I fixed some gernal issues with exporting multiple particle sytems. The smoke particles of the medivac model should spawn now for both sides. One thing to note is that the model contains some features which aren't supported yet. Like forces, ribbons and lights.
I also did some big internal changes on how the addon stores the values of unanimated properties.This big internal change makes it possible to export only the attributes that derivate from the unanimated default value. I hoped that this would fix the global loop problem, but it didn't. It is however a good step in the right direction and makes exported files a little bit smaller again.
I just added support for importing and exporting particle system copies. Particle system copies can be used to have the same particle system emit particles at different places. The previous lack of particle system copies was the cause why the left engine didn't show the particles properly.
The smoke propably does not vanish because the addon doesn't import and export the uv coordiantes animation yet. I plan to add that soon.
Importing more then one m3 model at once doesn't work properly with the materials. Thus you should always remove the previously loaded model with "File -> New" before loading a new model.
I just made a commit that reduces the number of exported animated attributes drastically when exporting a file as "m3". For the export to m3a files nothing has changed. The reexported file size of the medivac is now 212KB (original: 232KB)
Somehow the global loob animation still makes trouble. When I have time I need to have a deeper look into it.
Edit: In the M3 Animation Sequences panel (of the scene tab) you need to first select "GLstand" and then click on "-" right next to the list.
The exporter is currently exporting to many attributes as animated. As a result the static looking global loop animation of the medivac overrides all other animations. You can either wait till I fix that or just remove the global loop animation (global loop animations start with GL).
About the file size: I just implemented some file size optimizations. The size of the reexported Medivac model went down from 352KB to 296KB (original was: 232KB)
Once I solve the problem with the unnecessarly animated attributes the file size should decrease again.
About wrongly scaled objects: I updated the addon so that it import and export the rest position scale as a value that can be edited via the bone properties panel. It does not get applied in Blender yet, but gets used for export. e.g. the eye glow effect of the Artanis portrait should have the proper scale now when viewed in the previewer.
I don't know yet how that scaling value works exactly and what it's visual effect should be. Scaling for examply simply the corresponding pose bone didn't work since it scales with the wrong scaling center. It's propably a lot of try and error work to figure out how exaclty that scale value influences the model. Expecially since bones also can have parent bones with their own scale values.
Since this feature is only relevant for people who are importing models it does not have that a high priority for me. It's propably just a lot of work for little gain. If you want the feature badly you could help me figuring out how exaclty those "unapplied scale" values (found in the properties panel) influence the model. For example a manual instruction list of how to adjust a model to make it look visually correct in Blender based on the "unapplied scale" values would be a great help.
About using multiple addons: Yes it's possible to use multiple Blender addons simoultaneously.
About lights: Yes, light support is planed, but I will need testers for it since my graphic card can't display them...
1.)
I don't know what the different camera fields do. Leruster was so kind to define the camera structures in the structure.xml file. I just improved the Blender addon to make use of those structures (e.g. import, export, UI panels).
Like with attachment points and particle systems the m3 cameras position, and rotation gets represented by a bone. I improved the addon so that it automatically selects or creates the bone when you select or create the corresponding m3 camera object.
What do you mean with "manually shift FOW"?
2.) Currently you need to create materials in the scene tab. The new possible material selection (of the created m3 materials) can be done in the material tab which only shows up when you have a mesh selected. I am thinking of adding a "A" button for assigning a material to the right of the m3 material list.
There is a special check box in "Show log" for showing all branches. If you check it you should be able to see all branches and not just the current one once you have fetched the latest changes.
I added basic camera support too (on branch "untested"). There is still a strange eye glow bug and I still don't know if the volume materials are working.
Edit: Is it possible to animate the density of the volume material?
The branch you want to check out is called "untested". Currently the head of untested is "Make it possible to create volume materials within Blender ". When you haven't changed anything yourself you can simply reset your master branch to "untested". If you made changes to the addon and reset your branch all your changes will be lost.
Exchaning the mesh is possible but too much work when doing it with XML since models exported with blender may have a different bone order.
I created a branch "untested" with experimental volume material support!
Since my graphic card isn't good enough I can't check if the volume materials are actually working. Could you test that for me? Please also try to animate the volume density and let me know if the animation of it gets exported properly.
To animate the volume density select a time in the timeline and hover the field and press "i" . You can also right click the field to set a key frame instead of pressing i.
With the current version of the addon the import fails properly because of the missing support for volume materials.
Additionally the cameras defined in the model can't be imported or exported either.
Thanks to Leruster the 3ds max plugin has now support for cameras and an partial support for volume materails. So it *might* work with the 3ds max plugin.
Alternativly you can wait till I add support for volume materials and Cameras to the Blender addon. Or you can add it yourself with my aid. It's not that difficult.
When you just want to modify an existing model however, you also have the option to use the scripts that come with my m3addon. With m3ToXml.py you can convert a model into an xml file and with the script xmlToM3.py you can convert the modified xml (text file) back into a model without loosing any (relevant) information! I know even some 3ds max users who use just those python scripts because they work with almost every model. And if a model does not work with the scripts you can get it working by just modifing the structure.xml file as it gets explained in the readme.
Yes, the screenshot shows a sphere with a displacement model. Currently the functionallity is only available trough the advanced-materials-preview branch.
This screenshot shows a test of another new feature:
You could try the advanced-materials-preview branch of my m3 addon for Blender. It should be able to import and export the pylon model properly. -> I just implemented the import and export of the relationship between mesh and material.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
I fixed some gernal issues with exporting multiple particle sytems. The smoke particles of the medivac model should spawn now for both sides. One thing to note is that the model contains some features which aren't supported yet. Like forces, ribbons and lights.
I also did some big internal changes on how the addon stores the values of unanimated properties.This big internal change makes it possible to export only the attributes that derivate from the unanimated default value. I hoped that this would fix the global loop problem, but it didn't. It is however a good step in the right direction and makes exported files a little bit smaller again.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
I just added support for importing and exporting particle system copies. Particle system copies can be used to have the same particle system emit particles at different places. The previous lack of particle system copies was the cause why the left engine didn't show the particles properly.
The smoke propably does not vanish because the addon doesn't import and export the uv coordiantes animation yet. I plan to add that soon.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
You get a cube by default. If you don't want the cube you can just delete it and select "File -> Save User Settings"
If you have already customized Blender and want to restore the default starting layout you can use "File -> Load Factory Settings".
With "File -> New" you can restore your customized default setting configured with "File -> Save User Settings".
The first part of the video tutorial of www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/tutorials/36502-blender-how-to-create-an-animation-m3a-for-an-existing/ shows how to create a custom starting screen layout in Blender.
Importing more then one m3 model at once doesn't work properly with the materials. Thus you should always remove the previously loaded model with "File -> New" before loading a new model.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
I just made a commit that reduces the number of exported animated attributes drastically when exporting a file as "m3". For the export to m3a files nothing has changed. The reexported file size of the medivac is now 212KB (original: 232KB)
Somehow the global loob animation still makes trouble. When I have time I need to have a deeper look into it.
Edit: In the M3 Animation Sequences panel (of the scene tab) you need to first select "GLstand" and then click on "-" right next to the list.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
The exporter is currently exporting to many attributes as animated. As a result the static looking global loop animation of the medivac overrides all other animations. You can either wait till I fix that or just remove the global loop animation (global loop animations start with GL).
About the file size: I just implemented some file size optimizations. The size of the reexported Medivac model went down from 352KB to 296KB (original was: 232KB) Once I solve the problem with the unnecessarly animated attributes the file size should decrease again.
0
@SoulFilcher: Go
If you want you could try to import/export the model with Blender 2.63 and my m3addon. Worked fine for me.
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
About wrongly scaled objects: I updated the addon so that it import and export the rest position scale as a value that can be edited via the bone properties panel. It does not get applied in Blender yet, but gets used for export. e.g. the eye glow effect of the Artanis portrait should have the proper scale now when viewed in the previewer.
I don't know yet how that scaling value works exactly and what it's visual effect should be. Scaling for examply simply the corresponding pose bone didn't work since it scales with the wrong scaling center. It's propably a lot of try and error work to figure out how exaclty that scale value influences the model. Expecially since bones also can have parent bones with their own scale values.
Since this feature is only relevant for people who are importing models it does not have that a high priority for me. It's propably just a lot of work for little gain. If you want the feature badly you could help me figuring out how exaclty those "unapplied scale" values (found in the properties panel) influence the model. For example a manual instruction list of how to adjust a model to make it look visually correct in Blender based on the "unapplied scale" values would be a great help.
About using multiple addons: Yes it's possible to use multiple Blender addons simoultaneously.
About lights: Yes, light support is planed, but I will need testers for it since my graphic card can't display them...
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
1.) I don't know what the different camera fields do. Leruster was so kind to define the camera structures in the structure.xml file. I just improved the Blender addon to make use of those structures (e.g. import, export, UI panels).
Like with attachment points and particle systems the m3 cameras position, and rotation gets represented by a bone. I improved the addon so that it automatically selects or creates the bone when you select or create the corresponding m3 camera object.
What do you mean with "manually shift FOW"?
2.) Currently you need to create materials in the scene tab. The new possible material selection (of the created m3 materials) can be done in the material tab which only shows up when you have a mesh selected. I am thinking of adding a "A" button for assigning a material to the right of the m3 material list.
3.) I fixed the bug.
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
There is a special check box in "Show log" for showing all branches. If you check it you should be able to see all branches and not just the current one once you have fetched the latest changes.
I added basic camera support too (on branch "untested"). There is still a strange eye glow bug and I still don't know if the volume materials are working.
Edit: Is it possible to animate the density of the volume material?
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
The branch you want to check out is called "untested". Currently the head of untested is "Make it possible to create volume materials within Blender ". When you haven't changed anything yourself you can simply reset your master branch to "untested". If you made changes to the addon and reset your branch all your changes will be lost.
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
Exchaning the mesh is possible but too much work when doing it with XML since models exported with blender may have a different bone order.
I created a branch "untested" with experimental volume material support!
Since my graphic card isn't good enough I can't check if the volume materials are actually working. Could you test that for me? Please also try to animate the volume density and let me know if the animation of it gets exported properly.
To animate the volume density select a time in the timeline and hover the field and press "i" . You can also right click the field to set a key frame instead of pressing i.
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
With the current version of the addon the import fails properly because of the missing support for volume materials. Additionally the cameras defined in the model can't be imported or exported either.
Thanks to Leruster the 3ds max plugin has now support for cameras and an partial support for volume materails. So it *might* work with the 3ds max plugin.
Alternativly you can wait till I add support for volume materials and Cameras to the Blender addon. Or you can add it yourself with my aid. It's not that difficult.
When you just want to modify an existing model however, you also have the option to use the scripts that come with my m3addon. With m3ToXml.py you can convert a model into an xml file and with the script xmlToM3.py you can convert the modified xml (text file) back into a model without loosing any (relevant) information! I know even some 3ds max users who use just those python scripts because they work with almost every model. And if a model does not work with the scripts you can get it working by just modifing the structure.xml file as it gets explained in the readme.
0
@xcorbo: Go
Yes, the screenshot shows a sphere with a displacement model. Currently the functionallity is only available trough the advanced-materials-preview branch.
This screenshot shows a test of another new feature:
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
Just curious: What did you change at the pylon model to get the desired effect?
I tried it myself and simply checking "Alpha As Team Color" at the "Self Illumination" layer wasn't enough.
0
@SimplyCool988: Go
You could try the advanced-materials-preview branch of my m3 addon for Blender. It should be able to import and export the pylon model properly. -> I just implemented the import and export of the relationship between mesh and material.