Profane to Python, but with a good idea.

As the tittle says, I know about nothing of Python, but have programmed in others languagues (that was in the good old MS-DOS times, anyways)… I would like to ask the Python gurus around here this question?

Is there a way to run a python script as a stand-alone program? or even better, is there (or can be buiilt) a stand-alone script loader that would run without having Blender running on the background?

The reason for this question is that, as things stand right now, the Blender community is lacking an easy way to I/O 3D Data for people that ARE NOT members of the community. In other words, we are lacking a 3D file format converter that can be used by people that DON’T USE BLENDER but would like to share and collaborate with Blender users. That file converter would take any of the many existing i/o scripts and use it to take, for example, a Maya file and make a Blend file out of it.

If you have been to any collaborative work forum lately you would have noticed that most of the proyects posted as to be using blender as main tool get very few or none answer, and the most re-apearing reason is tha many people that are in fact willing to help are already working with another software.

Sure the conversion could be done on the blender user side, but it is really a pain in the ass having to convert EVERY SINGLE file that gets out of your computer AND ALSO converting every file that goes into your computer. It would be a lot easier if all parties involved could just send out the file in theyr native format and the people receiving the file make the conversion into theyr native format as well.

Just imagine how much inter-application proyects could be made that way, and how many yet-non-blender users would be exposed to Blender created model, and perhaps would be more interested in giving a try to that ‘litle program’ that my fellow is using to produce such good work.

not easily enough to be useful

but there is a proposal I like which is to have blender export to it’s own xml file format. This would be a lot easier to work with than the current (binary) format in code, and would allow the i/o scripts/programs you suggest

(I also see it in the future as a way to get files from different blender versions because of changes in the source that have lead to incompatible binary formats)

but, at the moment such an export does not exist, and only seems to be a plan on the drawing board.

But you didn’t answered the main question, can Python scrips be run as stand-alone?

reading some scrips I see that most of them start with something similar to IMPORT BLENDER… I don’t know much about python but that seems to me like calling a library, it would be just a matter of calling that same library from the stand alone, everything else goes the same, I’m I wrong?

NOTE: IF that library is not an actual file but is hard coded into blender… well, it would be just a matter of borrowing that code from the source… it is open after all.

no, you need Blender to run script for Blender, since it relies on internal data. Spliting a separate program that would be made just to run scripts would be possible, but useless, since it would be just like the original Blender, but without the interface.

Martin

…without the interface, the modeling tools and the rendering system… just a GUI for the format conversion… that’s all that it takes.

Remember, it would be a program just for translating blend files into other formats, a very simply interface for people that don’t use Blender for 3D work.