Trace

During every frame of a recording, Trace stores the positions and orientations of each part in load range, and at the end of the recording saves them to text files in a folder inside Captures\Traces\.

You can import this folder into Blender using the Capture Tools Blender add-on, which will create an instance for each part with the animation data applied, provided that you have that part type loaded in the .blend file via Taniwha's importer add-on.

Note

Taniwha's Blender add-on for importing parts and craft.

KSP forum thread.

Concodroid's video tutorial on importing craft into Blender.

Trace only records the positions and orientations of each part, so internal animations, engine effects and any non-part game objects won't show up in the imported animation. This is something that I plan to automate as best I can in future, with specific ideas for BDA bullets and automatically generating drivers for engine plumes.

Important

• Import craft by going to File > Import > KSP Craft.
• Select the craft and do Object > Apply > Make Instances Real.
• Go to the Shading tab and select one of the parts.
• Click on the MainColor node group and press tab.
• Connect TColor to the Color output.
• Delete or hide the imported craft.
• Import a trace by going to File > Import > Import KSP Trace.
• Select any file in the folder with the date and time of the trace.
• Delete any unwanted variants, and fix any parts with incorrect scale in Edit mode.

The whole process of importing vessels, doing clean-up, fixing materials, and importing the animation can get a little involved, so expect a video tutorial on the workflow soon. For the time being, you can contact me on discord @halbann if you have any trouble importing a trace.

How do I install the Blender add-on?

The Blender add-on can be downloaded on the Capture Tools Gumroad page. To install it, in Blender go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons, click 'Install Add-on', navigate to ksp_capture_tools-x.x.x.zip, double-click and then check the box next to 'Import-Export: Capture Tools Trace Importer' to enable the add-on.

The option to import a trace should appear at File > Import > Import KSP Trace.

Why is 24 FPS the default frame-rate?

24 FPS is the standard framerate of 3D animation and of Blender, and it's what I would recommend for most use cases. Although, because the animation is interpolated in Blender, you can experiment with lower frame-rates to reduce CPU cost and file size when recording lots of parts.

Frame of Reference

Positions can either be recorded relative to the current position of the active vessel, or relative to the starting position of the active vessel.

Using 'Vessel', the active vessel will appear to be stationary, with everything else moving around it. Using 'World', everything will appear to move relative either to the ground or to the starting point of the active vessel in space.