Model Formats Imported by Visual3D

Wavefront (.obj, .mtl)

1. Suggested format for non-animated models, if you prefer this exporter over OgreMax or other exporters.

Autodesk FBX (.fbx)

1. First version with basic non-animated model upcoming with v0.9.7 (undergoing testing now)

Collada (.dae)

1. Supported for models, materials, skeletal (skinned) animations, and cinematic (scene node/part) animations

2. Animation support for skeletal (skinned), cinematic (scene node / model part) animations

   1. Trigger animations from Avatar Commands/Key Mapping and Scripting (integrated/unified with .mesh/.skeleton animations)  [new in v0.9.7]

3. Works for many features exported by Google SketchUp, when the "Triangulation" option is selected (from dialog shown when pressing Option button in the Export dialog).

4. If encounter issues, Ogre .mesh and Wavefront .obj are good alternatives to try for models as needed, especially for very large ones.

5. Coming Soon -Multi-object prefab (scene) importing

Ogre (.mesh, .material, .skeleton)

1. Currently the best supported format for animated models

2. Exports together with .material and optional .skeleton (for bones and skeletal animations) file(s)

3. Supported for skeletal (skinned), pose (blend/morph target), and vertex morph animation support

4. Supports dynamic animation blending (mixing of multiple animations at same time) at runtime

5. The OgreMax exporters for 3ds Max, Maya, and Softimage XSI are suggested (instead of the Official Ogre exporters), as they are the best maintained, most actively developed, most often tested/used with Visual3D, and best documented of those available. 

   1. The Official Ogre exporter for XSI will sometimes not export materials (to a .material file), though OgreMax for XSI should., intained, most actively developed and tested, and best documented exporters for Ogre .mesh

OgreMax .scene

1. This format is not suggested for regular use, as it results in a separate model (.mesh file) being exported, by default (though there is a tutorial available in how to customize this) for each Geometry node (in some cases, each primitive shape).

   1. Due to its exporting each Geometry node as a separate mesh, use of this format can result in poor performance in some cases out-of-box, as well as prevent some of the model optimizations (specifically "Merge by Material" in Visual3D Model Editor) which can sometimes greatly improve performance for many models.

   2. Also, currently, it prevents sharing of materials between each part/shape Model

2. This is primarily useful for importing very large scenes or buildings with interiors which have complex collision requirements and need per-part collision customization. 

   1. However, many complex environments can be represented by a one or more of the following Physics Settings for a Model:

DirectX (.x)

1. Currently for non-animated models

2. Animation support is upcoming, expected at some point after .fbx animation support

3ds max (.3ds)

1. Currently for non-animated models

2. Animation support is expected either with v0.9.7 or soon after (once FBX animation is support)

3. However, .3ds is known to be an older format with various limitations (due to the format, not specific importers) such as for maximum number of polygons, and it is not suggested for animation when there are other alternatives, such as .mesh, .fbx, and .dae

Modeling, Exporting and Setup for Visual3D

Model Exporting and Setup  (User Manual): Optimizing Performance and Collision/Interior Support

General (package independent) tutorial for exporting to suggested formats for Visual3D and importing and setup in Visual3D toolset.  Includes tips for modeling and exporting, as well as troubleshooting and optimization steps. Also covers collision and physics setup, in part, including interior and vehicle setup, as well other cases.

Entity Creation - Models, Prefabs, Avatars, and Entity Types

Entity Creation (User Manual)
Covers creation, editing, use, and reuse/instancing of Models, Prefabs, Avatars, and Entity Types
 

Exporting Tutorials

3ds max

• Exporting from 3ds Max

Maya

• Exporting from Maya

Softimage XSI

• Exporting from Softimage XSI

Milkshape 3D

• Exporting from MilkShape 3D

Blender

• Exporting from Blender

DeleD

•  Importing Models into Visual3D from DeleD

New Pipeline Features in v0.9.7

  Avatar Building/EditingWiring up Animations to Key Mappings, Triggered States for Avaars 

1. Automatic animation playback for the current (user controlled) Avatar when animation has the same name a Key Mapping

2. (A Key Mapping is a named key combination, such as "MoveForward", "Attack", "Jump", "Action1", " defined either in the Global Key Map or the Key Map asset (such as "Avatar-WASD") referenced by the Input Controller asset/preset for the Avatar)

3. Input Controller preset asset selected for an Avatar) entrya Key Mapped action (eg. MoveForward)with same name as a Key Mapping (eg. MoveForward, Attack) when Key Mapping (or Avatar Command / Triggered State) with same name as animation wireup for Avatar Commands (Triggered States) and Key Mapping

4. Fully scripting/unified API support (previously animations were triggered from code by setting actor.CustomSkeleton.Animation = "Animation Name")

Many more features like Behavior Trees and .fbx importing are mentioned elsewhere on this site, and will be added here and to the Roadmap page soon, or else detailed in Release Notes upon the v0.9.7 release.

Asset Pipeline Roadmap Notes
 

This provides more details for features under development or expected soon.  It should serve as additional information after reviewing the Model Formats Imported section, which highlights/summarizes major upcoming improvements.  Only those with additional details available are described here.

Collada .dae Importer (Upcoming Enhancements)

1. Animation blending (for multiple animations at same time for same object) [upcoming for v0.9.7.1, use Ogre format if/when needed in the mean time]

2. Use Visual3D Cinematic Editor to edit cinematic (node / part / non-skinned) animations

3. Importing in background and with reduced memory requirements, to better support very large models . 

4. Further testing and improvement for use with Google SketchUp exported models. triangulation of non-triangulated primitive shapes exported by Google SketchUp(triangulation) of primitive shapes, like sometimes exported by Google SketchUp (in mean time, suggest exporting to .fbx from Google SketchUpneeded only for some objects, not supported by 3ds max .dae importer can export to Autodesk .fbx from SketchUp Pro to Visual3D or 3ds max