Trouble getting started with Blender

[kari1sl]

Trouble getting started with Blender

OK, I went to
http://tentacolor.com/sl-animation-for-blender-newbs/getting-set-up/
downloaded Python, Blender and the Exporter Scene.

I installed Blender and Python but can't get the Exporter to run.
I go to File>Open and doubleclick bvhexporter-2008-06-02.blend and in the Exporter Window it says
"TO RUN THIS SCRIPT IN BLENDER: #Put your mouse cursor in this window, then press Alt-P." but when I follow those directions I get the message
"Python script fail, look in the console for now ..."

Please help.

[Rolig Loon]

You might want to use JASS-2, which is a package containing Blender, Python, and Domino Marama's Primstar converter/exporter.  It's designed for people using Blender to make sculpties, but once it's set up you can use Blender for making mesh just as easily, since mesh files are all simply exported as collada (dae).  Installing JASS-2 assures that you have both Blender and Python set up correctly.

[Roseysun Galicia]

Deleted

[kari1sl]

Hi Roseysun Galicia,

I uninstalled it all and then reinstalled it from the download at the site but it still gets the same error

"Python script fail, look in the console for now ..."

[Rolig Loon]

That's why I suggested loading JASS-2. It will install both Blender and the appropriate version of Python, configured properly for each other.

[Luc Starsider]

The tentacolor exporter only work with Blender 2.49. Not the newer 2.6 version. Which version are you on?

- Luc -

[Roseysun Galicia]

Deleted

[Luc Starsider]

In this case, with this particular script, if the OP is using Blender 2.5/6, he's not going to get any help from the blender forums. The animation exporter in question is made for v. 2.49, and will not work on 2.5/6 since Python was changed significally, and add-ons are set up very different than they used to be in the old version. That's why the op get these error messages.

[Luc Starsider]

I think they are... It's a very common error message when scripts fail. In this case I think it's because the script call an api (or many) which is no longer in Blender, or have been redifined. Not sure.
The bvhexporter script is the only reason I keep Blender 2.49 around. Anything else I do in v 2.6x.

[Luc Starsider]

Actually, before I pass out from tiredness , I have to adjust the info a bit.

The bvhexporter script that give the error is not made by the Blender developers. The errors are not because of typos. The changes made to Python i Blender goes quite deep, and any script from 2.49 that is not updated will fail in the same way, pretty much. The developer of the exporter script has said, on the tentacolor site, that the script and the blend file it is embedded in will not be updated. The blend file contains a lot more than the script itself, which together makes SL compatible animatins and is useful in that respect.

 

However...

The python script itself has found its way in to Blender 2.5/6x. One of the Blender devs got a hold of it and adapted it to the new version of Blender. This script works, but the animations exported using it takes more preparations and setup than in the old script/scene. Some rotations are strange, and you can't exclude any bones (like ik control bones) from the export. I don't know how the viewers animation importer deals with any additional bones - I've never imported any animations from the new version of Blender.

 

(I think I got most of that right... )

[kari1sl]

Tried and failed.

Maybe python is my problem. (never used it before)

Details below. (I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and a 64-bit computer - new to me.)

 

I was using the current version of Blender, so I uninstalled it and Python too.

Then installed Blender 2.49, which sent me to pickup Python, which I installed.

A command box popped up

"Python 2.7.3 (default, Apr 10 2012, 23:24:47) [MSC v.1500 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32

Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information.

>>>"

OK.

 

But when I launch Blender, a new command box popped up

"Compiled with Python version 2.6.2.

'import site' failed; use -v for traceback

Checking for installed Python... No installed Python found.

Only built-in modules are available. Some scripts may not run.

Continuing happily."

It cannot find Python! I restarted but still got this.

 

Anyway, I then try load Exporter Scene (bvhexporter-2008-06-02.blend) and it appears in the lower left box of Blender with the message

" TO RUN THIS SCRIPT IN BLENDER:

# Put your mouse cursor in this window, then press Alt-P."

but, when I do that I get

"Traceback (most recent call last):

File "basic_exporter.py", line 207, in <module>

ImportError: No module named pickle"

 

The Script seems to stop at pickle, the second import, after "math" and just before "Blender".

"import math

import pickle

import Blender"

 

I'm in a pickle!

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

[Luc Starsider]

You can have both the old version and the new version of Blender installed at the same time. No need to uninstall the new version.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know why you get an error after installing python. I thought, to be honest, that the required version of python was part of the 2.49b install. It is on the Mac, which I use. I thought it was the same on the windows version. I'm sorry to say I will not be able to help you with this error. If you google a bit, I'm sure you can find some instructions for getting it sorted out.

Still, the error you get when trying to start the script I'm pretty sure is because the script is trying to load a python library, but since Blender do not think python is installed, it can't find it and load it.

 

Is animations the reason you use Blender or do you use it for other things as well? I ask because there may be other programs (free) you can use which perhaps give less issues? Like Daz Studio?

[kari1sl]

BINGO!

That was it - version 2.6 fixed it.

Thanks, Roseysun.

[kari1sl]

Hi Luc.

You were right - python was the trouble. Wrong version.

Animation is the main reason I chose Blender but I'm also interested in its other features (that Daz might not do).

Thanks

[Luc Starsider]

Yeah, I saw Great of Roseysun to find the solution!

Blender is a great tool with a dizzying array of features. I keep discovering new stuff all the time.

 

Good luck with your animations!