Using blender files

I apologize if there is already a post on this question… My friend has been making some 3d models in blender and we are trying to figure out how we put them in jME. I have read the tutorial on importing models. I am just wondering, does my friend save the 3d models as .blend files or does blender support other file types? If not, do we have to use some type of exporter and how do the exporters work? What is the best 3d file type to use? Thanks for any helP!

These are the choices I have been using w/ success:



Non-Animated:

ASE - ASCII based, large files

OBJ - ASCII based, medium size files

3DS - binary based, small-med size files (my personal choice)



Animated:

MS3D - MilkShape3D format (old skool :))

MD2 - Doom 2 style, mesh key-frame based

MD5 - Doom 3 style, skeleton/mesh based (at least 2 loaders on jME, one with active development by CoreDump)

Orge3D - XML based (created and actively maintained by momoko_fan, hosted by radakan)

blenderXML - This uses a custom importer/exporter for jME, it is for blender ONLY! (Have not tested yet)





While I am a BIG fan of blender in my opinion either the MD5 or Orge3D would be the preferred choice.  The reason?  Import/Export… With either the MS3D format or blenderXML format a modeler MUST use the appropriate modeling software (ever told a Maya developer they HAD to use 3DS Max/Blender? not fun…), however on the counter argument; if an exporter/importer doesn't exist for what you want to do you may be out of luck.  Try getting a MD5 importer for any version of Maya greater than 6; having said that it IS possible to write your own exporter for ALMOST any format (even having Maya export a blenderXML file is within the realm of possibilities).

Treebranch said:

I apologize if there is already a post on this question..

Well it's nice of you to apologize, but you should still check the forum search. Just search for "blender", it will give you a nice overview of what is availble and what people are using.
I'm afraid that there is no "best file type", all have their pros and cons.
After reading a couple of threads about the issue, you'll probably be able to make a good decision for your application, or at least be able to ask more specific questions (and get better answers!)

EDIT: Basixs' answer looks very informed, and gives a great overview of what's available. But unless the Ogre3D importer supports mesh key animation now, you still won't find the one stop shop format - so you'll still have to decide what format is best for your specific use case.

I didn't mean I hadn't searched the forums, but the results were a bit overwhelming and none seemed to be what I was looking for. However, I have searched more since then and I found this…



http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/jmeforum/index.php?topic=1792.msg14137#msg14137



is this what I am looking for?



Another question is what are the file types that you can save 3d models in blender as? I have searched blender.org and there didn't seem to be a mention as to file types for blender.

The thread you linked is ages old. Also the link in it does not work any more.

you could search for momoko_fan’s Ogre3d and I can provide you the link to jmexml (maintained by me)



Blender can export any file format you can find a plugin for. There are plugins for all of the formats basixs listed available. A lot, but not all of the exporters already come with blender.

If you want to know what formats blender supports out of the box, just download and install blender and check it’s export menu. The list of included plugins may change with every blender release.

Note that there are also at least two tutorials on the wiki about how to get models from blender to jME!

Try getting a MD5 importer for any version of Maya greater than 6

Actually one of the users in jME wrote an MD5 exporter for Maya 2008:
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/jmeforum/index.php?topic=8374.0

unless the Ogre3D importer supports mesh key animation now, you still won't find the one stop shop format

It does. Currently I am adding the ability to export & import from jME's binary format, animation blending is already in. At Radakan we were looking for an ideal art pipeline that worked for every modeling tool and supported mesh animation (for lip syncing) and mesh.xml seemed to work for us.
basixs said:

....
MD5 - Doom 3 style, skeleton/mesh based (at least 2 loaders on jME, one with active development by CoreDump)
....


eep no i do nothing like that :)
but there is Neakors MD5Importer and Enders MD5Reader 2

OOPS!



Yup, Neakor is who I meant, thx coredump.


Actually one of the users in jME wrote an MD5 exporter for Maya 2008:


THX!  That I did not know :).

I found one of the wikis that hevee was talking about and it is a great step by steph guide. It is at:



http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/wiki/doku.php?id=howto_jme2_and_blender2.48