Vertex Buffer Model Exporter and Importer by Sandman13sq

Import/Export tools for loading vertex buffer data out of Blender and in to GameMaker.

.vb is GameMaker's vertex buffer data format used for vertex_submit().

.vbm is a custom file format for exporting mesh data, skeleton bones, and action curves.

NOTE: If cloned straight from GitHub not all features are guranteed to work correctly.
For stable versions see the Releases on the GitHub page.

Support me on: Patreon | Ko-fi

Quick Start Guide

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Blender 4.x Addon Installation

• In Blender, go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons
• Click Install on the top right of the Preferences window
• Navigate to the DmrVBM_Blender.zip file (keep this zipped). Select it and click Install Add-on
• Enable the DmrVBM Vertex Buffer Model Export addon
• The VBM export panel can be found in the Properties > Scene
  • If nothing shows up try Edit > Preferences > Interface > Display > Enable Developer Extras

GameMaker Installation

• With a GameMaker project open, go to Tools > Import Local Package
• Navigate to the DmrVBM_GameMaker.yymps file. Select the file and click Open
• Choose scr_dmrvbm to import into the project
• NOTE: To avoid conflicts when upgrading to v1.4, remove existing DmrVBM scripts before importing.
• NOTE again: v1.4 is NOT backwards compatible with v1.3 models or below. Old models will have to be re-exported.

FEATURES

Blender Addon

• Mesh exports
  • Design vertex format attributes to export model with.
    • Position - Location of vertex.
    • UV - Texture coordinate per loop.
    • Normal - Surface orientation of vertex
    • Tangent - Vector perpendicular to the normal.
    • Bitangent - Cross product of normal and tangent.
    • Color - Vertex colors as Linear or sRGB values.
    • Bone Indices - Index of bone from deform vertex groups.
    • Weights - Weight from deform vertex groups.
    • Group Value - Vertex weight value from named vertex group.
    • Padding - A constant value for all vertices
  • Attributes can be set to export as floats or bytes
  • Pack textures from materials into files.
  • Override materials on export.
• Skeleton exports
  • Choose to export deform only bones
  • Mask out bones for export to reduce bone count
  • Set dynamic bone settings for things like hair/clothing, etc.
• Animation exports
  • Mask out bones to export curves for.
• Queues
  • Design a custom export queue with specific object order.
  • Exports can be repeated in a single click via the Star button.

Game Maker Package

• No-fuss Rendering
  • Rendering models takes very few steps.
    • Load model from file > evaluate animation > set matrices > submit model
  • Data relevant to model is stored with model, including vertex format and textures.

Game Maker's native format is [Position 3f, Color 4B, UV 2f]

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FEATURE CHANGELOG

v1.4-BETA

• Blender Addon
  • Rewritten from scratch focused on Blender 4.x support.
  • Attribute byte option moved to a boolean.
  • Queues have a checkout list for more customizable exports.
  • Bone mask option added to action exports.
  • Added option to replace materials during export.
  • Textures can now be packed into model file.
• GMS2 Package
  • Rewritten from scratch focused on data-driven style.
  • Added basic support for dynamic bone animation.

v1.3.1 June 2024 Update

• Blender Addon
  • Updated to support Blender 4.1.x
  • Implemented exporting objects by material.
  • Added Bone Dissolve panel for omitting specific bones on export.
• GMS2 Scripts
  • New VBMModel methods for managing mesh visibility.
  • Animator can blend transforms from last animation to new animation.
  • Small animation optimizations and bugfixes.

v1.3 January 2024 Update

• Blender Addon
  • Addon code condensed to single script
  • Merged VBM and TRK format into one filetype
    • VBM files now contain mesh, skeleton, and action data
    • TRK files are discontinued
    • VB files remain as raw vertex buffer data
  • New Export Queues Tab
    • Define a list of exports to re-export models with one click
    • Execute multiple file exports with one click
  • Overhauled UI
    • All export types (.vb, .vbm, .trk, batched) combined into one operator
    • More customization options for exports
  • Optimizations for repeat exports
    • Star button repeats last export of selected object in one click
    • VB data is cached to object when exporting, so repeat exports with same parameters don't recalculate unchanged data
    • Baked actions are reused if source action data is not changed
• GMS2 Scripts
  • Merged VBM and TRK struct into single struct
    • VBM data is now stored in one VBM_Model struct
    • Struct contains meshes (vertex buffers), bone data, and animations
    • VBM struct has an animator used for animating poses and curves
  • Single script used for VBM functionality
    • Extra math functions omitted from package
  • Tutorial project rewritten to reflect new changes
• Other
  • Current mascot is now Treat - A pumpkin witch.

v1.2 December 2022 Update

• VBM Export Addon
  • New option to export Padding Floats and Bytes. Use to set a constant value for an attribute.
  • Formats are now in a list that can be defined outside of the export dialog.
  • Deform Only option creates a temporary armature with bones' parents re-evaluated, so exports are compatible with complex rigs (Rigify).
• TRK Export Addon
  • Code redone so that exporting actions no longer require a bake. Export times are faster as a result.
  • Deform Only option creates a temporary armature with bones' parents re-evaluated, so exports are compatible with complex rigs (Rigify).
  • Custom Property Curves on the armature object can now be exported to TRK.
  • New Bone List structure to mark which bones to export by name.
    • Include mode only exports bones in list
    • Exclude mode ignores bones in list from export.
• VBM Game Maker Scripts
  • Fixed compression header check.
• TRK Game Maker Scripts
  • Fixed compression header check.
  • New TRK Animator struct used for TRK animation.
• General
  • Current mascot is now Starcie. Space Karate Girl.
  • Reorganized addon files.
  • Data specific to the addon (vertex formats, export lists, bone lists) is now stored in the Blender Scene.
    • VBM Formats are accessed with context.scene.vbm.formats
    • VBM Export Lists are accessed with context.scene.vbm.export_lists
    • TRK Bone Lists are accessed with context.scene.trk.bone_lists

v1.1 June 2022 Update

• VBM Export Addon
  • New option to export Vertex Group weights (armature not necessary) with default weight value.
  • Number of floats to export can be adjusted for Position, Color, Bone, and Weight attributes.
  • Optimized export code.
• TRK Export Addon
  • New option to only export frames that contain markers.
• VBM Game Maker Scripts
  • Added methods and functions to VBMData struct for accessing struct data.
  • Opening VB and VBM files checks for compression headers.
• TRK Game Maker Scripts
  • Added methods and functions to TRKData struct for accessing struct data.
  • Opening TRK files checks for compression headers.
• General
  • Updated vbm_tutorials with Blender-like camera controls and 3 new shader examples.
    • Outline: Makes use of exported weights from a Vertex Group for model outline position
    • Normal Map: Uses tangent and bitangent data to calculate normals from a texture.
    • PRM: A shader setup similar to games like Smash Ultimate. Makes use of several textures for styled shading.
  • Removed vbm_demo

v1.0

• Initial Release