I’ve been 3D modeling the houses in my neighborhood as part of a larger 3D masterplan that I’m hoping to someday have a virtual reality experience for.
Here’s a couple screenshots of the larger neighborhood masterplan just for context:
As one step of this, I’m trying too create interactive 360 degree orbit views of the models that can be viewed on social media (directly within the platform without redirecting offsite). My current understanding is that the only easy way to do this is through SketchFab.com (I guess FB chose to a limited number of platforms to work directly with for 3D stuff?).
Here is a screenshot of the house in real life adjacent to the model I created that I am trying to upload:
I downloaded the SketchFab extension and followed the steps on their tutorial (I also tried it several different ways, selecting and unselecting the various options - i.e. export edges - in the exporter tool) and they all give me a blank white model. If I mess around w the features on the SketchFab viewer, I can get the wireframe (i think that’s what it’s called?) to appear, but the faces/surfaces don’t seem to be showing up?
Thats not the wireframe view otherwise you would be able to see through the house. It’s also working in the viewer as a solid mesh. I would assume that the solution is within the Sketchfab viewer. I just got a 60 day SketchFab Pro trial, if you send me the model you exported from SketchUp I will upload it to my account (if that’s ok) and see what’s up this weekend. That’s if somebody does not answer you first.
Edit: Sorry saw you already posted the model. Edit2: @tysongersh can you post the exact file you are uploading to Sketchfab, not the Sketchup file.
As far as I know the file being uploaded IS the SketchUp file. I’m using the SketchFab Plugin for Sketchup that allows you to upload a model to SketchFab directly from SketchUp. If there’s a conversion along the way, I’m not sure what it is. Any more specific instructions on how I can access it?
I just changed the settings on the SketchFab model to allow anyone with the link to the model to download it. Does that solve the problem?
It looks like you can make a lot of changes to how the model viewer looks under “3D settings” in SketchFab. When I turn “Wireframe” on, it creates a really nice outline of the features of the model, but it also has a ton of random diagonal lines across the surfaces… Any chance you know where those are coming from and how I can remove them?
Ok so I have not used it before but I have it loaded now so a few observations:
The model is only two materials, so that’s probably a reason why it’s only white and glass.
Triangulation is expected as all faces are converted into polygons, quad modelling can give you neater result but it’s best to just hide them all.
I have replaced the only material you have in the file with a metallic texture in Sketchfab and added a HRDI background. Everything is working as expected, you will need to do some more work in SketchUp if you want to shake it up.
I uploaded your model to SketchUp Free, downloaded it to SketchUp make 2017 and uploaded it to Sketchfab as .dae FYI.
Having not used the plugin, I would recommend to not use the plugin if you are having an issue, export from SketchUp Pro with a number of different export options and upload direct to your account.
I’m on my girlfriends computer so not able to do that right now but .dae from make17 seems to have worked fine.
I tried both of the links you sent and neither seems to show the model as it is seen in the screenshot you provided. The second both appear blank, but if you look closely, you can see a VERY faint organgish surface of part of the turret/bump out window bay. Is this something wrong with my personal settings? My ultimate goal is to be able to see the model as it looks in the screenshot you took as the default view in an embedded facebook post.
Thats very odd, I am viewing it now (published) in chrome. Let me post it on my facebook and see what happens (if thats ok with you?) I will delete everything once this is all done.
Yes, please feel free. You are more than welcome to use any of the content I share in this forum for whatever purpose you see fit. Thank you for asking though
Well it works for me, I just tested it. Try opening the link in a new browser or private browser window. There is also an embed function it would seem so you are not limited to facebook.
Oh, weird, okay it seems to work just fine in Chrome. I was using Safari before. Okay great, this is extremely helpful. You are a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate your time and energy on all of this. One last question and I think I’ll be totally set! Earlier you mentioned that you
Just curious if that was something you had on your own, and if so do you have any recommendations on where one could find something like that, or was it something built into the SketchFab platform. I looked for it, but didn’t see it.
Yes I stay far away from Safari and IE when possible. Chrome is mostly favoured by developers so generally works best with interactive sites like this.
I do have some yes but they are part of a Thea pack I got from the Thea render forums user group.
But in this case I used the ones included in this part of the menu:
I’m super bummed though. The file doesn’t directly load within FB if you’re viewing it on a mobil device. Oh well. It’s pretty good when viewing on FB from a desktop (you have to paste the full link into a new post through FB directly as opposed to sharing through SketchFab directly)
I thought this would be the ideal platform for uploading the neighborhood masterplan, but I can’t upload the full file without upgrading. I’ve been reading some forums on spherical panoramas (which is essentially what SketchFab is doing with this model, right?) and it seems like I can either pay SketchFab, pay V Ray, or pay SU Sodium. Any suggestions on what the best route might be?
I doubt you are going to get it working better in facebook unless you do some custom code. I would say an alternative it to maybe create your own website and embed it yourself so it renders on phones automatically using the embed function on Sketchfab.
I think I’m down to do the custom coding. Not that I have any background in any of this, but seemed easy enough to find some instructions on at least one of the programs: How to Embed Podium Panoramas on Facebook
I guess the problem, in my head, with going with a unique website is that the FB algorithm actively suppresses traffic to anything that redirects a user in anyway - not to mention, people are just way less likely to click on something that takes them away from something they are doing. I figure social media will be the primary was I can share this with my community (and those looking to join it) and being viral-friendly will be a big part of determining how successful all of this is.
With that in mind, do you think SketchFab is my best route? Or should I pursue a different course? I’m open to explore all sorts of options, I just wanna make sure I pick the one with the most potential (and the one that’s of course going to allow me to take Sketch Up the furthest).
Yes but what I meant is that SketchFab is not using a 360 timeline view so that’s why it wont embed into Facebook, it’s using WebGL. Web GL is quite powerful these days but it can be quite a resource hog especially on older and less powerful mobile devices, Facebook therefore throttle embedded content of that sort as to not slow down the users device while in facebook.
I used to work in apps and platforms a few years ago. I worked on facebook article embedding and Facebook Instant Article for two years with Facebook in London: https://instantarticles.fb.com/
The main goal should just be to create something truly great, and if you succeed people will come no problem. But getting into the tools early (like AR Studio) is essential for visibility.
It all depends on your resources. You can create fixed point VR renders in most larger packages these days so thats going to cost you anything between £150-3000+. I would suggest making it the best it can be and don’t base anything on whats good for facebook. Creating a small animation showcasing the models and then linking through to something more dynamic is much simpler and engaging than trying to shoehorn a 3D model view into the timeline.
