ToastehSep 21, 2023

Importing multiple meshes from 1 .blend file

https://lemmy.world/post/5467874

Importing multiple meshes from 1 .blend file - Lemmy.world

Hey guys I’ve recently been looking at Godot since Unity has set itself on fire. I’m liking it so far but I’ve run into a small issue that disrupts my usual workflow. I like to store multiple meshes as separate objects in a single .blend file for meshes that are very related to each other like pieces of a build kit. I was able to split the meshes into separate scenes by opening the .blend scene, right clicking and allowing children to be editable, then exporting each branch to a new scene. This works as expected with one problem. The exported branches don’t update their mesh when I save changes to the blend file. Is there a fix for this? If not I can always split the blend into multiple files. Its just less convenient. Perhaps exporting to colladae would work too? I didn’t try that yet but ideally I would like to keep using blend files only to avoid exporting every time I make a change.

Show threadRodeoSep 21, 2023

I haven’t worked with 3d models in a year or so, but gltf was the way to go for me at the time.

The reason the saved scenes done get updated is because you’re actually saving them as a physically separate file when you export the branch to a new scene. There is no workaround for that since you’re making a physical copy of the data and storing it in a different place on the hard drive.

Show threadToasteh
What about modifying the importer to automatically export each branch to a new scene?
Sep 21, 2023 at 3:06pmWeb
Show threadRodeoSep 21, 2023

A few things to note there:

  • That importer is probably part of the engine code, probably in C++, and if it is it will require recompiling the engine and using your custom build for your game.

  • From the docs on 3D importing:

    • .blend (Blender). This works by calling Blender to export to glTF in a transparent manner (requires Blender to be installed).

    So it looks like the blender importer is already using the (recommended) gltf format anyway.

  • There is the Godot Blender Exporter which you may find useful instead.

  • You can write a tool script that extends EditorPostImport and do things with the scene on import without having to modify engine code. I’ve used this to great effect on gltf files.

    • GitHub - godotengine/godot-blender-exporter: Addon for Blender to directly export to a Godot Scene

    Addon for Blender to directly export to a Godot Scene - GitHub - godotengine/godot-blender-exporter: Addon for Blender to directly export to a Godot Scene

    GitHub
    Show threadToastehSep 21, 2023
    EditorPostImport sounds promising. Hopefully I can make it save the branches or update them if they already exist. Thanks!