MSFS Blender2MSFS support thread

[Lacev]

I have a model with three LODS (x00, x01 and x02). After the export I used Windows 3D Builder to inspect the models and my model x00 is shown with textures but models x01 and x02 are shown in blank. Interesting is that I changed the Collections name x00 and x02 to test00 and test02 respectively. After that, I changed the Collection name x01 to x00 and exported only this (x00) Collection. This time, the model (which used to be the collection x01) showed the texture. When I exporting the three collections, only the x00 has texture and the others do not. In the simulator MSFS the LODS are working (I can see the shapes changing) but only x00 has textures and the others are in blank. Any tip?


RESPONDER

 

[Demon]

Well I guess this tool kit is great. But doesnt work on Blender 2.90. I havent read the whole thread so please take my appologies, if already mentioned. Any news on when this great tool will be working on 2.90?

 

[Vitus]

When I exporting the three collections, only the x00 has texture and the others do not. In the simulator MSFS the LODS are working (I can see the shapes changing) but only x00 has textures and the others are in blank.

I can confirm this. That's on me. I'll have a look and try to fix it. It might just be a cached function that shouldn't be cached.

I don't think I've got a workaround for the meantime, other than manually messing with the glTF...


@Demon yes. You're number 42 to point this out
It should be working with the next update, in the meantime just use the LTS version of Blender. 2.9 doesn't offer that much more in comparison anyway.

 

[RomanDesign]

Hello Roman.
Seem that the Export LOD don't export correctly all LOD. I have some trouble with 2.83.
Try to export each LOD separtly (by showing only the LOD you want to export before exporting).

Change manualy values before compiling. I have almost correct LOD viewing with LOD like that :
<LOD ModelFile="blablabla_LOD00.gltf" minSize="5"/>
<LOD ModelFile="blablabla_LOD01.gltf" minSize="2"/>

Values must be probably attapted. It's seem that like in FsX, it's depending of the size of the object.

Thanks, it worked! This must be a bug. Exporting LODs separately worked OK, but batch LOD export didn't work, although files are created. Now I got one project working great. Another one sudenn;y had all textures gone (model showing all white and red). I must have done something wrong on individual export... Will try again tomorrow and see if LODs work there.

I wish the bug would be corrected, so export worked as it supposet to, in batch.

 

[TheJon182]

It won't work anymore in my blender installs (both 2.90 and 2.83.6)
I've installed it and used the addon just fine for a few hours, then the 0.37 released and I tried installing it I couldn't check the box to activate it, getting a huge error message:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.90\2.90\scripts\modules\addon_utils.py", line 351, in enable
mod = __import__(module_name)
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\__init__.py", line 50, in <module>
auto_load.init()
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\auto_load.py", line 23, in init
modules = get_all_submodules(Path(__file__).parent)
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\auto_load.py", line 51, in get_all_submodules
return list(iter_submodules(directory, directory.name))
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\auto_load.py", line 55, in iter_submodules
yield importlib.import_module("." + name, package_name)
File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.90\2.90\python\lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 127, in import_module
return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\exporter\exp\gltf2_blender_batch_gather.py", line 29, in <module>
from . import gltf2_blender_gather_nodes
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\exporter\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_nodes.py", line 24, in <module>
from . import gltf2_blender_gather_mesh
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\exporter\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_mesh.py", line 20, in <module>
from . import gltf2_blender_gather_primitives
File "C:\Users\pablo\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.90\scripts\addons\MSFSToolkit\exporter\exp\gltf2_blender_gather_primitives.py", line 24, in <module>
from io_scene_gltf2.blender.exp import gltf2_blender_utils
ImportError: cannot import name 'gltf2_blender_utils' from 'io_scene_gltf2.blender.exp' (unknown location)

I've tried restarting the PC, uninstalling both Blender versions and reinstalling it (now I've just kept the latest one). Deleting the Blender Foundation folder on AppData and reinstalling the addon, but nothing seems to work. Any idea what is happening?

Same problem here, hope to find a solution since i realy on this amazing addon for my 3D assets.

 

[Demon]

I can confirm this. That's on me. I'll have a look and try to fix it. It might just be a cached function that shouldn't be cached.

I don't think I've got a workaround for the meantime, other than manually messing with the glTF...


@Demon yes. You're number 42 to point this out
It should be working with the next update, in the meantime just use the LTS version of Blender. 2.9 doesn't offer that much more in comparison anyway.

I am sorry :/ but thanks for the quick reply. Well yes I know that the differences are not big. So I stick around with 2.83 then.

 

[RomanDesign]

Another question: how to add a flashing red beacon on top of tall building in Blender? I want it as a separate object that I could use in different projects. Just the beacon light. I tried Point light with color red and flashing but it didn't work for some reason. Maybe I'm exporting incorrectly? I'm blundering in the dark and couldn't find a good tutorial. It would be nice to have a clear instruction. I want the light itself to be both visible and casting light - basically like MSFS default night street lights, only flashing. Just a red flashing point, nothing fancy, no 3D model. I want to put a bunch of them on top of tall structiures in MSFS project editor without FPS hit. To my surprise there is no such object in defauls MSFS object library.

 

[Vitus]

It would be nice to have a clear instruction.

Ain't that the truth! I would love the same for what I'm doing, but alas, here we both are, poking around in the dark...

A regular Blender point light should export fine. If there's issues with visibility or clipping try turning on "has symmetry" in the custom object properties for the light.

 

[mustang60348]

Another question: how to add a flashing red beacon on top of tall building in Blender? I want it as a separate object that I could use in different projects. Just the beacon light. I tried Point light with color red and flashing but it didn't work for some reason. Maybe I'm exporting incorrectly? I'm blundering in the dark and couldn't find a good tutorial. It would be nice to have a clear instruction. I want the light itself to be both visible and casting light - basically like MSFS default night street lights, only flashing. Just a red flashing point, nothing fancy, no 3D model. I want to put a bunch of them on top of tall structiures in MSFS project editor without FPS hit. To my surprise there is no such object in defauls MSFS object library.

It is really easy.

Add a point light, adjust its location, if you are adding it to a 3d model (which you aren't) place it in the correct location. If not adding to 3d model, just put the light at 0,0,0. Then select the object properties (little orange square in menu on right). Make sure you have "Has Symmetry" and "DayNight Cycle" checked.

Flash frequency = Number of time per minute that the light will flash
Flash Duration = How long the light stays on
Flash Phase = The phase is the offset in seconds of the frequency. Example : if my Frequency is set to 6 and my phase to 0, they’ll have one flash every ten seconds and start at 0 second (6 flash / 1 minute = one flash every 10 seconds ) If my frequency is set to 6 and my phase to 3, they’ll have one flash every ten seconds but start 3 seconds later. It’s useful to synchronize or desynchronize several lights inside the same .gltf or make the light flash in different intervals.
Rotation Speed = RPM of the light, if you want rotating beacon

Then select Object Data Properties (Little green light bulb on right side men)

Click colour and choose the colour of the light that you want
Power = How bright the light is , in watts.
Specular )???)
Radius = How far away you can see the light


Hopefully this helps.

 

[RomanDesign]

Thanks! I will try this today. It's very similar to what I tried, but maybe Iwas missing one of the steps. Do I just export as a regular model? Anything else that has to be selected in Blender2MSFS?

 

[RomanDesign]

Well, I got the light into MSFS, I see it flashing and illuminating the roof, however the point of light is invisible. There is no bright dot there. It's just invisible light casting visible red tint on the scenery.

 

[mustang60348]

Well, I got the light into MSFS, I see it flashing and illuminating the roof, however the point of light is invisible. There is no bright dot there. It's just invisible light casting visible red tint on the scenery.

That is correct, afaik, that's how you have to do it, if you want the light to be seen , build a small model and attach the light to it.

 

[RomanDesign]

That is correct, afaik, that's how you have to do it, if you want the light to be seen , build a small model and attach the light to it.

I tried several ways of doing it and there are two problems:
1. When I managed to do a translucent sphere, or use another person's object made for this, the resulting object is a dull red sphere. There is no glow or halo around it. It does not look anything like any lights do in the sim. If it is of a normal size for a light, or even larger, it becomes very small as you get farther, and becomes too small to be visible in any distance. Other lights in the sim are visible in a distance, there is a glow and they are bright. It's not the brightness setting in Blender, as 500W is plenty and the emitted light looks plausible when near the object.
2. The object and the light it casts are only visible when you are very near. They completely disappear at a very short distance from the object, unlike any other light does. Or maybe the light disappears and the object just becomes too small. The result is that the beacon that is supposed to be visible for miles is invisible in about 200m from it, defeating the purpose. Nobody will see it unless they fly impossibly (and illegally) close.

There are a lot of different lights in the sim that behave in a normal way: glow and visible far. Even streetlights. But I don't see any objects in the sim that can act this way in the editor. And lights exported from blender don't have a glow and the distance needed. Unless there are options for that that I don't know about.

 

[BMW969]

For some reason, objects appear only with a significant approach to them. But then, when you move away from them, objects are kept in the field of view for a long time. Even when the autogen around disappears.

 

[RomanDesign]

For some reason, objects appear only with a significant approach to them. But then, when you move away from them, objects are kept in the field of view for a long time. Even when the autogen around disappears.

A funny thing is that light objects, which are actually needed to be seen from far away, disappear very close, while meshes like buildings are visible from farther than any autogen or native photogrammetry.

 

[RomanDesign]

I can definitely confirm the LOD export bug with Blender 2.90 and Blender2MSFS 0.37.0: exporting batch LOD does not produce a working file. Only exporting every LOD individually after first doing a batch export (to get the XML etc.) produces a working LOD scenery for me...

 

[marcoh]

I can definitely confirm the LOD export bug with Blender 2.90 and Blender2MSFS 0.37.0: exporting batch LOD does not produce a working file. When I looked into files, I think one of them (_LOD00?) was missing a .bin file. In any case, only exporting every LOD individually after first doing a batch export (to get the XML etc.) produces a working LOD scenery.

Hello, 'im try to do exactly the same thing since a week. I didn't find the solution yet. I gmax and Fsx, there was a tool to attach to points some effects, like beacon.
The is no same tool now.

 

[BMW969]

I also don't see any changes LOD when moving away from the object.

 

[YohanNaz]

Ain't that the truth! I would love the same for what I'm doing, but alas, here we both are, poking around in the dark...

A regular Blender point light should export fine. If there's issues with visibility or clipping try turning on "has symmetry" in the custom object properties for the light.

Speaking of poking around in the dark, I've been doing just that here lately trying to get IES lighting working. Do you know how to get this working and if so care sharing a tip?

I've tried the usual by enabling cycles then setting up the nodes to use .ies files. Everything looks good in the shader window but nothing changes in the sim. Tried point and spot but neither of them show the IES texture. Any ideas?

 

[marcoh]

I also don't see any changes LOD when moving away from the object.

For me, after exporting manualy the object with two LOD, i see clarly the LOD changing in the sim.
One buidding, a church, is perfect, the simple model can be seen from very far, and the more complex model is showed around 1km from the plane.
The second building, a tall skycsraper (120m high), with same parameters in the xml file, is badly managed :
At first approch, the simple model is showed only when the plane is around 200m, and the complex model is showed in the same time, and when moving away from the model, the swith beetwin complex and simple is around 500m and i can see the simple model mile away.
But i don't know why at first approch, the simple model is not showed from far.