Can't add MakeHuman scripts to Blender

[Richard5008]

At one point I had everything working, I could import mhx models and I could use the mocap tool. Then one day Blender would not recognize mhx imports or any of the MakeHuman scripts bundled with MakeHuman that I previously installed.

I'm using a MakeHuman nightly build from 1/10/2011 and Blender version 2.56a Beta under Windows XP sp3. More recent versions of MakeHuman nightly build have the same problem.

I uninstalled and reinstalled Blender and followed the MakeHuman document describing how to install the MakeHuman scripts into Blender. None of the scripts would show up on the Users Preferences, Add-Ons panel. I tried to manually install them by using the "Install Add-On..." button on the Add-Ons panel but was told the file already existed. But still nothing shows up in the Add-Ons list. In the Blender "File, Import" there is no option to import mhx models. I know this sounds confusing, I'm very confused.

To make things even more confusing when I uninstalled Blender and did a clean reinstall, Blender could still remember other import scripts that I had previously added that were not in the basic install. If I unselect or select other scripts then completely uninstalled and reinstalled Blender those selections show up in the newly installed Blender. To my knowledge Blender is not suppose to use the Windows registry and I checked to make use all Blender files were deleted. So there must be an undocumented file that I missed somewhere. The Blender console window has no error messages.

This is probably not a MakeHuman problem at all but it has me completely stumped, so if anyone can help or point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

[Brianenno]

Very strange behavior... well, I don't know anything about MH and blender, but I know that the last one save some config files in C:\Documents and settings\yourUserName\Application Data\Blender Foundation.
Have you try to delete this folder too?

[ThomasL]

Try to download the most recent Blender build from graphicall.org. There have been changes in the way that Blender recognizes add-ons, so it won't see an incompatible MHX importer. Neither old Blender + new MHX nor new Blender + old MHX works.

Blender also changed what is an admissible operator name, which broke the mocap tool. I have just committed a fix for that. Should be in tomorrow's nightly build.

On top of that, I have made a number of changes to the MHX format itself, for reasons mentioned in today's blog post. So things are in a state of flux right now. Hopefully they will settle soon.

[Richard5008]

Very strange behavior... well, I don't know anything about MH and blender, but I know that the last one save some config files in C:\Documents and settings\yourUserName\Application Data\Blender Foundation.
Have you try to delete this folder too?

Thanks for the comment, but I knew about the ...\Application Data\Blender Foundation directory. I even deleted the quit.blend file in the ...\Temp folder.

I opted for the Blender installer method instead of the zipped file method. There are three options the Windows installer gives the user, the 1st is to use the Applications Data directory, the 2nd is to use the directory Blender is installed in and the 3rd is to use a predefined environment variable. I specifically used the 2nd method but the installer ignores this request and uses the Applications Data directory regardless. I haven't tried the 3rd option yet. I've even used the zipped method which somehow defaults to using the Application Data directory when the Add-Ons panel is accessed the first time. This is bizarre.

I have a 2nd slower Windows XP system that I usually do a backup installs on. Blender 2.56 still works fine there.

[Richard5008]

Try to download the most recent Blender build from graphicall.org. There have been changes in the way that Blender recognizes add-ons, so it won't see an incompatible MHX importer. Neither old Blender + new MHX nor new Blender + old MHX works.

Blender also changed what is an admissible operator name, which broke the mocap tool. I have just committed a fix for that. Should be in tomorrow's nightly build.

On top of that, I have made a number of changes to the MHX format itself, for reasons mentioned in today's blog post. So things are in a state of flux right now. Hopefully they will settle soon.

Thanks Thomas, I'll try graphicall.org soonest. But also, I may let all this stuff with Blender-beta and Makehuman settle for a while before I tackle any more of my problems. I really think the Blender beta is not quite ready for prime time.

Later: I took your suggestion and grabbed the latest Blender build r34544 from graphicall.org. I also grabbed the latest MakeHuman scripts. I can now import mhx but you are right both mocap and lipsync seem to be broken maybe other things too, lots of operator name messages in the Blender console window. Time to cool my heels. I wonder if my Maya 2.0 still works?