Blender 2.54 soon?

Is that good news? Yes?

"Campbell reports an important bug fix in obj/bvh/fbx export, as reported by Unity engine"
from: http://www.blendernation.com/2010/09/29/meeting-minutes-26-sept-2010/

I just tried it with a current build, but it isn't working yet. I guess there has to be some unity magic involved?

 

I'm not sure It isn't very specific about which issue he is talking. IIRC, I tried 2.54 - there were improvements, but the Python scrips still didn't work correctly in the default installation (which is necessary for direct Blend import).

 

i just compared the old (sept. 3rd) and the new (sept. 24th) export_fbx.py files. there are some changes to path stuff as far as i understand it. but the todo notes also say : # - uses bpy.path.abspath, *.relpath - replace at least relpath.

Or is this completely unrelated to the export script and something that has to be fixed in the way python/blender handle paths?

 

It might be related, but they just have to fix the installation - I don't expect Blender users go fiddle around with their scrips I hope Blender is fixed before we release Unity 3.1, so we have some time to fix it...

 

this sounds related, doesn't it?

8 - Commit [32477] by: sgefant
darwin Makefiles: copy release scripts and python modules to where blender looks for them, i.e. blender.app/Content/MacOS/$(VERSION) instead if blender.app/Content/MacOS/.blender

http://www.graphicall.org/builds/logs_blender.php

 

Anything sounds good to me as long as it works properly in the next build.

 

I've just tested build [32628] (which should have the [32477] patch in it) and it doesn't work.

 

As I sad in the other post, export the FBX manually, it's not a big deal isn't it?
Blender 2.54 built-in export script works like a charm, so why don't you use it instead?

 

Oh I know the FBX export works and it isn't a big deal. I'm currently keeping my 'blends' in a folder from the main project called 'Blends', along with 'Assets' and 'Library'. Its not as neat as keeping my blender assets in 'Assets' but it will have to do for now.

 

Yeah I know that, but I think is the only way to do it unless you want to open the blend file in 2.49 and save it again. In this case however you will lose animation data which is handled differently in 2.5 :/

 

How do u make it work? I am trying to export a simple model with an armature. Sometimes it exports the armature and not the model, sometimes it exports only the model.

 

SilentWarrior, there are a few critical aspects at the moment. The mesh needs to be parented to the armature (or the other way? Not sure about that) or needs an armature modifier (I always use that one). Make sure you are in object mode and select the mesh. Now you can export (File -> Export -> Autodesk FBX (.fbx)). On the left hand side of the just opened window you see some more export options. Make sure you have all the needed options selected. If you have several actions, you need to enable "All Actions". That's the only one I have to select additionally.

 

Hi guys. I'm trying to import animated meshes into Unity 3 from blender 2.54. Normal meshes work fine but when I try to export the fbx manually, I get this warning:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. ImportFBX Warnings:
3. Mesh 'body' has 784 (out of 906) vertices with no weight and bone assigned (they will be assigned to bone #0 with weight 1). The list of vertices: 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131 and so on...
4. Mesh 'gloves' has 632 (out of 676) vertices with no weight and bone assigned (they will be assigned to bone #0 with weight 1). The list of vertices: 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and so on...
5.  

And running the animation, I see weird "spikes" on the animated model with the animation not playing properly. I figure that this is some mistake with how I parented and animated the mesh from back in blender, but I'm not sure what to change to make it work properly in unity. What I did was to select the bones then select the model and parent the model to the bones selecting automatic weights. I then exported the model to fbx and imported it into Unity. How do I make this work?

(I have attached the blend file and a screenshot of unity when the game is running.)

------------------------
Ok ... I applied all the modifiers except the armature one on the objects before exporting and it works now ... Is that the normal way of doing stuff, or should it work without pre-applying the modifiers?

 

You made several "mistakes", meaning you are getting trouble when exporting to Unity.

Don't scale or rotate anything in object mode. Only do that in edit mode. E.g. the hair is rotated. Correct that by selecting it in object mode. Then Object->Apply->Scale or/and Object->Apply->Rotation.

As you said you mixed using the Armature Modifier and armature, mesh parenting. If you want to "redo" the parenting, you need to select the objects beard, ears, ..., then Object->Parent->Clear Parent (Alt P) and Clear and Keep Transformation (Alt P).
I never never used such a lot of splitted objects and used them with an Armature Modifier. I don't even know if that is supported in Unity. If it is, you may still think about joining objects such as nose, ear and face (select them in object mode, then Object->Join (Ctrl J).

Whatever you do with those object, joining or not, you need to add an Armature Modifier. But as I said, I am not sure if that is supported.
If not, you may join everything into one object.

Lot's of work ahead

 

Quick note, blender 2.55 just released, with this mention in the fixed issues log :
#[23935] Exporting to Unity3d .fbx Blender 2.5

; ))

 

I like will try it after Unite

 

I tried 2.55, and it didn't work (same issue).

 

....Here lies the dead Blender 2.5xx/Unity connexion which was sooooooooo handly by the past.

Blender/Unity connexion, we miss you so much.

:'(

 

it's still in the emergency room, don't worry.

 

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=202531&p=1739344#post1739344

Someone knows ?

 

Do someone knows the exact command line passed to Blender from unity ?

 

Alewinn, ask me again on Monday I'll check it out at work
I have a plan to test latest Blender one of these days to see it the python problems have been fixed.

 

For monday :
Personally i use the following command to simulate the export inside a command window :

blender "D:\PathToBlende\Bridge_2_V2_5.blend" -P "C:\PathToUnity\Unity-BlenderToFBX.py"

Seems that the problem comes from ntpath.py and export_fbx.py inside the Blender python files.
I will try to give it a look if i have some free time next week.

 

ok i've got fine results with this code.
NOTE the "os.getenv" line that i hardcoded to be able to simulate the export in command line.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. #import Blender
3. import bpy
4. import sys
5. import os
6.  
7. try:
8.     import io_scene_fbx.export_fbx
9. except:
10.     print('error: export_fbx.py not found.')
11.  
12.     #Blender.Quit()
13.     # This might need to be bpy.Quit()
14.  
15. # Find the blender output file
16. outfile = "kannweg.fbx"
17.  
18. #os.getenv("UNITY_BLENDER_EXPORTER_OUTPUT_FILE")
19.  
20. # Do the conversion
21. print("Starting blender to collada conversion " + outfile)
22.  
23. import math
24. from mathutils import Matrix
25. # -90 degrees
26. mtx4_x90n = Matrix.Rotation(-math.pi / 2.0, 4, 'X')
27.  
28. io_scene_fbx.export_fbx.save( None,bpy.context, filepath=outfile,
29. GLOBAL_MATRIX=mtx4_x90n,
30. EXP_OBS_SELECTED=False,
31. EXP_MESH=True,
32. EXP_MESH_APPLY_MOD=True,
33. EXP_ARMATURE=True,
34. EXP_LAMP=False,
35. EXP_CAMERA=False,
36. EXP_EMPTY=True,
37. EXP_IMAGE_COPY=False,
38. ANIM_ENABLE=True,
39. ANIM_OPTIMIZE=False,
40. ANIM_OPTIMIZE_PRECISSION=6,
41. ANIM_ACTION_ALL=True,
42. BATCH_ENABLE=False,
43. BATCH_GROUP=True,
44. BATCH_FILE_PREFIX='',
45. BATCH_OWN_DIR=False)
46. # I don't think HQ normals are supported in the current exporter
47.  
48. print ("Finished blender to collada conversion " + outfile)
49.  

the command line which succeed :

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. blender "D:\PATHTOBLENDFILEINSIDEUNITY\Bridge_2_V2_5.blend" -P "C:\PATHTOTHPYFILEFROMUNITY\Unity-BlenderToFBX.py"
3.  

Note that it succeed ONLY if the descriptor inside the command line is on the right drive (here its "D", so had to do a "D:" command to make it work, see http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=202531)

Everything seems ok on the blender side.

 

Pauuuuliiiuussss !!!
It's Monday !!!

 

Alewinn, I got it working when I run it without -b option (which makes it run in window mode), but it still doesn't work in background mode - I get tons of errors. Just try running

and see for yourself.

There are a lot of restrictions with where your scripts/output files have to be located (even capitalization of volume...).


Regarding command line: Unity runs blender in Blender forlder, i.e. something like this:

And it passes absolute paths in all arguments:

I'll try to get hold of Blender developers to see what they think about these issues.

 

For me the following sequence works perfectly without any error "-b" option included.
The fbx file produced is ok for unity :

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. cd "D:\01_Projets\Uruk_Monojoueur\trunk\CoreU3\Uruk_Monojoueur\Unity\Assets\01_Objects\Dodads\00_Swamps\Environement\Ruins\Bridge_2\"
3. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender\blender.exe" -b "D:\01_Projets\Uruk_Monojoueur\trunk\CoreU3\Uruk_Monojoueur\Unity\Assets\01_Objects\Dodads\00_Swamps\Environement\Ruins\Bridge_2\Bridge_2_V2_5.blend" -P "C:\Program Files (x86)\Unity\Editor_3\Data\Tools\Unity-BlenderToFBX.py"
4.  

Original syntax i use :

 

Ok. I'll try that again. Did you change anything in default Blender installation options while installing it?

 

No no i installed Blender with default options.
Only thing i did is install scripts inside the blender folder (second option in the blender installation) but i think it will work with any of these options.

 

I used the first option and I changed the installation path (I didn't want it to override 2.49 installation). Anyway, I'm on it.

 

mmm...
If i use the default directory with second option choosed at the installation the exporter works ok, EVEN FROM UNITY !! (at less with my script version). But even in this case the fbx exporter don't work for animations (Blender crashes or the exported animation is totally screwed)

But if i choose to use another directory for the installation the exporter don't work anymore...

 

You should send that to Blender guys.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one having that problem. I'll try the zipped Blender or the second installation option tomorrow.

 

Bug reported to the blender community

https://projects.blender.org/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=24882&group_id=9&atid=498

 

Good news !

The 33297-Win64 Build seems to work :
http://www.graphicall.org/builds/builds/showbuild.php?action=show&id=1592

As it don't include any installer i will try to install a conventional 2.55 - 64bits install and replace the files withe the ones inside this build.
For the moment i tested only in command line and it seems to be ok.
I will try with a whole Unity project during this morning.

 

Blender doesn't need installer - you can just extract the program to ProgramFiles (on Win) or Applications (on Mac), associate it with .blend files and everything works.

 

Alewinn and Paulius, this is great news!
Really looking forward to blender 2.55.

Now if i only could get blender 2.55 associated with blend files. Stupid windows just won't accept my file type association to blender 2.55...

 

=> That's why i'm trying to "hack" a blender install
(sorry, haven't had time to validate this morning.. .trying tonight !)

 

I can confirm it's ok (sorry for the delay !)

For those who can't wait next Blender official version, the process i followed :
NOTE : WAIT UNTIL NEXT BLENDER OFFICIAL RELEASE IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DO !

1- Backup the project D)
2- Backup "C:\Program Files (x86)\Unity\Editor\Data\Tools\Unity-BlenderToFBX.py" and replace it with the attached .py file
3- Uninstall Blender 2.49b and all other Blender versions
4- Install Blender 2.55 64bits with INSTALLER (i didn't tryed with a 32bit version) => Blender 2.55 64Bits installator
5- Download Blender 2.55 64 bits R.33390 (or higher) => Blender 2.55 Trunk SVN r33321 Windows x64
6- Unzip and replace all files from your official install (C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender) with the files inside the zip
7- Open your project, should work.

 

Hey Alewinn

Cool, that worked, thanks for the tip!

Unfortunately, my actions don't get exported correctly. Unity creates an animation for each of the actions defined in blender, but when I try to play one of those animations (throug the autoplay feature or a script), it always plays the one that was active/selected when I saved the file in blender. I was lookin at the imported animations in the Unity Animation Editor/View, and it looks like Blender or Unity somehow uses the same curves from the active/selected action in blender for all the imported actions... So when I have an animation "walk" and that was the active action when saving the file in blender, all other actions on this model in unity use the curves of the "walk" animation.... Am I doing something wrong or did you encounter this problem aswell?

 

i can be wrong but it's normal.
In fact i know 2 ways to work with animations with blender/unity :

1- using the "split animation" option of the fbx importer. you have to paste all your animations inside blender in just one action, then give Unity the starting/ending frame of each animation. Your Blend file will have only one animation. don't forget to connect your armature with the action

2- using the "@" naming. You will have to duplicate your blend file for each animation, use a "@" inside the name of the blend to tell unity which animation is inside the file.
Example :
You have a blend file with a guy with 3 animations : idle, walk and run.
You will have 4 files :
Guy.blend => The guy mesh with weightpaints and armature
Guy@idle.blend => only the armature with the idle animation
Guy@walk.blend => the walk
Guy@run => the run

normally unity import all in one mesh (sometime have to remap by hand)

 

brrrrrr, that would be a big step back from blender 2.49 -> unity workflow...

the way i worked the last year was like this: create one blend file with one model and one rig, put all animations in separate actions, let unity import the file and autosplit the animations from that file into perfectly working unity animations. done.

to edit an animation, double click the blend file to get to blender. change something in one action, save in blender, switch to unity, animation is updated and ready to be used...

i really hope i don't have to create several files or paste actions together. that would make me really sad

 

woodn, that is also the way I am working with animations. So far I am using the fbx exporter manually with Blender 2.5x and I can still work like that. I just have to export it after each change.
So I expect the script could be improved, such that it still works like that.

 

Dantus, I'm glad to hear that! I'll just wait a little longer then ;-)

 

Yes, Unity is able to import multiple actions from single fbx file (i.e. without splitting). So it should work as long as Blender exports them correctly.

And if you have actual bugs on Blender side then please submit them to Blender, so they can fix it before the release.

 

Dantus, what version and build of blender are you using? I just tried fbx exporting in the official build 2.55 beta and some graphicall builds (32bit and 64bit) and i still have the problem that all the exported actions share the same curves of the animation that is active when exporting from blender...

 

That said i noticed some strange behaviors concerning animated prefabs used inside a unity scene that have been migrated from 2.49b (see the screen capture).
I had to rebuild the prefab to get all in good position. Is there something to do inside unity to have this migrated automatically ?

 

Garr, this drives me nuts. Could someone with a spare minute and a "working" blender 2.5x setup export the content of this blend file to fbx and check out the animations in unity? I tried about 5 different builds now and i always get the same result. Unity imports the fbx file just fine, creates 2 animations as it should but the animations (their curves) are identical...

The file:
http://vol-2.com/div/files/actionstest.zip

 

I love this job as i learn every day ! Sure this is very handly !

yes i have the same thing with your file...
It seems that the animations data inside the fbx file are effectively the same.

 

Bug submitted

https://projects.blender.org/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=24947&group_id=9&atid=498

 

Alewinn, thanks for confirming and reporting it so quickly! I'm glad it was a bug ;-)