blender-export

Blender Export

Export to the right format with the right settings. Wrong format choice = days of debugging in the target platform.

Format decision tree

Where is this going?
├── Web (Three.js, Babylon.js, model-viewer, AR Quick Look) → glTF / GLB
├── Game engine (Unity, Unreal, Godot)
│   ├── Animated/rigged → FBX (or glTF for modern engines)
│   └── Static → OBJ or FBX or glTF
├── Apple AR (USDZ) → USDZ (special, see Recipe 6)
├── 3D printing → STL (geometry only, must be watertight)
├── VFX pipeline (Maya, Houdini, Nuke) → USD
└── DCC roundtrip → FBX (industry standard)

Quick rule for unknown target: glTF / GLB. Open standard, modern, universally supported.

Recipes

Recipe 1 — glTF / GLB export (web / AR / general)

import bpy

bpy.ops.export_scene.gltf(
    filepath='/tmp/output.glb',
    export_format='GLB',                 # single-file binary; preferred
    export_apply=True,                   # apply modifiers before export
    export_materials='EXPORT',
    export_image_format='AUTO',          # PNG; AUTO falls back to JPEG for opaque images
    export_yup=True,                     # Y-up convention (most engines / web expect this)
    export_animations=True,              # toggle off for static models
    export_morph=True,                   # shape keys
    export_skins=True,                   # armatures + weights
    export_normals=True,
    export_tangents=False,               # skip unless target uses tangent-space normals beyond standard
)

# Verify
import os
size_mb = os.path.getsize('/tmp/output.glb') / (1024 * 1024)
print(f"export:gltf {size_mb:.2f} MB")

glTF caveats:

• Only Principled BSDF materials export cleanly. Procedural shaders are dropped or simplified.
• Hard cap: 15 MB; soft target: 8 MB.
• No KTX2 / Draco compression (unless target supports those loaders).
• PNG textures only (max 1024×1024 typical).

Recipe 2 — Decimate before export (if too large)

import bpy

obj = bpy.data.objects['GEO-target']
bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = obj

mod = obj.modifiers.new('Decimate', type='DECIMATE')
mod.ratio = 0.7    # keep 70% of faces; lower = more reduction
mod.use_collapse_degenerate = True
bpy.ops.object.modifier_apply(modifier=mod.name)

print(f"decimated:{obj.name} verts:{len(obj.data.vertices)}")