Month: June 2016

We have listed some guidelines for creating 3D models, that look nice and run smoothly in web-browsers. 

3D Wayfinder uses regular 3D models, so there is no special format or way how the 3D floorplans should be modeled. As 3D Wayfinder works in web-browsers through WebGL technology, then in order to get better results the 3D models should be optimized. Read below for some useful tips and tricks on optimizing 3D models for the best performance.

For example keep the 3D geometry simple and use textures, that can be repeated:

An important element of 3D floorplans are different kinds of vegetation (trees, bushes etc.). They help to make the floorplans look more life-like and in some cases are also important for navigating on the map. It is easy to use transparent textures on the simple planes, just never model out the leaves or branches:

With 3D it is possible to create really life-like buildings, but when using 3D for maps, it is always good to keep the models simpler. For this we suggest removing un-important furniture and making the walls as low as possible without losing the general idea of the height of the room. This way the visibility of the visualized path is far greater.

You find the full list of guidelines for creating 3D models are added 3D Wayfinder page here.

To start the summer on a positive and even more client-friendly note, we have decided to enable our customers to use our software free of charge with our new pricing plan.

We created this new option so more people could access the 3D Wayfinder and will be able to use it without charge for smaller projects. Our new free plan for 3D Wayfinder is great for creating and exhibiting 3D models and for smaller wayfinding projects. You will be able to do everything yourself and get to know the software. The purpose of this plan is to make our software easier to access for the benefit of our clients. The plan allows you to create one project in our system and start developing your own model and pathing.

Signing up with the free account will allow you to upload any 3D model into our system, manually create pathfinding for you building as you like and much more. We have also updated our other pricing plans to give our customers better deals and more projects they can work on with 3D Wayfinder.

The free version of 3D Wayfinder as all the other versions comes with a demo model that enables you to look around and make changes to see how it works. Soon we will add more demo models of different types of buildings to suit our client’s needs. All you have to do is register your free user and start exploring the options we have designed for you.

Contact our sales team for more information.

Until now all the materials in 3D Wayfinder have been replaced with each 3D model update. Now it is possible to keep the materials and their attributes’ values. This will save a lot of time, when creating a nice-looking 3D wayfinding application. See how to separating materials from geometry.

We have added a small feature to our 3D model converter. That enables to replace the 3D models without overwriting the materials. This means, that all the changes that were made in 3D Wayfinder for the purpose of tuning materials, are not lost when replacing 3D models. See it in user manual.

3D modelling software packages are different and the way 3D models are exported also varies. In most cases you need to change the color of the materials (diffuse and ambient color). After the creation of the model to get good looking 3D floor plans. We are now supporting specular shader, transparency etc. that might not come directly from the converted models. All these material attributes can be changed in 3D Wayfinder, but these values were replaced each time the geometry was updated. Now there is the option to keep the materials and their values, when replacing the 3D model.

At the same time we have added ambient attributes to each material when uploading the 3D model for the first time or when replacing the model. So there is no need to enter the “ambient” attribute anymore, just change the color.