Blender Exporter update

[pwillard]

So, I noticed that the Blender 4 API changed regarding the Principled BSDF shader related to the "specular" setting. This created an annoying glitch that would break node connections for the MSTS Material handling and not perform a reconnection (what it was supposed to do) because there was no longer a "specular" connection point. This section of code was merely adjusting the way things are seen "while in Blender," but the "leaving nodes disconnected" is unsuitable for users of the latest versions of Blender. Blender API now calls this connection point "IOR" for "Incidence of Refraction," so the code needed some API version-related updating.

TLDR;

I fixed it. You can get it here:

https://github.com/pwillard/Blender_MSTS_ORTS_Exporter

[scottb613]

Hi Pete,

Noticed the issue - THANKS for the fix.

Regards,
Scott

[EldoradoRailroad]

Pete,

Just to be absolutely clear....this exporter is for Blender 4.xx only, right?

Thanks,
Steve

[pwillard]

Negative.

I'm trying to keep the exporter compatible with Blender 2.8 through 4.x.

I'm using Blender's version detection to redirect to appropriate code sections so it doesn't break for people using older releases.

Remember, though, that I do minimal regression testing currently and only test against 4.3.2 and 3.6.10.

[wacampbell]

Thanks for the fix. I noticed Blender version 4.0.2 was exhibiting the issue, so I adjusted line 341 to read:

if BlenderVersion < (4, 0, 0):

Much appreciated.

Wayne

[pwillard]

Ah, good catch, that fix is in place now

[pwillard]

The exporter has been updated to work better with release 4.5 LTS of Blender. https://github.com/pwillard/Blender_MSTS_ORTS_Exporter

[wacampbell]

Thanks for the update!

[eric]

Thanks for keeping it version sensitive.

[pwillard]

Well, I don't like leaving people out in the cold if they use an older version they are comfortable with.

To be honest, I'm kind of nervous about Blender 5.0 release.

[pwillard]

I thought I understood what I read in the Blender change documents... but I guess I didn't.

Note: I'm still working on some bits and pieces of the Exporter so it works reliably on Blender version 5. For now, I would recommend sticking with Blender 4.5 LTS and Exporter Version 4.8, which works as intended. I'm still having some concerns with Version 4.81 and Blender 5.0 regarding materials/textures.

Blender 5 made some changes to how Principled BSDF identifiers are called, which is messing things up, and I need to figure out "what to do" to fix it.

It's looking like changes to the code need to be far more extensive... <sigh>

Hmmm. It changed how temporary mesh objects get cleaned up and that seems to be a big part of the problems. (immediate removal instead of "hang around until I'm done with you")

[pwillard]

Just an update to say that the Blender S-File exporter add-on's latest release has been "lightly" tested with the recent Blender 5.2 LTS release with no obvious issues.

https://github.com/pwillard/Blender_MSTS_ORTS_Exporter/releases

[scfe_fan]

Hey Pete, I have the newest version of the exporter and the newest version of blender after I just built a new PC system and I'm running into export issues with locomotives. I can export scenery objects just fine but I get this message when trying to export a locomotive.

BlenderError.jpg

[pwillard]

Well, lightly tested does leave room for error. I'll look into it. I might have messed up Animations handling.

Yup, Blender 5 handles it differently, so I needed to code a way to process it the new way and have compatibility with the old way. I thought I had already coded a fix for this (in fact, I documented it in my notebook), but I might have lost the actual update during a hard drive rebuild from recent backups and not realized the impact on what I uploaded. I'll prepare an update and upload it later. (Makes me wonder what else I lost)

[scfe_fan]

Well, lightly tested does leave room for error. I'll look into it. I might have messed up Animations handling.

Yup, Blender 5 handles it differently, so I needed to code a way to process it the new way and have compatibility with the old way. I thought I had already coded a fix for this (in fact, I documented it in my notebook), but I might have lost the actual update during a hard drive rebuild from recent backups and not realized the impact on what I uploaded. I'll prepare an update and upload it later. (Makes me wonder what else I lost)

Awesome thank you! I wasn't sure if it was something on my end since I'm still getting my new system setup how I want it and all my old programs reinstalled, so I decided to start with the easiest question first.