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  3. 3D Product Configurator

Scene Editor

Zakeke Support
Updated

Summary

  1. Introduction
  2. Objects
  3. Materials
  4. Lights
  5. Cameras

 

1. Introduction

The 3D Scene Editor section is where you upload and manage the 3D models of your products that you have developed according to our guidelines.

In particular, from this section you manage: 

When you start creating a new configurable product and upload a 3D model, you are provided with a menu as in the image below from where you can manage the 3D assets, materials, lights, and cameras.

scene-editor0.png

 

2. Objects (3D models and parts)

Uploading a 3D model of your product is the first step to creating your configurable product.

When you upload your 3D asset, you will be able to see the individual meshes (parts) that make up the model. In the image below, you see an example of a 3D model for a gun that is made of four parts (barrel, body, details, and slide).

scene-editor1bis.png

Zakeke shows the various parts of the model because the 3d model was developed as divided into parts, as explained in our guides, so that you can define the customization options for the individual parts of the product.

Zakeke allows you to:

  • Show/Hide parts;
  • Group two or more parts (using the Group tool or simply dragging one object to one other);
  • Clone parts and groups of parts;
  • Rename parts and groups of parts;
  • Remove parts;
  • Edit position, rotation, and scale of any object.  

 

3. Materials

Each part of a 3D model has an associated material that gets imported by Zakeke along with the 3D meshes when you upload the 3D model.

A 3D material is basically what you layer on top of a 3D object, to control the way the object is perceived when rendered. It behaves much the way a material does in the real world - whether that’s the way light interacts with its surface, or the nuances of color, texture, transparency, and reflectivity. Usually, the materials are associated with the 3D model by the 3D artist, but if no material is associated then the 3D modeling software applies one by default.

Materials can be managed within Zakeke, meaning that you can edit the existing material of the 3D object or even create a new one to get the result that you prefer.

 

3.1 Managing materials

When you import a model that already includes a material, the material gets imported as PBR material in Zakeke. If you create the material within Zakeke, you can choose whether to create it as a standard material or a PBR material.

Whether you edit an imported material or create a new one in Zakeke, you are provided with a set of options to manage the material properties (such as Albedo, Opacity, Reflection, Metallic, ...), including Normal/Bump (you can add bumps and dents to a texture to give your assets a more natural texturing effect).

To edit a material, select the part of the model for which you wish to edit the material and then click on Edit material

scene-editor2.png

Instead, to create a new material, in the Materials section in the left menu, click on New to create a new material.

The new material will be created for the selected object but you can still Save it in your library to re-use it for other 3D objects, within the same 3D model or even for another product, via the Import tool.

scene-editor3.png

 

3.2 New materials

When you create a new material, you have five different types of materials that can be created:

  • Standard
  • PBR
  • PBR Metallic Roughness
  • PBR Specular Glossiness
  • Fast PBR

 

mceclip0.png

  

Standard

Standard material is a basic material that allows changing meshes in color and textures.

The material, whether it is a color or a texture, reacts to the light in different ways. Here below the parameters for the Standard material on the Zakeke 3D product configurator:

  1. Diffuse: the basic color or texture of the material as viewed under a light;

  2. Specular: the highlight given to the material by a light;

  3. Emissive: the color or texture of the material as if self lit;

  4. Ambient: the color or texture of the material lit by the environmental background lighting.

Diffuse and Specular materials require a light source to be created. Ambient color requires the ambient color of the scene to be set, giving the environmental background lighting.

 

PBR materials

Physically Based Rendering (PBR) is a method of shading and rendering that provides a final effect closer to reality. It ensures an accurate representation of how light interacts with surfaces. In this way, the final result is more natural-looking. PBR materials will work equally well in all lighting environments.

PBR has two main workflow options: Metalness and Specular. These two versions of the PBR material are simplified versions of the general PBR for specific uses.

 

Metalness

The specific parameters to manage Metal/Roughness are Base Color, Metalness, and Specular.

  • Base Color can be a texture or solid color for reflected color in case of non-metals materials, reflectance values in case of metals;

  • Metalness is a linear grayscale texture. It is black at 0.0 for non-metals and white at 1.0 for raw metals;

  • Specular: a linear grayscale texture for Fresnel values (non-metals).

    Fresnel value is a specific parameter that handles reflection and transmission of light when incident on an interface between different optical media. By changing its values it's possible to simulate glass or reflection effects.

 

Specular

The channels specific to Specular/Glossiness are Albedo and Specular.

  • Albedo can be a texture or solid color, without reflectance values;

  • Specular can be the value for the reflectance of a texture or solid color.

 

Fast PBR

The Fast PBR is an alternative to the default PBR material. It supports two extra effects:

  • MatCap: to simulate lights and reflection in an optimized way by using a single texture.
  • Rim: to create an outline/contour effect.

 

4. Lights 

There are four types of lights that you can set in the scene:

  • Hemispheric Light

  • Point Light

  • Spot Light

  • Directional Light

Hemispheric Light is a very accurate way to simulate an ambient environment light. This is defined by directioned to the top of the scene, towards the sky. It can be managed by regulating its Intesity, Diffuse color, Specular color, and Ground color to achieve the best results. 

 

Point Light is defined by a single point of light. The light is emitted in every direction from this point. A good example of a point light is a standard light bulb.

 

Spot Light is a cone of light that starts from a position and illuminates toward the direction set. It is defined by its position, direction, angle, and exponent. The angle defines the size of the cone of light, and the exponent defines the extension of the light.

 

Directional light is defined by a direction. The light is emitted from everywhere in the specified direction, and has an infinite range.

 

5. Cameras

Cameras are used to make the 3D model to automatically rotate to a certain position. You can then associate each camera with an attribute/option in the Composer so that when your customers select an attribute (part) of your product to personalize it, the 3D model rotates to show that part to the customer.

 

5.1 How to set cameras

  1. In the menu at the bottom of the page, select Viewer Preview;
  2. Rotate the 3D model in the desired position;
  3. Save and give it a name.

The saved camera position can now be associated with a specific attribute/option in the Composer section.

 

5.2 Setting a camera to generate the product thumbnail for cart/checkout

If name a camera position "buy_screenshot_camera", that camera will be used when your customers add the product to the cart to generate the product thumbnail.

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