Cookbook  »  DotScene

DotScene Overview of the DotScene format.

DotScene Overview

DotScene (aka .scene) is just a standardized XML file format. The .dtd format is in ogreaddons/dotsceneformat.
This file format is meant to be used to set up a scene in Ogre. It is meant to be useful for any type of application/game. Editors can export to .scene format, and apps can load the format.

What is DotScene?

DotScene file does not contain any mesh data, texture data, etc. It just contains elements that describe a scene. You *do not* need to use any of the following when using .scene files: DotSceneManager, DotSceneInterface, DotSceneViewer. They are all just seperate projects that you have the option of using.

A simple .scene file example:

<scene formatVersion="">
    <nodes>
        <node name="Robot" id="3">
            <position x="10.0" y="5" z="10.5" />
            <scale x="1" y="1" z="1" />
            <entity name="Robot" meshFile="robot.mesh" static="false" />
        </node>
        <node name="Omni01" id="5">
            <position x="-23" y="49" z="18" />
            <rotation qx="0" qy="0" qz="0" qw="1" />
            <scale x="1" y="1" z="1" />
            <light name="Omni01" type="point" intensity="0.01" contrast="0">
                <colourDiffuse r="0.4" g="0.4" b="0.5" />
                <colourSpecular r="0.5" g="0.5" b="0.5" />
            </light>
        </node>
    </nodes>
</scene>

Details you find on page DotSceneFormat.

What Does it Do?

It does nothing in itself, it is just a file format. The nice thing about the format is that it is in XML format, and is human readable. Also, adding new tags/elements not in the official specification is possible without messing up other .scene parsers.

DotSceneInterface / DSISceneViewer

The DotSceneInterface is a helper lib maintained in ogreaddons/dotsceneformat/dotsceneinterface. It allows you to load .scene files. It also has the feature to save a .scene file from already loaded meshes/lights/environment/etc in a scene manager.

The DSISceneViewer is an Ogre application which makes use of DotSceneInterface to load and display a .scene file.

Plugin DotSceneManager / DotSceneOctree

The DotSceneManager is just an octree scene manager that uses a preprocessing step. This manager just uses scene files to load up a preprocessed octree scene. This manager is not required when dealing with scene files.

User Data

When exporting .scene files from Blender, you have the option to export user data. For more information, see the Blender dotScene Exporter, which is linked to below. The dotSceneInterface does not support userData. But there are dotScene loaders with support for userData:

• DotScene Loader with User Data
• New DotScene Loader
• MOGRE dotSceneLoader

Other Tools that support DotScene format

• RapidXML Dotscene Loader
• Blender dotScene Exporter - Exports .scene files from Blender.
• Complete Guide: Exporting Blender To Ogre
• Example Scene Converter - Parses scene file into binary octree file (Works in conjunction with DotSceneManager)
• 3DS Scene Exporter - Exports meshes/lights/materials/.scene file (ogreaddons/3dssceneexporter)
• Octopus - From the YAKE creators - exports .scene files (among other things) from 3DS Max
• LFA Scene Manager for Maya - Exports meshes/lights/materials/.scene file
• Maya Scene Exporter - Open Source scene exporter, supporting lights,cameras,transformations, references. In Ogre AddOns CVS.
• OgreMax Scene Exporter - The OgreMax Scene Exporter is a 3DS Max 8/9/2008/2009 exporter plugin that exports scenes to the .scene format.
• Ogitor - An open source Ogre scene editor (www.Ogitor.org)