Download this on GitHub!
As always, remember that this is a beta, so make back ups!
We’re Going Back To Saying ‘Root Objects’
- #544 – it appears the “Exportable Collection/Object” naming scheme was confusing. We’re going back to 2.79 phrasing “Root Collection/Object” in the UI, error messages, bug reports, feature requests, e-mails, everything. If I make a mistake please correct me quickly!
| Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
| Exportable Roots | Roots |
| Exportable Collection | Root Collection |
| Non-Exportable Collection | Organizing Collection |
| Exportable Object | Root Object |
| Non-Exportable Object | Object |
Automatic Lights
Our bright and shiny new fun feature is here! Automatic Lights (also called WYSIWYG lights) replaces Named and Param lights. It fills out parameters and aims directional lights for you in the most efficient way possible! No more doing math by hand, no more reading the lights.txt file, no more being scared to experiment! The UI guides you and prevents mistakes! Automatic lights are the new XPlane2Blender default light. Download this example to see many different uses of this feature!
Feature Controls
We’ve tried to make this as intuitive as possible, but just in case you’re not sure what fills in what parameter, see this table:
| Blender Property Used | PARAM NAME |
|---|---|
| Light’s color picker | R, G, B |
XPlane2Blender’s Index property | INDEX |
XPlane2Blender’s Light Size property | SIZE |
| Spot Light’s Rotation (in any mode) | DX, DY, DZ |
“Omni” if light is a POINT else Spot Shape > Size | WIDTH, DIR_MAG |
XPlane2Blender’s Flash Frequency property | FREQ |
XPlane2Blender’s Phase Offset property | PHASE |
Any other parameter found in lights.txt can’t be changed in Blender.
Limitations
- Some very very old lights are not compatible.
- This is currently an opt-in feature only. An updater for old named and param lights would be difficult and limited and likely won’t happen.
- A dataref search window style feature feature is planned, but currently to get a list of lights and their parameters you’ll need to click
“Create lights.txt Summary” and look at the internal text block “lights.txt Summary - The lights.txt included is the same content as X-Plane’s lights.txt, with slightly different formatting. Your .obj will be completely correct in X-Plane, but X-Plane’s old and currently shipping lights.txt is not compatible with XPlane2Blender. This will hopefully be corrected soon.
Please send me pictures and stories of what you’re trying now that the light system is more easy! I can’t wait to see more sparkling lights across the skies and airports of X-Plane!
Great Job, well done.
little confused, im no programmer so sorry if this sounds a little dumb,
is this a update or extra addon? I see a bunch of files on the link but how do I go about installing this?..
cheers
Russ
If you like to or want to make 3D models for X-Plane, then this is a post for you. If you do not want to do that, then this isn’t relevant. No need to install or download anything!
Thank you for your re[;y ted 🙂
Hi.
I am confused about versions.
I can only find the newest Blender version 2.83.1.
Is that okay to use with the XPlane2Blender v4.0.0-beta.2 (that installed fine) ?
Regards
Chris
I have not personally tested Blender 2.83 yet, but others have and told me it works well. Blender does offer downloads of any of its older versions back to even its earliest days (https://www.blender.org/download/previous-versions/). If it fails with Blender 2.83 please tell me! Thanks for installing XPlane2Blender!
What does it do exactly? Does it an enhancement for runway , Papi lights or aircraft external lights which are already dull in xplane?
The big new feature here allows users to make lights much faster. Aiming is done for you, and it works out math for you as well for things like WIDTH. No filling in text boxes. Also using the color picker to pick your color is much more fun. It makes the whole thing much more beginner friendly not to have to look up anything besides the light’s name.
It does not make a way to make new lights in X-Plane
Works fine so far with Blender 2.83.1 LTS, As I’m working on a plane right now, and everything exported correctly, Plus the new lights feature, works correctly as well.
Wonderful! Great news!
Hello Ted!
Thank you for your Blender add-on. I like a lot and have been using it for now just to create scenery inside blender. This is a request more than other thing. Do you think it is possible to include an Xplane .obj import. Right now, I have to use Model Converter X as a bridge to import Xplane objects into blender.
Thank you very much indeed for your work.