Blender Lite Not Popping Up In Blender
Ghostlii started this discussion in Help and Tips

Hi, I'm pretty new to Mecabricks and am getting into LEGO animation. Unfortunately, when I downloaded the Blender Lite plugin, I installed it to Blender and refreshed my list, but it didn't show up. Does anyone know how to fix this? I can also press Import button but it doesn't show the Mecabricks option.

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Also, this is unrelated on how to get it all set up, and I did, but I need help with another thing. When I start a new blender animation file to work in, I delete the default cube, and then import the .zmbx file that I wanted and downloaded to this website. Once the file loads in to blender, I think it deletes the source of light and the camera! I need the camera back. How do I get it back? Also, when I press add, at the top of my screen, and then click camera, it still doesn’t show. Please help.

Hi YT... if you didn't delete the camera then it's still there. If you look in the top right there should be an outline and it should still show that the camera is alive. When you import a MB model, it it HUGE... like 1000x IRL huge. Your camera and light are probably waaaay down inside in the very center of your model.

Ummmm, I still don't see it. Is there any way that I can set the camera and angle to where I'm facing while animating it?

[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Numpad 0] snaps the active camera to your viewport. Do you see the camera in the outliner?

This guy is pretty good at explaining things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY04h4ujrlY

Ok, he's telling me about the same thing that you did, but what do I do if I don't have a numpad? I'm on Mac. I also tried to press the 0 key with ctrl + alt then + that. Is there any other way?

I found the camera, and placed it where I wanted it. It is tracking one of my pieces. When I play the unrendered animation, the camera DOES follow the object I wanted it to. But, for some reason, when I render it, all the frames come out and there's no object. Just the dynamic sky I placed. Why is that?

Numpad: In the video he explains how to do things without the numpad... plus you get to see what he's doing. I'd check there.

No object: My guess is that you need to adjust the clip distance for your camera. The default clip end distance is generally too small for most Mecabricks imports, which come in rather large. You will need to do this any time you add a viewport or camera. The viewport is outlined in red below, and the camera is outlined in orange below. You need to select the camera object in either the viewport or the outliner to see the camera settings. I typically use 10,000 or 100,000, depending on the size of the model. Basically I just keep adding a zero until I can see everything. But the more distance the camera can see, the more work it has to do to render, so don't go overboard.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52069314354_ff33f01e45_o.png

Thank you very much! You might not want to see it, but I made a very short (3 second) animation using your help! Thank you! Here's the link if you want to watch it sometime.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkkJuHCu7bg

way to go! that fortnite battle bus reminds me of the movie up when I see it

Also, why is it that when I import my .zmbx download to blender, the mini figure in it doesn't have a face?

When Blender opens you will be in the Solid viewport shading mode. For MB materials to work out of the box, you need to be in the Rendered viewport shading mode with Cycles selected as your render engine. You can hack the materials to get them to show up in Eevee and also the Material Preview viewport shading mode as well...

https://www.mecabricks.com/en/forum/topic/4773/1#post81160

Even if you don't have the face when animating, when you render it, will it have the face?

yes... as long as you render in cycles.

Okay, thanks!

Hey, I couldn't find any help anywhere else in any other forum for this question so, could you be of assistance? My thing is, is that I want to render something that I built in the workshop. (Not in Blender) because I've seen other people's builds and there's a section for renders. I would like to do that, too! How?

Rendering basics
0. (Not pictured) You need a model with a camera. (Don't forget to aim it!)

  1. Open the 3D Rendering mode
  2. Click the Render button
  3. The project window will pop up. You can see Processing in green
  4. When your render is complete you will see Finished in blue
  5. Click Download to save your image
  6. You can look through your recent renders with the Projects tab. If you are doing free renders, they will disappear after a few days.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51479869377_2cf8e5bb56_o.png

Ok, thank you! You are very helpful!

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