[Bf-committers] Proposal: Export extensions for better integration with game engines.

Toni Alatalo toni at playsign.net
Thu Mar 4 19:52:08 CET 2021


So how is this not custom properties?
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/files/data_blocks.html#custom-properties

On Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 8:05 PM Juan Linietsky via Bf-committers <
bf-committers at blender.org> wrote:

> Hi Everyone!
>
>    Most exporters are working fantastic nowadays in Blender, so on the
> Godot Engine side, we are trying to figure how better to improve our
> experience to users when going back and forth between Blender and Godot.
>
>    So, this proposal consists on a very (pre-discussed) list of topics that
> we would be glad to work together in ensuring Blender can support these
> somehow (which should hopefully happen with minimal effort).
>
>    The main topic is the ability for Blender to have a "Metadata Export"
> plugin. This means, that at the time of export,and for each object exported
> (node, material, skeleton, mesh, etc) Blender should be able to ask for
> "metadata" to the export plugins. Export plugins can then return generic
> metadata (Strings or what you believe is best) to embed in exported scenes.
>
>   Here are use cases where these type of plugins would be very useful:
>
> * *UUID exporting*: When we import a scene on the game engine side, we can
> only track objects by name. Blender uses unique names for objects, but
> artists will often rename them, causing data added on the engine side (such
> as overriding materials, changing positions, setting children nodes to,
> etc) to be lost.  Ideally, Blender should be able to assign UUIDs to every
> object at the time of creation (does not need to be global, can be per
> blender file). If not desired to be core in Blender, then the add-on should
> be able to do this somehow.
> * *Material Exporting:* Exporting materials is very limited in any format.
> Users often just want to model directly on Blender, set up the materials
> with nodes, and then expect them to work in the engine. To solve this, we
> originally wrote a direct Blender -> Godot exporter, but this is very
> difficult to maintain where the main thing we need is just materials. On
> export, we convert Blender Materials to Godot Shaders, so they work
> automatically on the engine. If this can be saved as metadata in
> GLTF/DAE/FBX, it's much easier for us to maintain.
> * *Extra parameters for lights and cameras*: Sometimes, we want more
> parameters exported from lights, cameras, etc. in order to make sure scenes
> just work.
> * *Extra types of objects:* Godot supports Splines, IK, Physics and many
> other types of objects that blender supports, but that no export format
> does. Being able to export those as metadata in the exporter would be very
> useful. As an example, when making a racing game, exporting a Spline used
> to create a racetrack helps make a better AI.
>
> So, all this could be done if exporters polled export metadata plugins for
> metadata at the time of export (so we ensure we convert from the most
> recent version of the object) on any object, then added it in the exported
> data. This is a minimal non-invasive change in Blender exporters, but adds
> huge flexibility to engine export.
>
> Best
>
> Juan
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