Reference/Release Notes/4.0/Add-ons

3DS I/O

Export Animation

  • The 3ds exporter now got the property to export animation keyframes. PR #104613
  • Keyframe export is optional to avoid crashing any importers wich can not handle the keyframe section. (585a682ef8, da9bb97bea)

Export Hierarchy

  • 3ds objects now got hierarchy chunks to preserve the object tree. PR #104682
  • The object tree can now be exported without the keyframe section needed. (0d26a2a017)

Export Scale

  • Global scale for exporting a 3ds can now be setted. PR #104767
  • Since many applications are using millimeters, this option is useful to convert the measure units. (17f142e55d)

Convert Measure

  • The 3ds importer and exporter now got the ability to converts the unit measure for all metric and imperial units. PR #104769
  • Many 3ds files were exported in millimeter unit scale, this option converts too big meshes to Blender meter scale. (675987e938)

Object Filter

  • Both, the importer and the exporter got the new option to filter objects for import and export. PR #104778, PR #104782

Volume, fog, gradient and background bitmap

Spotlight aspect and projector

  • If a spotlight includes a gobo image, it will be exported in the light bitmap chunk and imported the same way. PR #104813 (f1e443f119)
  • The x/y scale of a spotlight can now be exported in the aspect ratio chunk, the importer calculates the aspect back to x/y scale. PR #104815 (7e2f96796a)

Cursor location

Hydra Storm

Storm is a realtime renderer part of USD. When enabling the add-on, it can be chosen as an alternative to Cycles, EEVEE or Workbench. (5ec7ca8f12)

Compared to EEVEE its capabilities are limited, as it was designed mostly for previews. It serves two main purposes:

  • In production pipelines where Blender outputs USD files, it provides a preview of how the scene will be exported to other applications. Tools such as usdview use Storm as their default renderer, and other 3D apps often provide an option to use Storm as well.
  • As a reference for Blender, add-on and studio pipeline developers to validate USD and Hydra integration.

When enabling "Developer Extras", there is an option to export the scene through USD instead of Hydra. Hydra provides fast interactive updates, but it currently does not match USD export exactly. USD gives an accurate preview of how the file would be loaded into another application. Work to improve this consistency is ongoing.

FBX I/O Improvements

  • FBX binary file reading and parsing speed has been improved (890e51e769, a600aeb2e2).
  • Animation import performance was made faster (abab1c9343, e7b1962893).
  • Animation export performance was made faster (73c65b9a44).
  • Armature data custom properties can now be imported and exported (2b8d9bf2b8).
  • Shape keys can now be exported when Triangulate Faces is enabled or when Objects have Object-linked materials (bc801d7b1d).

PLY Add-On Removal

The PLY I/O add-on has been removed, as importing and exporting this format is now implemented natively in Blender (#104504, 67a4aab0da).

OBJ Add-On Removal

The OBJ I/O add-on has been removed, as importing and exporting this format is now implemented natively in Blender (#104503, 67a4aab0da).

Rigify

  • The old interface for configuring layer names and defining the layer visibility panel toggle button layout, as well as the interface for specifying additional layers in rig component properties have been rewritten to use the new bone collections. Old metarigs have to be upgraded by clicking a button. (5ec3aa7d9d)
  • The layer visibility button layout can now be modified through a visual editor sub-panel rather than through changing obscure number values. (5ec3aa7d9d)
  • Re-generating the rig now preserves the visibility settings for bone collections that already existed in the target rig. (729dc2b284)
  • The feature set list now contains ghost entries for the feature sets mentioned in the manual, containing brief descriptions and web links, even if they are not installed. (08af2f5035)
  • The new Curved B-Bone vertex mapping is now applied by the face upgrade operator for the mouth corners. (ce6775b50d)

The following rig features have been promoted from the experimental feature set to the core add-on:

  • The leg rig now has an alternative IK to FK snap operator button that can use the heel roll control to avoid rotating the main IK control around certain local axes from its current orientation (by default it tries to keep the IK control parallel to the same imaginary ground plane). (8f16645901)
  • The leg rig can optionally generate a slider to perform forward roll around the tip of the toe rather than its base. (8f16645901)
  • There is a new built-in spline tentacle rig based on Spline IK. (621149bb57)
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