3D Animation example with Blender

[Lorenzo Ferro]

Hello.

I tried to use Blender to make a DAE file similar to the one of the "3D Animation" example (that was originally created using 3DMAX animation layers) but unfortunately without success. The DAE 3D object is correctly generated but the animations are not recognized by Jaamsim in the CustomOutputList and I get a Warning in the log file.

Is there anyone who was able to make a compatible 3D Animation file with Blender?

Thank you.

Lorenzo 

[Cristiano Silva]

Yes.

I already created it.

Here is a video of me with the files I created in Blender.

It's a playlist.

It has English subtitles.

Video 1 :

4:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8bNlB6638&list=PLRvwRusArl39IYHrsQRj89onSVvFeWIIP&index=2

Video 2 :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH32ulSeoTg&list=PLRvwRusArl39IYHrsQRj89onSVvFeWIIP&index=3

Video 3 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvdybnOZro&list=PLRvwRusArl39IYHrsQRj89onSVvFeWIIP&index=4

Atenciosamente,

Cristiano Luís Turbino de França e Silva

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[Lorenzo Ferro]

Hello Cristiano.

Thank you for your reply. I already saw your your YouTube videos in the past when I was approaching JaamSim for the first time.

I'm able to import Collada files (.DAE and also other formats) in my JaamSim models, using the 3D objects as Display Entities or SimEntities like you did in your examples.

My point is different. I'm not able to generate Collada files containing Animations like the ones of the "3D Animation" example that Harry and his staff made by means of the animation layer function of 3Dmax. These 3D objects can have multiple cinematic degrees of freedom that can be listed in the CustomOutputList and actuated by some JaamSim simulation variable. For example, you can model a robotic arm like shown it the "3D Animation" example.

I was trying to figure out how to replicate something similar by means of Blender.

We should also consider that in the future releases of Blender the .DAE files will be deprecated, even thou one can always download and use a previous version of Blender.

@ Harry: is JaamSim capable to import also other kind of Animation (layers) files different from the Collada .DAE?

@ All: Is it possible to use Blender for making animation layers to be actuated by JaamSim?

Thank you,

Lorenzo

[Harry King]

Hi Lorenzo,

JaamSim allows GLB files to be imported. This is the preferred format for 3D content. It is a simpler and more reliable format than DAE and it has the advantage that everything is included (no broken links to texture files). Blender can export animated content to this format.

Only certain types of animation can be handled by JaamSim. For example, you cannot use skin-and-bones type animations. The only types of animation that can be used are solid body rotations and translations. I haven't used Blender myself or any other 3D tool, so I can't give you a detailed description.

Harry

[Lorenzo Ferro]

Hello Harry,

concerning DAE files, I tried several times with Blender but unfortunately the Animated file exported does not contain Animation Layers according to the Collada protocol, so it doesn't work in JaamSim.

I tried also exporting GLB files with Blender but JaamSim gives me an error about the missing Colors and also the I cannot drive the Animation by CustomOutputList.

Do you have any GLB Animation file example working in JaamSim? Just a cube shifting in one direction would be enough for testing purposed, to be able to compare it with the GLB export by Blender.

Thank you,

Lorenzo

[Harry King]

Hi Lorenzo,

Attached is a GLB model for an underground mine truck that was exported from Blender. It has three animations that you can examine using Microsoft 3D Viewer (provided with Windows). Unfortunately, I don't have the original Blender file.

Harry

[Harry King]

Hi Lorenzo,

Attached is a better version of the underground mine truck along with a .cfg file to demonstrate how the animations are driven from JaamSim. This version has only two animations, instead of three, but both work correctly in JaamSim. The first version I sent you had three animations, but the third one caused some problems in JaamSim.

Harry

[Lorenzo Ferro]

Dear Harry.

Just a feedback.

The good news is that if I load the Mine Truck animated files into Blender and then export them as GLB again (also after some modification of the model), the export is successful and works in JaamSim, whereas with DAE I could not even achieve this result.

Unfortunately, if I start a simple model from scratch (like a cube shifting 1 m on the X axis) and I export the GLB file, it doesn't work (JaamSim cannot find the Animations).

I will try again in the next days as soon as I find some spare time.

Thank you,

Lorenzo

[Lorenzo Ferro]

Hello,

Since I recently tried again to make 3D parts in Blender and import them in JaamSim, I would just like to update about the matter.

I was able to produce multiple 3D parts in a Collection and add to every part an independent animation, that I could export in .glb format. The Actions were correctly recognized by JaamSim. In Blender, in order to generate relative movements of one part respect to the other it was sufficient to nest the dependent parts as Parents. The movement of the parts were referred to their Origin point and applied by setting just two key frames for Action.

In order to have a linear action movement it must be properly set in the GraphEditor.

Important was creating a Texture Image and assigning it as color, otherwise JaamSim could not recongnise the part in .glb format and showed just a 1 m^3 cube with texture error..

Maybe it cab be of some help for someone else.

Regards,

Lorenzo

[Lorenzo Ferro]

Hello,

For the sake of completeness, I would like to share a very simple and minimal test example that I made for learning purposes.

It includes the Blender 5.1 input file.

Regards,

Lorenzo

[Harvey Harrison]

Thanks so much for providing a worked example, it's a great resource.

Harvey

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[Harry King]

Thanks, Lorenzo! That is a very good example of animation in JaamSim. The Blender file will be a big help to anyone else wanting to build an animated model.

Harry