Skip to content

5. Import methods

Richard Traynor edited this page Oct 9, 2024 · 1 revision

We offer 4 import methods for BKeeper

There are 4 formats that we support when importing into the Blender asset browser for use with making asset libraries in BKeeper:

Import from .Blend files:

This allows you to automate the assetization of any Object, Material, Node-group (Shader or Geo-nodes), World, Actions or Lights etc (whatever is a supported asset in Blender).

The import function can be used for a single Blend file, a directory of Blend files, or a directory and subdirectory of Blend files.

You can select what kind of data-block to assetize with toggle buttons, whether to ignore, or include already assetized data-blocks, to pack any external data-blocks like textures/images, and to automatically assign categories or manually assign them, along with any meta-data.

Import from .OBJ files

This operates the same as above, except you cannot choose the type. This will only import .OBJ files (always an object). This will walk directories and subdirectories unless you select a specific .OBJ file.

The caveat with this importer is that the chosen file/files must be exported correctly for the function to bring them in correctly. If for example, the .OBJ was not exported with a .MTL file, then no material will be assigned upon import. If there was no textures in the root directory of the .OBJ, then a material may be assigned, but the textures will not be mapped to the material.

Import from .FBX files

This operates the same as above, except .FBX files can have data-blocks other than objects. For example, an .FBX may include animations or rigs, it may also include actions or collections/groups.

The same caveat ring's true here, in that this will only import correctly provided the export was correct. We cannot automate the assigning of materials, parents, children, actions or animations if they were not exported.

You also cannot import .FBX files if they are not Binary files, or are not version 7.1 or newer. Shape keys are also missing from support You can Read more here

Import from .USD files

This also operates as all other importers in that it will walk directories and subdirectories to find any .USD files and their related/linked files.

Import from USD should theoretically be a more robust system. More data-blocks are supported for the type of asset it can be, but again, you must ensure that you have exported this correctly. To find out more on Blender's support for USD Click here