Giants I3D Exporter Explained

Explanation of what everything in Giants I3D Exporter does

Giants I3D Exporter location

Every now and then there is questions about where the I3D Exporter is located in the "Properties Panel" in the 3D viewport. If this side bar is hidden you can simply click on "n" and it will appear.

Location of Giants I3D Exporter in Blender

Top Section of the exporter panel

Giants I3D Exporter panel top section

Attribute	Explanation
IndexPath	Will show you the index path for the active selected object and this index path will also be the same in Giants Editor
Node Name	Is the name of the current active selected object
Node Id	Is for generating i3dMappings for your objects, select a object, check the box and click on "Use node Name" (can also write a custom name if you want) IMPORTANT: To be able to export the i3dMappings you would also need to add a XML file to the "XML config. Files" panel
Export, Attributes, Tools, Material	Seperate panels for different use cases

Export Panel

This is the panel where all the export settings are located

Attribute	Explanation
Export Options
Animation	When animation is enabled the exporter will export the animation data in the blender scene
Shapes	If this is unchecked all your shapes (meshes) will be exported as transform groups
Lights	If this is unchecked all your lights will be exported as transform groups
Locked Group	If you check this it will lock the root element of every hierarchy. Perhaps you don't know what this is, it make most sense to use this when for example creating buildings for a map. When the locked group is enabled and the hierarchy in Giants Editor is "closed" you can click on any child object in the viewport and it will select the locked group (root object).
User Attributes	When this is checked the user attribute data will be exported
Nurbs Curves	When this is checked it will export the curves to i3d as nurbs curves, if its not checked it will export curves as transform groups
Binary Files	When this is checked the I3D Exporter will run a operation to save the i3d to binary format, so you don't have to manually do this later
Shape Export Subparts Panel related to shape/mesh data
Normals	Export Normals if checked (should always be checked)
Vertex Colors	Export Vertex Colors if checked
Merge Groups	Export merge groups if checked (if you have any)
UVs	Will export the object UV layer(s) if checked
Skin Weights	Will Export bones (armatures) and vertex groups if checked
Miscellaneous
Verbose	Will print information to the system console (location: Window --> Toggle System Console)
Apply Modifiers	Applies modifiers when you export if checked
Export Relative Paths	Export file paths relative to the .i3d file
Export Game Relative Path	Export file paths relative to the Game Installation Path
Axis Orientations	Should be kept at default value: "Bake Transforms" or else your objects will end up with weird orientations in GE
Game Location
Game Location Display	This is the place you set the location of your game install (for example: D:\steam\steamapps\common\Farming Simulator 22\) If this is not set you will not be able to export
XML config. Files
XML File Location	Here you can add the xml file for the vehicle you are currently working on and when you export to i3d the content of the <i3dMappings> will be updated with the new i3dMappings you have added in Blender
Output File
Here you can either choose to export to a custom location or you can enable "Use Blender Filename" this will export to the same lcoation as the blender file.
Export Buttons
Export All	This will export everything in the whole blender scene (except for objects and its children with suffix _ignore)
Export Selected	Export selected will export all the selected objects in the scene. Note: Its currently a bit broken, when you have empty object type, it will duplicate the hiearchy in the i3d file.
Update XML	This will update the <i3dMappings> in the xml file you have added and will not export the objects in the scene

Attributes Panel

This is the panel where all the object attributes are located

Attribute	Explanation
Loaded Node
Auto Assign	If you check this it will automatically load and apply the attributes. So then there is no need to manually load the object or save attributes to the object
Loaded Node	Will display the name and the index path of the object you have loaded
Node Index	Displays index path for then active selected object
Predefined Predifined attribute settings for physics and non physics (really useful)
Physics	Contains predefined settings for physics related stuff (Compound, compoundChild, triggers +more)
Non Physics	Contains predefined settings for non physics related stuff (Lights, decals, exterior +more)
Current Preset	Displays the current selected preset
Rigid Body Attributes related to rigid body
Static	Passive rigid body non movable
Kinematic	Passive rigid body movable
Dynamic	Active rigid body simulated
Compound	Group of rigid bodies
Compound child	Part of a group of rigid bodies (compound)
Collision	If the rigid body are going to be collidable or not
Collision Mask	Collision mask
Restitution	Bouncyness of the surface
Static Friction	The force that resists motion between two non-moving surfaces
Dynamic Friction	The force that resists motion between two moving surfaces
Linear Damping	Defines the slowdown factor for linear movement, affecting speed
Angular Damping	Defines the slowdown factor for angular movement, affecting spin
Density	Used with the shape of the object to calculate mass. The higher the number, the heavier the object
Mass	Total mass of the compound node