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3D object

The 3D Object block lets you put high-resolution, beautiful 3D Objects into your course, which can then be viewed by students.

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It has one field: File, where you upload the 3D model of your choice. This comes with several strict requirements:

  1. File type: Must be "GLB." (glTF Binary). GLTF (non-Binary), USDZ, STL, DAE, etc. are not supported, and will likely never be supported.
  2. File size: Must be 32MB or smaller.

You can find GLB files from several places.

  1. Many 3D software packages have the ability to export GLB.
  2. Sketchfab is a fantastic website for finding 3D Models, and they all have GLB download options:

    image.png

  3. The Virtual Museums of Małopolska, in particular, is a fantastic Sketchfab account with a wide variety of common objects, with very reasonable attribution requirements.

As for why other 3D File Formats will not be supported and must be uploaded as "File Download" items:

  1. Parametric 3D files (i.e. from SolidWorks or Alibre) aren't meshes, but must be interpreted. Even in professional 3D applications, this is so complicated, they often outsource this code.
  2. Other formats, like STL, have no shading, lighting, or texture information within them. The result is a perfectly solid-white object with no discernable edges.  
  3. glTF (GLB's parent group) is an interesting format, but it's split across multiple files, all of which must be present for the glTF to render correctly. GLB is a compressed glTF with all of the files in one large file.