• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Export from Blender in Cycles Mode

D

drdavid

Messages
118
Country
wales
I am only just starting with Blender having used gmax up to now and I understand there may be a problem exporting Collada (.dae) models from Blender when using the Cycles Render engine - as in Thraini's post "Three simple questions". To ease the learning curve, I'm trying to make a simple 6-sided dice - here's what it looks like in Blender:
aiorrWq.jpg

After exporting, I import the .dae into MCX and find no texturing on the model. Dave Hoeffgen mentions using a 'bake' function, but on my 2.79 Blender, I can't locate this. I have to say there are several other functions that I haven't located - such is my ignorance at this time!
If you know of a 2.79 Blender tutorial that could help me with this texturing issue, I'd be most grateful to be pointed towards it - or any other advice that you think may be useful.
Many thanks - Dai.
 
Tried the Dice model again, this time with the standard Blender Render. In Blender, the rendered model has 2 sides with numbers and 4 x black faces (see image). I wondered what MCX would make of it after exporting the collada/.dae and - strangely - all 6 faces are shown with numbers so, apparently, the rendering has been successful.

ulRyZlS.jpg


Not sure what to make of this. Do I assume that Blender will export the render correctly even if it appears incomplete in the rendered window?

Comments and advice welcomed - thanks!

Cheers - Dai.
 
We’ve been through this with 3ds Max before: you can render a model in either to look as wonderful as anyone could wish, but FS (or MCX) needs the rendered texture(s) in a form it can read to display on the model. BMP, DDS, JPG, whatever, and the business of getting Blender or Max to render the textures to texture files for FS is called baking. The model needs mapped correctly first, then you can use Blender or Max to make these texture files with whichever render method you wish.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for your explanation, Tom - learning a new tool, I expect to be confused, but I am surprised that the more straightforward Cycles Render doesn't have the texture export facility - well, so be it, I guess.

What still does concern me a little is that when using Blender Render, the rendered model is not displayed as it subsequently is displayed in MCX. The latter clearly needs a texture image for this to be achieved. Blender uses the same texture image but doesn't show a complete 'rendering'. Of course, it's probably finger trouble my end and. maybe, the above result was fortuitous! Whichever, I would like to understand where the problem lies - particularly as this was a very simple example of a model to be textured.

Lastly, can you confirm that the Cycles Render route is not compatible with generating textured models for FS (or MCX) and that I should only use Blender Render?

Many thanks - Dai.
 
There you have me: I’m not a Blender user, but a Max hacker. However, there are people here who should know and I leave you to their answers!
 
Hello...

The answer to using "Cycles" and "Blender render", both can be used in creating scenery, etc. "Cycles" is used in creating the texture layouts (the textures need to saved as well). As you have found out though, Cycles can not be used when importing into MCX (collada/.dae or any other format). When you save it (so you can export it), you will need to change the render to "Blender render" first.

I noticed you are not using the "Toolset", which is called "Blender2FSXP3D (v0.9.4)-(ii)", which will allow you to process your scenery into a model file directly within Blender. Though using the toolset doesn't change what render mode is needed, still need to be saved while in Blender render. The toolset can be obtained from this thread: https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/blender2fsx-p3d-v0-9-4-onwards.442082/

I hope that helps!
 
Thanks, Doug. So, I set up the UV-unwrap using Cycles Render and then, as I can't export from the Cycles 'format', I change to the Render 'format'? The resulting collada/.dae object is then displayable in MCX. As others have done, I can then use MCX to convert the object into .mdl or .bgl types for FS. Currently, I use InstantScenery2 for object placement if the object isn't positioned in a mission (FSX).

I have installed the Blender2FSXP3D module into Blender (thanks for the link) but, as yet, have not tried it - I guess this detail isn't shown in my screen images.

Next, I have to try to model something more sophisticated than a single dice. No doubt I'll run into more 'opportunities' along the way!

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers - Dai.
 
The only thing to look out for concerning the UV layout, is to make sure you save them separately from the blender file (".blend" file). If you don't, the UV layouts will not be remembered at all. That's where most people make their mistakes.

You don't have to save the model as an "export file ready" between sessions also (like for more complex models) and until you are ready too.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Blenderary!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top