This repository contains the current version of the official Microsoft Flight Simulator Blender Import/Export plugin. The flight sim community has already developed and forked the original project many times, and Asobo's intention is to fully support Blender with the help and contributions of all the developers that have already implemented features in the different unofficial Blender plugins.
Asobo would especially like to thank the following people:
Vitus of Wing42, tml1024, ronh991, pepperoni505 of FlyByWire
:warning: This plugin cannot import glTF files that have been built into a Microsoft Flight Simulator package through the Sim's Package Builder.
:warning: NOTE:2 This plugin is NOT compatible with the legacy exporter developed for FSX and P3D and MSFS. Remove these plugin (Prefered) or disabled these plugins.
:warning: The version 1.3.x is compatible with Blender 3.3.x LTS and 3.6.x LTS only. We can't guarantee not having bugs with other unstable versions
There are two ways to install the MSFS Blender exporter. Either using the Edit Preferences Menu and Install tab, or copy/paste the addon files to your %APPDATA% folder. Installation steps are explained down bellow :
io_scene_gltf2_msfs.zip
.Go to Add-ons and click on Install an add-on. This will bring up a file dialog, where you navigate to the folder where you have your io_scene_gltf2_msfs.zip
downloaded file.
Select the io_scene_gltf2_msfs.zip
file. And click on the Install Add-on button.
io_scene_gltf2_msfs.zip
io_scene_gltf2_msfs
folder then copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl + "C").addons
folder, which - by default - can be found in the following locations:
%AppData%\Blender Foundation\Blender\<blender-version>\scripts\addons\
.Go
menu to open your Library folder): \Users\<username>\Library\Application Support\Blender\<blender-version>\scripts\addons\
.io_scene_gltf2_msfs
into the Blender addons
folder (Ctrl + V).After completing the process outlined above, you will need to start Blender and then activate the plugin. Activation is done from Edit > Preferences, as shown in the image below:
NOTE : You may need to restart Blender again after activating the plugin for all the options to be visible in the IDE.
Microsoft Flight Simulator glTF Extension
Importer/Exporter add-on in the search box. Delete the Import-Export: Microsoft Flight Simulator gltf Extension
using the Remove
button.Import-Export: gltf 2.0 format
Add-on.Import-Export: gltf 2.0 format
addon left.This Blender addon is now the officially supported addon for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and as such, blend files that were made using any other version/iteration of the addon are now considred legacy blend files. Basically, legacy blend files had the extensions that are used to create glTF 2.0 files for use in the Microsoft Flight Simulator hard-coded into them. However, the ASOBO version of the exporter uses the Khronos default code and adds hooks to this code for the ASOBO extensions used in the glTF files.
The ASOBO exporter also has a much more complex and versitile material node structure that can be seen in the Shader Tab/Window in Blender. Your legacy Flight Simulator Material mode/types should be migrated to the new ASOBO Microsoft Flight SImulator material mode/types with the click of the "Migrate Material Data
" button
in the MSFS Material Parameters panel (under the Blender Material Properties).
We have made every effort possible to ensure that legacy blend files can be easily and fully migrated to use this addon and exporter, and we recommend the migration to use this addon as soon as possible to ensure future compatibility as this addon evolves and is updated.
Once you have performed a migration, you should look at the shader nodes in your original blend file and make sure the BSDF node paramerters are the same as the panel values. This is an important check to make as these can get out of sync when you modify the parameters in the Surface
section of the Material Properties
panel instead of modifying them in the MSFS Material Parameters
section. In particular, pay attention to the Metallic and Roughness Scale and Factor values.
MSFS Material Params
Panel in the Material Properties
Migrate Material Data
button above the MSFS Material Params type drop down list.Figure 1 Before migration
Figure 2 After Migration
All the settings from the legacy node structure are copied to the ASOBO exporter shader node structure. As you can see from the images above, the ASOBO node structure is more complex and there are a lot more nodes. Sometimes some model developers have made changes to the legacy BSDF node that are not reflected in the MSFS Material Params
panel data - the variables that are migrated come instead from the legacy panel data, so there may be situations where your material will not look correct. This means that you will need to compare your legacy blend file materials to the new blend file Materials after migration to see if there are any issues like this one. You can do this by openeing another Blender instance and opening the legacy file in that, then comparing the MSFS Material Params panel values with the legacy parameter values and adjusting them accordingly.
Note that each Microsoft Flight Simulator material will need to be migrated, but any mesh/nodes associated to that material will also have it's MSFS Material Parameters migrated.
Finally, you may also notice that some MSFS Material Parameters show data but cannot be adjusted. This is in keeping with the ASOBO 3DS Max exporter material parameters. Please raise an issue if this is not to your requirements.
After migration SAVE YOUR FILE AS A NEW FILE and keep your legacy blend file for future reference.
If you want to learn how to use this add-on you can refer to the documentation page here : Documentation for Microsoft Flight Simulator glTF 2.0 Importer and Exporter for Blender
You can also have a look at the SDK documentation of the plugin here : https://docs.flightsimulator.com/html/Asset_Creation/Blender_Plugin/The_Blender_Plugin.htm
Shadertree modification directly impacts the result of the exporter.
The properties of your material must only be modified through the MSFS Material Panel
section.
:warning: If you work with an MSFS Material you should never modify the shader tree manually.