To take account of new possibilities of 3D printing we have extended our 3D viewer to support 3D files in VRML and OBJ file format with textures to be visualized. For the time being the list of supported file formats is now as follows:
- STL (.stl, binary and ASCII)
- PLY (.ply, binary and ASCII)
- VRML (.wrl)
- OBJ (.obj, with and without texture)
Basically you don't have to take care of anything: The viewer is able to determine the used format and selects the correct rendering engine.
To show textures on models uploaded in OBJ file format you have to do the following:
On our upload page first choose your OBJ file under 3D Model Files. Clicking on Add new model file gives you another upload field where you can select an additional file. Select your texture file (.png or .jpg). Heads up: the texture file must be named exactly as the model file except the file type ending.
After that you can add images, description and additional information just as usual. Then select the Common Creatives licensing conditions under which you want your model to be published and with clicking on Save your model is online. As simple as it sounds.
Of course you can choose whether your model should be publicly available (Public), only reachable by a specific URL (Not listed) or if it should be visible exclusively to you (Private) under License and Visibility.
The 3D viewer's controls work as you're used to it: Hold down left mouse button to rotate the model, hold down right mouse button to pan the object and zoom with your mouse wheel. The full screen mode can be left by pressing ESC.
If you have any recommendations or criticism we would appreciate your comments.
