Correct normal mapping in Panda 3D from Blender
Edit: The stuff given below has now been integrated into the sourceforge svn repository, to be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/chicken-export/.
Over the Christmas holiday I've made several improvements to the Chicken exporter that takes models from Blender into the .egg file format used by Panda 3D. Specifically:
1) The use of tangent maps now works by using Blenders tangents/bi-normals directly. The GUI allows you to disable this feature but I've enabled it by default as you would be mad to not use it. (See below image link)
2) I've integrated mweb\'s single file patch, with an interface so its use is optional. Made it default to off as most people are used to multiple files and I am not in a position to give it a proper test right now. Latter on it should probably become the default as its a preferable mode for newbies.
3) Animation details are now saved into an object property when you hit the export button and reloaded when you next run the script. This means that you don\'t have to re-enter the time ranges and names for your animations each time.
4) Fixed an issue with the package creation script so it works under windows.
You may get the script for Blender here. My copy of the repository is here. There are a few extra test blender files plus the fix to the package creation script in there.
I've also put together an image to demonstrate the improvement of using this exporter - normal_comp.jpg. The left image is a shot of the normal mapping inside blender, the middle image is using the Panda 3D generated tangents/bi-normals whilst the right image is with Blenders.
Over the Christmas holiday I've made several improvements to the Chicken exporter that takes models from Blender into the .egg file format used by Panda 3D. Specifically:
1) The use of tangent maps now works by using Blenders tangents/bi-normals directly. The GUI allows you to disable this feature but I've enabled it by default as you would be mad to not use it. (See below image link)
2) I've integrated mweb\'s single file patch, with an interface so its use is optional. Made it default to off as most people are used to multiple files and I am not in a position to give it a proper test right now. Latter on it should probably become the default as its a preferable mode for newbies.
3) Animation details are now saved into an object property when you hit the export button and reloaded when you next run the script. This means that you don\'t have to re-enter the time ranges and names for your animations each time.
4) Fixed an issue with the package creation script so it works under windows.
You may get the script for Blender here. My copy of the repository is here. There are a few extra test blender files plus the fix to the package creation script in there.
I've also put together an image to demonstrate the improvement of using this exporter - normal_comp.jpg. The left image is a shot of the normal mapping inside blender, the middle image is using the Panda 3D generated tangents/bi-normals whilst the right image is with Blenders.
