Dousen + Blender
The Dousen addon for Blender adds a Dousen tab to the 3D Viewport sidebar. Each top-level Collection that contains a mesh becomes an instance, which you validate and publish to Unreal as FBX. It also supports auto-publish on save and shows Perforce file status for the open .blend file.
- Load: launch Blender from the apps bar in DousenDesktop; nothing to install.
- Panel: press N over the 3D Viewport and select the Dousen tab.
- Exports: one FBX per instance, including an armature for skeletal meshes.
- Validation: Run Validation blocks publishing on errors; Fix appears for rules that offer one.
- Perforce: the File Status (P4) sub-panel.
How does the addon load?
DousenDesktop ships the addon. When you launch Blender from the apps bar (check the path in Settings → DCC Apps), Desktop loads it and passes the project, task and sign-in details. A Blender started from a desktop shortcut has no Dousen panel. After you update DousenDesktop, restart Blender.
What becomes an instance?
Each top-level Collection that contains a mesh. Objects directly in the Scene Collection aren’t collected. To create your own instance, add a custom property named dousen_instance to a Collection at any depth. If its value is text, that text becomes the instance name. Click Refresh Instances to list them; each has a checkbox saved on the Collection.
What does the panel show?
| Sub-panel | Controls |
|---|---|
| Dousen | Refresh Instances, Publish Checked Instances and the Auto-publish on Save toggle. |
| Validation | Run Validation, with results by category and Fix where available. |
| New Asset | Set Up Asset saves the .blend to the path your conventions resolve and adds it to the task’s changelist. |
| Materials | Refresh Material Catalog and Auto-Fill Textures assign catalog materials per slot. |
| File Status (P4) | Check Out Source, Sync & Reload, Revert Checkout, Refresh. |
How do I validate and publish?
- Press N, open the Dousen tab and click Refresh Instances.
- Check the instances to publish.
- Open Validation and click Run Validation. Fix errors, using Fix on the frozen-transform rules.
- Click Publish Checked Instances. Errors stop the publish. Warnings also stop it unless you select Publish despite validation warnings.
- Watch Publish history in DousenDesktop for Imported and saved in Unreal.
An animation instance exports its own objects and rig to FBX, like a mesh instance. Before export, Dousen writes convention tags to the exported objects as custom properties.
Can Blender publish on save?
Yes. Turn on Auto-publish on Save in the Dousen panel. Each save then publishes the checked instances, one mesh.export event per instance. A save-triggered publish doesn’t run the validators, though it still checks instance names if your naming rule is set to error. The setting is stored in the scene as dousen_auto_publish.
Where does Dousen save its data?
Convention tags, the material assignment and the auto-publish setting live in your .blend file as scene properties (dousen_convention_tags, dousen_material_assignment and dousen_auto_publish), so they travel with the file in Perforce. If Substance Painter is connected, Send to Substance Painter exports the selected objects as an FBX file next to the .blend file and sends it to Painter.
How does Blender show Perforce status?
The File Status (P4) sub-panel shows the lock state of the current .blend file, and only the button that applies appears. Before any publish exports, Dousen checks for locks held by other users and stops if it finds one. See Dousen + Perforce.
Related
Dousen is free during the studio beta, with access by request, and free forever for teams of up to 5 users. Request early access.