I'll throw that blend into a dropbox and fire you a link as soon as I get back on that computer.

I'm in the process of doing a tutorial on Blender Shape keys and using this model as an example. I was able to complete the part on exporting using BleST as a SMD which created a VTA and imported the result. Everything worked fine. Using the same model object (not the imported model) I exported as a DMX to show the benefits of using DMX files. I was shocked with the result of the import of the exported model. All faces that were a part of a shapekey were badly deformed. Thinking that my flexes were being considered as corrective shapes because of the use of underscores in the shape key names, I replaced the underscores with periods in the original session and re-exported. The resulting import did not change.

After reading the report of a similar bugs here, I decided to import the DMX into an earlier version of Blender using an earlier version of BleST. The model imported perfectly, all flexes worked and the model looked the same as if importing the SMD/VTA.

Blender version 2.76b, BleST version 2.6.2. Earlier version numbers used Blender 2.70 and BleST 2.1.0

Observations. Severe face distorsions in the DMX imported to 2.76b/2.6.2. All faces that have shape keys are affected. The BleST upgrade function in Blender reports I have the most current version.

http://i.imgur.com/gjpYVbX.png

(Is there a switch in Blender that I forgot to set???)

Zeq, this kind of threw me for a loop. Especially after Crowbar not doing this for so long. When I work in Blender with materials I name my materials exactly what I want them to be called in the model.

Then if they are all in the same folder I can give them their path in BleST if I create DMX files or if they are in different folders I leave the path blank in Blest and use $cdmaterials statements.

This case is a good example of what can happen if the path/filename is too long for Blender and
if the path information is in the materials and passed to the model it can have some really bad effects, especially for those who don't include a "$cdmaterials" "" statement in their QCs. I ALWAYS remove path information from materials in Blender and point .

The trunciation error threw me for a loop and I had no idea where to look to fix it. Hence this thread because I would never have expected Crowbar to be the culprit.

As this isn't a BleST problem, I can close this thread down and bring it into the CrowBar discussion/Bug report area if you want.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Zappy:

Neither. It's just ZeqMacaw who for some reason spawned a bug where material folders are (often) included in material names when decompiling through Crowbar, and somehow not noticing nor fixing it (not even when told about it).

As I said Zappy... I'm not sure if this is an error cause by Blender Native or something coded into BleST OR if it's something being fed by the Crowbar decompiles to BleST that is causing this, so I don't know who to turn to to report it. (You just happened to be the first I thought of...)

Greetings Artfunkle...

Your mission as a member of the IMS is to identify and correct the following situation...

I'm currently working with the new invasion items and SFM, one of my friends asked how to get the helmet of the

"workshop/player/items/pyro/invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air/invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air.mdl"

to work with the lighting turned on. (The face dome is visible when lights are disabled and invisible when lights are enabled.) Unable to determine what was calling which material I decompiled the model with Crowbar .33 and attempted to pull the SMDs into Blender.

After 3078 Material Name Trunication errors, I got a model, but the all verts ended up be passes to the one and only material that showed up in Blender...

{screen shot - http://i.imgur.com/xVolIwS.png }

I'm not sure if this is an error cause by Blender Native or something coded into BleST OR if it's something being fed by the Crowbar decompiles to BleST that is causing this, so I don't know who to turn to to report it. (You just happened to be the first I thought of...)

This model has 2 main materials that should be available in Blender...

"invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air"
and
"invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air_1"

they live in the "models\workshop\player\items\pyro\invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air\" folder

When BleST pull in the materials names it tries to pull in the 98 and 99 character file names for each {path/matname} but errors out and trunicates down to 63 characters. Because the first 63 characters of the 2 materials are the same, everything melts down into one material.

If this is a BleST Thing, would it be possible to code the trunication so that if the 63 characters are the same the the last 3 characters increment by 1 for each new material name found.. {sort of like what MS did for Short 8.3 and Long Filenames.} In other words, the verts for material

"models\workshop\player\items\pyro\invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air\invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air"

would be assigned to blender materials models\workshop\player\items\pyro\invasion_a_head_full_of_h_001

the verts for material

"models\workshop\player\items\pyro\invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air\invasion_a_head_full_of_hot_air1"

would be assigned to blender materials models\workshop\player\items\pyro\invasion_a_head_full_of_h_002

Etc etc etc....

OR

Have the materials trunicate by reading right to left 63 characters?

OR

find some magical way of identifying the {path} and chopping it from the Materials name in Blender?

As always, should you or any of your IMS team be caught or captured, Blah da Blah!!!

I will wait for you to Self Destruct in 5 Seconds (after reading this... lol).

If not a BleST problem, please let me know and I'll hit the BlenderArtists.org forums and try for a bug fix there.

Thanks (and with greatest respect for the work you do on this tool)

Pte Jack

I think I know what my problem was... I tried to use the animation to create the initial model... face-palm, recompiling the project again, this time using the model smds as the model base and adding the animation smds as the sequence.... DOH!!!

hmmm, ok, that exactly what I tried to do... This Mug thing has been giving me probs from the get go, right from Blender switching all my UV around to this now... I think I'll redo the whole project. It may have to do with the way I applied the solidify modifier to the mug in the first place. Let me play a bit with it and see what happens (besides, I think I've pooched my original Blend File when I attempted the VA the first time. Was so excited to try and get this to work I actually played with my original and forgot to back it up. Thanks, eh!!! LOL) But. I really appreciate your offer and if I continue to have probs, I'll have you look at it. It should be simple enough... I'm actually basing a guide on using your tools to import multiple types of models into Blender for conversion and export to Valve Model Source files for conversion to SFM...

I'm hoping to add this functionality to the guide ( https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=245723825 )

Hmmm, getting there. Fantastic work BTW. I really can't believe you were able to do this so quickly and wish I had your programming talent. Got the update and I'm not seeing the adding smds problem anymore... and thanks for the group fragments info.

So, I grouped the animated shards as you suggested, but when I export it just becomes a clump, so I'm going assume I still have to bone each shard in order to keep the integrity of the mug? (I'll give that a try... and maybe I should read the entire post you made, especially the part about group animations not available yet... lol)

Apologize being a pain, but this is a giant step forward and will really ba a benefit to the community.

Ok, This is intriguing, but I have a couple of question because I am confused.

Im my case aI have an object that has 50 fragments. Cell fracture converts these to indivdual objects with origins at the center of each object. BLeST sees these as individual DMX/SMDs. I assume I have to add the vertex animation for each object and this (like its Maya counterpart) only works with the SMD format... This is not a problem, and I see that BLeST adds an icon beside the SMD when the the VA is added (kewl).

Confusion points.

Do I have to create a QC Segment for each object as well, if so, I end up with a Control has already been created error when i compile the qc.. or do I have to rename each control...

If I try to create a QC Segment after doing the export I find that only the SMD selected at the time of generation is referenced. (There is only 1 vcaanim_VertexAnim.smd and one VertexAnim.vta file created) The size of these files suggest that it is only 1 object that has been recorded and the files created.

hmm, I am wondering if I have to rename the VertexAnim reference under the Vertex Animation Tool for Each Object so a vca!!.smd and a va!.vta is created for each as well?? (If this is the case, is there someway to have the tool do this automatically as the objects are added (ie vcaanim_smd_objName.smd and va_smd_objname.vta?))


Not working for me, but I'll keep at it... I'm getting various errors, hmmm, I think I'm doing it wrong.

Seems to add new SMDs to the list, (doubling the SMD count everytime I try. some with Animations listed, some without. Using Blender 2.70a, I'll try by falling back to 2.69b)

Oh wow, most excellent. I can provide my mug animation blend file with the cell fracture animation if you would like to try it as you work through this... Just let me know.

(Now for something completely STUPID. Everytime I look at that cloth picture I try to spin it as if I were using it in Blender to look at it)