For quite some time, the DIRS lab has been using Blender to build small DIRSIG scenes. Blender is an advanced, open source, cross-platform, 3-D modeling package. It is available free of charge, but it has a fairly steep learning curve.
We've created Blender plug-ins allowing us import and export some of DIRSIG's native formats, including GDB and ODB. Blender also allows us to use geometry with the OBJ format. We can now create new scenes from scratch by assembling geometry, placing instances using Blender, and then saving out a DIRSIG ODB file.
Traditionally, we have distributed the Bulldozer application for both attributing materials to geometry and constructing scenes. This set of plug-ins allows Blender to be used as an alternative to Bulldozer for constructing scenes.
Starting with the official DIRSIG 4.4.1 release, we will be distributing these Blender scripts to the DIRSIG user community. All future DIRSIG distributions will include these scripts in the directory:
Because of time and cost considerations, the DIRSIG team cannot provide basic Blender usage support. New users can get up to speed on Blender by consulting some of the excellent video tutorials on YouTube. The Blender website is also a valuable reference.
The README file included with the package gives some installation hints. Once the scripts are installed, the following two videos show how to modify and create DIRSIG scenes:
The Warehouse scene was the first general release scene created using these scripts. The interactive visualization environment provided by Blender makes it easy to place geometry in complex distributions.
The current scripts have several key limitations:
We've created Blender plug-ins allowing us import and export some of DIRSIG's native formats, including GDB and ODB. Blender also allows us to use geometry with the OBJ format. We can now create new scenes from scratch by assembling geometry, placing instances using Blender, and then saving out a DIRSIG ODB file.
Traditionally, we have distributed the Bulldozer application for both attributing materials to geometry and constructing scenes. This set of plug-ins allows Blender to be used as an alternative to Bulldozer for constructing scenes.
Starting with the official DIRSIG 4.4.1 release, we will be distributing these Blender scripts to the DIRSIG user community. All future DIRSIG distributions will include these scripts in the directory:
$DIRSIG_HOME/extra/blender-scripts
Because of time and cost considerations, the DIRSIG team cannot provide basic Blender usage support. New users can get up to speed on Blender by consulting some of the excellent video tutorials on YouTube. The Blender website is also a valuable reference.
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| Warehouse Scene loaded in to Blender |
The README file included with the package gives some installation hints. Once the scripts are installed, the following two videos show how to modify and create DIRSIG scenes:
- Introduction and Basic Scene Editing (video)
- Building New Scenes from Scratch (video)
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| Nadir View of Urban Scene |
The Warehouse scene was the first general release scene created using these scripts. The interactive visualization environment provided by Blender makes it easy to place geometry in complex distributions.
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| Slant View of Urban Scene |
The current scripts have several key limitations:
- For ODB files, only INFO lines using the 9-element (translation, rotation and scale) format are supported
- Moving geometry is not supported
- XML glist format is not supported
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