Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

3 Dimensional Chat / The Blender thread

Author
Message
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 1st Oct 2003 00:26 Edited at: 1st Oct 2003 00:36
Link
Folks gather and behold!

Blender used to be a buggy program, with lots of bugs and absolutely zero usefulness for DarkBasic users...
However times have changed and there are now plenty of ways to use Blender for DarkBasic/Darkbasic Pro needs!

For those who don't know Blender yet, take a look at www.blender3d.com .

With Blender having evolved and evolved, taken over by some other companies and now having it's own foundation things have only been better and better for the project. Add to this list the fact that it still is 100% free makes it even more worth it to take a good look at the product!

Dozens of new plugins arise for Blender at a regular basis and with a few of them installed you can quickly make Blender your total 3D and Animation Suite. (I sound like a freakin' salesman here!)
Just to name a few: MakeHuman to, well just as it tells you, make humanoid objects, or Ter2Blend, to enable landscapes made in Terragen to be imported into Blender...

To use objects made in Blender in your Darkbasic (Pro) projects you can save them within Blender as a .DXF file and then convert them using a convertion utility to either .3ds or .x!
There's also a .3ds and .x converter for Blender itself, so that can be an alternative solution as well, although I could not get the .X converter to work.

I will place the most useful links regarding Blender at the bottom of this page. Check them out and see if you like the product.
The interface seems quite daunting at first, but the complete manual (previously only available as a seperate purchase or an incomplete text file) is now available online or for download!! It's easy to read and a must to keep in a seperate window while working with Blender for the first times.

Now the most useful links regarding Blender:
http://www.blender3d.com/ - Official website, much info and resources, and of course blender itself available for download.

http://download.blender.org/documentation/NaN_docs/Manual2.0-source.tar.gz - Official Blender v2 Manual (13MB) including all pages and pictures. Unzip with a TAR unpacker or Powerdesk.

http://download.blender.org/documentation/NaN_docs/manual2.0_demofiles/BLENDER.FILES.zip - Official Blender v2 Manual Project Files (found on CD-ROM included with book version of manual) (34MB)

You can use a utility called TerraGen to create beautiful landscapes and import them into Blender. You can then. for example, create beautiful cutscenes or convert the landscape to use in a DBP project!

http://www.planetside.co.uk/ - Official TerraGen homepage. Download TerraGen here (2.8MB)

http://users.skynet.be/sky33676/ter2blend.html - Official Ter2Blend Homepage. Home of the Terragen converter to make the files usable in Blender. (44 KB)

http://www.dedalo-3d.com/makehuman.html - MakeHuman Plugin for Blender (355KB).

http://www.righthemisphere.com/products/dexp/downloads/deepexploration.exe - Download location for Deep Exploration. Convertion utility for many 3D formats. Also an object viewer.(10.5MB)(Time-limited Demo)

http://www.blenderwars.com/downloads/hcv03en.zip - Download a Blender plugin called: HeadCreator. Unzip in a dir of your choice. (50KB)

http://www.blenderwars.com/downloads/3dsConverter.zip - Download the 3DS converter for Blender here (40KB).

http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/glabro1/python225.html - Link to the Blender X Exporter site, however I did not manage to get this one to work with Blender 2.28c. (252KB)

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 1st Oct 2003 12:22
Link
And up we go...

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
skovron
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 14th Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 1st Oct 2003 16:58
Link
Yeah, I was playing with blender about 2 years ago before I have tried something different. Blender is really great especially when you you take a look on its size! However I didnt know about those plugins and I am very interested but tell me why links for HumanCreator and 3DS Converter doesnt work ???
Back to top
Profile PM
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 2nd Oct 2003 15:59 Edited at: 2nd Oct 2003 16:01
Link
They don't?
Here they do work, however the MakeHuman link is not a download itself, it redirects you to their homepage.
As for the 3DS Converter, try right clicking on the links and select "Save Target As...". That should work...

Hope it helped.

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
actarus
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 29th Aug 2002
Location: 32 Light Years away
Posted: 2nd Oct 2003 18:23
Link
Blender rocks!

Too bad it doesn't have a more standard look that puts people away because this baby sure is powerful.

I heard the makers are working on having Theme-like interface since everyone wants it standardized and most Blender-Heads wanna keep it that way.

That could help boast the product.

Soon to be a Wings3d and a Milkshape3D thread?

Everyobdy wants to be loved,But no one loves everybody...

HEY!!! I'm the one who had 'Cyberspace' in his location on the older black forums,shame on you Rich j/k
Back to top
Profile PM
zircher
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Dec 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 4th Oct 2003 20:35
Link
I recently got a Blender newsletter that says they're performing a major overhaul of the user interface. Thank the gods, the old one sucked rocks. I did an evaluation of Blender a year or so ago, but I was turned off by its lack of plugins for .X export.

If I were to use Blender today, what would be my file format options that are compatible with Dark Basic Pro?
--
TAZ
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 5th Oct 2003 21:15
Link
Well zircher, no offense, but it is clear that either you did not give Blender a chance or you didn't even bother to look at it more than just a few instances, because like the manual states: "The interface grows on you." and "It's one of the most thought out concepts (...)". I stand behind these statements.
The "one-hand-on-your-keyboard-and-one-on-your-mouse" concept is indeed a little awkward at the beginning, but really grows on you to the point that you feel right at home! But it does take a little time.
So I'd prefer the option to still use the 'classic' interface when the overhaul is complete.

Anyway, currently (downloadable in this thread) there is an DX exporter, but if you save you models as .DXF (from within Blender) you can then convert them (including animation) with a third party convertor or Deep Exploration into .MDL, .3DS or .X whatever you like.

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
zircher
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Dec 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 6th Oct 2003 16:32
Link
Aye, after a few hours I took some asprin and deleted the damn thing. I figured if I couldn't 'get it' by then my brain wasn't wired the right way to use it. I have had no such problems with programs like Spazz3D, DoGA CGA, Moray, Metasequoia, etc. So, yes, I do blame the interface.

DXF is a poor standard due to the UV texture support. Also, Deep Exploration is well beyond my hobby budget. Most of the other free convertors have issues such as dropping polygons.
--
TAZ

BTW, while I may be sour grapes, thanks for the reply.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 9th Oct 2003 19:50
Link
What is the problem with DXF and its UV Texturing? Milkshape also supports UV texturing, right?

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
zircher
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Dec 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 10th Oct 2003 04:11
Link
Why bother with Blender if I can't use the whole thing? DXF is geometry only.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 10th Oct 2003 15:02
Link
? You got me here, hehe, the first moment I ramble on about how great Blender is and now you tell me that DXF is geometry only?
So if I understand you right, DXF doesn't support animation either?
Ohoh, in that case I am greatly mis informed, but the strange thing is that when you apply colors to the model in Blender, Export is to .DXF and then convert it again to .3DS or .X the model is still colored correctly when I import it into DBP...

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Pincho Paxton
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Dec 2002
Location:
Posted: 10th Oct 2003 17:06
Link
The animated demo's look amazing! I enjoyed watching them, I think that your bandwidth ran out though. Well something stopped the site from working anyway.

Pincho.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
zircher
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Dec 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 10th Oct 2003 17:09 Edited at: 10th Oct 2003 17:11
Link
This might be a case of different flavors of DXF. All the pacakages that I've used DXF export with were geometry only, but I do know that there are are a ton of DXF variants as well. [Some versions of DXF don't even recognize polygon coordinate ordering.]

Still, it would be nice if there was a Python export script that would take Blender directly to .X format. I sometimes feel that they don't do that because they don't want to support a "windows only" format.
--
TAZ

[Translation: I'm too cheap to buy a 'real' set conversion tools like Deep Exploration.]
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 12th Oct 2003 21:39
Link
This could be the case, zircher.
However there's a feature request tracker on the Blender Development page and I've asked for a 3DS or X im/export feature with a story about how much more popularity Blender gets by implementing this.
Let's see what gives...

Anyway for now I am satisfied with the workaround and export cycle required to get models work in DBP.

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Aith
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 21st Oct 2002
Location:
Posted: 13th Oct 2003 22:38
Link
Hmm... I remember using Blender quite a while back. Or trying to use it, anyway. Couldn't get the hang of it, but then again, I'm not adept at 3D modelling. It seems to have undergone quite an impressive change since then, and who can argue with the price?

This is interesting news, Yskonyn. Thanks for sharing it.

Back to top
Profile PM
The Game
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 22nd Dec 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 31st Oct 2003 03:00
Link
The new UI has been introduced in the recent version 2.30..The UI is still a work in progress but it's starting to look good.

I am the game and I want to play.
Back to top
Profile PM
Genesis Rage
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Oct 2003
Location:
Posted: 31st Oct 2003 08:16
Link
looks like a nice program... but i think i have to stay with 3ds Max 5, after learning that... its to hard to learn a whole new editor!

==Main Computer==
Athlon XP 3000+, 1024mb, Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb 8xAGP, XP Pro
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 05:38
Link
I know someone hasn't posted here in a while, but I have a question:

1. What about animation. I see blender supports it, but how can one's animation in Blender translate to DarkBASIC?

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
QuothTheRaven
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 2nd Oct 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 06:05
Link
Blender is THE most confusing program I have ever used.

Back to top
Profile PM
JoelJ
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Sep 2003
Location: UTAH
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 06:39
Link
diddo

Two words, moo.
Back to top
Profile PM Website
zircher
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Dec 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 07:17
Link
To answer the question, you learn Python and write your own export function,if you can not find one that you like. I have not checked lately to see if they ever added .X support.
--
TAZ
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
actarus
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 29th Aug 2002
Location: 32 Light Years away
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 14:48
Link
Just export OBJ using a script.

...And I'm gone...
Back to top
Profile PM
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 16:25
Link
You mean that every time you want to export a 3D model with animation you have to write up python script to do so . Two questions:

1. What is python? I've heard of it before, but how does it compare to everything else?

2. Could you supply me with an example of a script that you have to cough up to get animation workin - please?


If it is worth it, I am willing to set my mind to learning blender...

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 17:53 Edited at: 11th Nov 2003 17:54
Link
[edit]

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
actarus
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 29th Aug 2002
Location: 32 Light Years away
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 18:15 Edited at: 12th Nov 2003 14:04
Link
-You mean that every time you want to export a 3D model with animation you have to write up python script to do so


No.This would be pointless to call it a script then

The goal neogeo staff had in writing this was to make it easy to use...Again no to confuse with easy to learn.

...And I'm gone...
Back to top
Profile PM
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 21:43
Link
Well, I will be looking through all the online help, but I'm still apprehensive about this animation problem.
Bottom line, I'm a lousy, poor, but creative cheapskate. Therefore, I'm willing to suffer an attempt at teaching blender to myself.

If I have to I'll write my own limb-based animator to solve my problem - grrr! Bottom-line, it is currently impossible to say which is more difficult - learning Pyton and Blender enough to impement animation within Blender - OR making the models and writing an animator myself in DB. Maybe going through all the trouble of learning just how to model is trouble enought to implement animation within Blender itself - who knows - you guys might!?!?

If it is too much trouble to learn how to animate in Blender, well, I think there's a chance I'll be using anim8tor and a home-brewed limb-animator to solve the problem.

One additional question: have any of you actually successfully made animated models in Blender that you used in DB?

Sorry if I sound mad, it is just a tough day at school.
Bottomline: I am still open-minded about this piece of software...

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
actarus
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 29th Aug 2002
Location: 32 Light Years away
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 22:27
Link
Try visiting the Blender forum on cgtalk.com(it's a sub-ection of the wings3D forum héhé),they're really helpful&friendly.

Also,before moving on to Anim8or,make sure you do some export tests,I haven't seen anyone succed in exporting animations with it.

Yes,Blender works wonderfully with DB&DBP.

...And I'm gone...
Back to top
Profile PM
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 11th Nov 2003 22:58
Link
Just use the OBJIO converter script like Actarus said.
If I am right this will also export animation data.
OBJ files can be exported to X again by many (freeware) converters out there.
That's how you get your animated chars, right Actarus?

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 12th Nov 2003 01:55 Edited at: 12th Nov 2003 01:58
Link
@ Actarius

My purpose in using anim8tor wasn't to export animations with it, as it is impossible to successfully make them compatible with DB. Instead, Anim8tor would simply be used to model characters, and I would home-brew a limb-based animator made in DB to animate the models. I could even use Wings3d instead of anim8tor for such a process. Yes, writing a limb-base animator in DB isn't an easy task, but neither is learning Python to write scripts for your animations in Blender. It is difficult enough to get use to this interface - even though I see alot of power in it...

Yes, it is still possible to reconvince me that Blender is worth the hours and hours of learning and tutorials. right now, it is either Wings, or Blender - I just pondering on which it should be...

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Northern Fist
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Sep 2003
Location:
Posted: 13th Nov 2003 04:09
Link
I'm convinced. I recently completed a tutorial on Blender - yeah, it is very powerful. I'm very impressed with it...

I can see Blender being put to good use.

"Power, precision, and don't forget about speed. If you practice everyday with these things in mind... you begin to develope A FIGHTING MODE." - Fist of Legend (Jet Li)
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Neophyte
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Feb 2003
Location: United States
Posted: 24th Nov 2003 23:05
Link
@Anyone who is interested

There is a pre-sale for the new manual going on and from what I can tell it looks pretty good. You can find it here:

http://www.blender.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=90&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

All proceeds help support the blender project by paying for hosting fees, etc. Its worth checking out as the old on-line manual is for version 2.0 and is a little outdated(the current version is 2.3 which has a brand new interface. The manual itself is for the slated 2.31).
Back to top
Profile PM
EricDB
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 22nd Nov 2003
Location:
Posted: 25th Nov 2003 01:50 Edited at: 25th Nov 2003 10:43
Link
Could someone put together a short how-to on making animated models with Blender for use in DBP? I like Blender, but couldn't figure out how to save into .X or some other DBP-compatible format, so I started using Milkshape. It's okay, but doesn't seem one tenth as powerful as Blender.

Clarification: I don't mean a tutorial on making models in Blender. There are a million of those. I just mean a how-to for getting your Blender models into DBP.
Back to top
Profile PM
Yskonyn
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Dec 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posted: 25th Nov 2003 15:48
Link
To get Blender models in DBP you first need to get an exporter for Blender. The OBJIO script is a good one as stated above.
Search the forum at www.elysiun.com and you will find it.
This script lets you convert your Blender models in .OBJ format (Wavefront). It does not however, I was wrong in a post a little upwards in this thread, export animation data.
So if you want to animate your models in DBP you should find a program in which you can animate them, because the animation system in Blender is not going to do the trick (except of course when you only want to make rendered AVI movies or something, then everything can be done using Blender).
You said you already used Milkshape, so I suggest importing your model in MS and animate from there. Then export as .X and voila, ready to rumble!

Yskonyn -
"It's better to wish down here you were up, then to wish up there you were down."
"The ONLY time you have too much fuel on board is when you are on fire."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Neophyte
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Feb 2003
Location: United States
Posted: 2nd Dec 2003 07:45
Link
Blender 2.31 is now available. This version was mainly focused on bug hunts and feature fixes so it should be quite stable. You can find it here at:

http://www.blender3d.org/Download/

Happy blendering.
Back to top
Profile PM
Neophyte
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Feb 2003
Location: United States
Posted: 15th Dec 2003 12:03
Link
Blender 2.31a is available. Some minor bug fixes. You can read about and download it from here:

http://www.blender3d.org/Download/

There is also two new plug-ins available that are worth taking a look at. There is the Topix Cloth simulation plug-in and a flocking algorithm(for those that don't know. A flocking algorithm is used to make objects flock together in a seemingly natural and fluid way. It is quite impressive to watch. For an example of the classic implementation of it, Boids, look here:
http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/(80kb) )

You can find the plugins here:

http://www.blender.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=95&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

And just a small reminder, the pre-sales campaign for the manual is still on. All proceeds go to the blender foundation and help keep blender alive and free. Info for ordering is here:

http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=79

Happy Blendering.
Back to top
Profile PM
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2025-05-13 19:40:35
Your offset time is: 2025-05-13 19:40:35