mini n64 object exporter (blender addon)

overview

this lets you export C values/arrays/structs based on various object properties, like translation, scale, and rotation. it can also export keyframes as an array. rotation is always exported as if it was S16, using ZXY rotation order (same as SM64 objects - yaw/pitch/roll). if you don't know, rotation order doesn't mean which variable is x or y or z, it is the order in which rotation should be performed mathematically. the exported rotation array will be x,y,z still (pitch/yaw/roll in sm64)

one day this readme may have more info, but for now i'll be brief.

use-case examples

• use the object property exporter with scale/translation to export AABBs (axis aligned bounding boxes). in game, check if a position is within these bounds for triggering something
• cutscenes. force a camera in blender to always point at another object, and use the animation export to export positions of both objects. set your camera's position in game to your_array[cutscene_frame][index of camera positions] and camera focus to your_array[cutscene_frame][index of other object's positions]. you can then animate your camera fully in blender and know almost exactly how it will look shot for shot.

panels

animations

• open the menu on the right side of a Timeline panel. it will be titled with the name "Mini N64 Object Animation Exporter"
• choose paths, variable names, etc
• choose what data type or types you want to export the array with. as of the time of writing, only f32 works with scale
• add objects that you want to export to the list
• if you check Separate arrays per prop, then rotation/translation/scale arrays will be separated vs one single list with all three embedded - appended with the transform type on each variable
• from Start to End, each keyframe will be exported. the range is inclusive, if Start is 0 and End is 50, you'll export frames 0...50, resulting in 51 frames total
• even if you select a data type that isnt s16, rotation will still be a s16 angle format

variables

• in the 3D viewport's side panel you'll see Mini N64 Object Property Exporter
• like animations you can supply a path and data types
• hit the plus button to add a new object or variable to export
• you can choose whether or not it exports as a struct, which will allow you to add custom props to the export data
• the order of transform properties in the struct will be translation, rotation, then scale. you could create a struct with that order
• if you want it to export relative to its parent there is an option for that as well.
• you cannot export rotation with other transforms if it is NOT a struct

future plans

nothing at the moment. if you have a request i will consider it, but otherwise any updates will just be made as i require them. if you want a new version, pay attention to your version number in __init__.py - if the released version is a major version bump from where you are, then it will have broken compatibility with what you have already done in some way.

can i copy this?

sure. this can be a useful base for you to create custom exporters for your particular project. you could add a color field to objects, export your variables into a pointer array, export lights as directions, etc. its designed to let you just group some data up and change it to C and i can't possibly cover every use-case for myself for the future, and likely not for you.