Blender could not convert the .blend file to fbx file Unity 2019.1.0

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Hello,

Not being able to import Blender models is a very old issue but was solved in 2014. I recently upgraded my project to 2019.1.0 as soon as it came out from beta. All went according to plan but my blender models do not appear at all in the scene view and the GameObject using such a file end up with "missing" in the model field. Every other type of model works. The Blender files do appear in the assets folder, but it is unreadable for unity. I wish to keep using these raw blender files for this project. I guess it might be something to do with my Blender app not being found by Unity, but no relevant information can be found because this is an ANCIENT problem coming back to life.

Heres the full error : Blender could not convert the .blend file to FBX file. You need to use Blender 2.45-2.49 or 2.58 and later versions for direct Blender import to work.

Note : My Blender is up to date (2.79b) and was not affected at all by the Unity upgrade. I uninstalled, reinstalled and fixed to see if it would fix the issue.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

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Answer by dh2biker · Apr 17, 2019 at 04:39 AM

Here is a workaround that doesn't involve changing your Blender installation. You have to replace the file "Unity-BlenderToFBX.py" in Unity 2019.1 with the same file from a 2018.3 installation. Unity changed this script to account for Blender 2.80 but inadvertently (I'm assuming) broke it for other versions.

On MacOS the file is in Applications/Hub/Editor/2019.1.0f2/Unity.app. You'll have to right click on the Unity app icon and select "Show Package Contents," then navigate to /Contents/Tools/ to find to the file. On Windows the Tools folder will be in the Unity 2019.1 installation folder in program files.

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Setsuki · Apr 17, 2019 at 05:27 AM 0

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Thank you so, so, SO much.

Not only Blender 2.8 being in beta, but all the bone rotation were imported differently, breaking about 15 characters in my game, that I would've had to manually reimport.

Also, the material reassignment being lost when switching from 2.79 to 2.8 so my materials were unassigned. (but I don't know if THIS can be fixed by Unity, I think Blender 2.8 introduces a new material system).

I'm definitely digging deeper into this and sending Unity a bug report!

Setsuki · Apr 17, 2019 at 12:02 PM 0

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I've sent a bug report to Unity both about the bones rotation (which makes sense, since it matches Blender's now, but is still a pain to deal with with former models), and about the incompatibility with Blender 2.79.

Thank you again!

Duckocide · Apr 17, 2019 at 12:30 PM 0

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@dh2biker Life Saver! I've had a lot of trouble with the 2019.1 upgrade (from 2018.3) ... Thanks to your remedy, I think this is the last of my issues.

jach5270 · Apr 18, 2019 at 01:26 AM 0

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Thank you so much! this solution works perfectly, simply replace the new file with the old, then re import your blender files and everything is sorted!

BBIT-SOLUTIONS · Apr 18, 2019 at 05:11 PM 0

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Thank you very much! The full path to the file in Windows is

[Unity-Install-Folder]\Editor\Data\Tools\Unity-BlenderToFBX.py

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Answer 2

Answer by dh2biker · Apr 16, 2019 at 06:37 PM

I had the same issue with Unity 2019.1.0f2. I solved it by installing Blender 2.80 (the latest beta). Unity then imported my Blender files without issue. This is the opposite of 2018.3.X, which would not import any Blender files with Blender 2.80 installed.

Update: I posted a better solution so ignore this one.

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jjgarcianorway · Apr 16, 2019 at 06:38 PM 0

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Cool! I will give it a try :) thanks for that :)

jjgarcianorway · Apr 16, 2019 at 08:16 PM 1

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Thanks!! I have checked and it works like a charm! For anyone having the same issue: download the 2.80 version of blender and unzip he compressed file over your current blender installation. Reimport your assets in Unity :)

Pinkuboxu · Apr 16, 2019 at 10:20 PM 0

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That's great that it works and all... but remember Blender 2.8 is still beta and might, you know, corrupt your models and hours of work or something... but yeah no one pays attention to that anyway and you probably aren't working on a game for a publisher that has deadlines and quality assurance so that's cool!

TheDawningLegend · Apr 16, 2019 at 11:53 PM 0

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Sorry but that dis not solve the issue, unless I did something wrong. Since the beta can only be downloaded in a folder, Unity does not seem to detect the new Blender at all.

Setsuki · Apr 17, 2019 at 04:08 AM 0

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Thank you! did you run into any pivot trouble at all, though? All my skinned .blend files are imported with a different rotation on the bones, you can guess how well animations handle this problem...

dh2biker Setsuki · Apr 17, 2019 at 04:26 AM 1

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Indeed it doesn't work with armatures. I did some digging and found that they modified the importing python script to account for blender 2.8, but apparently failed to test it. I fixed it by copying that script from my 2018.3 installation over to the 2019.1 installation and importing works just like before even with skinned meshes. I'll add a new answer with this better solution.

Answer 3

Answer by Pinkuboxu · Apr 16, 2019 at 08:53 PM

The .blend files have always given me and many others I have talked to and helped here trouble. I think the best option might be to do your FBX conversion by hand instead of using .blend files. This "compatibility" has always been very fussy between versions. Also, you have more control over the output of your model rather than relying on Unity's built in python script. With a bit of knowledge you can setup blender to do the export with a shortcut or script if you feel the steps to export are somehow too slow. It may seem subjective but I would say to trust me, it's not actually as helpful to use .blend files in your workflow, you will realize this when your project gets huge and your build times start to grow, vs. doing the export from Blender yourself. Infact I would keep my .blend files in separate work folders from your assets so that you can make good use of backups or at least use folders with a "." infront of them to hide them from Unity.

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TheDawningLegend · Apr 16, 2019 at 10:33 PM 2

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.blend files has always improved the workflow. Just need to double click, edit and save. BOO$$anonymous$$! Up and running. This is the first time this problem happens to me in 4 years. It seems it was something $$anonymous$$icrosoft did or someone else since Unity nor Blender were actually responsible for this issue in the past. The problem was resolved using an updated version of Blender (in beta) that would do a workaround of the system change.

Pinkuboxu TheDawningLegend · Apr 17, 2019 at 12:29 AM -1

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Perhaps if you are trying to do both the 3D part and the progra$$anonymous$$g part yourself, or you are just prototyping I could see it. If you are in development phase, it's a big no no. Also, you can make a script and even buttons that use FBX export presets to make it just as simple. If you have issues with it ever, I really don't think the problem was $$anonymous$$icrosoft or even Blender Foundation or Unity, it most likely lies with the person who insists on using .blend files and not a proper Asset format, I must insist. However I am familiar with the egos and deaf ears so do what you will.

Try working in a $$anonymous$$m and tell the programmer that he absolutely has to install Blender in order to do his job, and you will likely be told very bluntly, "No. Export files I can use." Any build version should have the FBX files exported before Building, especially when you have finalized a model and it won't be edited further. If you have an actual game with decent amount of 3D assets, using .blend files increase the build time considerably when compared to having the .FBX files pre made. I mean, I guess it's up to whoever is doing the work, sure, but I have to say that professionally and I want to say objectively, .blend files are really not a good idea.

Spacew00t Pinkuboxu · Apr 18, 2019 at 12:13 AM -1

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Hey Pinkuboxu, I understand where you're co$$anonymous$$g from, but there's a reason Unity3D maintains support for these files, along with PSD files. It sounds like you've worked at studios that have certain, established pipelines for content creation, but your experience is by no means the only one out there. I've worked at places, big and small, that have used .blend files as their asset of choice.

I've been the programmer that has happily installed blender, because, you know, every project has dependencies of one type or another. In exchange, I'm usually the one getting artists up to speed on git, so they can better integrate with the development cycle.

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Answer 4

Answer by meeruTheCoder · May 05, 2019 at 08:32 PM

Is it possible for someone to paste the old python blender to fbx script because i deleted the old installation of unity.

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BBIT-SOLUTIONS · May 05, 2019 at 08:39 PM 0

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see above in my answer to solution of dh2biker

Answer 5

Answer by durukanozanalp · May 05, 2019 at 09:05 PM

Totally worked.

Guys just search what @dh2biker types. Even if you deleted your previous versions of unity, you will see there are two different PY files. Copy and paste into the Unity 2019 folder.

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Blender could not convert the .blend file to fbx file Unity 2019.1.0

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