Concept Studio — simple 2D/3D concept CAD for book ship art

name: Concept Studio CAD overview: Create Concept Studio in novolis-apps — a shipped WinExe for simple ship/concept modeling (C4D-style primitives, CAD materials, orthographic technical views). Includes Inno Setup installer and merge CI/CD release assets alongside Manuscript Studio. todos:

• id: apps-scaffold

content: Add src/ConceptStudio to novolis-apps (csproj, slnx, Directory.Packages.props, StudioChrome shell, JSON save/load); verify Linux CI build status: completed

• id: inno-ci-release

content: Extend merge.yml + build-installer.ps1 for Concept Studio publish/zip/Inno/SHA256; update release.md and getting-started.md status: completed

• id: primitive-bridge

content: Implement ConceptPrimitiveBuilder (box, sphere, cylinder, cone, wedge) wiring PolygonFactory/SceneBuilder + part hierarchy tree status: completed

• id: raylib-viewport

content: Port MeshBench Raylib viewport coordinator, orbit interaction, material presets, ship starter template status: completed

• id: ortho-views

content: Add Plan/Profile/Bow orthographic Raylib cameras, wireframe+edge overlay, multi-view layout, batch PNG export status: completed

• id: dimensions-svg

content: Add grid/snap, dimension annotations, SVG technical sheet exporter with title block status: completed

• id: quality-export

content: Port path-trace quality mode + high-res PNG; optional Manuscript Studio concept asset extension status: completed isProject: false

What you asked for vs what exists

Recommendation: Build a new shipped app in novolis-apps. Fork Mesh Studio viewport patterns from dogfooding; reuse Manuscript Studio shell, packaging, and CI/CD infrastructure.

flowchart TB
  subgraph apps [novolis-apps]
    CS[ConceptStudio WinExe]
    MS[ManuscriptStudio WinExe]
    MergeCI[merge.yml ci + release]
  end
  subgraph release [GitHub Release vY.M.m.B]
    ZipCS[ConceptStudio zip]
    SetupCS[ConceptStudioSetup exe]
    ZipMS[ManuscriptStudio zip]
    SetupMS[ManuscriptStudioSetup exe]
    Sums[SHA256SUMS.txt]
  end
  CS --> MergeCI
  MS --> MergeCI
  MergeCI --> ZipCS
  MergeCI --> SetupCS
  MergeCI --> ZipMS
  MergeCI --> SetupMS
  MergeCI --> Sums

Product shape (deliberately small scope)

In scope (CAD-lite, not FreeCAD):

• Primitive parts: box, cylinder, cone, wedge, sphere, ground plane
• Numeric transforms (position, uniform/non-uniform scale, Y-axis rotation for v1)
• Part hierarchy with rename/group (e.g. Ship > Hull > Bridge)
• Material picker: Hull (matte), Metal, Glass, Emissive — maps to existing MaterialPresets
• 3D orbit viewport + fixed orthographic views (Plan / Profile / Bow)
• Dimension lines and labels on ortho sheets
• Export: PNG renders + SVG technical sheet

Explicitly out of scope (v1):

• Constraint solver, parametric history, boolean CSG, loft/surface NURBS
• DXF/DWG import, full 2D sketcher like LibreCAD
• Blender-style node materials or sculpting
• Exact naval architecture (stations, waterlines as parametric curves) — v2+ if needed

App location and repo wiring

Package references (ConceptStudio.csproj)

Add to `Directory.Packages.props` (GPR 2026.1.*, nuget.org for Avalonia):

NuGet-only: no ProjectReference into dogfooding or sibling repos. MeshBench code is copied/adapted into ConceptStudio, not referenced.

Design doc update

Add Concept Studio section to `docs/design.md` mirroring Manuscript Studio table.

CI/CD and Inno installer

Follow the established Manuscript Studio pattern (`merge.yml`, `build-installer.ps1`, `docs/release.md`).

Versioning

Single repo version from `build/version.json` + read-version action. Both apps share one GitHub Release tag (v{Y.M.m.B}) with distinct asset filenames.

Linux CI job (unchanged structure)

Existing ci job builds entire `Novolis.Apps.slnx` on Ubuntu. Concept Studio must compile on Linux even though release publish targets win-x64 only (Avalonia + no native P/Invoke at build time).

Windows release job — extend for two apps

Refactor `merge.yml` release job to publish both apps in one job (sequential steps, shared Inno Setup install):

flowchart LR
  ciOk[ci success] --> pubMS[Publish ManuscriptStudio]
  pubMS --> zipMS[Zip MS]
  zipMS --> innoMS[Inno MS]
  innoMS --> pubCS[Publish ConceptStudio]
  pubCS --> zipCS[Zip CS]
  zipCS --> innoCS[Inno CS]
  innoCS --> sums[SHA256SUMS all 4 assets]
  sums --> ghUpload[gh release upload --clobber]

Concept Studio release env vars:

Inno MSBuild properties (via NovolisGenerateInnoScript):

Release assets per merge to `main`:

Release title: "Novolis Apps {version}" (or keep per-app title with both asset groups listed in notes).

Local build script

Generalize `scripts/build-installer.ps1`:

param(
    [ValidateSet('ManuscriptStudio', 'ConceptStudio', 'All')]
    [string]$App = 'All',
    ...
)

Extract shared helper Publish-NovolisApp with per-app Inno property hashtable. Keeps local parity with CI.

Manual republish workflow

Update `release.yml` to match merge.yml (currently stale — still calls deleted generate-manuscript-studio-iss.ps1). Add workflow_dispatch input app: All | ManuscriptStudio | ConceptStudio.

Docs

Update `docs/getting-started.md`:

• Download Concept Studio installer from GitHub Releases
• Checksum verification (reuse SHA256SUMS pattern)
• Upgrade vs portable guidance
• SmartScreen note (unsigned, same as Manuscript Studio)

Update `docs/release.md` asset table.

Update `README.md` app list.

Verify before merge

dotnet build Novolis.Apps.slnx -c Release
pwsh scripts/build-installer.ps1 -App ConceptStudio
pwsh novolis-governance/scripts/verify-nuget-only.ps1

Dependency order

Concept Studio pulls Novolis.Avalonia.Raylib, Novolis.Rendering.*, Novolis.Raylib from GPR. If dogfooding uses APIs not yet published, merge and publish upstream repos first (same rule as Manuscript Studio / Avalonia.Markdown).

Document model

Extend MeshBench's `MeshPartRecord` into a richer schema:

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "name": "Main hull",
      "parentId": null,
      "kind": "cylinder",
      "transform": { "position": [0, 1, 0], "rotationY": 0, "scale": [4, 1, 12] },
      "params": { "radius": 1, "height": 2 },
      "material": "hull"
    }
  ],
  "annotations": [
    { "view": "profile", "type": "linear", "from": [0,0], "to": [24,0], "label": "120 m" }
  ],
  "camera": { "yaw": 0.9, "pitch": 0.35, "distance": 40 }
}

• `kind`: box | cylinder | cone | wedge | sphere | group
• `material`: enum → MaterialPresets (Hull = high-roughness Standard, Metal, Glass, Emissive)
• Groups: container nodes; children inherit no geometry until leaf primitives
• Units: meters internally; display scale factor for book (e.g. 1 unit = 10 m)

Phase 0 — Repo scaffold + CI (do first)

Goal: Empty-ish app that builds, installs, and releases before feature work.

1. Create src/ConceptStudio/ — WinExe, Avalonia MainWindow placeholder, Program.cs host
2. Register in slnx + Directory.Packages.props
3. Wire merge.yml release steps + generalized build-installer.ps1
4. Confirm Linux CI green + local Inno compile
5. First merge produces Concept Studio zip + setup exe (placeholder UI is fine)

Exit criteria: GitHub Release contains Concept Studio assets; installer lands in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Novolis\Concept Studio.

Phase 1 — 3D blockout MVP

Goal: Block out a ship in minutes with primitives; orbit preview; save/load; PNG export.

1.1 App scaffold

• MainWindow — 3-column resizable shell (Manuscript workspace pattern)
• Left: part tree (add primitive, duplicate, delete, rename)
• Center: Raylib viewport (reuse `RaylibHostControl` + `ViewportModeCoordinator` pattern — copy into app)
• Right: inspector (debounced numeric fields like `PartInspectorPanel`)

1.2 Primitive tessellation bridge (new service)

Add ConceptPrimitiveBuilder in the app:

Wire into `SceneBuilder.AddMesh` with part Matrix4x4 from transform.

1.3 Interaction (MeshBench parity + ship scale)

• Orbit / pan / zoom / Fit (F)
• Shift+drag moves selected part on XZ
• Shortcuts: B box, C cylinder, N cone, S sphere, Ctrl+D duplicate, Delete, Ctrl+S save
• Default scene: elongated hull cylinder + bridge box + engine spheres (ship starter template)

1.4 Export

• PNG: Raylib framebuffer capture from embedded host (single perspective view)
• Save document to %LocalAppData%\Novolis\Concept Studio\default-workspace\concept.json

Phase 1 exit criteria: User can block out a recognizable ship hull + superstructure, assign hull/metal materials, orbit smoothly, save/reopen, export PNG.

Phase 2 — Orthographic technical views

Goal: Plan, Profile, and Bow views derived from the same 3D document — the "LibreCAD half" of the tool.

2.1 Orthographic cameras in Raylib preview

Add ConceptViewMode toggle: Orbit | Plan | Profile | Bow

Implementation using `Novolis.Raylib.Runtime` `Camera`:

• Plan: camera above +Y looking down (XZ plane)
• Profile: camera on +X looking at YZ
• Bow: camera on +Z looking at XY
• Orthographic projection (CAMERA_ORTHOGRAPHIC)

Reuse `RaylibSceneRenderer` pattern; extend to draw all primitive kinds.

2.2 Wireframe + hidden-line toggle

• Wireframe overlay: DrawCubeWiresV / line loops per mesh AABB or extracted edges
• Flat shaded + edges: CAD-style (filled faces + black edge lines)

2.3 Multi-view sheet layout

Center viewport tabs or 2×2 grid: Perspective + Plan + Profile + Bow.

2.4 Export all views

Batch PNG export: {ship-name}-plan.png, -profile.png, -perspective.png

Phase 3 — Dimensions, grid, SVG technical sheets

Goal: Annotated drawings suitable for book insert pages.

3.1 Grid and snap

• Ortho views: meter grid overlay (major/minor lines)
• Snap selected part centers and edges to 0.5 m grid (Shift disables snap)
• Scale bar widget on each ortho view

3.2 Dimension annotations

New AnnotationRecord model (stored in document):

• Linear dimension between two world points, projected onto current ortho view
• Label text (auto-compute distance × unit scale)
• Avalonia vector overlay (Canvas + Line + TextBlock)
• Inspector: edit dimension endpoints and label override

3.3 SVG export (new code, app-local v1)

ConceptSheetExporter writes SVG with 3 ortho viewports + title block.

3.4 Optional 2D profile sketch (stretch)

Simple polyline on Profile view → extrude along X. Defer if Phase 1–2 sufficient.

Phase 3 exit criteria: Export a 3-view SVG/PDF sheet with at least two dimension callouts.

Phase 4 — Illustration quality + Manuscript Studio hook

Goal: Pretty hero renders for the book + workflow link to writing.

4.1 Quality render mode

Port MeshBench path-trace toggle (`PathTraceViewport`):

• Preview = Raylib (instant)
• Quality = ILGPU path trace with MaterialPresets
• Export high-res PNG (1920×1080 or user size)

4.2 Ship material presets

4.3 Manuscript Studio integration (same repo, later phase)

Add `ConceptAssetExtension` inside Manuscript Studio:

• Link chapter metadata [!concept: my-ship] → path to concept.json
• Preview pane embeds latest exported PNG/SVG
• Export pipeline copies concept sheet into {dataRoot}/exports/{series}/{book}/concepts/

No cross-app ProjectReference — extension reads exported files from disk only.

Key files to reuse (copy/adapt, don't rewrite)

Platform constraints

• NuGet-only: All cross-repo refs via GPR 2026.1.*; run `verify-nuget-only.ps1` before done
• No NuGet publish from novolis-apps: IsPackable=false; release job ships GitHub Release assets only
• Per-user install: Inno PrivilegesRequired=lowest, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Novolis\Concept Studio
• Cameras: App-local camera state (MeshBench pattern) for v1
• Coordinates: +Y up, ship length on Z, beam on X

Suggested ship blockout workflow (your book use case)

1. Install Concept Studio from GitHub Releases (or run from portable zip)
2. New document from Ship template (tapered hull cylinder + deck box + nacelle spheres)
3. Orbit mode — rough proportions with numeric inspector (length 120 m, beam 18 m)
4. Assign Hull / Metal / EngineGlow materials
5. Switch to Plan + Profile — add dimension callouts
6. Export SVG sheet for reference while writing; export Quality PNG for print edition
7. (Later) link asset from Manuscript Studio chapter metadata

Risk / complexity notes