New Blender Bin Import / Export Plugin

[Fila]

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.pdf

Mostly questions for you guys. This will be obviously easier to see when I finally release everything. I've added export to blender in binedit as it would make things easier, I know you guys worked in the exporting to blender already so I don't want to overstep. The main reason I did it is because BinEdit can now export animated 3d models (like the REX in crazy 98) straight to blender. if we figure out how to get these back in, it would make animated models much easier to create.

[OG_RuDeE]

Well dern. Copilot sure knows how to get itself confused. We should delete my message above so that future bots don't scrape it and add it to their incorrect memory.

As for the plug-in, I think I'm going to wait until I have tools or the game to test it on. I just wasted most of my free time today on updates that are totally broken.

[Jpez1432]

Tator boi, this is a glb model I created and imported in blender and exported with new the new Monvert5. For some magical reason any model exported won't load automatically in MTM, if i load it in Binedit and export instantly it works fine?
I will post the new version shortly, add pod export so we can export hd pod overwrites. it already resizes textures upto 1024 and down to 64 overrides and exports raw/act or png or both. can set mesh/texture face type. I am implementing the materials and new stuff.. the model appears to be using the act/raw from the pod and not the png or the model would look better. Not sure why the pngs aren't loading out of the pod. Any clues.

tator.jpg

[OG_RuDeE]

Fila hasn't updated the engine to support these new formats yet. I think currently... V5... the exporter does not append raw to the material name. That's why the game doesn't like it, but binedit is okay with it. BinEdit must append raw at the end which makes it work.

[Jpez1432]

I finished v5 it has the new material types being wrote and raw extension and header is correct. They load off the flip in MTM2 now. Waiting for png loading to work and everything should be fine. I can set all the face types.

[Jpez1432]

It now writes pod files also. Waiting on the patch now... it should work out the gate.

[Fila]

Whoa I didn't expect you guys to try it out so fast. lol, this was a "ahead of time" :p

I'm aiming to release the new version Saturday night.

[Jpez1432]

Tator Boi with full color mapping 24bit textures to act/raw for now.

tator.jpg

[Kmaster]

Here's something for you guys to prepare yourselves in regards to the plugin.

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/MONVERT_HANDOVER.pdf

please generate this document in a machine readable format, hopefully .MD

I need this new format definition for my BIN parsers (trackviewer, truckviewer, binview in jspod, jtraxx, traxx 1.6 etc)

[Jpez1432]

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.pdf

Mostly questions for you guys. This will be obviously easier to see when I finally release everything. I've added export to blender in binedit as it would make things easier, I know you guys worked in the exporting to blender already so I don't want to overstep. The main reason I did it is because BinEdit can now export animated 3d models (like the REX in crazy 98) straight to blender. if we figure out how to get these back in, it would make animated models much easier to create.

The is a huge problem with this in the way the importer/exporter is wrote, it has nothing to do with loading special blender files with meta data, it loads bins and any other format in blender. The user simply sets options on export. It would be a million times easier to write a another version for your blender files with animations. I have already started add another version on import/export for animated models so its singles trip ;-)

[Fila]

Ok I've updated the following:

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/MONVERT_HANDOVER.pdf
https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.pdf

And for kmaster.

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/MONVERT_HANDOVER.md
https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.md

[Jpez1432]

Ok I've updated the following:

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/MONVERT_HANDOVER.pdf
https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.pdf

And for kmaster.

https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/MONVERT_HANDOVER.md
https://www.mtm2.com/~mtmg/misc/GLTF_EXTRAS_SPEC.md

(Edit: Chicenuts, didn't see the new v51, gonnna test it some more than I'll post the plugin)

I have read both thoroughly, since I have updated it to v11 already like a week ago it already handles everything already stated. The only thing need to be changed is animated bins can't uses the 64 texture names. I think other than that, it is covered. I've created animated bins from scratch, I have modified rex, and put him in the game. I can import bins and export directly and run against .50 with pods with raws/act/pngs. It can write HD pods it can have preset glass/foilage (and 15 checkboxes yes I did it. You can modify non bin models and export as bin, resize max textures 256 for raw/act old school 98 engine or override texture size selection upto 1024, min 64. I tested it pretty well with tons of models and variations and whatnot. Until the new version is released there is nothing else I can do on my end.

[Jpez1432]

Test 1: faithful body and chassis recreation of Project Monster HD

This is 2 glb models imported, setup materials and exported bin/png no max texture size, it wrote a bin (it does append .RAW by default in the latest version of the plugin for legacy), and the 3 different png files, I podded it with my poddit utility and dropped it in with v51 and it works flawless. the body is set to shiny 29, and the chassis is 18 standard. More to come...

ss2.png

in MTM2.

[Jpez1432]

Got to work on it further and removed the new material type in the animated models. I also added the ability to export the normalmap associated with the node if there is one otherwise it can generate it. Not sure what else is needed.

[Fila]

I updated the docs with the new mesh preset too.

[Jpez1432]

I updated the docs with the new mesh preset too.

I didn't add the normal strength type but it already uses the node from Blender which is correct or generates 1.0 strength normal. It already only did the _N to the png filename. It is up to version 11_1.

[Jpez1432]

I will upload it as well to the trucks, but here it is. Kinda hard to see, but normal mapping on body with 29 shiny, the glass/windscreen is the new glass material 40, and the chassis and wheels are 18 nonshiny. (Hate shiny wheels!)

Edit: This is all HD quality pngs/bin

Untitled.jpg

[Jpez1432]

Blender plugin has been discontinued. Monvert is no more. BinEdit is the standard and should be used!

[OG_RuDeE]

Jpez has shared his most recent code with me and allowed me to continue his work. I'm going to try making some minor changes and release something in the next few days. Thanks, Jpez!

[OG_RuDeE]

Here is the most up to date version of the Monvert Blender Plugin:

monvert13_1.zip

The bulk of this was written by Jpez1432, and he has done a lot of the testing with animated bins, new material types, pod loading / writing, etc... I have really only used the bin import / export functions which work well (even standalone) with Beta 0.51 hotfix7+. I do not know everything that is possible with this plugin, but I have included Jpez's poddit program which can be run from Blender if you desire.

To install, first uninstall or disable any old Monvert plugin you have, then drag this zip onto the Add-ons section in the Blender preferences window.

You can edit face types, including the new 0x40 face type with material options in the Data tab (green triangle) just above the material tab on the right in the Blender window. If you want to be one-to-one with Fila's material settings for Glass, Foliage, etc... I suggest inputting them by hand based on what you can find in the most up to date BinEdit using a custom material type. I can update this later if desired.

Here is a list of the most recent changes from the top of the .py file (just open with Notepad if you want to check it out):

#(7/27/26): (OG_RudeE) Blender bin importer and exporter based on J. Pezold's open-source Monvert bin converter: https://github.com/jpez1432/Monvert
#(7/29/26): (Jpez1432) Added texture loading, selection export with optional texture repacking/resize and default art directory.
#(7/29/26): (Jpez1432) Added per-object MTM2 Face Type panel under Object Properties.
#(8/13/26): (Jpez1432) Extended face type dropdown with all documented BIN face types. Added texture size override and PNG export options.
#(8/13/26): (Jpez1432) Added MRGL_TEXTURE64, MRGL_MATERIAL / MRGL_MATFACET support per MONVERT handover PDF.
#(8/13/26): (Jpez1432) Fixed header scale/unk1, added vertex normals block export, texture names keep .RAW extension.
#(8/13/26): (Jpez1432) Added optional POD archive export.
#(8/13/26): (Jpez1432) Improved color quantization with Median Cut + optional Floyd-Steinberg dithering for RAW/ACT export.
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) Added animated BIN import/export support per Oliver Pieper's MTM BIN format spec.
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) tester9: Fixed animated export vertex deduplication causing "Key frame vertex mismatch".
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) tester10: Added POD archive import and animation frame scrubber panel.
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) Clamped animation preview property max limit dynamically to match active shape key count.
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) Fixed animated export to use shape key INDEX instead of NAME (fixes mixed imported + manual shape keys).
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) Texture export now uses image filename instead of material name for BIN texture references.
#(8/14/26): (Jpez1432) Add export normal maps from node if found, otherwise generate option to export.
#(8/22/26): (Jpez1432) Fixed material type export bug, animated models removes texture64 material face types.
#(8/22/26): (Jpez1432) Fixed material type export/import bug, material 40 struct changed.
#(8/24/26): (OG_RuDeE) Updated import to first split into objects accorting to texture, then to further split according to "face type"; currently all 0x40 faces are grouped into a single blender object. So, if more than one material was used for a given texture, it will need to be redone by the author after import into Blender.
#(8/24/26): (OG_RuDeE) Updated import to detect normal _N maps in the art folder and connect them via a normal map in the shader window. Further, face types 0x11, 0x33, and 0x40 link the alpha node in the Principled BSDF shader (0x40 needs to detect either aphatest or blend on import).

I decided not to break into separate objects according to every single possible material setting, as they are essentially infinite. So, the importer first creates objects according to their assigned texture in the bin, then further breaks according to basic face types, e.g. 0x18, 0x29, 0x33, 0x40, etc... Anything under a given texture with 0x40 face type will become a single object in Blender. You'll have to fine tune from there, if necessary.

The code is liscensed under Creative Commons Attribution. So, if you make changes and decide to post it somewhere, please give credit to the original authors (myself and Jpez1432 at the moment).

Jpez has moved on to working on other things for now, so if you have questions / suggestions, feel free to reach out to me, and I'll do my best to help you along.

I hope some of you find this useful and make some amazing new things for the community to enjoy!

-RuDeE