How to use glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS to export and import 3D data between Blender and MSFS

Contents

Installing the Blender plugin glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS
Import MSFS 3D model (glTF) with Blender
Export the Google Earth Decoder model edited in Blender to MSFS(glTF)
Import the original 3D model created in Blender into MSFS
Sites related to how to use plugins

Installing the Blender plugin glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS

To create add-on content for Microsoft Flight Simulator, you will need to install various tools onto your computer, including the Blender plugin glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS. Please refer to the page below.

How to download and install MSFS SDK, Blender, plugin, tools

Import MSFS 3D model (glTF) with Blender

We explain how to load MSFS 3D models (glTF) in Blender, especially Google Earth Decoder data downloaded with Google Earth Decoder.
If you want to edit the mesh of Google Map data, first complete the "optimization" with Google Earth Decoder Optimization Tools (GEDOT). GEDOT is specialized for handling the output of the Google Earth Decoder, and cannot handle other data, such as data generated by the Blender exporter.

How to use Google Earth Decoder to create MSFS scenery on Google Maps

After starting Blender, first delete the cube, camera, and light that are installed by default. Right-click on "Collection" and select "Delete Hierarchy" from the menu that appears. This will delete all of these at once.

First, create a collection to load LOD0 data. Right-click and select "New Collection" from the menu that appears.

Double-click the name of the new collection that is generated to change it.
The name of a collection that stores data for each LOD must be followed by "_LODn" or preceded by "xn_" (n is an integer starting from 0). This is a specification of the plugin "glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS".

Select the [File]-[Import]-[glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf)] menu.

This will open a file selection dialog box. Hold down the [Ctrl] key and select all the ".gltf" files for LOD0. Next, click the [Import glTF 2.0] button at the bottom right of the screen.
For Google Map data downloaded with Google Earth Decoder, the ".gltf" file is stored under the "modelLib" folder.

This will load the LOD0 data. Select all of this and drag and drop it into the LOD0 collection you created earlier.

Collapse the collection for LOD0 by clicking the ▲ mark on the left. Next, create a collection for LOD1.

Then, from the [File]-[Import]-[glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf)] menu, load all ".gltf" files for LOD1 and drag and drop them into the collection for LOD1. In the same way, load data for all LODs and classify them into collections.

Once the ".gltf" file has finished loading, specify the texture folder. Select the [File]-[External Data]-[Find missing files] menu.

This will open a file selection dialog box. Open the folder where the textures are saved and click the [Find Missing Files] button at the bottom right of the screen.
For Google Map data downloaded with the Google Earth Decoder, the texture files are stored under the "modelLib\texture" folder.

Then click the

icon in the upper right corner of the screen. The texture will be applied to the loaded object.

By default, Blender only displays the area from 0.01m to 1,000m from the camera. To display a vast scenery, you need to increase the display range. Click the "<" icon in the position indicated by the arrow in the image on the right.

Then the panel shown in the right figure will pop out. Select "View" from the menu on the right side of the panel and change the number in the "End" column. In this example, specifying 5,000m allowed us to see the entire view.

You can show/hide objects by LOD by clicking the eyeball icon in the position indicated by the arrow in the image on the right.

For Google Map data downloaded with Google Earth Decoder, classify it into a collection for each tile (each .xml file) under each LOD collection. This will be useful when exporting it with "glTF-Blender-IO-MSFS" after editing the mesh in Blender. Create a collection with the same name as the contents of the "modelLib" folder of the original data.

Select the [File]-[Save] menu and save in Blender format (".blend").

Export the Google Earth Decoder model edited in Blender to MSFS(glTF)

This article explains how to export MSFS 3D models edited with Blender, especially Google Earth Decoder data, in glTF format.

How to use Google Earth Decoder to create MSFS scenery on Google Maps

Click the "<" icon in the position indicated by the arrow in the image on the right.

A panel like the one on the right will then pop up. Select "Multi-Export glTF 2.0" from the menu on the right side of the panel. Select the root collection from the collection list in the top right of the screen. Next, click the "Reload LODs" button.

Each mesh data in the scene will be recognized and displayed in a list. Check "Grouped by collections".

If your collections have been created correctly by tile and LOD, they will look like the image on the right. They will be listed by tile.
Set the options for each tile.
Checking "Genete XML" will generate an "(tile name).xml" file. Checking this will display the "Overwrite GUID" field. Check here if you want to update the GUID. When exporting data from Google Earth Decoder, the XML file already exists, so there is no need to check "Generate XML".
In the "Export Path" field, specify the destination folder for the .glTF file. When exporting data from Google Earth Decoder, specify the folder where the original data was saved.
If you check the check box to the left of each LOD name below, the data for that LOD will be included in the .glTF file. Basically, check all LODs.

Once all the settings are complete, click the "Export" button at the bottom to export.
When exporting data from Google Earth Decoder, if you specify the folder in which the original data was saved as the export destination, the results of editing in Blender will be reflected in the scene. Then, just load it into MSFS and "Build All" the scenery to complete it.
For information on how to import an original 3D model into MSFS, see Import the original 3D model created in Blender into MSFS .

Import the original 3D model created in Blender into MSFS

This article explains how to export an original 3D model created with Blender in glTF format and import it into an MSFS scenery.

Exporting objects

Let's import a model like this into an MSFS scenery. This is a sphere object that comes with Blender by default. I used the scaling function to enlarge it to a size of about 10m square. I also used the "vertex paint" function to specify the color of all vertices as orange. Note that no models with different LODs have been prepared.
In this state, the vertex colors will not be reflected on the Blender rendering screen, but if you import it into MSFS, they will be reflected properly.

Select "Multi-Export glTF 2.0" from the menu on the right side of the panel. No particular changes were made to the plugin settings this time. To reflect vertex colors in MSFS, make sure that the [Mesh]-[Vertex Colors] column on the [Settings] screen is checked.

Open the plugin's [Objects] screen and click the "Reload LODs" button. You will then see the screen on the right.
As the only model we'll be exporting this time is a "Sphere", check "Sphere" in the "Sphere" column. Also, as this is a new original model, we'll also need to export an XML file for MSFS. Check "Generate XML" as well.
If you are editing a model you have already created in Blender and re-outputting it, there is no need to output an XML file for MSFS. Use the XML file you generated last time as is.
In the [Export Path] field, specify the desired output folder and click the [Export] button at the bottom.

This will generate three files in the specified folder: ".bin", ".gltf", and ".xml". If you have applied a texture to the model, the texture image files will also be output to the same folder.

Add a new object to the project

Next, create a folder in the MSFS project to store the new object we have prepared. We will use the MSFS SDK for this.
In MSFS, open the project into which you want to import new objects. Then in the Project Editor screen, click the project name in blue, and in the Inspector screen, click the [Add asset group] button. Each object will be imported into the scenery as an independent "Asset group".
For instructions on how to create an MSFS SDK project and for more information on the project, please click the link below.

How to create a project for MSFS SDK/Create a project for Google Earth Decoder

A window like this will appear. Click [Custom].

Next, click [Next].

A window like this will then appear.
In the [Asset group name] field, think of a name for your new object and enter it. The name you enter here will be visible to other users.
In the [Asset type] field, select "ModelLib".
Then click [Create] at the bottom.

You can see that a new ModelLib has been added in the Project Editor screen. If you select it and open the Inspector screen, the name of the folder where the 3D data will be stored will be displayed in the "AssetDir" column. The storage folder is "[Project name]\PackageSources\Scenery\[Project name]\[Asset group name]"

Copy the 3D data exported from Blender to the 3D data storage folder specified in the screen above. Copy all three files: ".bin", ".gltf", and ".xml". If there are textures, create a "texture" folder and store all texture files there.
MSFS can remain running.

Click "Build All" on the Project Editor screen to build the project. Verify that the build result ends with "0 failed". The new object will then be incorporated into the MSFS project as a "part". Next, place this "part" in the scene.

Placing a new object in the scene

Open the [View]-[Objects] screen from the Scenery Editor. Select "Scenery" in the "Object type" column on the Objects screen, and in the "Packages" column, select the name of the project/package that contains the new object. The names of the objects included in that project/package will then be displayed in the "Objects" column. Select the object you want to add to the scene ("Sphere" in this example) and click "Add" at the bottom left of the screen.

This will add a new object to the Scenery Editor screen. The new object will also appear on the MSFS game screen. However, because the "Snap to ground" parameter of the added object is enabled, the object will be embedded in the ground.

On the Scenery Editor screen, right-click the added object to open the Properties screen and uncheck "Snap to ground". Then you can move the object to the desired height.
Once you have placed the object where you want it, click the "Save Scenery" button at the bottom left of the Scenery Editor screen to save the scenery. Then click "Build All" on the Project Editor screen to build the project. This completes the placement of the new object.