Exporting from .blend to .mu

[legoclone09]

Hello!

I'd like some help with exporting my .blend file to a .mu file. I've used Taniwha's Blender .mu import/export tool but it has not worked for me. I can supply the 3D model I am using for the part and it is almost exactly the same as the stock RV-105 RCS port but the horizontal nozzles and the thrust transforms are oriented 45*. Here is what I have so far:

I used the stock RCS port and imported it to Blender but when exporting and trying it out in game it does not work, the part is there but when placed on a ship it has no model, texture, and does no do any RCS stuff at all. It was made with the stock model and with help from invader_kendall on Twitch. Here's the DL link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1mMx-QMmGbDVzhnd24xN1V2V00/view?usp=sharing

Thanks!

[Hary R]

The easiest way is not to use the plugin to export as .mu file (it don't work properly) but to use unity and part tool to create a .mu file.

[landeTLS]

7 hours ago, Hary R said:

The easiest way is not to use the plugin to export as .mu file (it don't work properly) but to use unity and part tool to create a .mu file.

I Agree. Taniwhas mu exporter for blender is well made. but in my experience its just not as flexible as using unity for packaging models. I dont use or really know much about how to use taniwhas plugin ( other than that iwe tested it before to import some models into blender and exporting them again as .mu ) so i cant really comment further than that.

Edited February 1, 2016 by landeTLS

[NecroBones]

Yep, the texture assignment is stored in the .mu, which Part Tools will create. Also, it lets you use the KSP-specific shaders for your materials, so when KSP changes them, your parts will still appear consistent. It's definitely best to just install Unity 4.2.2 and Part Tools, and do it that way.

[legoclone09]

I got the part exported and in-game but it took a while, I exported it and got a UV map and finished at 10:15 at night. There's no collider and the RCS doesn't work but at least I got it into the game!

[Hary R]

Well may be the .mu blender don't export the transform correctly, and beside, blender don't like object to have the same name so your empty/transform all have a different name in blender. As for collider, I always set the in unity so no idea how the plug-in dose it.

[legoclone09]

On 2/3/2016 at 10:24 PM, Hary R said:

Well may be the .mu blender don't export the transform correctly, and beside, blender don't like object to have the same name so your empty/transform all have a different name in blender. As for collider, I always set the in unity so no idea how the plug-in dose it.

Well I exported from Unity and it worked perfectly fine, I'll edit in a video of what happens when I place it.

 

Edited February 5, 2016 by legoclone09

[Hary R]

Your part is simply not correctly oriented in unity, unity coordinate are different from the blender one, i suggest you to watch/read some tutorial in that matter.

As for how RCS work, I haven't created one yet so I have no idea how to set them correctly.

[NecroBones]

OK, two things going on.

 

First, of course it's attaching upside-down. You can either change the orientation in the attachment node, or you can rotate the model in your 3D modeler (or in Unity), or you can use the "MODEL { }" syntax in the part config to rotate it there. That last one is actually a pretty good option in this case, since as you'll notice, the icon looks backward in the menu. Rotating it in the part config is quicker and easier than changing it in .mu file.

 

The second issue is not being able to pick it up again. This usually means you don't have a collider, or the collider is set to "NoAttach". Unfortunately the no-attach colliders are also not grabbable, so if there's only one collider, you don't want to give it that setting. I'd double check what's in the Unity config and make sure you have a collider and that "convex" is checked, and that it has no label.

 

EDIT: OK, watched the rest, and see there's a third issue. It looks like your thrust transforms only point in one direction. You'll need separate thrust transforms for all of the nozzles, and they all need to point correctly. I might be remembering it wrong, but I think you need to have (in Unity) the green arrow pointing in the direction of the exhaust from each nozzle.

Edited February 5, 2016 by NecroBones

[Hary R]

4 hours ago, NecroBones said:

OK, two things going on.

 

First, of course it's attaching upside-down. You can either change the orientation in the attachment node, or you can rotate the model in your 3D modeler (or in Unity), or you can use the "MODEL { }" syntax in the part config to rotate it there. That last one is actually a pretty good option in this case, since as you'll notice, the icon looks backward in the menu. Rotating it in the part config is quicker and easier than changing it in .mu file.

 

The second issue is not being able to pick it up again. This usually means you don't have a collider, or the collider is set to "NoAttach". Unfortunately the no-attach colliders are also not grabbable, so if there's only one collider, you don't want to give it that setting. I'd double check what's in the Unity config and make sure you have a collider and that "convex" is checked, and that it has no label.

 

EDIT: OK, watched the rest, and see there's a third issue. It looks like your thrust transforms only point in one direction. You'll need separate thrust transforms for all of the nozzles, and they all need to point correctly. I might be remembering it wrong, but I think you need to have (in Unity) the green arrow pointing in the direction of the exhaust from each nozzle.

 

As for the orientation, i didn't know you could change it from the part config file thanks for that.

edit: I was wrong it's the green one indeed. answer deleted to not get people confused.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Hary R
i was wrong.

[legoclone09]

I can likely fix the first two problems but the third I will need some help on. I won't be available most of the weekend but on Sunday I might be able to upload the part file with the ones fixed as well as uploading the .blend file for it. Not sure how to make the thrust transforms.

[artwhaley]

@NecroBones is correct, the green arrows need to face out.  

Thrust transforms are simply empty 'gameobjects inserted in Unity, under your part in the hierarchy.  You need one for every 'port' on your RCS Thruster, so for your part, it looks like you need 4 of them, one for each 'nozzle' on your part, and they'll be oriented so the green arrows point 'out' the nozzle.  And, they'll all have the same name, which will be whatever the name is in the rcs module of your .cfg file  ((typically thrustTransform)).

[NecroBones]

Yep, the RCS thrust transforms use a different vector than the engines. It's confusing, but worth remembering.