LOD Exporter for Blender

[+Soulfreak]

Great work mue!

That opens a lot of new capabilities!

I know that X-plane modders use blender a lot....

[+FLOGGER23]

Makes me wonder what if, i try it...

[+guuruu]

Yeah, me too ;-)

[krfrge]

Mue,

This is turning out nicely but I am having scaling issues. I am sure its me but so far so good.
The tent is about as tall as the tower. I will continue to learn more.

-- BREAK --

To those modders out there,,,, my  hats off to all of you for your efforts. I have a totally new perspective now on modding.

[Nyghtfall]

6 hours ago, krfrge said:

Mue,

This is turning out nicely but I am having scaling issues. I am sure its me but so far so good.
The tent is about as tall as the tower. I will continue to learn more.

-- BREAK --

To those modders out there,,,, my  hats off to all of you for your efforts. I have a totally new perspective now on modding.

When in Object-mode all 3 scale values of an object should always be 1.0. You can scale your object in edit-mode to the proper size (s key optional followed by x,y or z for the axis)

It also helped me to set the units used to metric. So you always know how tall or long something is.

[krfrge]

Thanks Nyghtfall

[krfrge]

This is looking good.
I think I have the scaling problem resolved.
Very raw initial work on a homemade OE-254 antenna coupled with a converted connex I found online.

I am still trying to figure out how to have Blender export the file tree (if that is the correct term) for the LOD.
Currently I am only able to export one texture.

[Wrench]

3ds max calls it the OUT file

[KJakker]

 

6 hours ago, krfrge said:

This is looking good.
I think I have the scaling problem resolved.
Very raw initial work on a homemade OE-254 antenna coupled with a converted connex I found online.

I am still trying to figure out how to have Blender export the file tree (if that is the correct term) for the LOD.
Currently I am only able to export one texture.

krfrge, by "file tree" do you mean getting the meshes in the Blender Tree to arrange themselves into a hierarchy like you see here in this LODViewer image? 

Edited February 14, 2018 by KJakker

[krfrge]

Wrench - Roger on the OUT file.

KJakker - For some reason when I export the file, I only get a singular node listed when I use the LOD exporter to view the file.
Still working to get more familiar with Blender but the results are promising.
Also am experiencing the ability to produce the model (as below) but it is not showing up in the game. Have set the files in Unicode.

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by krfrge

[KJakker]

I would like to see exactly how you have the file arranged in Blender. Would you please post a screen cap of what Blender shows before you export?

[krfrge]

KJakker,

I open a 3ds file using Blender. I switch to wireframe i order to unwrap the UV mesh and apply the skin.

 

Then I select a node to apply the skin.

Once I finish skinning, I join all the wireframes in order to export them.

Then I export the file

Edited February 14, 2018 by krfrge

[+swambast]

If you're joining all the wire frames together as one mesh, there will be no hierarchy.  Hierarchy would exist if you have separate components of the vehicle, like a "body" mesh, "front right wheel mesh", etc.  then link them.  I use the native 3ds max so blender doesn't really apply to me, but point is you would have to find out how to do equivalent linking in blender.

Here to help you out even more, this should describe it:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/editors/3dview/object/properties/relations/parents.html

 

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by swambast

[KJakker]

Okay, take a look at the upper right window. The one with Scene and World in it. That will show the hierarchy of the models meshes. If they are all visible in one single line then all meshes have top level position. Try moving one of the meshes in that window to one it is supposed to be subordinate to and see what happens. 

Also what swambast said, and I did not have the link handy.

Edited February 14, 2018 by KJakker

[krfrge]

Swambast,

Roger. Unfortunately I don't have 3d Max so I have to use Blender.

In your opinion - Do you think, while in Blender, I could take a .OBJ file, save it as a 3DS and then attempt to export it as an SF .LOD file?

 

[krfrge]

Kjakker - will try it and let all know.

Thanks

[+swambast]

I don't know what blender allows for import/export (been years since I last used it).  But in general at least with 3ds max, I like to natively import .obj files because they tend to retain texture mappings and then work on the model from there.  I am not a fan of .3ds format personally, because you tend to have to remap textures and the smoothing groups are typically awful resulting in blocky models.

[krfrge]

KJakker,

Screenshot of Blender. I cant select all the meshes.

Edited February 14, 2018 by krfrge

[KJakker]

Could you attach the original .3DS file so I can try some stuff?

[+swambast]

You need to smooth that model out, looks way too blocky and follow the instructions I sent if you want to set up parent/child hierarchy - which if you're using vehicles with weapons you should especially do!  Also, keep in mind poly counts and texture limits that would impact FPS - please don't make the mistake of bringing in 20,000+ poly count vehicles with no LODS found from some free model site like others tend to do (p.s. that model looks like a rip from Men of War or something).      

[krfrge]

Swambast,

I did find it online on one of the 3D model sites. It was a small file. Will work through the instructions you've provided. Thanks for the assistance.

KJakker - will send it to you.

[krfrge]

Swambast and KJakker,

Thanks for the tips. See results below.

I will have to run this sequence a few more times to get the muscle memory in place.

[+swambast]

Krfrge,

Initial base work done - properly scaled, optimized mesh counts/naming, finalized all smoothing groups, added in specular and bump mappings, set pivot points including for top gun.  Will work more on it later and send you PM with further updates. 

P.S.  Just my opinion:  vehicles are not the easiest models to take on initially.  Vehicles require a different level of complexity and logic based on the parent/child relationships and hierarchies to make the .INI gurus like KJakker's job easier!   If you're just getting up to speed, I might suggest simpler ground structures/buildings like hangars, water towers, etc.  Grab some free models, but then try to model them scratch.  Old Diego many years ago was by far the greatest influence and mentor in building my skills - and I had no artistic talent at all.  I learned everything on the fly by experimenting - he literally shared with me his models and over time I learned to reproduce them completely from scratch  (and dare I say even improve a few).   Anyway, I'm happy to help anyway I can - will PM more details.   

Edited February 17, 2018 by swambast

[krfrge]

Swambast,

Thanks for the assistance. I am beginning to see just how complex this can be and will take your advice and will start by building simple ground items other than vehicles. As you mentioned above I too am in the trial-by-error stages of my modelling development. Again my thanks to you and KJakker for your initial tips.

Kindest regards -Krfrge

[Nyghtfall]

Good to see more people starting to play around with Blender. I learn it myself mostly by trial-and-error. Doing smaller objects and fakepilot-parts has helped me a lot to learn basic things of 3D-modelling and it was and often enough still is a big struggle to get things the way I want them to be. Finding helpful tips and shortcuts to functions was a big help and makes life _a lot_ easier, when you know them. So here are some things and infos that maybe help you guys, that are complete noobs in 3D-business, like myself:

 

Feel free to add more tips, hint and useful infos. They are always welcome!

Tips:
- set units to metric in your project, so you can see actual measurements of your objects.
- useful tools from the tools-section include
    * subdivide        -> split edge or face in 2 or more sections
    * loop cut and slide    -> have a cube and cut it into 2 parts along a loop, you can then slide the cut along the object
- remove double vertices: when editing stuff, you sometimes get 2 vertices that are on top of each other. Those should be removed, as they affect shading and
    other stuff. When in edit-mode, in 3D-view-window, select "Mesh"->"Clean Up"->"Remove Doubles".

 

Mapping:
- recalculate normals -> blender tries to find the correct direction of faces (inside/outside). Flipped faces may result in visible holes.
- smooth your objects to get rid of hard edges --> "Shading/UVs" in leftside menu of 3D-view-window --> smooth faces, edges, vertices
- if a vertex/edges/face does not need to be smoothed, select it and hit flat/sharp/sharp
- i recommend also enable autosmooth: properties-window (right side bottom) -> select the triangle-icon and under "normals" select autosmooth and an angle
    (60° works mostly for me, but sometimes have to be adjusted)
- unwrap-menu->unwrap: works best, if you have marked seams on your model. marked seams are the edges, the model will be cut to get the 2d mapping of your 3d
    object.
- unwrap-menu->project from view: works best for complex objects. Attention though: if you do this for example for a cube, the top and bottom-surfaces are
    just a line in your 3d-view, as those face are rotated 90° to your view. the mapping of those areas is stretched in your final object and can lead
    to visual distortions.

Shortcuts:
- Numlock 1        :    front view
- CTRL + Numlock 1    :    back view
- Numlock 2        :    rotate view horizontal in steps in one direction
- Numlock 3        :    left view
- CTRL + Numlock 3    :    right view
- Numlock 4        :    rotate view vertical in steps in one direction
- Numlock 5        :    View changed between Orthographic-view (like Drawings) and Perspective view (like Photos)
- Numlock 6        :    rotate view vertical in steps in opposite direction as "4"
- Numlock 7        :    top view
- CTRL + Numlock 7    :    Bottom view
- Numlock 8        :    rotate view horizontal in steps in the opposite direction as "2"

editing (if the key is followed by x, y or z it only affects the according axis. you can also give a value by typing in 2.0 for example):
- TAB            :    changes between Object- and Edit-mode
- Shift + s        :    set cursor to a certain location or move selection to cursor --> useful for scaling, etc.
- a            :    select everything (in edit-mode: vertices/edges/faces, in object-mode: objects)
- e            :    extrude selection --> for example start with a circle and extrude it to get cylinder
- s            :    scaling, "s x 2.0" for example means you scale up the x-axis of your object by factor 2.0
- g            :    select a vertex, edge or face and move it.
- r            :    rotate --> you should set the cursor with "Shift + s" to set the center of your rotation
- CTRL + SHIFT + b    :    create rounded corners from a vertex or edge. mousewheel changes number of segments

...to be continued...

Edited February 17, 2018 by Nyghtfall