Howto:Work with AC3D files in Blender: Difference between revisions

From FlightGear wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Majic79 addon: Since majic no longer seem to merge updates, changed the link to the development version.)
(10 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 7: Line 7:
For these versions you can use one of these scripts by Majic79:
For these versions you can use one of these scripts by Majic79:


* {{repo link|site=gh|proj=majic79/Blender-AC3D|brrev=BL2.59|text=Version for Blender 2.59 (repository)}} ([https://github.com/majic79/Blender-AC3D/archive/BL2.59.zip ZIP file download]).
* {{github source|proj=majic79|repo=Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.59|text=Version for Blender 2.59 (repository)}} ({{github zip file|majic79|Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.59|text=ZIP file download}}).
* {{repo link|site=gh|proj=majic79/Blender-AC3D|brrev=BL2.60|text=Version for Blender 2.60 (repository)}} ([https://github.com/majic79/Blender-AC3D/archive/BL2.60.zip ZIP file download]).
* {{github source|proj=majic79|repo=Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.60|text=Version for Blender 2.60 (repository)}} ({{github zip file|majic79|Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.60|text=ZIP file download}}).
* {{repo link|site=gh|proj=majic79/Blender-AC3D|brrev=BL2.62|text=Version for Blender 2.62 (repository)}} ([https://github.com/majic79/Blender-AC3D/archive/BL2.62.zip ZIP file download]).
* {{github source|proj=majic79|repo=Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.62|text=Version for Blender 2.62 (repository)}} ({{github zip file|majic79|Blender-AC3D|branch=BL2.62|text=ZIP file download}}).


== Blender versions 2.63 and later ==
== Blender versions 2.63 and later ==
Line 15: Line 15:


=== Majic79 addon ===
=== Majic79 addon ===
Current maintainer: [[User:Necolatis]]
Tested with Blender version 2.63 to 2.78a
'''Notes:'''
'''Notes:'''
* Before you export a model with this addon, make sure that you set the UV map and texture inside the material, not just inside the UV editor.  See the video tutorial [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URMjoFSm5pk here].
* Before you export a model with this addon, make sure that you set the UV map and texture inside the material, not just inside the UV editor.  See the video tutorial [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URMjoFSm5pk here].
* Inside Blender when you want to see the textures, be sure to set the shader to GLSL (or for 2.7 just set view mode to materials). Alternatively set textured solid in solid view.
* Before you export make sure to exit Edit Mode or some of your last changes won't be exported.
* Inside Blender when you want to see the textures, be sure to set the shader to GLSL (or for 2.7+ just set view mode to materials). Alternatively set textured solid in solid view.
* To see textured surfaces as they will be shown in Flightgear, go into the material texture and set the blend type to "Multiply" instead of the default "Mix" (the importer will also do this automatically). An example plane that will look very different if this is not done is the FGAddon aircraft ASK-13, notice the wingtips.
* If you wonder where to put the scripts you could open blender's user preferences (''CTRL ALT U'', or ''File->User Preferences'') tick e.g. Import/Export and extent the informations concerning an existing script. Usually this throws the path. For Ubuntu 14.04LTS/Blender 2.79b e.g. it's: ''/usr/share/blender/scripts/addons/''.
* If you wonder where to put the scripts you could open blender's user preferences (''CTRL ALT U'', or ''File->User Preferences'') tick e.g. Import/Export and extent the informations concerning an existing script. Usually this throws the path. For Ubuntu 14.04LTS/Blender 2.79b e.g. it's: ''/usr/share/blender/scripts/addons/''.
* Be aware of the selection "Mirror color to emis/ambi" usually emissive/ambient 1.0 does produce pale results. Hotfix: Adjust mirrorcolor as ambient, choose mirror color->ambient in filter.
* Be aware that Blender only has greyscale for emission and ambient colors. If you want to export/import a color for those, import/export options gives you capability to choose to use Blenders mirror color for that.
* The importer will not fail if it does not locate a texture, instead it will issue warnings. Pull down the top bar to see if there was any, they will be orange lines.
* The exporter will not fail if it tries to save a texture without data, instead it will issue warnings. Pull down the top bar to see if there was any, they will be orange lines. Notice that since AC3D only support 1 texture per object, if multiple textures are attached to an object in Blender the last of the textures that has any data, if any, will be the one that get exported, but it will still warn about the missing data in the others, so take care.
* Orientation: The default settings in the plugin correspond to the FlightGear coordinate system (-X forward and Z up, also see: [[Howto:3D_Aircraft_Models]]). The default settings are: Forward -Z and Up Y.
 
You can report bugs with the addon [https://github.com/NikolaiVChr/Blender-AC3D/issues here], but please include problematic .ac/.blend files and their textures.


You can report bugs with the addon [https://github.com/majic79/Blender-AC3D/issues here], but please include problematic .ac/.blend files.
: {{github source|proj=NikolaiVChr|repo=Blender-AC3D|text=Repository}} ({{github zip file|NikolaiVChr|Blender-AC3D|text=ZIP file download}}).


: {{repo link|site=gh|proj=NikolaiVChr/Blender-AC3D|text=Repository}} ([https://github.com/NikolaiVChr/Blender-AC3D/archive/master.zip ZIP file download]).
Notice that the above link is to Necolatis (Nikolai) latest version, as the Majic79 github hasn't kept up with the updates and seems dead.


=== Mr. No addon ===
=== Mr. No addon ===
Line 30: Line 42:
* When using this script, it is very important that everything is textured. The addon will silently fail if this is not the case.
* When using this script, it is very important that everything is textured. The addon will silently fail if this is not the case.
* This script does not work reliable when nested groups are being used in the imported AC3D model (example [https://github.com/NikolaiVChr/flightgear-saab-ja-37-viggen/blob/FG-v3.4/Aircraft/JA37/Models/Instruments/Altimeter2/altimeter-metric.ac here]).
* This script does not work reliable when nested groups are being used in the imported AC3D model (example [https://github.com/NikolaiVChr/flightgear-saab-ja-37-viggen/blob/FG-v3.4/Aircraft/JA37/Models/Instruments/Altimeter2/altimeter-metric.ac here]).
* The importer cannot handle the token 'subdiv', its just ignored.
* The exporter does not always export the rotations/location matrix of objects correctly.


: [http://www.mediafire.com/?m4f9m95qj9e5qq0 Download link (MediaFire)]
: [http://www.mediafire.com/?m4f9m95qj9e5qq0 Download link (MediaFire)]


== External links ==
== External links ==
[http://opencity.sourceforge.net/html/ac3dfileformat.html AC3D file format]
[https://sites.google.com/view/ac3dfileformat/home AC3D file format]


{{3d}}
{{3d}}


[[Category:Modeling]]
[[Category:Modeling]]

Revision as of 15:25, 14 June 2019

Many FlightGear aircraft modelers prefer Blender as their 3D-modelling editor. FlightGear primarily uses the AC3D file format (.ac) to model aircraft, scenery models, and many other things. There is good support for the import and export of the AC3D file format from Blender. This page gives an overview of those options.

Blender versions 2.4 and older

For these versions, Blender supports both the import and export of AC3D files out of the box. Just go into user preferences and enable the addon scripts.

Blender versions 2.5 to 2.62

For these versions you can use one of these scripts by Majic79:

Blender versions 2.63 and later

For version 2.63 onwards you have a choice of several scripts.

Majic79 addon

Current maintainer: User:Necolatis

Tested with Blender version 2.63 to 2.78a

Notes:

  • Before you export a model with this addon, make sure that you set the UV map and texture inside the material, not just inside the UV editor. See the video tutorial here.
  • Before you export make sure to exit Edit Mode or some of your last changes won't be exported.
  • Inside Blender when you want to see the textures, be sure to set the shader to GLSL (or for 2.7+ just set view mode to materials). Alternatively set textured solid in solid view.
  • To see textured surfaces as they will be shown in Flightgear, go into the material texture and set the blend type to "Multiply" instead of the default "Mix" (the importer will also do this automatically). An example plane that will look very different if this is not done is the FGAddon aircraft ASK-13, notice the wingtips.
  • If you wonder where to put the scripts you could open blender's user preferences (CTRL ALT U, or File->User Preferences) tick e.g. Import/Export and extent the informations concerning an existing script. Usually this throws the path. For Ubuntu 14.04LTS/Blender 2.79b e.g. it's: /usr/share/blender/scripts/addons/.
  • Be aware that Blender only has greyscale for emission and ambient colors. If you want to export/import a color for those, import/export options gives you capability to choose to use Blenders mirror color for that.
  • The importer will not fail if it does not locate a texture, instead it will issue warnings. Pull down the top bar to see if there was any, they will be orange lines.
  • The exporter will not fail if it tries to save a texture without data, instead it will issue warnings. Pull down the top bar to see if there was any, they will be orange lines. Notice that since AC3D only support 1 texture per object, if multiple textures are attached to an object in Blender the last of the textures that has any data, if any, will be the one that get exported, but it will still warn about the missing data in the others, so take care.
  • Orientation: The default settings in the plugin correspond to the FlightGear coordinate system (-X forward and Z up, also see: Howto:3D_Aircraft_Models). The default settings are: Forward -Z and Up Y.

You can report bugs with the addon here, but please include problematic .ac/.blend files and their textures.

Repository (ZIP file download).

Notice that the above link is to Necolatis (Nikolai) latest version, as the Majic79 github hasn't kept up with the updates and seems dead.

Mr. No addon

Notes:

  • When exporting with this addon, make sure you set the texture inside the UV editor.
  • When using this script, it is very important that everything is textured. The addon will silently fail if this is not the case.
  • This script does not work reliable when nested groups are being used in the imported AC3D model (example here).
  • The importer cannot handle the token 'subdiv', its just ignored.
  • The exporter does not always export the rotations/location matrix of objects correctly.
Download link (MediaFire)

External links

AC3D file format