Creating custom 3D Models for Shot Generator

So you want to make your own 3D Models for Shot Generator in Storyboarder? That's great!!!

We are working to create a library of essential objects built into Storyboarder, and a secondary set of objects that can be downloaded by users. We would love people to contribute to our library of simple assets for other people to use.

You can view and download our existing model library which includes models that aren't included in storyboarder. They are free and open source under then MIT license, so feel free to download, make changes, and try making your own custom assets: https://github.com/wonderunit/shot-generator-models

There are three types of custom 3d objects:

• Objects (Static objects: chair, table, glass, tree, car)
• Characters (Objects with bone structure, ie: human, dog, cat, etc.)
• Environments (Single static object used for the environment: Room, City Block, Cave, Tunnel)

Format: GLB

GLB is the binary form of GLTF (Graphics Library Transmission Format). It's a new, efficient, useable standard for 3D assets and scenes. In the case of the GLB form, it contains all the binary information (texture maps, etc.) in one file, compressed.

Most modern 3D programs export GLB files: Blender, Vectary, Autodesk 3ds Max (using Verge3D exporter), Autodesk Maya, Modo, Paint 3D, and Substance Painter.

We use and recommend using Blender to model and export because it is excellent and free to use and the GLTF exporter is developed directly by the group that created the standard.

Why don't we support importing of other formats like OBJ, COLLADA, FBX, etc.? Simply put, Those formats often don't support the features we need, many formats are proprietary, and we don't want to constantly debug format importers.

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Optionally exporting models from SketchUp's 3D Warehouse: Follow this tutorial 3D Warehouse has over 4 million 3D objects and they are pretty easy to use!

Quick note on using GLTF converters and downloaded models off the internet: Don't expect good results. Working with 3D assets is not as simple as working with 2D images. There are often issues like scale, rotation, orientation, polygon count, unsupported properties, etc. So when you download a model off the internet, you almost always have to load it into a 3D editor and fix scale and rotation at the very least. In most cases, I have to rebuild the entire model. When I download a model, I assume that I am going to be spending at least 3 hours fixing it so that it works properly. Furthermore, when you use an online converter, you have to assume that the properties aren't going to be correct without a lot of parameter changing. Working with 3D assets is not easy.

Visual Guidelines:

We made specific visual choices in the design of our models: No color (Objects gray, Characters white, Environments dark gray), no elaborate detail, on characters: no faces to avoid being uncanny, no or little textural details.

We chose no color because when storyboarding, there is no need to define color to get your story ideas across.

We chose no elaborate detail in models because the clean silhouette of an object is much more important than detail. It also keeps poly count lower.

We chose no faces because having a face would make the character look creepy or dead. Hand drawn illustrative storyboard artists are able to infuse beautiful life and expression into their drawings. In 3D, this is incredibly difficult so we don't even try. We think 2D illustrators are great and almost always prefer the expression they create than 3D.

But these are just guidelines! You can do whatever you want! You can use full color with faces. You can use incredible detail in your models.

Technical Specifications:

Scale: 1 unit = 1 meter

Rotation: Y+ is up

Position: Make sure object is placed where its bottom point is at the origin [0,0,0]

Apply scale, rotation, and position before exporting.

Normals: Check to make sure all normals are pointing outside.

Hierarchy: Keep the scene of the asset simple: Only the object you want to export. Make sure you don't have extra objects there. This means, delete camera and lights!

Apply modifiers on export.

Feedback please!

I would like to make this document better over time to make it easier for people to create their own 3D assets. So if you think there is something that should be added, please create an issue on Github and let us know!!! https://github.com/wonderunit/storyboarder/issues/new