Export from Blender to RTM via BVH

[Macser 776]

This little video very briefly outlines the method I use to get an animation

from Blender into the RTM format.It's a very simple process.

Before downloading,be aware that it assumes a working knowledge of the Blender

UI.And also an understanding of armatures and weighting.

I included a rough rig and character in the archive.

Blender 2.69 was used for recording.

The archive should be good for 30 days. :)

https://www.sendspace.com/file/p11rge

You'll need to use O2PE to convert to RTM.But the Buldozer

viewer isn't used during the process.

Edited July 17, 2014 by Maczer

[Lenyoga 326]

Man, that looks like it's going nice and well, good work! I wish I had some time to get the whole Blender thing going for me, I've got a few things to do again with RTMs soon...

[Macser 776]

Hey Lenyoga.If you've got an interest in animating for any of the arma series,Blender's

definitely worth getting into.

[Lenyoga 326]

Hey Lenyoga.If you've got an interest in animating for any of the arma series,Blender's

definitely worth getting into.

Looks like I'll have to try to get into it. Some things have been pretty tough with OFPAnim, especially more complex movements.

[Macser 776]

Yeah.I'm familiar with OFPanim. :)

Despite it's awkwardness,it was the only viable method of getting anything

done.A lot of projects wouldn't have been done properly without it.And one or

two probably wouldn't have been done at all.

But,as you say,doing anything dynamic was tricky and very slow going.

The major advantages with Blender are the advanced rigging,and the

editing and management of the animations.

I might come across as a walking Blender ad campaign,but I think the more

people there are using it,the greater the knowledge pool will be.

[Lenyoga 326]

I just made the transition to Blender. I get why a lot of people say the interface is confusing and all, but three days with video tutorials and loads of online documentations made it pretty okay, in my onion. The texturing is so much easier, extruding, subdividing and so on save an assload of work, just like the mirror editing, and that ZBrush style sculpting.

There's only one question that remains. How is it possible to export 3d meshes along with textures to an OFP/CWA friendly format? I didn't find anything on that right now, although I saw a post somewhere ages back.

[Macser 776]

That's been possible for a few years now. :)

Actually we have two options there.Either use Vektorboson's Import/export addon,and go direct to P3d.Or use Alwarren's Arma toolbox to export the newer format p3d,then export that out of O2pe as the older

format.

Vektorboson's addon has no options as such.But the blender layers are interpreted as lods.

but you can't specify what type.I use it a lot for OFP/CWA.

Alwarren's toolbox allows you to specify type.Resolution,geometry etc.And the lod distance

value too.There's even provision for texture paths.A few months ago he even added an rtm

component which exports directly to rtm.No other apps needed.

Unfortunately it only works well for animations where the character doesn't move from their

start position.As in reload animations,or static vehicle animations.I'm not sure why.

Other than that it works really well.I would ditch the BVH method altogether if that was sorted

out.

Both export UV co-ordinates intact.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Maczer

[Lenyoga 326]

Thanks a lot! I'll try out both as soon as I can. That'll make my life so much easier...

[guziczek101 11]

Sorry for late reply :-) nice tutorial and i think blender will make easier life.

Thanks

[Macser 776]

Thanks. :)

Like any powerful modelling package,if you put in the time and learn how it functions it'll pay off.

The animation workflow itself,is very straight forward.The areas most people will need to study

are armatures,weighting,the dope sheet,and the graph editor.

[Lenyoga 326]

It's turning out great for me so far. Did a few smooth texturing jobs (no tears, no seams, no stretch marks with what Blender can do) with exporting and importing around, and it works flawlessly. Next up I'll learn the animation workflow, it looks so much more handy than what OFPAnim does.

[Apocalypse 83 47]

Nice one, Mascar. I tried to use blender in the past, but got freaked out by it's massive interface. I've been thinking about making my own animations for OFP for some time, but never knew how to go about it. This should make things a whole lot easier. I managed to get familiar with Vektorboson's Import/export addon a while back, but have done nothing on Blender since then.

And good luck Lenyoga, you're a brave person! I might have to follow suite at some point, seeing as you've had some relative success in such short time.

[Macser 776]

Learning anything new is always off-putting at first.Just take things one subject at a time.

Start simple.That'll give you a smaller amount to focus on.Persevere until you have a good grasp of it.

Make mistakes and learn.

Learning the shortcut keys can speed up work in general.

:)

[ProfTournesol 956]

If i were less lazzy (and less busy), i would look into it...

[Macser 776]

:)

Yeah.Not much happens without interest and time.But the nice thing is,there's no

obligation involved.Except that which we put on ourselves.

If you do get the time,then definitely check it out.