Bring your work

Bringing in your model

Drop a GLB, glTF or OBJ file onto the studio and it's lit, framed and rendering within seconds. Here's what comes across, and how to get the most from it.

Drop it in

There are two ways to bring a model in:

• Drag the files onto the render. Drop them anywhere over the picture. Downloaded a model from a site like TurboSquid? Drag the whole folder, and Auddomate finds the model, its materials and its textures inside.
• Press Import model in the Scene tab, and choose the files. Select the model together with its .mtl, .bin and texture files.

Auddomate reads the file, frames it, sets it on a soft grey floor and starts rendering, usually in a second or two. A model with millions of triangles loads in seconds. See Large models.

Your model joins the scene picker for the rest of your visit, so you can switch to a showcase scene and back. It's read on your own computer and never uploaded anywhere.

Missing materials or textures

An OBJ keeps its colors and materials in a separate .mtl file, and often its textures in image files beside it. Browsers only let Auddomate read the files you give it, so if you bring in the .obj on its own, it arrives plain grey.

When that happens, a notice in Your model names exactly which files are missing. Press Add materials file or Add textures, choose them, and your model reloads with everything in place. glTF models with separate .bin or image files work the same way.

Materials that come in white

Sometimes the .mtl file is there but only describes some of the materials your model uses. Cinema 4D, for one, writes only its simple Standard materials into an OBJ: materials made with Redshift or nodes keep their names but lose their colors. Auddomate brings those parts in plain white, and a notice in Your model lists them.

To fix it, export the model as GLB instead, which carries far more of your materials across. Or click each white part in the render and set its material in the material editor.

Files from your 3D app

Auddomate reads GLB, glTF and OBJ. Files saved in an app's own format, such as .c4d, .blend, .max, .ma, .3dm or .hip, can only be opened by that app. If you choose or drop one, Auddomate tells you the one export step that app needs, with a link to its guide below.

FBX files aren't read yet. Blender converts them for free: choose File → Import → FBX, then File → Export → glTF 2.0.

Large models

Auddomate is built for the big files artists really work with, like models from TurboSquid, CAD assemblies and high-detail scans. Files of a gigabyte or more are read a piece at a time as they stream in, so the whole file never has to fit in memory at once, and the Import model button shows how far along it is.

A 1.2 GB OBJ with over four million triangles loads in about twelve seconds on a recent laptop. Many CAD exports repeat every corner for every triangle; Auddomate merges the repeats as it reads, so the model takes a fraction of the memory.

If a very large model won't load:

• Close other tabs to give the browser more memory.
• Export as GLB if your app can. It's smaller and faster to read than OBJ.
• Hide what the camera won't see, like internal parts and fasteners, before exporting.

Which file to use

We recommend GLB. It's the modern, open standard for 3D on the web, every major 3D app can export it, and nothing can go missing because everything is in one file.

When a file refers to something you didn't drop, like a texture image or a .bin file, Auddomate tells you exactly which file is missing. Select everything together and drop it again.

What comes across

The floor

Imported models stand on a large grey floor, so they cast a shadow and don't float in space. Turn it off with the Floor switch in the Scene tab.

If your model already has a floor or a backdrop of its own, Auddomate notices and starts with its floor off, so the two never fight.

Scale

Auddomate needs to know how big your model really is for things like depth of field. It reads this from your file:

• glTF and GLB are always in metres, as the format defines.
• OBJ files have no units, so Auddomate assumes metres, and reads large models, like those exported from Cinema 4D, as centimetres.

If your depth of field looks far too strong or far too weak on an OBJ, export as GLB instead, which always carries its real size.

Getting the best results

• Apply your modifiers and subdivision in your 3D app before exporting, so what you see there is what comes across.
• Use standard materials. Each 3D app's own standard material, like the Principled BSDF in Blender or the Standard material in Cinema 4D, exports cleanly. Fancier node setups often don't.
• Name your objects and materials. Auddomate uses material names as hints: a material called "paint", "lacquer" or "varnish" in an OBJ gets a glossy clear coat.
• Keep it in one piece. Export a GLB rather than loose files whenever you can.

Guides for your 3D app

Step-by-step export guides for the most popular apps:

Cinema 4DOne-click Send to Auddomate Render plugin, MoGraph baking and pose morphs.BlenderOne-click Send to Auddomate Render add-on, shape keys, rigs and lights.MayaA glTF plug-in, or a quick stop in Blender.3ds MaxOne-click Send to Auddomate Render plugin, or the free Khronos plug-in.HoudiniglTF ROPs, deforming meshes and KineFX characters.RhinoPhysically based materials, mesh quality and Z-up.

Other apps

Almost every 3D app can export GLB or OBJ, and Auddomate reads them all the same way. A few notes for popular ones:

If your app isn't listed, look for an export to glTF, GLB or OBJ. The same tips apply: standard materials, applied modifiers and baked animation.