate must have experience in Python programming and in developing 3D graphics applications. Knowledge of Blender and of geometry processing libraries is a plus, although those skills can be acquired as part of the mission.

Benefits package

  • Subsidized meals
  • Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
  • Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
  • Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours
  • Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
  • Social, cultural and sports events and activities
  • Access to vocational training
  • Contribution to mutual insurance (subject to conditions)

Remuneration

From 2692 € gross monthly (according to degree and experience)