How do I display my product in 3D?

Today, interactive 3D models of your product can be displayed on almost any device. This offers the following advantages:

• 3D models are very easy to understand and show every aspect of a product
• Users become engaged very quickly because they can interact directly with the product by rotating and zooming.
• 3D models are often easy to obtain since they are already used during the product development process.
• Different product parts, colors, and materials can be easily displayed
• The product can be displayed in the user’s environment via augmented reality

Prerequisites

• You have created a configurator.
• You selected a 3D view when creating it (otherwise, you can change this in the settings).
• You have the models available in GLB format.

Uploading a 3D Model

• Open your configurator’s editor.
• Click
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  in the sidebar.
• Click
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  .
• Select your 3D model.
• The model will now be displayed. You can change the name, position, rotation, and scale. This becomes important when you use multiple models and want to position them relative to each other. The easiest way is usually to do this in your 3D software first and then upload the models already positioned correctly.
• The file name and size are displayed next to the "Select" button. Large models cause long wait times when starting the configurator, so try to keep the models as small as possible. The maximum size is limited to 8 MB per model.
• Enable Main Model if this is your Umgebungsmodell.
• Enable Background Model if you do not want this model to be displayed in augmented reality.
• Under material-upload, you can specify that materials from the model should be exported to your configurator. You can then modify and replace them later.
• You can specify that the model casts shadows and/or receives shadows
• Click on
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  .
• Please wait a moment. First, the model is uploaded, then analyzed, and all materials are extracted.
• The model now appears in the list.
• Click
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  in the sidebar.
• All materials from the model are also available there.

Uploading Multiple Models

• You can also select multiple models in the file selection dialog.
• A confirmation dialog will then appear.
• Click
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  .
• You can now edit the new models.

Finding Models in the List

For configurators with many models, the filter above the list is helpful.

• Click
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  in the sidebar.
• Open the filter area using the filter icon.
• Next to Search, Tags, and Sorting, you’ll find Filter by Properties.
• Select one or more properties, including their negations:
  • Background model / Foreground model
  • Casts a shadow / Does not cast a shadow
  • Is shaded / Is not shaded
  • Dynamic model / Not a dynamic model

For example, this allows you to find all models that do not cast shadows without having to open each model individually. This is the fastest way to detect setting errors in large scenes.

Dynamic Models

Display other models based on a selection.

If there is a selection attribute whose values determine the displayed model, proceed as follows:

• In the sidebar, switch to the
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  .
• Switch to the correct tab and click the pencil icon behind the feature name.
• Switch to the Actions tab.
• Check the box next to Show 3D Model
• Click on
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  .
• You will now see the table with the selection values. There is now a “Models” column.
• Now select the model to be displayed for each value.
• You’ll see the result immediately in the editor.
• Click
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  .

Display different models based on multiple selections.

If the display of the models depends on multiple attributes in a more complex way (e.g., a color selection and a product type selection), start by selecting one of the attributes as described above. If appropriate, you can also assign models right away. Then proceed as follows:

• In the sidebar, switch to
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  .
• Find the rule with the name of your attribute and the suffix “modelAction.”
• Click on
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  . You will now see the rule that was created for the first attribute. Simply add additional attributes to this rule.
• Click on
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  .
• Click in the
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  field under Feature Combinations
• Select the remaining features that determine the model representation.
• Click on
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  .
• The rule now contains a column for each feature and a column for the model.
• You can now select the correct model for each feature combination.

Automatically Align Model

If a model in your 3D software is not positioned at the coordinate origin, you can automatically align it in K3 based on its bounding box—without first adjusting it in Blender or similar software.

To do this, open the model’s Advanced Settings in the model list. For each axis (X, Y, Z), you can choose whether the model remains unchanged or is aligned to its minimum, center, or maximum. Optionally, you can also specify an offset.

Example: X = Center, Y = Min, Z = Unchanged – the model is centered left/right and its bottom edge lies on the zero plane.

Moving Models

If two or more models are displayed, they must be correctly positioned relative to one another. There are three ways to achieve this.

1. The easiest way is to instruct your 3D modeling software to export the part models with the appropriate coordinates. Then you don’t need to do anything else.

2. If that’s not possible, you can always specify a translation, rotation, and scaling when uploading a model.

3. Sometimes the position depends on what the user has selected. For example, with a two-part cabinet, the position of the upper cabinet depends on the height of the lower cabinet. In this case, proceed as follows:

   • Open the editor and set up the situation you want to change.
   • Click on
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   • You can now easily move and rotate the models using the tools displayed.
   • Click the floppy disk icon to save, or the X icon to cancel. Both the position and rotation are saved.

4. Finally, you can also make the same change directly in the rules without visual assistance:

   • Open the rule that controls the display of the model.
   • If necessary, add features that affect the position. To do this, click on
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     and expand the Feature Combination.
   • Now find the row that controls the display of the model in the situation you want to edit.
   • Click on
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     next to the selected model.
   • You can now specify a translation, a rotation, or a scaling. This change only takes effect in the specified situation.

Moving Multiple Models Together

If several models always belong together and need to be moved or rotated as a group, the Gruppierung plugin is the easier way: You position the models once relative to the group and then simply move the group.

Models for Product Components

Example: For instance, multiple windows can be designed in a configurator, and these are grouped under a component attribute called "Windows." The models for all windows should be displayed side by side, each offset by 3m.

• In this case, you’ll usually include the component feature as well.
• Under
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  , instead of entering a number in the X-position, enter a Ausdruck: Fenster.instanceIndex*3.