blender export animation sucks

omar shaaban · Post by **omar shaaban** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 1:33 pm

i cant export my model to work right with it's animation in .x or .b3d in irrlicht or in any other application the model is sparky bec the bones exported in a wrong way i even thought of making my own 3d exporter but i looked at the code and it was too big and complicated so... i think making my own exporter is very hard so anyone have anyway to export my model from blender with animation in the right forum!!!

roxaz · Post by **roxaz** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:51 pm

ppl said that luke's fixed b3d exporter version exports animations fine...

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:45 pm

people seem to be doing with http://gandaldf.altervista.org/b3dexporter.htm

and using I thik SVN version of irrlicht...

omar shaaban · Post by **omar shaaban** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:13 pm

ya it workeed thanks vermeer but i seroisly think irrlicht must have it is own format

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:14 pm

Welll...then you'll have to do an exporter for every 3d tool(seems each artist is happy with a different tool....)...while there are already working exporters done for max, character fx, milkshape, blender and many other packages for b3d format.Besides, the format is already quite capable for both levels and characters. (and for levels there's another extra bunch of rather cool tools exporting to it...ie: Giles. Soon (multiple UV and lightmaps...maybe is already working in blender exporter, dunno), blender, which imo, should end up as being a global tool for doing content for irrlicht...Not excluding other tools, of course! ) So, instead of having two format headaches for levels and character animation, only one format headache (only surely would have to deal with the features supported) .Besides, b3d is a format largely proved and with tons of knowledge base about it. There are other good formats for strictly character animation, like md5, which will probably integrate well with Luke's new animation system.

Glad it worked

omar shaaban · Post by **omar shaaban** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:12 am

so why did ogre made it is own mesh!?

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:36 pm

because....well , i dunno. maybe they have an outstanding set of graphic features supported, a load more artists flying around, it has probably more time since was born, and tehy probably have worked very hard to get exporters from the 3d packages.

My point is: whenever you take that way, would be pointless if you don't count already with people fully comitted an dinterested in adding an exporter per package of that native format...and even then, you can never count on that...Imo , is not the safe bet. Also, you'd need a load of work of test proof and fixing of every exporter, trust me, been in the middle, helping plugin authors in the art side, to fix all those probs...I know the pain it is....for just a single package, imagine five of them... Max supports it fully, Ultimate Unwrap, which can import from a collection of formats and packages, supports it outstandingly (and only costs 50$) , included max (and I think Maya and xsi too, now) , Milkshape 3d has recently received weighst support, seems aplied to b3d format too, Giles has one of the best scene exports in b3d format that i have seen and sued till date....And so one. besides, for both fields, characters animated, and levels, it has plenty of features.

I am not against a native format: I simply am , as an artist, fully convinced supporting already working formats should be supported first, as a practical measure, imo...Other way you end up with the very few artists running away. I remember certain brilliant engine only supporting max. Other only supporting maya. they loose TONS of potential artists to work on projects. Artist A thinks his package is da best, and wont even want to hear about working with another, and so on....

That is, imo, once b3d is working fully for character animation and lightmapped levels, I'll agree with you then is the moment for a native format...is my opinion...am talking about priorities I see in my personal view as practial, just that. But if can be someone doing paralell effort to make a native format, then hey...no arguing...but hope he has the energy to do at least 4 exporters (maya, XSI, blender , Max...and even so, you'd get LW, etc, people very angry

)

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:42 pm

...may somebody correct me, but if there's something yet not being supported in the wonderful b3d exporter for blender, is Lightmaps , and so two Uv channels(b3d format support till 4, I think). I say this, as I doubt there's been enough time, even the support of it code wise I think is only in some very recent builds...when it reaches it, is going to get really amazing...

Dances · Post by **Dances** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:30 pm

vermeer wrote:Welll...then you'll have to do an exporter for every 3d tool(seems each artist is happy with a different tool....)...while there are already working exporters done for max, character fx, milkshape, blender and many other packages for b3d format.Besides, the format is already quite capable for both levels and characters. (and for levels there's another extra bunch of rather cool tools exporting to it...ie: Giles. Soon (multiple UV and lightmaps...maybe is already working in blender exporter, dunno), blender, which imo, should end up as being a global tool for doing content for irrlicht...Not excluding other tools, of course! ) So, instead of having two format headaches for levels and character animation, only one format headache (only surely would have to deal with the features supported) .Besides, b3d is a format largely proved and with tons of knowledge base about it. There are other good formats for strictly character animation, like md5, which will probably integrate well with Luke's new animation system.

Glad it worked

I hate to be annoying but you don't have to make an exporter for any tool. Just make a simple application that converts, for example, .3ds files to your own format.

hybrid · Post by **hybrid** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:45 pm

You can usually not have all attributes in every format. Hence, the native format of a tool (or the direct export) is the only chance to get access to all features of a tool. Which is why you will need an exporter for each tool.

rooly · Post by **rooly** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:19 pm

i just wonder when irrlicht will start supporting .blend...

roxaz · Post by **roxaz** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:57 pm

omar shaaban wrote:ya it workeed thanks vermeer but i seroisly think irrlicht must have it is own format

but why invent wheel again? there is no point

rooly wrote:i just wonder when irrlicht will start supporting .blend...

that will never happen. it is so complicated, all stuff stored in one file :O also i read somewhere that *.blend looks like memmory dump of blender. sounds quite difficult.

rooly · Post by **rooly** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:24 pm

now that i think about it, your right, .blend *is* just a memory dump in essence. everything is stored from user preferences to edit mode to anything else you wanna name. hmph, never thought about that. i guess its a good idea to never support .blend in any project.

roxaz · Post by **roxaz** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:34 am

yep, not much game designers would like to provide players with models in *.blend format.

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:53 pm

nope..

(I had also read that of the dump.Besides, let's not be absolutistic... blender is of the liking of a fraction(even more, not all open source loving ppl likes blender. ..and...I use propietary software but like Blender and wings...) of the ppl here. *Many* use Max, Maya... supporting b3d u support em all at a time, format is done and water proof, and there are a bunch of tools around the format itself, done already... many free and comercial level editors too, not only character animation...)

I'd expect instead a direct super powerful and painful to make python script supporting so much complex features, to export in a way Irrlicht could take it...

B3d already does that, and if the multi UVs and lightmapping can be already exported by game formats in latest builds of blender, I guess is a matter of time someone codes support for lightmapped levels export from blender...b3d format already does support lightmapped levels in irrlicht from any tool capable of it (of doing the lightmaps and exporting 'em in its two(minimum) UV channel glory...).

so yep, imo, better give strenght to that now...