Export rigid (non-skinned) animation from Blender for consumption by AssImp

Question

I am trying to get simple animations to work, exporting from Blender and importing into my application.

My first attempt was as follows:

Open Blender at factory settings.
Select the default cube and insert a location keyframe.
Select another frame and move the cube.
Insert a second location keyframe.
Export to Collada.

When I open the Collada file using assimp it contains zero animations, even though in Blender the cube animates correctly.

On my next attempt, I inserted a bone armature with a single bone, made it the parent of the cube, and animated the bone instead. Again the animation worked correctly in Blender.

Assimp now lists one animation but both key frames have the position [0, 0, 0]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get animated (non-skinned) meshes from Blender into Assimp?

My ultimate goal here is to export animated meshes from Blender, process them offline into my own model format, and load them into my SharpDX based graphics engine..

I have never used collada but perhaps you can get some tips from this answer. — iKlsR, Jun 27 '13 at 13:04
I could use x format as it is also supported by AssImp, however there seems to be no built in support for it in Blender. Is there a plugin or something I need? — gareththegeek, Jun 27 '13 at 16:13
Sorry, I can't read apparently! I'll give that a go and see how I get on, thanks! — gareththegeek, Jun 27 '13 at 16:22

gareththegeek · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-28T16:54:46.343

2

I tried performing the steps in v2.65 r53189 and it exports the animations correctly. It seems that in v2.66.1 r55078 the Collada export does not output the keyframes correctly.

In the end, I decided to take iKlsR's advice and use x format since it allows me to use the newest version of Blender and is still compatible with AssImp. It also allows me to flip the z and y axes which is a bonus!

edited Jun 28 '13 at 16:54

answered Jun 27 '13 at 20:23

gareththegeek

159
7

Do try a build from http://builder.blender.org . Some fixes to animation export where done, perhaps this is now fixed. – jesterKing Jun 28 '13 at 12:41
Can you reword your question a bit to fit with your answer, just slightly. At the moment both are different. – iKlsR Jun 28 '13 at 17:48
@iKlsR I don't follow you – gareththegeek Jun 30 '13 at 08:31
@jesterKing I updated yesterday and now the problem is resolved, I can use x or collada format without problems – gareththegeek Jun 30 '13 at 08:32
@gareththegeek in the question, you ask about collada but in the answer, you accept .x. Since you say it now works, you can update the answer. – iKlsR Jun 30 '13 at 13:21
Ah ok, well a mod messed about with the title so I guess it doesn't make sense now - I'll update it if you like – gareththegeek Jun 30 '13 at 14:23

Export rigid (non-skinned) animation from Blender for consumption by AssImp

1 Answers1