TOOL: Blender extension to open .a3d format models (io_scene_a3d)

[Py0g3n1cs 8]

I have created a blender extension to allow anyone to import .a3d format models that are used for all tank hull/turret models, the remaster proplibs and effect models.

 

The plugin

Archive of .a3d models

Remaster proplib

NY2024 remaster proplib

 

Current plugin features:

• Import A3D2 models (props and effect models)
• Import A3D3 models (tank models and skins)
• Material data import
• Transform and parenting data import
• Automatic lightmap.webp, tracks.webp, wheels.webp detection, plugin automatically tries to load and apply these textures if it can find them and there is a valid material already applied to the model

A3D format features:

• Basic materials (diffuse map and colour)
• Submesh data (allows for a mesh to have multiple materials applied)
• Position, UV, colour and normal vertex types
• Transform data and parenting (each mesh object can have its' own scale, rotation and position as well as be assigned to a parent object) 

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Demonstration:

[Zen1 140]

Thanks a lot for creating this tool! 
it helped me a lot with creating my designs on Blender

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Update preview:

I am currently working on adding support for more file formats that artists (or just people curious enough) will benefit from, one of these formats is the binary map format "map.bin" which is used for every map in Tanki. So far only supports remaster maps and may not work properly on all operating systems, the code can be found in the "binmapimport" branch of the plugin's github page, this feature will be merged into "main" when it is ready.

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Update preview:

Since my last update preview I have added support for importing collision geometry, spawn points and a very sloppy material importer that is nowhere near finished.

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Update:

I have finally merged support for loading map.bin into main, it is complete enough to load most map files without issues, it supports both legacy (non hd) and remaster maps however remaster maps give better results (non hd maps have some prop issues on some maps and I have disabled sprite loading).

Features:

• Import data from BattleMap bin files: visual geometry, collision geometry, spawn points and material data
• Import lightmapdata files: ambient lighting, directional light and object shadow visibility

Other changes:

• Import split normals from .a3d models, this means that the models should be smoothed correctly now

Notes:

Not all data is imported from map.bin because it is not needed in blender (such as atlases and batches) but this will be changed when I add map export support. Legacy maps (non hd) have issues with transforms due to the 3ds file plugin misbehaving so some props may be out of place but this should easily be fixable by manually editing. Lightmapdata importing allows sun colour and angle to be imported into blender, however, this does not match the sun angle in game (the value is probably changed by the server) but it is fairly easy to tweak to angle to match. Terrain mesh material is not yet automatically created and is just coloured fully black, I will update the plugin in the future to fix this.

Showcase:

[CY95v 30]

Love the progress on this project, keep it up!!

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Update:

With the release of Parma Remaster I have uploaded the files to github (map, prop library) and updated the plugin to fix an issue with the new prop library.

Features:

No new features.

Other changes:

• Fixed bug where the plugin expected the library.json props to contain a "sprite" member, this worked for Remaster and NY2024 remaster but Parma Remaster seems to just exclude it when there is no sprite

Notes:

Unlike the other Remaster prop libraries, the Parma library doesn't include any textures (they are not stored on the server), the game stores all the prop textures in the map's atlas files but the plugin doesn't support loading map atlases yet (I will update the plugin later this week to support this) so the map will have completely black materials with no textures applied for now.

Showcase:

Edited May 30 by Py0g3n1cs
Fixed formatting error

[Py0g3n1cs 16]

Update preview:

In preparation for the release of the new remaster maps I have started work on supporting them properly, alternativa added a new quirk to the format that made the current version of the plugin unable to load the maps correctly, the work in progress updated version of the plugin is available in the mapmodelsa3dfix branch on github. Oh and I forgot to post an update post about how I added A3D export support so you can export custom models in a3d format for whatever reason (abit rough but it works).

Spoiler

 

Edited October 8 by Py0g3n1cs