Offline Builder: Now in Beta

I used Alt-D to copy my floor to my roof (because the copy button doesn't do multi-select copies.

I changed the position in Blender and saved..

Pulled the .blend file into SL and the floor rezzed and the ceiling rezzed in the same place as the floor.

So, Alt-D may save right in Blender but doesn't update what it needs to in the script def..

Can you make the copy button work on multiple selections?

Well done. I wish I had time to play with this new tool. When I find time later there are a few things I'd like to try.

Done.

The docs you wrote are a touch more confusing since the naming conventions differ... even if it's a good format. For now, I'm going to leave those alone.

As for Alt-D support... ehm. Not doing it yet since it'd get messy in a hurry.

This is exciting. But I'm coming up empty. I get a message, when I touch the REZ object, that says : UNABLE TO CREATE REQUESTED OBJECT. OBJECT IS MISSING FROM DATABASE.

I used both the readme.txt & Duke Scarborough's step-by-step (despite the naming problems, but that's easy to figure out). Any ideas?

It's almost 3AM here, but I'll wait up a bit longer. Thnx again guys... this is like the beginning of Second Life - 2.0.

//Kliger

++++++++++++++++

UPDATE: I seemed to be a bit impatient. Despite the above message, I finally received a chat message that said : Offline Build Import: COMPLETE. I take it that this is good news, except that I can't find the object... but I'll try again tomarrow.

Thanks again for all the work. Thanks also to Dukewho helped me get the primimporter working correctly.

One question and one small bug report

The question is how does one change the grid size and turn on snap to grid in Blender

The bug report is as follows:

The dimple option on a sphere did not show up on import. Also when I changed the dimple in SL to that in Blender, it was opposite.

I changed the names in my post to better match.

Don't need Alt-D to work - I can use the copy button - but would be nice if copy button could copy multiple selected prims instead of only the last selection.

EDIT: DIDN'T SINK IN - YOU DID THIS!!! THANK YOU!

I started putting feature suggestions in the project on SourceForge.

Created a prim with top shear of Y=.2 in Blender and when I imported, the view of the prim was 'correct' for my visualization with a top shear of -.2.

So at least for Y, top shear direction is reversed. Changing the sign on the top shear made the model correct.
Location and size were perfect when sign was changed.

Duke

I have not tried this yet as I am in the process of moving. However, I was doing a little bit of Googling and found that Blender has been released for the Pocket PC (Windows CE)! This means that I should be able to build now with my mobile and just sync it to my desktop when I return home.

So, here's my question... how does the importer work? Would the importer work on a Pocket PC? Does it require SL be on the computer with Blender. Or...can I make things on Blender: Pocket PC Edition, save them, sync the files to my computer, and then import it? Just a thought.

This will allow me to get more work done while driving down the freeway (watch out for some crazy guy driving with a pocket pc in his hand...it's probably me ;>.

Ciao

Assuming the Pocket PC Blender has Python 2.4, yes that's doable.

If I install Python 2.4 separately and then Blender, then would that do, or does Blender + Python have to be a package deal in this case, or... (I have not yet tried this on my desktop, as I am, again, moving, so sorry for all the questions). If so, when I drive out to my new house later I'll test it out and see how it all works out and post results, and if it works -- links.

Ciao

Python can be installed separately. In fact, prior to 2.4, it had to be. It may require setting a few environment variables, but this is fairly well-documented on Google.

This is a fantastic tool. Thank you Jeffrey! I read some Blender tutorials the last couple of days to familiarize myself a bit with the software. And today I began using the Builder. I had a couple of show stoppers though.

First, using Ctrl+Z (Undo) blanks out the script window. Pressing the "Returns to previous window" button on the header returns the script to the window, but in the unexecuted form. Executing the script again seems to make previously created prims unrecognizable to the script.

Second, I seem to be having the same issues as Kliger does with the importer. I get the message "Offline Build Import: Complete" but nothing rezzes. Actually, I have the feeling that prims do rez but somewhere else in the sim. In the Blender file, X, Y, and Z position is kept near (0, 0, 0), so I would expect the prims to rez near the Blender prim.

Anyway, thanks for building this again! I think I'll make much use out of it. I'll continue playing with this and let you know of anything else.

The import script rezzer acts as the <0,0,0> point from Blender (more accurately the center point of the rezzer prim). So if you've built someplace way off from the 0,0,0 point... yes it is hard to say where your prims ended up.

But you should see the initial cube prim rez before moveing and rotating to the correct position and shape. If you don't see anything it is likely it may not be reading the notecard.

I think this is it, Thraxis. Upon touch, a notecard icon with an exclamation point appears over the prim. I guess this means that it cannot read the notecard. Is there anything special that I have to do to that notecard - apart from labeling it Sample_Prims, pasting the Blender file to it, and dropping it into the prim? Thanks.

Edit: Problem solved. I asked for a prebuilt copy of the importer from Jeffrey, he was kind enough to send me one, and it works. Apparently, I had set up the whole thing wrong. I won't even attempt to start explaining what I did. At any rate, thank you again.

Unfortunately, that one is pretty much unfixable; it's an API bug with Blender. I've tried getting the Blender people to support my tool and, err, uhm... they kinda blew me off.


Also: This thread's been scooped!
http://www.3pointd.com/20060602/create-sl-objects-in-blender-if-you-dare/

(Thanks to Torley for bringing that to my attention)

Ok, a few more bugs/requests:

--Entering data in the script window can be tricky. Sometimes a number has to be keyed two or three times
for it to be entered. Sometimes one number is keyed and a completely different number is entered. E.g., I key
16.444, but 16.384 gets entered. And sometimes numbers revert to their previous values. E.g., I change
SizeX from .5 to .75. Then I change SizeY from .5 to .75, but SizeX reverts to .5.
--Using the Tab key to navigate the script window leads to erratic behavior.
--PosX, PosY, and PosZ cannot be made greater than 100.
--PosX, PosY, and PosZ display only 2 decimal places (request for 3 )

--Upon attempting to recreate a well-aligned couch poof in Blender (see Pic1 of image below), here's what
happened:
1. The same exact SL values are entered in Blender. The poof appears to be exactly the same, minus one
detail: the yellow cylinder part (under the maroon torus part) appears slightly misaligned (see Pic2). It
shouldn't be. The same values were used in both SL and Blender. I double-check all the prims in both SL and
Blender. Everything is the same. But they don't look the same.
2. I import the Blender poof into SL. And sure enough, the cylinder rezzes misaligned (see Pic3). I check all
the prims again. Everything is the same between the Blender poof and the imported poof, except for the
cylinder's rotation. Upon import, RotX, RotY, and RotZ changed. Compare Pic2 and Pic3.
3. I change the cylinder's rotation to match the rotation in the Blender poof (and the original poof), and the
cylinder snaps into place the way it is supposed to (see pic4).
In other words, assuming no fault on the part of the importer, the Blender file seems to display a rotation of
(270, 89.35, 90) when in fact it's calculating a rotation of (0, 270, 179.35).

I hope all this wasn't too confusing

Can you see what rotation that piece is being given in the save file from the offline builder?

1. Entering data into the script is indeed tricky. Tab from X to Y works, but not Y to Z. Sometimes data gets reset.

2. The PosX, PosY and PosZ is a limitation of the rez script, which SHOUTs its commands, as SL has a 100meter limit on how far shout is heard. Linked obj communication is worse, as it has a 30m limit on 10m prims (linking stops at 30m). Until they come up with Obj to Obj Communication, this is a no-can-fix.

3. Alignment problems (I also noticed these), but they seem to only be along one axis. Rotation has been kind of F____ed up since 1.10.0 (34). I've filed bug reports and complained in the forums. But the misalignment seems to only occur along the Y axis (which is the one that's screwy in the SL GUI) at least for me.

That's a timer bug on my part. It refreshes the primitive data in the UI roughly every two seconds. Occasionally this seems to throw off editing values.

You can fix this yourself in the script window by editing the REFRESH_TIME constant to a higher value. Refreshing the window will be less responsive, but values should be more easy to input.


Wish I could fix that. My guess is it's a Blender bug.


Duke has a good rationale for this. While I could up the threshhold, it would make importing things considerably more unwieldy (though the data could be input simultaneously and loop through afterward. Thraxis?)


Double-click the slider box.



It's possible that the position/rotation did not "sync" properly. Hmm. That one I'll try to fix along with some minor mirroring problems still present in the code. I'll also look into the other ones mentioned, possibly upping the default REFRESH_TIME to 3.

The cylinder - rotation (270, 89.35, 90) - is given <rotation x="0.707095324993" y="0.00399664929137" z="-0.707095324993" s="-0.00402518222108">

The rest of the prims - rotation (0, 0, 180. - are given <rotation x="0.0" y="0.0" z="0.999986290932" s="-0.00523628760129">

if that's any help.

Well it isn't a problem with the import script. The rotation numbers are off in the saved file.

it should be <-0.00401,0.70710,0.00401,0.70710>




PosX,PosY and PosZ greater then 100 could be done, just need to store the position and send it at the end of the primitive info.

Yes. I figure it's an interface bug.



New release is up. Fixes include:

-- A "prim sync" prior to saving to file. This should prevent the drift problems you've experienced in the future

-- Mirroring should now be much more reliable, especially when changing between prims

-- Updated the script table of contents (for those wishing to hack into it)

-- ... and I raised the boundaries for building to roughly four sims in diameter (-512 to 512). Note the current importer will not work outside of 100m. This is simply to allow more space when building (though some crazies might try to fill those four sims)


I also upped the refresh time from two to four seconds.

I still haven't gotten the import tool to work. I keep getting the same errors and it's driving me nuts. I would be grateful if someone, anyone who has working import objects would drop them into my inventory. Thnx.

//Kliger

Okay everyone, I promised an update on Blender/Python on the Pocket PC. So, here goes:

Blender runs great on the pocket PC

Python installs great on the pocket PC

When opening the blender file, the side script shows (with the notes, where you would have to right-click and click execute), so that's good.

The problem is I can't right click, tap and hold, and there is no alt key to do anything like alt-P or something to execute the script. So, that being said, I am still playing with that and will let you know.

Ciao.

I just realized what the problem was, looking at this again.

Blender and Second Life use a different system of Euler rotation; the values in the window will differ by design. Second Life rotates X, then Y, then Z to get its Eulers. Blender does its rotations simultaneously. Don't try to wrap your head around that; it's not important.

The point is, however, that when it saves out to a file, I used a system of rotation that both understand the same way. What you experienced with misalignment was the sync bug, I believe. If that persists, then there is definitely an issue in the code.

As for seeing differing values in the edit window, that's a feature I'm afraid.