Need some orientation...

[zhackie]

Hi, I am a lost newbie trying to learn what's where here, and that means I have questions.

Specifically, I am trying to get the blender2ogre tool working for a dataset built off of an unreleased ogre version 2.0.0unstable (Tindalos).

And, of course, I know little about blender, little about ogre, little about python, and my c++ skills are weak.

Anyways... blender2ogre has a readme which states that I need to set the correct path to OGRETOOLS_XML_CONVERTER in io_ogre/config.py prior to the first run.

So, first question: how much have the mesh and skeleton file formats changed with version? (How can I know if the version I am trying to download for ogrexmlconverter.exe is going to be adequate or is going to mess things up when I manipulate files?)

But, also, when I look at that config.py, I see several other executables being referenced, and the readme doesn't address them:

check-for-updates.exe
convert.exe
jmonkeyplatform.exe
MeshMagick.exe
Meshy.exe
OgreXmlConverter.exe

check-for-updates is amusing, given how much downloads and download locations seem to have changed over the years. I am not sure whether I should hope I can find a working version (which might solve other problems for me) or whether I should hope that I never need a working version (because it would create more problems than it could possibly solve). Maybe both...

convert.exe is from imagemagick. So, I've already got that.

I haven't even begun to look at jmonkeyplatform. It's gotten to the point where I realize I need someone sane to point me in approximately the right direction.

But MeshMagick and Meshy seem like they might provide useful functionality (preview if nothing else, though I see hints that they might be relevant in the context of dealing with the skeletons). But meshmagick needs me to compile it (and I don't which version of ogre I should compile it against, nor even which version I can compile it against, and I don't know enough yet to know how to test if I've found the right version). And, meshy seems really old (version 1.6)...

So... maybe a lot of this is just dead code that I should ignore?

Anyways... I'm looking for voices of experience here. Ideally from someone who has used the blender2ogre plugin in blender 2.9 (or 2. and who has enough familiarity with ogre api and data format issues to tell me about what I should really be worrying about for ogre version 2.0.0.

(Because what I want to be doing right now is figuring out how to manipulate meshes and mesh weights and uv maps in blender. If I have to spin up a fresh install of visual studio and start compiling every possible combination of things before I even know how to test the binaries, I am probably going to be spinning my wheels for weeks...)

Any hints, clues, faq pointers and/or solid advice appreciated. Guesses and approximations maybe not so much, but beggars can't be choosers.

[sercero]

Hello, I am using OGRE 1.11.6 with blender2ogre and Blender 2.79b so what I am about to say might not be 100% applicable to your situation.

I don't know about the blender2ogre 2.8 branch, but in the 2.7x branch you only need to set OGRETOOLS_XML_CONVERTER to the path of OgreXMLConverter.exe.

The other tools are needed depending on the options you are choosing at the time of export, if you leave the deafult options most likely you don't need other tools.

I think that if you are a newbie it is OK to ask, but you should also be experimenting.

Try to do an export and see if you get any errors in the console.

With an error log we can help you better.

[zhackie]

Well, my first attempt at finding an OgreXmlConverter.exe gave me this:

Code: Select all

-- OPTIONS --
source file      = crate.mesh
destination file = crate.mesh.xml
log file         = OgreXMLConverter.log
interactive mode = false
lod levels       = none (or use existing)
Generate edge lists  = 1
Generate tangents = 0
 semantic = TANGENT
 parity = 0
 split mirror = 0
 split rotated = 0
Reorganise vertex buffers = 1
Optimise animations = 1
-- END OPTIONS --

Creating resource group General
Creating resource group Internal
Creating resource group Autodetect
Registering ResourceManager for type Mesh
Registering ResourceManager for type Material
Registering ResourceManager for type Skeleton
Exception caught: Cannot find serializer implementation for current version [MeshSerializer_v1.100]Unregistering ResourceManager for type Skeleton
Unregistering ResourceManager for type Material
Unregistering ResourceManager for type Mesh

[zhackie]

I should add that I have found a version of OgreXmlConverter.exe which imports some meshes.

But there are others which do not get imported. The .mesh.xml file gets generated, but nothing appears in blender. I'll probably have to find a blender forum and ask there if I can't figure this out soon. (It's just too bad that I do not yet really know what I should be asking about...)

[sercero]

check-for-updates.exe: I don't know about this program, never heard of it
convert.exe: This one either
jmonkeyplatform.exe: This might have something to do with another rendering engine called JMonkeyEngine which supports the OGRE .mesh format
MeshMagick.exe: This program is used to make modifications over a .mesh file like changing the skeleton name, scaling, etc.
Meshy.exe: A program made by @dark_sylinc to preview OGRE meshes.
OgreXmlConverter.exe: The program that converts from a .mesh.xml format into .mesh format.

It seems that you are trying to import a .mesh into Blender?

blender2ogre is used to export a Blender scene/model into OGRE (it produces .mesh files through XMLconverter and creates a .scene file that is used with the DotScenePlugin to load the scene), not the other way around.

[zhackie]

Oh, yes -- I am trying to manipulate ogre meshes in blender.

(Ideally with support for surrounding data structures.)