Arma 3 Object Builder
Tutorials
A set of videos are available on YouTube to serve as an introduction to the more important features.
About the add-on
The Arma 3 Object Builder add-on aims to be an effective and reliable tool for modders of the Arma 3 game. It ships a wide variety of 3D authoring tools for models and animations to bring content into the engine of Arma 3, all with a UI that is in-line with the core design of Blender.
Main Features
The add-on comes with a wide range of added features. Some of the more important ones are as follows:
- Import-Export
- P3D (MLOD)
- RTM (Plain, BMTR)
- ASC
- armature reconstruction
- Tools
- vertex mass editing
- hit point cloud creation
- proxy model management
- LOD validation
- rigging utilities
- Utility Functions
- convexity checks
- vertex group utilities
- face ordering utilities
Documentation
The documentation can be found on GitBook. As the add-on changes, the documentation will be updated.
Requirements and Compatibility
- Blender v2.90.0 or higher
- Arma 3 Tools (optional for some features to work)
The add-on is developed on Blender v2.90.0 for convenience reasons, which also has the side effect that it supports older versions, not just the latest releases. The add-on is tested on newer releases regardless. If a new release of Blender in the future renders it impossible to keep the add-on compatible with both old, and new releases, support will be dropped for legacy versions in favor of the new API.
The range of Blender releases tested for compatibility is indicated in the changelog entry of each packed release of the add-on.
Background
Arma 3 Object Builder borrows its name from the infamous Object Builder application that's used for importing models to the P3D model format of Arma 3. While Object Builder bares some modelling functionality, it's by no means adequate by today's standards. Because of this the need arose for an alternative, that resulted in the creation of the ArmAToolbox add-on by Alwarren, which makes it possible to import and export animations and models to the Arma 3 file formats directly.
The Arma 3 Object Builder add-on is designed as a successor/reimplementation of the code and workflow of the ArmaToolbox.
What's New
2.5.0 December 23rd, 2024
Tested compatibility: Blender 2.90 -> 4.3
Added
- import-export:
- PAA texture import for textures compressed with DXT1 or DXT5 (S3TC BC1 and BC3) algorithms
- new config data parser and unified handler module
- scripts:
- utility script to create empty "dummy" P3D file
Changed
- import-export:
- improved LZO1X decompression speeds
- model.cfg import is now available without Arma 3 Tools as well (if native parsing is successful)
- tools:
- Vertex Mass Editing:
- tools are now available in both Edit and Object modes
- in Edit mode the functions operate on the selected parts only
- in Object mode the functions operate on the entire mesh
- Distribute Mass now supports volume weighted distribution (on closed components)
- Mass From Density now supports volume weighted distribution (on closed components)
- UI layout was reorganized
- tools are now available in both Edit and Object modes
- Bulk Renaming now shows warning signs at paths that point to files that do not exist
- Hit Point Cloud:
- exposed modifier settings were removed
- internal process was simplified
- Vertex Mass Editing:
Fixed
- the Rigging tools only allowed 3 bones to be assigned to a vertex instead of the proper limit of 4 (Select Overdetermined, Prune Overdetermined, General Cleanup)
- Bulk Renaming tool exposed the internal paths making it possible to break the feature until the next list refresh
- Center of Mass operator was not accounting for world transformations
Tried like 30 .p3d files only script errors :/ I hate to leave bad reviews, will change if it gets updated...Blender 4.3 here, cant select that also in Version drop-down... Python: Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users********\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\4.3\extensions\blender_org\Arma3ObjectBuilder\ui\import_export_p3d.py", line 101, in execute lod_objects = import_p3d.read_file(self, context, file) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "C:\Users*******\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\4.3\extensions\blender_org\Arma3ObjectBuilder\io\import_p3d.py", line 432, in read_file mlod = p3d.P3D_MLOD.read(file, operator.first_lod_only) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "C:\Users******\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\4.3\extensions\blender_org\Arma3ObjectBuilder\io\data_p3d.py", line 778, in read raise P3D_Error("Invalid MLOD signature: %s" % str(signature)) bl_ext.blender_org.Arma3ObjectBuilder.io.data_p3d.P3D_Error: P3D - Invalid MLOD signature: b'clas'