Getting Started – 3D Importer (beta)

With the new 3D importer you can now implement an almost endless variety of creative ideas in set.a.light 3D. Import your own 3D objects and create your set design according to your wishes.
Now it’s up to you! Bring your set ideas to life!

Basics:

• You need set.a.light version 2.5.9 or higher to use the 3D Importer.
• In order to be able to fully use the 3D Importer, general basic knowledge in the field of 3D and 3D modeling is advantageous, because unfortunately many 3D models that come from websites such as cgtrader.com are not optimally prepared and often afflicted with errors. With some 3D knowledge, however, these problems can often be fixed very easily in programs like Blender or 3ds Max. Afterwards, the import will work correctly.
• It is important to make sure that the number of polygons of the object to be imported is not too high. The higher the number of polygons, the more performance (graphics card) is needed. Depending on the object and the level of detail, polycounts between 10,000 and 500,000 are a good guideline.
• Also the textures should ideally not be larger than 2048px, because larger textures put a heavy load on the RAM of the graphics card and thus also worsen the performance.

Which formats are supported?
The following formats can be interpreted by set.a.light:
.fbx, .obj, .dea, 3ds, .lwo, .ply, .stl, .gltf and .glb.We recommend using .fbx, .obj and .dea.

Why is the 3D Importer “beta”?
At the moment there are still a few limitations that we want to explain to you here. The material “glass” and “metal” can both not yet be displayed 100% correctly. You can display objects transparent (partially transparent), but the shadow fall and the reflections are not correct or not present. Strong reflections, such as those that occur on car paint, are also not yet possible correctly in this version.

How does the importer work?
set.a.light 3D analyzes the 3D model during the import and automates e.g. the import and the assignment of the textures (The automatic import and assignment of the textures is however only possible if the object was created correctly). set.a.light 3D relieves you of as much work as possible, so that ideally you only have to set the materials.

Important:
3D data is not saved in the *.set file! If you want to pass on setups, you have to export the corresponding 3D objects as *.myassets file and pass them on as well. Learn HERE how to do that.

Can I publish setups with 3D objects in the community?
Since no 3D data is embedded in a snap, setups with custom objects cannot currently be uploaded to the community.

We are working on the possibility to share 3D objects via the community.

Can I export 3D objects?
Yes, you can export your imported 3D objects as *.myassets file. This is our proprietary file format – so the files can only be re-imported into set.a.light 3D.

This way you can share your own 3D objects with other set.a.light 3D users.

Furthermore, it is possible to share the same objects with several people by putting the path to the 3D data e.g. in the shared cloud. HERE you can find a description.