1. Overview & Installation

DAE Importer/Exporter Revival restores native-like COLLADA (.dae) support to Blender 5.0 and newer. Designed to fix broken legacy pipelines, it handles complex UV maps, materials, hierarchy structures, and armatures with speed and reliability.

Installation Steps:

1. Download the custom_dae_io.zip package.

2. Open Blender 5.0+, navigate to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.

3. Click Install... (or Get Add-ons > Install from Disk in Blender 5.0+) and select the .zip file.

4. Enable DAE COLLADA Importer/Exporter from the list.

5. Access the add-on via File > Import > COLLADA Custom (.dae) and File > Export > COLLADA Custom (.dae).

2. Import Workflow & Options

To import a COLLADA file, go to File > Import > COLLADA Custom (.dae). The operator sidebar includes the following configurable settings:

Transform & Hierarchy

• Scale / Units: Set to Auto to automatically read the length scale from the DAE file XML header. Alternatively, override it using predefined unit presets (Millimeters, Centimeters, Meters, Inches, Feet).

• Clean Hierarchy: When enabled, the add-on strips away empty helper parent objects generated by third-party software (e.g., SketchUp, 3ds Max), linking active meshes directly into a clean collection scene graph.

Geometry & Shading

• Import Materials: Toggles automatic shader node tree creation and texture loading.

• Import Double Faces: Automatically parses backfacing face data and sets up two-sided shader nodes.

• Merge Nearby Vertices: Performs a distance-based vertex cleanup to weld broken geometry seams.

Scene Entities

• Import Cameras / Lights: Reads perspective cameras and point/spot/sun light parameters directly into Blender objects.

• Import Bones / Armatures: Reconstructs joint objects into standard, editable Blender Armatures.

3. Export Workflow & Options

To export your scene, go to File > Export > COLLADA Custom (.dae).

Export Settings

• Include: Choose between exporting all scene objects or Selected Only.

• Apply Modifiers: Applies all active modifiers (e.g., Subdivision Surface, Solidify) to the exported mesh data.

• Copy Textures to Folder: Copies all embedded image textures into a dedicated sub-folder next to the generated .dae file to prevent broken texture references.

• Export Double Sided Faces: Duplicates face geometry using Backfacing mix shaders to preserve two-sided material assignments in external game engines.

• Axis Conversion: Customize the Up Axis and Forward Axis settings to match target engines (e.g., Z-Up, Y-Forward).

• Entity Toggles: Individually toggle export support for Cameras, Lights, and Armature Bones.