harkyman.com

BlenderPeople0.8

BlenderPeople development is on hiatus while I am writing my book. Development will resume in the Summer of 2008. I’ve had a number of requests for step-by-steps about getting BP running, and requests for personal service. Due to my writing schedule, I can’t give personal service right now. Also, the documentation is complete as of the latest version and contains a step-by-step simple startup. If you can’t get it working from that, I just don’t have time to help you get it going. Sorry for the inconvenience, but 1) 0.8 release and 2) free.

Sample animations are at the bottom of the page

Not sure if BlenderPeople is for you? Download and read the comprehensive documentation: Blender People 0.8 Documentation

Blender People 0.8, zip file.

Blender People is a suite of Python scripts for Blender that, in conjunction with a mySQL database, allow the generation of large scale crowd dynamics, including (but not limited to) combat scenarios. Included in the distribution are a sample .blend file, with all the scripts embedded, and the Windows installer for MySQLdb. BlenderPeople0.8 is release under the GPL. This version of BlenderPeople makes use of features not found in the official Blender 2.42a release. Windows users can find the special Blender compile here; OSX (Python 2.3) users go here. Anyone who wants to build their own for their platform can get a .zipped ./blender/source/blender directory here.

If you want a comprehensive list of what it can do, then download the standalone documentation. But if you’re too lazy to even do that, then here is a short feature list:

- Arbitrary number of Actors - User-defined Actor types - Heirarchical, automatic or user-defined command and control - Ranged attacks - Actors can be set to attack, defend, march, retreat, mill, regroup, attack area, etc. - Cross-platform - User-defined effectors to simlute the effect on Actors of fire, mud, boulders, force fields, etc.- Support for Blender’s character animation DupliGroups - Fast (my Athlon XP1800 w/512 MB RAM was clocking 40 seconds of calc time for each 1 second of animation in an 800 Actor simulation).

I have done a lot of reading on crowd simulation/AI issues, and I have arrived at a slightly different philosophy than most of them. Most of the information I’ve had given to me concerns itself with the accurate representation of crowd dynamics. I’m not so into that. As an artist, I’m more interested in giving the illusion of reality. Movie makers do not produce things on the screen as they are in real life. They produce them as we are used to seeing them, so that the illusion of life is created. In designing and coding Blender People, this notion has been my guide. I don’t really care if Blender People can be used to simulate crowd reaction to a bomb going off inside a building so that architects can more effectively plan disaster escape plans. All I care about is that it looks good. If that requires complex maths and accurate simulation of human behavior, then that’s where the project will head. But so far it hasn’t.

System Requirements
Software:	Available at:
Blender 2.42a - Character Animation Build	Windows users: graphicall.org
	OS X users: graphicall.org
mySQL 5.0	http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html
MySQLdb 1.0 (self-installing .exe for MySQLdb included for Windows users)	http://sourceforge.net/projects/mysql-python
Python 2.4	http://www.python.org/

Don’t be intimidated by the requirements list. People have found the documentation to be both complete and helpful, and have been able to get things running on their first try. Trust me, when you set up two 500-Actor armies, let them have at each other for fifteen minutes or so of calculations, then watch the results, it’s really fun.For the latest development news, you can click here, subscribe to an RSS feed here, or read it below:Animation Samples
All animations are in DivX5 .avi format.

Please right click and choose “Download link…” (or “save target as…”) to get the videos. It’ll save repeated hits on my server. Thanks!

BlenderPeople output for the current version, warts and all. I could have tweaked and sweetened it, but I wanted you to see the current state of affairs. 3.5MB XViD

The Blue team just wants to boogie, but Red wants to party down on the sacred ground, too. 5 MB.

Actors milling, while avoiding a barrier. 1.5 MB.

Nice swarming motion animation, featuring around 200 Actors. Fun music included. 1 MB.

First person view, before terrain following was added back in. 713kb.

Barriers added. 1.5 MB. Kind of lame, you may want to skip this one.

Things are finally working. 312kb.

First successful animation test. 256kb.

14 Responses to “Blender People”

1. on 24 May 2007 at 7:40 am1Fábio de Andrade

   Hi,

   I have to do a 10s project using Blender People for my Grafic Computing class, and I need informations and some materials of this tooll. I´m tring to dowload the doc that you have on your page and I´m failing…could you send me some material that I can study and practice in order to learn the BP?…I liked a lot you works, and I saw some of your coments that was very importants…

   Tanks for you attention,

   Fábio de Andrade Ribeiro
   Salvador/Bahia/Brazil
   Ruy Barbosa College

2. on 24 May 2007 at 3:13 pm2Roland

   Hi Fábio –
   Thanks for pointing out the bad link. Try getting the documentation now. In case browser caching is causing the wrong link to still come up, you can get it by copy and pasting this url into your address bar:
   http://www.harkyman.com/blenderpeople/blenderpeople0.8.pdf

   And really, the docs are very good, with both a Quick Start section and tons more in-depth information. If you can install Python, MySQL and the MySQLdb bridge properly, getting animation out of BP is a piece of cake.

   Also, I’d love to see the final results of your project!

3. on 14 Jun 2007 at 6:14 am3Colin Cooper

   Hello,

   Amazing work you are doing here thank you so much.

   As some one who is an amateur film maker, my next project requires me to produce armies of different types. You Blender People maybe the answer to my prayers in the look I’m trying to create.

   The problem is, the links don’t seem to work, I get an error saying “Too many connections”?

   Secondly I’m a complete noob to Blender, can I quickly get something up and running with this, without having to spend months learning Blender, I’m a director not an animator (Easy & quick is good for me).

   Hope you can help me.

   Many thanks

   Colin.

4. on 18 Nov 2007 at 10:37 pm4Eric Wright

   Roland,

   I’ve been away from my computer for some time (i’m in the US Navy and haven’t even had a chance to go home yet since basic training was over) and at home i have blender people, but i bought a new laptop with Vista (i hate vista) on it and tried to download bp. I went and did all the running around and stuff (seriously, you can’t just include these things like the blender version, blenderpeople.blend file, and the mysql file all in the same folder so i don’t end up having to post comments to you?)

   anyways, i installed it, i got to the GUI where i have to log in…but guess what, i never got a username or password, i installed the MYsql again and looked carefully, but nothing. blender itself even says that “MySqlinfo does not exist”. i don’t know what to do, i can’t find the right installer other than the one on the link that you showed me.

   If i can’t “log in” then i can’t use bp. is there any way you can help me with this? it dose the same on blender 2.5 as well as blender 2.42a, no user name or login was given to me at all.

   please email me back asap, because i don’t have alot of time on my hands and i’d like to get the info as soon as possible.

   Thank you Mr. Roland for you great support and help.
   (Ps. Essential Blender is AWESOME!)

   Sincerely,

   Seaman Wright

5. on 16 Dec 2007 at 10:57 am5CGI Master

   Hey,
   I just got Blender People and i’ve run in to a problem.
   Whenever i press “Generate NLA”, it says, “Python script error, check console”.
   Do you know what the problem is?
   Please respond to this as soon as possible.
   I really need Blender People to make a new movie…Zelda movie to be exact. I’ve made a lot of really good s: Epona, Hyrule Castle, the Zora King, a Troll, Din’s Fire.
   And we’re planning to put huge battles in it.
   I need something like MASSIVE, but I don’t have the money for that.
   So, i’m so glad that you have made this thing for blender.
   But it’s really important, so please let me know.
   CGI Master

6. on 14 Jan 2008 at 10:15 am6John Caldwell

   Hello. I am John Caldwell, Computer Arts teacher at Miami Central High. I teach using a Mac lab. I was very disappointed after reading your comments concerning Mysqll. I’m not a programmer and most of this stuff is over my head, especially anything dealing with scripting. So, just a comment or two. First, I think what you’ve done is fantastic, as does everyone else who has seen blenderpeople. I think however that it is an absolute shame that you get this far and just say “good luck”. I think you need to make your talent work for you. You should get paid for this. What I would do, and this is just me, I would simplify the whole process, avoid he Mysqll thing altogether. Make this an actual program that could interact with blender on a much simpler level, and sell it for like $20.00. You could make a million. Did you know that last year more people downloaded blender than who bought all the other 3d programs combined? If not selling it, how about petitioning the blender gods to incorporate it into the blender program itself. perhaps they could figure a way to avoid the mysqll thingy. Just my 2 cents. John

7. on 14 Jan 2008 at 12:05 pm7harkyman.com » Blog Archive » BlenderPeople update and information

   […] Blender People […]

8. on 14 Jan 2008 at 12:13 pm8admin

   Thanks for the 2 cents. You’ve prodded me to clarify some thoughts on future development. Instead of putting it in the comments, I’ve put it up on the main harkyman.com page.

9. on 03 Mar 2008 at 9:16 am9CGI Master

   Hey,
   I really need help with blenderpeople.
   If you don’t want to bother with me, then at least tell me of some people that know how to use blenderpeople so i can talk to them.

10. on 18 May 2008 at 6:57 am10Virgilio

    Hi, Roland. =)

    Just dropping by to say thanks for this great resource. =)

11. on 12 Jun 2008 at 6:43 pm11Dedwarmo » Blog Archive » Blender Artist, Author, Coder

    […] Hess is an artist, author, coder and Blender enthusiast. He is also the creator of Blender People, a crowd simulation add-on for Blender. It is still under development and requires that you have […]

12. on 13 Jun 2008 at 1:47 am12Windows

    Hey the windows compile is broken. Could you fix the link ?

13. on 13 Jun 2008 at 6:14 am13admin

    Link fixed. They must have changed the numbering scheme on graphicall. Thanks for pointing it out.

14. on 04 Jul 2008 at 5:03 pm14Robert Love

    Looking forward to your additional work on this. I have something I’m doing that I think that this plug in will help with down the road. Please keep up the good work.
    Bob

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