How to import only armature/skeleton

[kevzettler]

I have an animated armature in a Blender file. I want to export and import only the armature. If possible i'd like to render the armature in babylonjs for debuggin Then in my babylonJS app code I want to create and attach meshes to the bones. 

Are there any tutorials, docs, or examples showcasing this? Is this possible. Appreciate any help.

[JCPalmer]

try moving meshes to another layer, then on scene tab there is a checkbox 'selected layers only' in the exporter section.

[kevzettler]

@JCPalmer

Thanks looks like that correctly imports the skeleton only:

BABYLON.SceneLoader.Load("/assets/babylon/", "combined.babylon", engine, function (newScene) {...})

newScene.skeletons[0].bones.map((bone)=> {return bone.name})
["chest", "head", "shoulder.L", "bicep.L", "arm.L", "hand.L", "lever.L", "shoulder.R", "bicep.R", "arm.R", "hand.r", "leverl.R", "waist", "hip.L", "thigh.L", "knee.L", "foot.L", "hip.R", "thight.R", "knee.R", "foot.R"]

 

Now how can I get the skeleton to render? currently I have a black screen after the scene loads. I can publish and share the scene if that would be helpful.

[JCPalmer]

 var viewer = new BABYLON.Debug.SkeletonViewer(skeleton, null, scene); // mesh can be null since coming from blender exporter version >= 4.0, I think

engine.runRenderLoop(function () {
    scene.render();
    viewer.update();

});

[kevzettler]

 

@JCPalmer

So what version is BABYLON.Debug in ? 

I'm using the one off npm https://www.npmjs.com/package/babylonjs

[JCPalmer]

2.4.beta

[adam]

@kevzettler you spelled skeleton wrong

[adam]

I don't think SkeletonViewer will work without instantiating it with a mesh.  You should be able to do this though:

var viewer = new BABYLON.Debug.SkeletonViewer(skeleton, new BABYLON.Mesh('', scene), scene); 

 

[JCPalmer]

your right.  Too bad skeleton does not have its own world matrix.  Why not set the mesh material to something invisible?

[kevzettler]

Thank's guys look's like that works!

 

[kevzettler]

@adam @JCPalmer

How can I then run the skeleton's animations

I was hoping

scene.beginAnimation(scene.skeletons[0], 0, 100, true);

would work. but dosen't seem to.

Do I have to call `beginAnimation` on the bones individually?

[adam]

try

skeleton.beginAnimation("name of your animation", true, 1);

[kevzettler]

@adam

how do I know the animation name there ( "name of your animation")

looks like my animations are children of the bones. and are named 'anim' when I try that I nothing happens

> skeleton.bones[0].animations[0]
< i {name: "anim", targetProperty: "_matrix", framePerSecond: 24, dataType: 3, loopMode: 1…}_blendingFactor: 0_events: Array[0]_highLimitsCache: Object_keys: Array[7]_offsetsCache: Object_ranges: Object_stopped: falseallowMatricesInterpolation: falseblendingSpeed: 0.01dataType: 3enableBlending: undefinedframePerSecond: 24loopMode: 1name: "anim"targetProperty: "_matrix"targetPropertyPath: Array[1]__proto__: Object
> skeleton.beginAnimation("anim", true, 1)
< null

 

[gryff]

Quote

I have an animated armature in a Blender file.

Quote

how do I know the animation name there ( "name of your animation")

@kevzettler : Open a "Dopesheet" window in Blender (A in image below). Change the box B to "Action Editor" and you will see the name of an "Action" (an animation). If there maybe more than one "Action" click the little icon D for the names of other "Actions" (animations). These are the names you want.

cheers, gryff
 

[kevzettler]

For the record here both 

scene.beginAnimation(skeleton, 0, 25, true, 1.0);

and

skeleton.beginAnimation("ArmatureAction.001", true, 1);

 

worked. The missing piece for me was 

    var viewer = new BABYLON.Debug.SkeletonViewer(skeleton,  new BABYLON.Mesh('', blenderScene), blenderScene);
    viewer.isEnabled = true;

apparently viewer.isEnabled animates the skeleton viewer?