Save buffers separately for re-usability

I would like to use gltf files with separate buffers (bin files). This would save redundant copies of the same data across several gltf files/scenes. For example having something like a street lamp in multiple files. (Not cloned objects in the same file/scene. That works as expected afaict.)

Blender, Godot and Vulkan cpp examples I’ve found seem to handle this fine with manually made files. However nothing seems to save files like this. Everything is loaded into a single buffer and exported as a single buffer (embedded or in a separate bin file).

I am able to add a extra (custom property in Blender) uri field to nodes/objects/cubes with the buffer:uri filename on import, but haven’t gotten to exporting separate files as it looks like everything was made with the intention of a single blob buffer.

Maybe this is by design and I’m trying to use gltf in a way it’s not meant for. But like I said reading files this way seems to behave as expected.

[donmccurdy]

An option for doing this post-export would be:

npm install --global @gltf-transform/cli
gltf-transform partition in.glb out.gltf --meshes

[zlice]

I’m not well versed in Blender. When I import I get a box that says merged verticies, which if clicked I could see behavior like this with overlapping shapes.

When exporting gltf, I could see an extra ‘preserve bin files’ or ‘split buffers per node’ option in the drop down.