3D File

3D File

3D Generator - External referenced 3D file (.fbx and .obj)

In Smode you have the possibility to reference external 3D files into Smode. Smode uses the official SDK to load FBX files and the Open Source library ASSIMP to load OBJ files.
  • Be sure to keep only 1 scene and clean all unused materials in your fbx files before trying to import/reference them in Smode.
  • Merge all your objects that have the same materials to increase the rendering performances.
  • Smode should also load .3DS, .DXF, .LWO, .STL and .PLY but these files are not officially supported in Smode.
Smode can take millions of triangles, as any real time software but the imported geometry should have the minimum meshes possible. A file constituted of too many objects will be impossible to manage and may possibly crash. Also remember to always flatten all the objects transformations prior to do the export (check the limitations chapter below)

Limitations

  • Animations/Skeletons are not imported (there is no skeleton system is Smode).
  • Files with packed textures don't import the texture (but if the name of the texture correspond to a file in the media directory Smode will automatically make the link).
  • Files with multiple layers (UV or others) only import the first layer.
  • Material parameters (diffuse, specular, etc) are not imported.
Note that you can check what is inside your 3D file through the file preview. You can have a lot of vertices but be very careful about the number of objects:


So before importing a 3D model, remember those simple rules:
- Apply all your transformations on every 3D object before importing in Smode (Ctrl+A -> Apply all transformations on Blender, "Freeze transform" on Maya)
- Smode can take a lot of polygons but few objects.
- Combine your 3D object to have as less objects possible inside your file. (After selecting many objects, do a Ctrl+J on Blender, or a "Mesh -> Combine" on Maya)

How to reference a 3D File

To import a 3D File simply drag and drop from the media directory to the compo tree and select Reference .
By default the whole model is referenced but you can select the sub-model to reference in the subGeometryToUse . Be careful using this option ! Renaming the model in your 3D editor will break the link so I highly recommend to work with separate files for each object that should move separately.
Once you select your sub model the model position is not changed and is relative to file position. So each time you modify the position in your 3D modeler it will update in Smode (automatically if you checked the option Auto Reload ). To avoid that you can tell Smode to place the 3D model relative to the used sub-geometry transform using the useLocalPlacement option. Then you will have to place manually the model.
Notes:
  • The materials and textures are not imported or referenced.
  • You can replace an existing GeometryLayer Generator by drag and drop the file on the generator maintaining the ALT key pressed, it will keep all the modifiers, materials, etc.

How to Import a 3D File

Importing a 3D File is now basically the same as referencing. It gives the possibility to the user to automatically generate a tree configuring references by:
  • Linking the diffuse and normal textures to material if they are present in the media directory
  • Setting Sub Geometry To Use for each branch of the tree
  • Create a Light Illuminate 3D renderers Read More and Standard Camera Standard camera with a perspective/orthographic frustum Read More at correct placements (these are not referenced)
  • Setting all the references placements of the 3D file with Use Local Placement
There are some options available:
  • Import as 3D Group
  • Import as Reference : I highly recommend to check this option (else you will need to re-import each time you modify your geometry)

Manipulation tricks for files containing many Meshes

If you got too many mesh in your imported files and you want to put the same material ( 3D Renderer Displays a 3D geometry Read More ) over all of them, you can Group their generators as followed :
First select all the meshes you want to group and do a right click:


Then choose a 3D Renderer Displays a 3D geometry Read More among the list.


And there you go, a single material is applied on the overall geometries. Note that in this status, 3D Modifier Modify a 3D geometry Read More can also be applied on many different meshes altogether:

Parameters

  • File (3D Group File Selector) : Link to the file used as 3D mesh (officially supports .fbx and .obj)
  • Sub Geometry To Use (Multiple-choices option) : Path to the sub mesh of the 3D file to use
  • Use Local Placement (On/off option) : If using a sub geometry use this option to use the local anchor of the selected sub geometry

See Also: