Sourcing and Creating 3D Objects

Modified on Tue, 15 Apr at 8:33 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS


How are 3D Objects made?

3D objects are digital 3D models created in special programs such as Blender (free) or Autodesk 3ds Max (free trial available).

A 3D object is in effect a fine ‘polygon mesh’ that defines the three dimensional surfaces of the object, along with ‘texture maps’ to apply to the many individual polygons.

Sourcing 3D Objects

Much like you would engage a graphic artist to create images for your website or marketing materials, typically you would hire an object modeler to help you design and create your 3D objects.

Sometimes, you can find existing 3D objects to suit your needs.  As a good starting point, try online libraries such as Turbosquid by shutterstock.

There are many contractor 3D object modelers available from online sources such as Upwork.com.

Driftscape can provide limited paid support for the creation of 3D Objects to customers. Contact your Driftscape representative to get a quote.


Creating a 3D Model from an Object

In addition, you can scan in an existing physical object and convert it automatically into a 3D object using just your iPhone. A popular iOS app for this is Poly.cam:

With the Polycam app, you simply use your iPhone to take many pictures of an object from all directions, then the cloud software generates an actual 3D object. This works well with highly textured objects that do not have ‘holes’ or shiny surfaces. These objects can be further edited in a rendering program.

Once you have created your 3D objects, you can export them into USDZ (Universal Scene Description standard) format for use in Driftscape. Not all 3D object features are supported yet (such as animation sequences). USDZ is in effect a single compressed file format for 3D objects that includes the texture files as well.


3D Object Resources

For more information, please visit:

3D Objects in AR Mode Overview

Add 3D Objects to your POIs

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