T w e n t y S i d e d

As a follow-up to my previous post, it turns out that there IS an open-source 3d format that Blender supports. Collada. I love the idea of an open, easy-to-read 3d format. Closed formats are a pain in the behind, and do not serve the interests of the user at all.

To have Blender export as Collada files:

1. Download & install the FULL version of Python. No, the one that came with Blender won’t do. You need the FULL version. No, I don’t know why it wasn’t just included, or what the difference is.
2. When it fails, do not be fooled by the error message that tells you to check the ImportScript.py – This is misleading. The file you need to open is ExportScript.py. Once you are working with the right file:
3. Edit the python SOURCE CODE for the script that does the exporting, and change a variable so that it points to the right directory on your hard drive. I hope you know how to program in python, or have some coding knowledge: The line of code you’re hunting for isn’t at the top of the page.
4. When it still fails, try changing that variable to point to many other folders on your hard drive, trying to get the script to stop throwing up error messages about invalid paths.
5. Change some obscure blender path settings, just for the heck of it.
6. To make sure that Blender is actually USING that full version of Python you downloaded and installed earlier, open up the “system information” dialog.
7. Note that this is not really a dialog. It’s just a popup saying that the info you wanted has been printed to the text window.
8. Figure out how to open this elusive text window. This may take some time.
9. Once opened, note that it is blank. So get the system info again.
10. Of course, this still does nothing, but the popup does mention a file named info.txt.003, which should ALSO have the output you’re looking for.
11. (In case you forgot what we’re doing: You’re trying to get some basic system info so you can confirm that Blender is using the proper build of Python so you can eliminate this as a possible cause of the exporter not working, which you need in order to save your work as a file that can be used elsewhere.) Anyway, do a search on your hard drive. Yes, the whole thing. All 100 GB. Note that there is no file called info.txt.003 anywhere at all.
12. Realize you just blew ninety precious minutes trying to SAVE A FILE. Remember also that the only reason you’re doing this is because the FIRST file format you tried to use didn’t work and the program output gibberish.

Dear Blender team: You suck. You have no pride in your work and your software is terrible. Give up and go home.

Better yet is the parting shot from Alex to the ill-concieved Girl’s high:

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.