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Releases: sketchfab/blender-plugin

Sketchfab for Blender 1.1.0

25 Jun 14:07
@AurL AurL
1.1.0
672e653
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Sketchfab for Blender 1.1.0

Sketchfab Plugin v1.1.0 for Blender

Import glTF assets into Blender using Sketchfab download API

The plugin is available for both Blender 2.79 and 2.8

Changelog

  • Browse your own models (available for PRO users only)

Documentation

If you have any issue, please have a look at this section before using "Report an issue" button in the plugin. You can also report through this link.

⚠️ If you are using Blender on OSX/Linux ⚠️

The plugin doesn't use the default embeded ssl lib but uses it's own version (embedded with the plugin).

If you have any issue or any side effect caused by these overriding packages, please report us.

How to use

Installation

Download one of the following .zip files according to the version of Blender you are using and install it as a regular blender addon:

Login, browse and import models

The addon is available in View3D -> Tools under the tab 'Sketchfab'.

You don't need to login to browse models but it's required if you want to import a model.

PRO users can now access their own models

If you are a PRO user, you can also use the My Models filter to search and have a private access to your personal library of models, which includes all your published models (including the private ones)

Screenshot-1

Selecting an model in the results will the model info accordingly
Screenshot-2

Importing models into Blender:

The plugin allows to download and import 100k+ free downloadable models into Blender.
Materials are converted to CYCLE materials for Blender 2.79, and to EEVEE materials for Blender 2.80.

Known limits/issues and further improvements

My model doesn't look good, it's different from Sketchfab

There are still improvements to do on import, and Sketchfab to Blender (through glTF) conversion has some limits.
This section will give some hints about differences or issues that can be encountered when importing models into Blender.

I don't see anything after my model is imported:

Scale can vary a lot between different models, and the origin is not always at the center. Try to scale up/down the model in order to make it visible.
Note: root object is automatically selected after import, so you just need to use the scale shortcut "s" to scale up or down your model.
If it's not enough, select a mesh object in hierarchy and use numpad '.' or Blender menu to focus/align the view on it.

Transparency is looking weird, transparent objects are not visible:

Some models are using refraction, and it's not supported by glTF so it's converted to regular transparency.
Refraction is easy to spot on a model, you just need to check the Sketchfab version by clicking "View on Sketchfab"

My model has weird seams/normals:

Tangent space import is not working yet so you might experience rendering issue on some models with normal maps.
It's something we will improve in the next versions

My model is black, or has weird colors

It can be caused by several limits in material import.

  • The model has vertex colors: Vertex colors are always exported in glTF files (to allow edition) so they are always loaded in Blender. Sometimes this data is wrong or useless, and the author disables it on Sketchfab.
    You can easily check if the model has this color data by selecting one of the meshes and looking in mesh properties if it has a Vertex colors layer.
    Fix: remove vertex colors if they are not valid

  • The model has an outline: a way to have an outline on a Sketchfab model is to duplicate the mesh, flip it's faces and make the material single sided. It is not well imported yet, and it can gives some rendering issues.
    Example of a model with outline:

    • if base and ouline meshes have faces that are very close, Blender can render them totally transparent, so the model will have holes.
    • If your scene has a light casting shadows, it will make the base mesh look dark because of outline mesh casting shadows on it. There are several solutions to fix this.

  • Backface culling:
    Some models are set to use single sided materials, which is converted into Blender by using a trick with transparency and backfacing property.
    Fix: look for a "Geometry" node in the graph, removes the "backfacing" link et set the linked node "Mix Shader" factor to 0.

I have a weird behaviour and no error nor warning message shown:

If an error occurs, you will have an error or a stack trace in Blender's console.
You can open the console using "Windows => Toggle system console" but this feature is not always available (for example you don't have it on OSX). The workaround is to start Blender from command line: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/render/workflows/command_line.html . Outputs will be printed in the shell from which you launched Blender.

Assets 4