Importing Objects

The built-in object library may not contain all objects necessary for carrying out your project. The program lets you import other objects stored on your disk in the following formats:

• 3DS (created in the Autodesk® 3ds Max® software)
• Google SketchUP™
• Ogre XML
• Collada

To import an object from a file:

1. Select File > Import 3D Object in the menu.


2. Specify the format of the file you want to import and select the file.
   
   
3. Set up the import options (not available for Ogre XML).
   
   
   • Make all surfaces double-sided to avoid invisible surfaces
   • Split Object Instances – split a compound object to turn its parts into separate objects in Live Interior 3D.
     
     
   See details in the Import Options section.


4. The Type and Representation dialog will open. Adjust the necessary settings and click OK. You can change the settings later if necessary.
   For more details, see the Type and Representation section.

Imported objects may have references to one or several textures. The program will try to find them in the folder containing the selected file. If a texture is not found, the program will ask you to locate it in the Finder. The texture name will be shown at the top of the Open File window. You can also opt to skip opening textures and simply use the materials from the built-in library.

Import Options

Make all surfaces double-sided to avoid invisible surfaces

This option fixes the problem with invisibility of one-sided surfaces.

3D software operates with the "face" term (from geometry). For instance, a cube has six square faces. A tetrahedron (triangular pyramid) has four triangular faces.

For 3D software, each side of an object has two faces: outer and inner.

Usually, we can see a cube from only the outside. If we imagine a box, each side has two faces (in 3D software) – the outer one and the inner one. So we can see the box from the outside, as well as from the inside. Even when the box has very thin sides, they still have two faces. In 3D software, the materials and textures are applied to those faces.

Imagine a box with sides that do not have inner faces. If you look at the box from the outside, you will see it as expected. However, if you look from the inside, the box will be transparent (which means invisible) – no faces, no materials. That is, the program has nothing to show.

Not all 3D objects have internal space. And moreover, most 3D models do not have (show) inner space when real objects (model prototypes) actually have it. This is a common method of simplifying 3D modeling and producing 3D objects of smaller sizes.

The lack of inner faces (where they are needed) is a common mistake of 3D design novices. So the program makes the sides of imported objects double-faced in order to avoid invisible surfaces.

3D software (including Live Interior 3D) usually uses a pair of faces instead of a single double-sided one. To tell the program whether it should add faces to both sides of the surface, the above-mentioned option is used.

Adding faces will lead to increasing the 3D object size, which will result in increasing the document size. Set this option if a part of the imported object is lost (is invisible).

Split Object Instances

Models can be split into parts when they are made out of several components. For example, some models are composed of several objects (a lamp, a computer, books, etc. on a table). If objects are made up of components, you can split them to remove or rearrange some of these components.

The split options let you choose to split all or only identical objects.

The ability to split a model depends on how it was created.