I’ve just started to learn Collada and actually need it mainly as an exchange format for three dimensional neuronal morphology data. I have a proprietary file format storing only cylindrical data. I am working with blender and before I write a python import script for blender I thought it would be wiser to right away create a Collada converter. So far I created VRML and X3D versions, but the cylinder import for these formats seems not yet implemented in blender.
Could you give me a simple Collada example file with embedded cylinders (as convex_mesh). The official specification didn’t help me too much.
Blender 2.4x supports export and import of most COLLADA Physics shapes by its build-in ColladaBlender 1.4 python plugin. This includes cylinder and convex_hull. You can also simulate them as cylinders or convex hulls.
Just press ‘p’ on the following zipfile (200kb) exported using Blender 2.42/2.43 RC1. Blender 2.43 will ship with version 0.3.143 of the ColladaBlender plugin. It requires installation of Python 2.3/2.4 from http://www.python.org
I included both cylinders marked as ‘cylinder’ and cylinders marked as ‘convex_hull’, both .dae and .blend, and also a screenshot of the userinterface while exporting.