Attn: Suggestions for Blender Exporter Version 1.0
by James Urquhart · in Artist Corner · 08/20/2009 (10:51 am) · 21 replies
Hey guy's,
James here. Those of you old enough might remember me as the guy who originally made the Blender Exporter. For various reasons, the development ended up being handed to Joseph and now, as you might have noticed he's decided to (for whatever reason) take an exit from the GarageGames community and the exporter development itself, so really there is no one left to maintain it.
I have no idea if GarageGames itself has any plans for the exporter, or if any of you guys have any ideas lined up. Or even, is there any more need for the exporter? (considering the Collada support in Torque 3D). Which is why i thought i'd bring up the question:
What impressive features should be incorporated into Version 1.0?
I ask this because i care, and seriously i wouldn't mind looking into it provided i know there is a good enough incentive to fix everything.
In any case, please let me know so i can sort something out! :)
Thanks,
James
James here. Those of you old enough might remember me as the guy who originally made the Blender Exporter. For various reasons, the development ended up being handed to Joseph and now, as you might have noticed he's decided to (for whatever reason) take an exit from the GarageGames community and the exporter development itself, so really there is no one left to maintain it.
I have no idea if GarageGames itself has any plans for the exporter, or if any of you guys have any ideas lined up. Or even, is there any more need for the exporter? (considering the Collada support in Torque 3D). Which is why i thought i'd bring up the question:
What impressive features should be incorporated into Version 1.0?
I ask this because i care, and seriously i wouldn't mind looking into it provided i know there is a good enough incentive to fix everything.
In any case, please let me know so i can sort something out! :)
Thanks,
James
About the author
#2
I wondered myself why GG dropped the Blender exporter forums because the exporter itself seems to be working very well (at least for my simple purposes) and there are great docs for it on Joseph's site.
I just have used the exporter with Blender 2.49 to export very simple shapes with a hand full animation sequences. I'm not a modeler, will never push the exporter to its limits and don't know if the exporter may need some work in parts I didn't touch yet.
I just want to say that it's great to see that somebody cares about the future of that tool. I'd appreciate a comeback of the exporter forums here on the GG site as well.
08/20/2009 (1:43 pm)
Hi James,I wondered myself why GG dropped the Blender exporter forums because the exporter itself seems to be working very well (at least for my simple purposes) and there are great docs for it on Joseph's site.
I just have used the exporter with Blender 2.49 to export very simple shapes with a hand full animation sequences. I'm not a modeler, will never push the exporter to its limits and don't know if the exporter may need some work in parts I didn't touch yet.
I just want to say that it's great to see that somebody cares about the future of that tool. I'd appreciate a comeback of the exporter forums here on the GG site as well.
#3
I honestly don't think I could request anything more - oh, no, I can. I'd love to be able to export animations with ground transform specified by a node, rather than having to animate an external object. That'd just make it really easy to set up and tweak. Especially for those like me who are action-strip-knowhow-deficient.
It really was a shme to see Joshua leave, considering the great stuff he did. But it'd be good to know that the exporter would have a final release.
Oh! One more issue. When I load the exporter script after having saved a Blender file, I can't see the GUI, just the text. Doesn't happen if I close Blender, open a file and just go straight to the exporter.
08/28/2009 (3:58 am)
Quote:(considering the Collada support in Torque 3D)T3D ain't for everyone - but Blender is ;).
I honestly don't think I could request anything more - oh, no, I can. I'd love to be able to export animations with ground transform specified by a node, rather than having to animate an external object. That'd just make it really easy to set up and tweak. Especially for those like me who are action-strip-knowhow-deficient.
It really was a shme to see Joshua leave, considering the great stuff he did. But it'd be good to know that the exporter would have a final release.
Oh! One more issue. When I load the exporter script after having saved a Blender file, I can't see the GUI, just the text. Doesn't happen if I close Blender, open a file and just go straight to the exporter.
#4
08/28/2009 (6:28 am)
I dont'know if would be possible to export blender material data to torque material, would be pretty to set up normal maps etc directly inside blender and have it exported as a material for t3d! 
#5
Mr Urquhart, I'd agree with Mr Hall on the need for a secondary UV channel. I suppose auto-mesh splitting would be handy too, though my brain is now preprogrammed to do that manually anyhow.
08/28/2009 (9:15 am)
I must've missed this thread ....Mr Urquhart, I'd agree with Mr Hall on the need for a secondary UV channel. I suppose auto-mesh splitting would be handy too, though my brain is now preprogrammed to do that manually anyhow.
#6
I'm going to wait for the Blender 2.5 release before making any further decision as to what to do with regards to future development. Anyone familiar with making python scripts for blender knows that they frequently update or otherwise break the API, which safe to say makes maintaining exporters quite difficult! :(
Of course, if anyone else wants to chime in with development, feel free to step in. :)
Regards,
James
09/05/2009 (12:10 pm)
Great suggestions guy's!I'm going to wait for the Blender 2.5 release before making any further decision as to what to do with regards to future development. Anyone familiar with making python scripts for blender knows that they frequently update or otherwise break the API, which safe to say makes maintaining exporters quite difficult! :(
Of course, if anyone else wants to chime in with development, feel free to step in. :)
Regards,
James
#7
09/06/2009 (3:01 am)
Quote:Anyone familiar with making python scripts for blender knows that they frequently update or otherwise break the API, which safe to say makes maintaining exporters quite difficult! :(Oh, I forgot to post the Animation System changes here in this thread.
#8
I know Daniel managed it.
09/06/2009 (11:04 am)
I've been hiding in v2.44 until I get brave enough to work out the new animation system ...I know Daniel managed it.
#9
09/06/2009 (12:39 pm)
Managed is a strong word... ;P 
#10
09/10/2009 (7:05 pm)
I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but thanks for asking, James. My biggest concern was whether or not the exporter would work with 2.5. So if you will be working on it once that's released, that's great news! 
#11
09/14/2009 (10:25 pm)
Agreed 2.5 Looks amazing. I think compatability would be the best! 
#12
I don't know programming, but your work has been some of the best.
Funny, this week we are starting a new project. and i still have the link to your site for the exporter. is that the latest one?
I'm looking to play with Blender and Torque on a new project :)
11/03/2009 (2:55 pm)
wow. I've been out of TGEA for a while. Blender has become my favorite modeling tool for game design, it's simple and fast, and to see the exporter discontinue would be a great shame.I don't know programming, but your work has been some of the best.
Funny, this week we are starting a new project. and i still have the link to your site for the exporter. is that the latest one?
I'm looking to play with Blender and Torque on a new project :)
#13
It's only an alpha but it's nice!
I tried the exporter but it doesn't work.
@James: Do you think you will do a port? It would be awesome if you had the time b/c there's a lot of us still using TGEA and the dts format.
11/25/2009 (10:11 pm)
You guys check out Blender 2.5 yet?It's only an alpha but it's nice!
I tried the exporter but it doesn't work.
@James: Do you think you will do a port? It would be awesome if you had the time b/c there's a lot of us still using TGEA and the dts format.
#14
Which to be quite honest means a heck of a lot of work to get everything to work again. Which considering everything else doesn't add up well...
It might be an idea to have a meeting in IRC to discuss the future development of the exporter.
Time: 27/11/09 (Tomorrow) 3:00pm PST (6:00pm EST)
Channel: #blendetorque on irc.maxgaming.net
Any objections? I will of course be idling in #blendertorque in case anyone wants to start a discussion right *now*. :)
11/26/2009 (7:59 am)
Blender 2.5 seems to have a completely new API, which means that most of the exporter will have to be completely rewritten.Which to be quite honest means a heck of a lot of work to get everything to work again. Which considering everything else doesn't add up well...
It might be an idea to have a meeting in IRC to discuss the future development of the exporter.
Time: 27/11/09 (Tomorrow) 3:00pm PST (6:00pm EST)
Channel: #blendetorque on irc.maxgaming.net
Any objections? I will of course be idling in #blendertorque in case anyone wants to start a discussion right *now*. :)
#15
I did read ... somewhere ... can't find link ... during the summer that the Blender devs got together to discuss making the COLLADA exporter uptodate and infinitely more useful for 2.5.
11/26/2009 (11:47 am)
Is 2.5 out yet? And more importantly ... have they done a stock COLLADA exporter?I did read ... somewhere ... can't find link ... during the summer that the Blender devs got together to discuss making the COLLADA exporter uptodate and infinitely more useful for 2.5.
#16
@Steve: I remember reading about that too. I think they met with the COLLADA guys during SIGGRAPH this summer. Currently, there is COLLADA export in 2.5. I don't know it's limitations though since I do not own T3D.
11/26/2009 (3:28 pm)
@James: Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it would be a huge effort. It was unfair of me to ask considering it's a free exporter and would use up your spare time. I don't think I will be able to drop in IRC tomorrow due to the holiday, but I'll try.@Steve: I remember reading about that too. I think they met with the COLLADA guys during SIGGRAPH this summer. Currently, there is COLLADA export in 2.5. I don't know it's limitations though since I do not own T3D.
#17
Actually after a fair bit of faffing around, people who understand COLLADA and Blender a lot more than me seem to have got the old DAE exporter working just fine.
11/26/2009 (4:24 pm)
SIGGRAPH - that was it.Actually after a fair bit of faffing around, people who understand COLLADA and Blender a lot more than me seem to have got the old DAE exporter working just fine.
#18
11/28/2009 (4:15 pm)
@James: Sorry I missed the IRC discussion yesterday. Were there some good ideas on the future development of the exporter? Here's a question for you; how much would you charge to port it to Blender 2.5+?
#19
...but that's no reason for everyone to be restricted :P. I'd love to see a 2.5 exporter come out, and if I were in any way competent in Python or Blender dev, I'd pitch in.
11/29/2009 (2:13 am)
I'd actually be pretty okay with just freezing my development at Blender 2.49a and using the old exporter :P. Since Torque is all I use Blender for anyways, and I've just started getting my head around how I need to do things......but that's no reason for everyone to be restricted :P. I'd love to see a 2.5 exporter come out, and if I were in any way competent in Python or Blender dev, I'd pitch in.
#20
As for a 2.5 port, i'm pretty open to any reasonable suggestions. Pop over an email to contact@cuppadev.co.uk and i will get back to you. It should be noted however that currently i am not using Torque on any project, so i cant really do it for free. ;)
Of course, if anyone feels they would be better suited to continue development, feel free to fork (subject to licensing conditions presented in the code).
11/29/2009 (3:07 pm)
Not sure what happened, but i don't think anyone turned up at the specified time. Thus no meeting - though i did have a discussion with someone who beforehand.As for a 2.5 port, i'm pretty open to any reasonable suggestions. Pop over an email to contact@cuppadev.co.uk and i will get back to you. It should be noted however that currently i am not using Torque on any project, so i cant really do it for free. ;)
Of course, if anyone feels they would be better suited to continue development, feel free to fork (subject to licensing conditions presented in the code).
Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...