Hi Alessandro, I have been trying this out today, and am very excited! It is going to be really something to take vehicle simulations from Chrono and render them with photo-realism.
I did have a few comments about bugs I ran into: 1. When enabling the Chrono importer add-on in blender, I received this error: https://archive.blender.org/wiki/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/API_Changes/#Restricted_Context. I was able to work past it by moving the following lines from register() to execute(): # this is needed to avoid crashes when pressing F12 for rendering bpy.context.scene.render.use_lock_interface = True bpy.context.scene.ch_meshsetting_index = -1 bpy.context.scene.ch_meshsetting.clear() bpy.context.scene.ch_glyph_setting_index = -1 bpy.context.scene.ch_glyph_setting.clear() I am very confident that was not the proper fix to the issue, but it prevented me from receiving the error. I had gotten the error with both Blender 3.5.1 and 3.4.1 on Windows. This allowed me to use it on 3.5.1. I did not try hitting F12 2: When running demo_POST_blender1.cpp, it crashed due to line 301 in ChBlender.cpp: std::string abspath_pic_output = filesystem::path(base_path + pic_path + "/" + pic_filename + "_######").make_absolute().str(); I am running Chrono on Ubuntu, and it seems the filesystem::path::make_absolute() method requires the file to actually exist; I'm not sure if it is different on Windows. I was able to resolve the problem by creating the directory (anim/photo_######) manually. Thanks again for releasing these updates; I'll let you know if I run into more issues when I try using them with my own vehicle simulations. James On Friday, April 28, 2023 at 7:17:38 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > Hi James, > > I just sent my latest commits to GIThub containing the documentation (a > sketch of it, I mean) for the Blender add-on. > > If things go as expected, the CI system will trigger a Doxygen rebuild > that will turn into an updated documentation at > https://api.projectchrono.org/development/ , where you should find a new > link to Chrono::Blender, one row below the Chrono::Solidworks link. > > Now it is too late in the night for waiting the CI to finish, and I must > sleep, tomorrow I will see if all was ok or the Doxygen pipeline had > troubles. > > regards > > Alessandro > On 28/04/2023 19:47, James Baxter wrote: > > Hi Alessandro, > > I will plan to begin working on this on Monday, have you been able to > write any documentation? The page I linked earlier still appears to be > empty. > > Thanks, > James > > On Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 8:18:40 AM UTC-4 James Baxter wrote: > >> Alessandro, >> >> Thank you; I will plan to try out your documentation and code late next >> week and will be happy to provide feedback. >> >> James >> >> On Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 2:40:08 AM UTC-4 [email protected] >> wrote: >> >>> Hi James >>> >>> You are right, there is a Blender pipeline under development that could >>> do what you need, and I am in charge of it. >>> >>> I was going to write the documentation about how to install and use the >>> Blender add-in but I've been postponing it for two months. >>> >>> I hope to write at least some basic guidelines in the next days. >>> >>> Best regards >>> >>> Alessandro Tasora >>> >>> Il mar 18 apr 2023, 15:31 James Baxter <[email protected]> ha scritto: >>> >>>> Hello, I am looking to render some vehicle simulations I have made, and >>>> I am finding the built in Irrlicht renderer difficult to use and lacking >>>> some features I need (textures don't apply properly to things that aren't >>>> geometry primitives, exported frames are all black), so I'm thinking >>>> setting up a pipeline to a different rendering tool makes more sense. >>>> >>>> I see that there is some work done on a pipeline for blender, but I'm >>>> having trouble finding any documentation. This page appears to be empty: >>>> https://api.projectchrono.org/development/blender_visualization.html >>>> >>>> *In general, is there a specific tool that you'd recommend as the >>>> lowest resistance path to being able to render vehicle simulations with >>>> full control over textures, lighting, etc; and is there any code / >>>> documentation you can point me to?* >>>> >>>> I have found the following, but would like to make sure I'm starting in >>>> the right place so I don't reinvent the wheel >>>> >>>> https://github.com/projectchrono/chrono/blob/main/src/demos/postprocess/demo_POST_blender1.cpp >>>> >>>> https://github.com/projectchrono/chrono/tree/main/src/demos/tools/blender_py >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> James >>>> >>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "ProjectChrono" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/projectchrono/982b90cb-6381-4ed7-ba59-f39d7fbdaf7bn%40googlegroups.com >>>> >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/projectchrono/982b90cb-6381-4ed7-ba59-f39d7fbdaf7bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "ProjectChrono" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/projectchrono/c4520222-3896-4c37-9df7-96c8657ed7e8n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/projectchrono/c4520222-3896-4c37-9df7-96c8657ed7e8n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ProjectChrono" group. 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