Exporting textured meshes as single files

[levart]

Is it possible to export a textured mesh as a GLB, GLTF, etc. with the textures included in the binary? It appears that Zephyr always creates a separate texture file alongside the mesh. My organization currently relies on low-end software for displaying models to our students (SharePoint) which can display a variety of model formats, however, they must be all-in-one model and texture. Using another application, such as Blender, as an intermediary is possible but very time consuming and the results are subpar.

[cam3d]

Hi levart

With the latest releases of Zephyr we have updated the GLB exporter. The new GLB exporter doesn't support texture embedding. Generally speaking having the texture and mesh files separate is more widely supported. I looked into SharePoint but was unable to get access for testing.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/3d-content-guidelines-for-microsoft-03a7b493-d549-4f1a-9735-f2457adf6261

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/file-types-supported-for-previewing-files-in-onedrive-sharepoint-and-teams-e054cd0f-8ef2-4ccb-937e-26e37419c5e4

It looks like FBX might be an option? It will still be exported as two separate files though. Let me know how you go.

[levart]

Microsoft's 3D Content Guidelines appear to have been written prior to the current implementation of SharePoint. The document discusses Office applications and explains that they can display 3D content (I know PowerPoint has some basic functionality) with textures that are not embedded as long as the texture file is saved along side the model file on the local drive. We are trying to allow students of our course to access this content through SharePoint without needing to download anything.

It would be helpful if the exporter provided the option to embed textures, even if that option came with a compatibility warning.

We are a government organization and are severely restricted about how we can release our data. For example, I would just save all of these models to Sketchfab, which is fast and displays models better than SharePoint, but they are not a "Trusted Digital Repository" so that is not allowed. Due to the difficulty in getting software approved for use, it is best for us to have as few different programs as possible involved in the process.

Sorry, I don't mean to complain. I'm just a little frustrated at having made several hundred lovely geologic sample models and no easy way to export them for students to see.

[cam3d]

Hi levart -

Thank you for your feedback - I've passed your feedback on to the developers.

Note: While it's not the ideal scenario, it is possible to roll back paid licences to previous versions of Zephyr: https://www.3dflow.net/3df-zephyr-version-archive/ - (7.003 is the most recent version which includes the old exporter)

[Roberto]

Thanks for the feedback. I confirm we'll address this issue with the next minor patch.

[levart]

Thank you so much for re-implementing the ability to export embedded textures! I never expected such a response, let alone so quickly. You have my gratitude.