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Preparing and Exporting Models from Blender

In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of preparing and exporting models from Blender, so they can be used in the VariationConfiguratorPlugin.

Step 1: Organize your model​

  1. Open your model in Blender.
  2. Ensure that your model is organized into separate objects or materials, depending on your project requirements.
  3. For variations belonging to the same group, place all the objects in their correct positions relative to the base model. This ensures that when a variation is applied in the configurator, it will be displayed in the correct location.
  4. Use collections or separate Blender files to organize variations and groups. This will make it easier to manage and export your models later on.

Step 2: Apply transformations​

  1. Select each object in your model.
  2. Press Ctrl + A and choose Apply > All Transforms. This will apply all the scale, rotation, and position transformations to the selected object.

Step 3: Set up materials​

  1. For each object, create and assign materials as needed.
  2. Choose a proper name for your material, the name will be used in the editor.

Step 4: Export objects​

  1. Select the objects you want to export.
  2. Go to File > Export > glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf).
  3. In the export settings, choose glTF Binary (.glb) as the format.
  4. Enable the Selected Objects option under the include section.
  5. Choose a destination folder and click Export.

step 5: Export materials​

  1. Load one of the exported objects that has the material you want to create more variations of into the editor.
  2. Click on the 3D object, you will notice that it got highlighted.
  3. Go to Picking tab.
  4. Scroll down to the Material section.
  5. Make any changes you want to the material.
  6. To export the material just click the button Download pmat.
  7. Repeat the steps 5 and 6 for each material variation you want to create.
tip

To make the environment map and other scene settings configurable, you can export the scene settings as a vjson file from export tab > asset Export > Preset/config export > export all viewer config. You can then add the vjson file in the configurator by creating a group under objects and adding the vjson file as an item.

Now you have successfully prepared and exported your models from Blender in the glTF format, ready to be used in the VariationConfiguratorPlugin. Remember to keep each group of objects and materials in separate folders for easier organization in the configurator.