Arma Toolbox for Blender - Arma 2/3 exporter script

[Alwarren 2767]

This is the Arma Toolbox for Blender, a collection of python scripts that allow you to import and export P3D modles in MLOD format from/to Blender, with some extra support for things like Proxies, LOD's and other Arma-Specific things.

 

*** NEW RELEASE ***
A new version has been released, you can download it on the project home page .
Release notes/What's new is here.

This new release is compatible with Blender 3.x and Blender 4.x. Pre-3.0 versions are only supported by the legacy version for 2.7.0, but no longer maintained.

 

A legacy version for 2.79 is available here. 
2.79: 2.7.0 Bugfix #1 for Blender 2.XX (with XX <= 79)

Note that the 2.79 branch is only seeing bugfixes now, other than that it is at the end of its lifecycle. Future development will be done solely on the 2.80 branch.

[das attorney 858]

Good work on the release :)

[Alwarren 2767]

Good work on the release :)

Thank you for testing :)

[Guest]

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

Arma Toolbox for Blender v0.0.1



Blender

[Alwarren 2767]

Thanks a lot Foxhound :)

[fluttershy 2]

Great now i will need to learn Blender ^^. Why did i start out with Maya..

Plus now i know why i havent seen anything from you lately Al - you were bussy makin life easier for others, great job!

[Alwarren 2767]

Great now i will need to learn Blender ^^. Why did i start out with Maya..

There is a preset "Maya" for Blender that, IIRC, also adjusts keystrokes and such to be more Maya-friendly, so I guess you should feel right at home :)

Plus now i know why i havent seen anything from you lately Al - you were bussy makin life easier for others, great job!

Yeah, that and the fact that I had been working on a few missions again lately... and the new Eotech, which is taking forever since it just doesn't want to bake out a decent normal map and AO... :)

Still have to do that M45 as well O.o

[[evo] dan 79]

awesome, thank you for this

[TomNedry 0]

Just great!

[Alwarren 2767]

Thanks guys :)

[goutofashion 10]

1. Sharp Edges. Sharp Edges are exported correctly by either flagging them as Sharp or using flat shaded. No need for edge splitting or for using another program to define smoothing groups.
   

hello

when you say there is no need for edge splitting do you mean i should avoid it (i like to use edge splitting in blender) ?

thx for infos and thx for your addon :)

[Alwarren 2767]

hello

when you say there is no need for edge splitting do you mean i should avoid it (i like to use edge splitting in blender) ?

thx for infos and thx for your addon :)

Yes, avoid edge splitting. As mentioned in the tutorial, put an edge split modifier on your object, but uncheck the "Face Angle" option and only leave "Sharp Edges" enabled. That will help you to see how the object looks, but DO NOT apply the modifier since the sharp edges flag is handled correctly by the toolbox,.

Not using edge splits for sharp edges can dramatically reduce the number of vertices. For my old ACR, it reduces the number of vertices from 10k to around 6.5k, which is significant.

[[evo] dan 79]

By the way, just installed it and tried to run it on Blender v2.64, but when I select it in addons and install from file so that it shows up as disabled, it does not let me tick the checkbox in order to activate it for some reason. Do you know the cause of this or a possible fix for it?

[Alwarren 2767]

Dan;2388167']By the way' date=' just installed it and tried to run it on Blender v2.64, but when I select it in addons and install from file so that it shows up as disabled, it does not let me tick the checkbox in order to activate it for some reason. Do you know the cause of this or a possible fix for it?[/quote']

The addon was made to require 2.66. I haven't tried it with earlier versions, but if you are adventurous, you can try the following:

- Navigate to C:\Users\<your username\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.66\scripts\addons\ArmaToolbox

- open __init__.py in a text editor

look for

bl_info = {
   "name": "Arma: Toolbox",
   "description": "Collection of tools for editing Arma 2/3 content",
   "author": "Hans-Joerg \"Alwarren\" Frieden. Largely inspired by Leopotam's original, but doesn't share code",
   "version": (0, 0, 1),
   "blender": (2, 6, 6),
   "location": "View3D > Panels",
   "warning": '',
   "wiki_url": "http://www.friedenhq.org",
   "tracker_url": "http://www.friedenhq.org",
   "category": "3D View"}

- In the line "blender", change 2,6,6 to 2,6,4

- save and try again

Note that I haven't tested it on 2.64, so the best idea would probably be to update to 2.66a which is the current version.

[[evo] dan 79]

didnt work with changing the py script, so I am just going to update blender.

edit:

updated blender, it allowed me to tick the box.

Edited May 4, 2013 by [EVO] Dan

[Alwarren 2767]

If you haven't restarted Blender, it will simply reload the cached version of the script. But updating is the best idea anyway :)

[[evo] dan 79]

yeah it works fine since i updated to the latest version, thank you again for helping me and providing the community with such a good tool

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Sweet! now if I could just find some time to finish a project and see how it works.

[mecharius 2]

If you have any feedback on the Arma Toolbox, don't hesitate to contact me. Details are on the download page.

Alwarren - thanks, looks like a great tool! Using Blender 2.66a when I do "save to p3d" no files get generated. Any ideas? Does blender generate some log files somewhere I can check out? Thanks!

[[evo] dan 79]

Alwarren - thanks, looks like a great tool! Using Blender 2.66a when I do "save to p3d" no files get generated. Any ideas? Does blender generate some log files somewhere I can check out? Thanks!

You running blender as admin? might be a quick thing to try.

[Alwarren 2767]

Alwarren - thanks, looks like a great tool! Using Blender 2.66a when I do "save to p3d" no files get generated. Any ideas? Does blender generate some log files somewhere I can check out? Thanks!

Well, you can try the following things:

• There is a menu "Window->Toggle System Console", you might want to check that for output
  
• As Dan suggested, make sure you have write permission on the folder you are saving to.
  
• Make sure there is at least one object in the scene that can be exported, i.e. at least one needs to show the Arma properties when selected
  
• Sometimes, I noticed, when no object is selected, Blender would say "context is illegal" when trying to save, so make sure at least one object is selected.
  
• Verify that the path to O2script is set up correctly. You might check the "keep BITXT file" in the export dialog, if it writes the bitxt file then it is most likely caused by a wrong path to O2script
  

Those are from the top of my head. The system console might be the best place to start.

[mecharius 2]

Dan;2389294']You running blender as admin? might be a quick thing to try.

Yeah' date=' thanks - I tried it with and without admin. Great, thanks Alwarren I will try some of your suggestions and report back.

• There is a menu "Window->Toggle System Console", you might want to check that for output
  
• Verify that the path to O2script is set up correctly. You might check the "keep BITXT file" in the export dialog, if it writes the bitxt file then it is most likely caused by a wrong path to O2script
  

Hooray!! These two options combined fixed it - turns out Blender was messing up my path to O2Script by adding something like "::\\//..//..//" to the front when I selected it in the file browser. Manually typing the correct path got it working instantly.

Awesome script mate, thanks!

Edited May 6, 2013 by [FRL]Myke

[Alwarren 2767]

You're welcome :)

Guess I should try to read the registry for the correct path to avoid any such problems.

[LODU 19]

Thank you very much for your great script!

If one day you get to make a script that will import animations made ​​with blender, the format "RTM", it will be fantastic. :)

[Alwarren 2767]

It might happen, but right now I have no idea if that is even possible.