jeffna1/antigravity-voxel-godot-setup/blockbench-pipeline

Blockbench 3D Voxel Pipeline Skill

Blockbench is a specialized 3D modeler and animator for blocky, voxel, and low-poly art.

1. Project Creation & Setup

Project Format Selection

• For general game development (Godot, Unity): Always choose Generic Model (or Low Poly Model).
• Avoid Minecraft-specific presets (Java Block/Item, Bedrock Entity) unless targeting Minecraft mods, as they constrain bone formats.

2. Modeling & Pivot Points

Snapping & Grid Settings

• Set Grid Resolution to 16 or 32 per block.
• Enable Snap to Grid to maintain clean integer coordinate alignments.

Bone Groups & Pivot Placement

• In Blockbench, bones are represented as Groups.
• Every limb or animated piece must be placed inside a Group folder.
• Use the Pivot Tool (`P`) to position the group's pivot point:
• Pivot must sit at the exact joint location (e.g. top of the arm, top of the leg, bottom of the neck).
• Test rotation by selecting the group and rotating on X, Y, Z.

3. UV Mapping & Texture Atlas

1. Create a texture with power-of-two dimensions (e.g., 128x128 or 256x256).
2. Use Auto UV or manually lay out cube faces.
3. Keep pixel density uniform across all cubes (e.g., 16 pixels per block meter).
4. Paint textures directly in the Paint tab using palette colors.

4. Animating in Blockbench

1. Switch to the Animate tab.
2. Create animations with standard names: idle, walk, run, jump, attack.
3. Set Loop Mode:

• Loop for idle, walk, run.
• Play Once for jump, attack, hurt.

1. Interpolation:

• Choose Step for retro/stop-motion.
• Choose Linear for crisp game animations.

5. Exporting for Godot 4

1. Go to File -> Export -> Export glTF.
2. Export as .glb (glTF Binary) or .gltf.
3. In export options:

• Include Animations: Yes
• Include Armature: Yes

1. Copy the .glb file directly into your Godot project folder.