collada export fail blender 2.49b

[Tyrian Slade]

I'm trying to export a mesh in the collada file format, but having some trouble. I'm using blender 2.49 and I have both python 2.7 and 2.6.6 in my C drive. My computer is running Windows 7 64 bit. When trying to export the file, I get an error, "Exporting failed check console for info". When I click again, it gives me, "Error: Python script error, check console". I do not know how to check the console, or even what to look for in there.

I am using a different computer than I was when I was using blender about a year before (I'm on a powerful desktop now instead of a middling laptop), so I tried the same thing on my lappie. I had no problems exporting. Thinking that this was a problem with the versions of blender and python I'd downloaded, I deleted blender and python from my desktop and copied the files from my lappie to my desktop. Blender on my desktop is giving me the same error.

Upon further investigation, I tried other kinds of exporting on blender.  They all fail.  I tried downloading both normal and 64 bit versions of blender 2.49 and  python 2.6.6, and I still get the same export failure message.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?  Can anyone help me out?

 

Thanks,

Tyrian

[Gaia Clary]

When you open blender, you actually get 2 open windows. The console window is typically hidden behind the main blender window. When you minimize your main window, you should see the console.

And that will probably give a hint to what is going on i your computer.

otherwise:

Does you export problem happen with all meshes you try to export ? Or just with one single mesh. Then there is maybe something wrong with that mesh.

Do you export the entire scene (probbaly not what you want), or just the selected objects (probably what you want) ?

Have you installed blender as administrator ? Maybe there is a permission issue with your installation...

You could try to install blender to another location differnet from the program files ...

 

[Feynt Mistral]

If the PYTHONPATH for Python didn't get set up properly during installation, Blender doesn't know where it is.  You have to go in and specify the directory in Blender so it'll find it, and then the exporter should work (assuming it isn't a mesh issue).

[Nalates Urriah]

Gaia and Feynt have given you good answers. I'm going to give you a very different and basic answer. Most Blender problems are install issues. Especially when you have two or more versions of Blender installed and have to start dealing with Python versions.

However there is a simple solution. Uninstall all versions except one. May sure it is working. If there is any doubt, remove and reinstall it.

Now visit the Blender download and get the Zip Archive Blender. Unzip it to a folder. It really doesn't matter where. Nor does it matter which Python version your running because the zip files has the right one and places a copy with the unzipped Blender.

Find the blender.exe file in the folder you unzipped to. Right-click and drag it to the desktop. When you drop it select Create Shortcut Here... you now have a working copy of Blender and the appropriate Python version to go with it. It won't mess up your other version or Python installs.

If you want more information on this install process see: http://blog.nalates.net/2011/05/15/blender-2-57b-released/

This makes it easy to add and remove versions and if you have other programs using Python, as I do, you don't have to worry about breaking them. Plus Python upgrades for other purpses won't break your Blender versions.

[Gaia Clary]

The OP is talking about blender 2.49b. With that version of blender you MUST also install the correct python (any Python 2.6 version will do, i think also 2.7 is accepted but there i am unsure) and for MAC you will need Python version 2.5.

And yes, you realy could mess up your blender installations when you installed multiple blenders in parallel. on the other hand for me it works perfect when i install all blender versions so that the application rundata is always placed into the installation directory. This is not recommended but it seems the only reliable way to install multiple blenders on one computer.

And yes, it is often better to install blender into a user directory and NOT into the program folder for permission reasons (especially when you run vista and windows 7)

[Ashasekayi Ra]

I'd recommend using the Blender zip files instead of the exe installers. That way you don't have to worry about conflicts, and you can easily use as many various versions of Blender as you like.

 

Link to old Blender 2.49b zips:

http://download.blender.org/release/Blender2.49b/

 

[Tyrian Slade]

Thank you all of you for your thoughtful answers.  I'll give them a try and report back. 

 

One thing I want to ask first though:  does it matter if I install the 32 bit or 64 bit version on my 64 bit system?

[Ashasekayi Ra]

I have 64 bit Windows 7, and I can use either the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Blender. It only becomes an issue with some scripts which can only run in the 32 bit version.

[Tyrian Slade]

Okay!  I downloaded the zip version of blender, and had a bit of fun figuring out that I also had to unzip the python folder into the same folder.  However, I'm all set as far as that goes.  Blender's running fine, recognizing python fine, and exporting collada files fine.  However, I have one problem remaining:

I can't get my old blender files to associate with the blender program.  Windows insists on using windows media player to try to open them, even after I try to "open with-> blender".  Does anyone know how I can fix that?  I'm sure that if I putz around long enough, I can figure it out, but if someone has a quick solution, I'd greatly appreciate it. 

[hibit Spad]

In Vista if I want to change the default program for a file type, I right-click on one such file then select properties. in the window that opens up is "opens with:" label and a button labeled "Change". This opens a new window. If blender is not listed anywhere on that window I will select the "browse" button and then hunt around on the hard drive for the application I want to open that file type. Warning, with .blend files this works just fine. But with .dae files it probably wont work since blender has to import them before it can do anything with them. Might be able to use some kind of a command line option to feed the import instruction to blender but I am not sure how that would work. '

[Tyrian Slade]

I tried that.  :-(   But it didn't work.

 

I poured over some forums and realized that since I didn't use an install, windows didn't recognize blender as a program.  I hd to install blender, then overwrite that file witht eh zip file.  It's still a bit wonky, but I can open my blend files again.

 

And now my problems exporting are solved!  Thank all of your for your help.  It was all very useful information.

[Ashasekayi Ra]

That's weird. On my laptop setup, I've never used a single Blender installer just the zips. But, I can associate blend files with the Blender .exe using "open with".

 

But, I'm glad you have everything solved. Happy Blendering!