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Blender JBeam Editor User Documentation

Introduction

This Blender plugin allows you to import existing JBeam parts or whole vehicles, modify them with Blender's advanced modelling tools, and export them! This tutorial will teach you how to use it.

JBeam Editor Features

  • Import JBeam files
  • Import Full Vehicle (.pc file)
  • Create JBeam from scratch (on hold)
  • Move/rename/add/delete nodes
  • Add/delete beams, triangles, and quads
  • Undo/redo changes
  • Live updates reflected in Blender text editor
  • Export changes directly to disk

Prerequisites

Plugin Installation

  1. Open Blender 4.0+

  2. On the upper left hand corner, click on Edit > Preferences...

  3. In the Blender Preferences window, click Add-ons > Install...

  4. In the Blender File View window, find and install the plugin zip file e.g. blender_jbeam_editor_0.1.0.zip

  5. Search for the plugin Blender JBeam Editor, click on the checkbox to enable the addon, and close the preferences window

Usage Instructions

With the plugin installed, you can finally start editing JBeam files! We will now go over some of the basic functionalities of the editor. I will be showcasing the functionalities using an example vehicle called the Square Donut.


Undoing/Redoing (VERY IMPORTANT!)

Please use Ctrl + [ and Ctrl + ] to undo and redo your changes. DO NOT use Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Shift + Z as Blender's undo system doesn't work well with this plugin and can break things.


Importing a JBeam Part to Edit

The very first thing to do is import your JBeam part in order to actually edit it.

  1. On the upper left hand corner, click on File > Import > JBeam File (.jbeam), and select the JBeam file to import in the Blender File View window. I chose to import square_donut.jbeam

  2. A Choose JBeam UI will popup which prompts you to select the part(s) you want to import into Blender. You can either choose a single part to import using the dropdown menu, or you can tick the Import All Parts checkbox to import all the parts. I chose to import a single part called square_donut. Press the OK button to import the part(s).

  3. Wait a second or two and the JBeam part(s) will be imported!


Importing a Vehicle to Edit

Or you can import a full vehicle! Initially, this requires you need to extract the JBeam files and .pc files from BeamNG.drive's game installation folder so you can actually load in the vehicle.

  1. Run the jbeam_pc_files_extractor.bat script (download from the releases page jbeam_pc_files_extractor.zip and unzip it) (make sure Python is installed) to extract the .jbeam files and .pc files from the BeamNG.drive's installation folder. You'll be prompted to choose the \content\vehicles folder located in the game installation folder (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\BeamNG.drive\content\vehicles). Then choose the folder to export the files to, and you can pick any folder.

    The resulting files should look like this, for example in the bastion folder:

  2. Now in Blender, on the upper left hand corner, click on File > Import > Part Config File (.pc), and select the .pc file to import from the exported JBeam/PC files folder.

  3. Wait a few seconds and the vehicle will be imported!


After Importing

With the JBeam imported, you should see Blender meshes that represent the JBeam structures. The vertices are the JBeam nodes, the green edges are the JBeam beams (black edges are just part of a triangle/quad and aren't JBeam beams), and the faces are the JBeam triangles/quads. When you click on a JBeam part, you should see node names appear next to the vertices/nodes (if Toggle Node IDs Text is on, on by default). From now on, I will only speak in JBeam terms (nodes, beams, triangles, quads, etc.).


Blender Text Editor

Blender's Text Editor allows you to view the changes to the JBeam file after modifying the Blender mesh in realtime and also allows you to modify it to view the changes to the Blender mesh in realtime as well!

Open it by placing your cursor on the top right hand corner of the viewport until you see your cursor turn into a '+' symbol and then LMB drag to the left and you should see a 2nd viewport. And then click on the top left button in that viewport that looks like a "grid and a circle" and click on Text Editor. Afterwards the text editor may appear blank. Just click on the JBeam part and the text editor should open the JBeam file that the part originates from.


JBeam UI

The JBeam UI allows you to see the properties of a selected JBeam object.

  1. On the right hand side of the 3D Viewport next to the 3D axes arrows, click on the little arrow pointing to the left.

  2. Several tabs will pop out such as Item, Tool, View, JBeam. Click on the JBeam tab and you will be greeted to a UI that shows you the JBeam part selected and its properties.


We are now ready to start editing JBeam parts! For the most part, if you know how to use Blender, editing a JBeam part is just like editing a regular mesh. For example, moving a node is exactly the same as moving a regular vertex. The same applies for adding and deleting a node as well, although renaming a node is something unique to JBeam.

The rest of the instructions below will be using the Square Donut JBeam part and please have the JBeam part selected and be in Edit Mode.


Moving a Node

Moving a node is just like moving a regular mesh vertex. There are multiple ways to move a node, but I'll show you one way to do it using the Move tool.

  1. Click on a node you want to move.

  2. Then select the Move tool and move the node using the axes arrows.

That wasn't too bad right? ;)


Renaming a Node

Renaming a node is something unique to JBeam but is easy to do :)

  1. Click on the node you want to rename.

  2. If you want references to the node you are renaming (e.g. beams, tris, quads) to also be renamed, enable Affect Node References under the Settings panel (with this enabled, renaming will be slow, especially with full vehicles).

  3. In the JBeam UI, in the JBeam Node ID input box, rename the node to whatever you'd like and press enter. I renamed the node to "hey". You will see that the rename is also reflected in the node name labels on the part.


Batch Node Renaming

You can also rename a bunch of nodes quickly, by renaming nodes under a naming scheme!

  1. In the JBeam UI, inside the Batch Node Renaming panel, in the Naming Scheme input box, type in the node name scheme where the '#' character will be replaced by the Node Index. For example, naming scheme "#rr" will produce node names like "1rr", "2rr", "3rr", etc.
  2. Don't forget if required to enable Affect Node References under the Settings panel.
  3. Then press the "Start" button and nodes you click will be renamed. The Node Index shows you what the next node will be renamed to. You can also adjust this number if you need to.

Adding a Node

Adding a node is just like adding a regular mesh vertex. There are many ways to add a node, but one way you can add them is using the Extrude to Cursor or Add function with your mouse and Ctrl + Right Mouse Button.

  1. Click on a node you want to extrude a node from.

  2. Then, move your mouse to the place where you want to add a node and press Ctrl + Right Mouse Button. And a new node should appear under a new name of a long string of random characters. You can rename the node to whatever you like since you already know how to do that ;)


Deleting a Node

And again, deleting a node is just like deleting a regular mesh vertex. I'll show you how to delete them using the del key.

  1. Click on a node you want to delete.
  2. Then simply press the del key and delete Vertices.

Adding a Beam

There are two ways to add a beam.

The first way is:

  1. Click on two nodes
  2. Press F

The second way allows you to add multiple beams per pair of nodes:

  1. Click on two nodes

  2. In the JBeam UI tab to the right of the viewport, click on Add Beam


Deleting a Beam

Deleting a beam is pretty straight forward.

  1. Switch into Edge select mode

  2. Click on the beam you want to delete (beams are highlighted in green)

  3. Press the del key and in the pop up click Only Edges & Faces


Adding a Triangle/Quad

There are two ways to add a triangle/quad.

The first way is:

  1. Click on three/four nodes
  2. Press F

The second way allows you to add multiple triangles/quads per set of nodes:

  1. Click on three/four nodes

  2. In the JBeam UI tab to the right of the viewport, click on Add Triangle / Add Quad


Deleting a Triangle/Quad

And deleting a triangle/quad is also pretty straight forward.

  1. Switch into Face select mode

  2. Click on the triangle/quad you want to delete

  3. Press the del key and in the pop up click Only Edges & Faces


Triangle/Quad Face Orientation

Blender has a tool to show you which way a face is pointing, as a face has a front and back side. A blue face is the front side of a face (normal pointing towards you) and a red face is the back side (normal pointing away from you).

  1. On the upper right corner of the viewport, click on the Overlays downward facing arrow

  2. Toggle the Face Orientation checkbox.


Flipping a Triangle/Quad

And you can flip the way a triangle/quad is facing.

  1. Switch into Face select mode

  2. Click on the triangle/quad you want to flip.

  3. Click on Flip Face(s)


Exporting a JBeam Part

  1. When you want to export, select the JBeam part in Object Mode, and in the top menu bar File > Export > Selected JBeam Parts(s).

  2. The JBeam file the part originated from will be exported to. And the file should be updated with minimal changes and no copying and pasting required :)