[Bf-committers] Collada importer/exporter kickout

Erwin Coumans erwin.coumans at gmail.com
Sat Jan 7 18:23:50 CET 2012


You are right that in some cases an exporter is better, but in many cases
a C/C++ .blend importer is a better to go.

I just wanted to remind anyone reading this thread that
there is an easy way to extract any data from Blender in C++,
including animation curves, skinning info, textures etc,
without the issues of COLLADA and FBX.

I'm not familiar with baking,
but you might be able to store the baked data in the .blend file.

Thanks,
Erwin



On 7 January 2012 09:10, Juan Linietsky <reduzio at gmail.com> wrote:

> Erwin,
>    That looks awesome and really useful, however the main advantage of an
> importer is the ability to bake everything (IK and other constraints) just
> like it's displayed in Blender.
>
> Cheers
>
> Juan Linietsky
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 2:07 PM, Erwin Coumans <erwin.coumans at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Instead of going through the COLLADA or other intermediate format
> > you can directly extract any data from a .blend using this C++ .blend
> > parser:
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/6s7k9zw
> >
> > AnimKit with the .blend loader includes a small sample that loads a
> .blend
> > file,
> > extracts textures, meshes, animations, skinning and physics info.
> > It shows a skinned skeletal animated character using AnimKit and GLUT
> > (keeping dependencies to a minimum)
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Erwin
> >
> >
> > On 7 January 2012 07:38, Morten Mikkelsen <mikkelsen7 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In my case I do not need morphs. I do need animation and skinning
> though.
> > > And obviously
> > > also geometries and materials. And it sounds like you have this
> covered?
> > > I have no sense of loyalty toward OpenCollada so if this is a viable
> > > solution
> > > I am for it. Can you make it available somewhere with instructions on
> how
> > > to install it so people can test it?
> > >
> > > Cheers and thanks,
> > >
> > > Morten
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 7:06 AM, Juan Linietsky <reduzio at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi guys,
> > > >
> > > >    I made my own Collada exporter in Python and that's what I've been
> > > > using. It's less than 1k lines of code and does not depend upon any
> > > library
> > > > or anything, but it exports everything except morphs. I don't have
> much
> > > > time to work on it at the moment, but it's so simple and complete
> that
> > if
> > > > anyone else want's to work on it, it should be really easy. I'm also
> > not
> > > an
> > > > expert at Python or Blender API so someone more experience can
> probably
> > > > shape it up better. It's also much more stable than the official one
> > (due
> > > > to it being so small).
> > > >
> > > > Feel free to do anything with it or integrate it into Blender, just
> > > credit
> > > > me on the file. I would love to work more on it, or even make a
> proper
> > > > importer since I have a high level of expertise in Collada, but I
> have
> > > very
> > > > little time and must work to earn my meals.
> > > >
> > > > Cheers!
> > > >
> > > > Juan Linietsky
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 11:49 AM, Morten Mikkelsen <
> > mikkelsen7 at gmail.com
> > > > >wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Yes that's a very relevant point. A collada solution with just
> > > positions,
> > > > > UVs and normals
> > > > > is not a solution. In that case you might as well use obj format.
> > > > > I went through the hard work of writing a collada importer
> > specifically
> > > > to
> > > > > get skinning and animation
> > > > > into my tech frame-work.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 5:03 AM, skoti <skoti48 at o2.pl> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > I know Collada importer / exporter is problematic (I wrote an
> > > importer
> > > > > > for my engine and I know that everything in the Collada can be
> > stored
> > > > in
> > > > > > N different ways).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > - If you want to use the model in Second Life / Google Earth, you
> > > have
> > > > > > to use Collada, if you want to use models in engines
> WebGL/Flash3D
> > > > > > practically have to use Collada (is there any web engine with FBX
> > > > > > importer?), Most game engines use Collada for importing data
> > (support
> > > > > > for FBX a few). FBX exporter also has bugs. Well, that FBX is in
> a
> > > > > > blender, but it is not usually an option for people using
> Collada.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > - If someone uses Collada it not for the base mesh + uv (then
> using
> > > *.
> > > > > > obj) and for skeletal animation, lights, cameras and their
> > animation
> > > > > > (motion, color, light and their intensity), multiUV (uv for
> color,
> > > > > > normalmap ... + uv for lightmap). And all this in current Collada
> > > > > > exporter works well.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > - No other exporter does not work here as well as Collada - ofc
> has
> > > > > > bugs, but it has nothing what could replace the Collada in this
> > task.
> > > > In
> > > > > > the future, Alembic can replace Collada, but not for several
> years.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > IMO, better to leave Collada, until you will be able to replace
> it
> > > with
> > > > > > success to other formats like Alembic (FBX is not popular in the
> > > > > > software and you can not replace him Collada in most tasks).
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On 7 Jan, 2012, at 12:30, Ton Roosendaal wrote:
> > > > > > > Hi,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I realize the proposal was harsh, but it was meant as a public
> > > > > statement
> > > > > > as well (to khronos, opencollada team, etc). I don't want to
> blame
> > it
> > > > on
> > > > > > the hard working devs here. We do have collada IO work at some
> > level,
> > > > and
> > > > > > that has been proven useful in several cases. The job is just
> > > > incredible
> > > > > > hard to achieve.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > To move forward:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > - userts who successfully applied .dae could also check whether
> > > > another
> > > > > > exchange format would have done the job as good. Tried FBX?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > - note that for basic mesh (+uv) export, a quite simple script
> > > could
> > > > do
> > > > > > the job already. It is probably a few days job for a py scripter.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > - we are currently including about 100 MB of opencollada libs
> to
> > > > make a
> > > > > > feature work that's meant to be able to exchange (I+O) full shots
> > or
> > > > game
> > > > > > environments, with character animation and so on. That's what
> > Collada
> > > > was
> > > > > > designed for, and that's a target we can't support.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > -Ton-
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > >
> > >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > > > Ton Roosendaal  Blender Foundation   ton at blender.org
> > > > > www.blender.org
> > > > > > > Blender Institute   Entrepotdok 57A  1018AD Amsterdam   The
> > > > Netherlands
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On 6 Jan, 2012, at 21:21, Morten Mikkelsen wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >>> 1) Official announcement that Blender drops Collada support
> > > > > > >>> 2) Move Collada support into a branch, out of trunk
> > > > > > >>> 3) Create a tracker "orphanage" or "branches" or so, where we
> > put
> > > > all
> > > > > > >>> reports that are not in support (anymore).
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >> I just want to say though I am not up for the challenge of
> > taking
> > > > over
> > > > > > on
> > > > > > >> this sub project I would be sad to see Collada support taken
> out
> > > of
> > > > > > trunk.
> > > > > > >> I use it often also with skinning export. I know many users do
> > and
> > > > > > >> eventhough I understand everyone's frustration I prefer the
> > > > > > implementation
> > > > > > >> that is there now (which I use often) to no built-in version
> at
> > > all.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> I am not disagreeing with any of the frustrating aspects of
> > > Collada
> > > > > > which
> > > > > > >> you and others have mentioned.
> > > > > > >> Just saying personally I do use it and would very much like to
> > > keep
> > > > it
> > > > > > in.
> > > > > > >> With bugs and all :)
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> I have seen many other commercial tools with awful crappy .3ds
> > > > > importers
> > > > > > >> and exporters but bad as they were they didn't take them out
> > > > > > >> because people were still relying on them and using them.
> > Despite
> > > > the
> > > > > > bugs
> > > > > > >> in them.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Cheers,
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Morten.
> > > > > > >> _______________________________________________
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> > > > > > >> Bf-committers at blender.org
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