FVS Modeling Guideline

Application Scenario

This document is a modeling guideline adapted for FVS.

Modeling can be divided into four stages: preparation, model creation, model export, and model adjustment in FVS.

Notes

Sections with titles marked by an asterisk (*) are key points of focus in modeling software.

Some modeling methods and procedures differ from those of other modeling and rendering tools.

Model Style/Color Scheme

Model styles generally fall into three categories: realistic, sci-fi, and hybrid styles combining realistic and sci-fi elements.

Model Style	Example	Description	Notes
Realistic		Realistic materials and textures, such as brick, wood, and metal, are typically used to enhance visual realism.	Color schemes of realistic styles are based on warm and cool tones, which refer to the psychological perception of color temperature. Warm tones contain more reds, oranges, and yellows, creating a softer and more comfortable visual impression. Cool tones contain more blues, greens, and purples, creating a cleaner and more refreshing visual impression.
Sci-fi		Abstract, futuristic materials, such as glowing, transparent, or virtual textures, are typically used to enhance the sci-fi vibe and innovation.	Color schemes are usually determined by the UI design. For example, if the UI is predominantly blue, the model should adopt a blue sci-fi style to ensure overall visual consistency and harmony.
hybrid		The main object adopts a realistic style with a sci-fi scene, or vice versa. Either way, two styles are combined.	Color schemes of sci-fi scenes or main objects are determined by the UI design. Usually, the color scheme of sci-fi elements follows the UI theme color. For example, if the UI is predominantly purple, the sci-fi model should use the same color to ensure overall visual consistency and harmony.

Model Detail, Scale, and Quantity

The level of model detail is determined by user requirements.

You need to confirm the scale of the modeling scene and the number of objects, such as buildings and equipment.

Modeling Reference Materials Collection

This step is mandatory to facilitate communication between you and the designer.

You can refer to high-quality modeling examples online to help designers grasp the intended model effects and design concepts.

Modeling Tool *

Currently, only models of the GLB (GLTF 2.0) are supported in FVS.

Common modeling tools include Blender, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, and others. Blender is recommended. Blender provides native support for GLB model export without requiring any extra plugins, ensuring model compatibility and stability.

The following lists common methods for converting models of various formats to GLB.

• Online converter for 3D models

• 3D file converter

• Exporting GLB files from 3ds Max via Babylon.js Exporter

• Exporting GLB files from SolidWorks via the third-party plugin: SolidWorks Export Plugin.zip

• Exporting GLB files from Blender

• Exporting GLB files from Maya

• Exporting GLB files from Cinema 4D

• Exporting GLB files from SketchUp

• Exporting FBX/OBJ/DAE/STL files to GLB files in Blender

Alternatively, you can import FBX or OBJ models frequently used in modeling.

Standardized Object Naming

Object names must be clear and meaningful, and should avoid special characters, including: #, ￥, $, +, and =. Proper naming ensures that different objects can be easily identified based on their names. If data binding is required for later interactions, object names should remain consistent with data names.

Note: 

You can also modify object names in FVS.

Unified Scale Unit 

The 3D scene in FVS spans 10,000 units, where 1 unit equals 1 meter.

The unit is not mandatory. You can choose appropriate units based on project requirements.

Note: 

You are advised to use meters as the standard unit unless otherwise required.

The following figure shows how to change units in Blender. (The unit defaults to Meters in Blender.)

Positive Model Scaling

When scaling objects, use positive scale values. Negative scale values should be avoided, as they may cause exceptions when the model is imported into FVS.

Press N to view the scale values in Blender.

If negative scale values have been set for objects during modeling, press Ctrl + A, and select Scale to apply the scaling and reset the scale values to the default.

Geometry Topology

Model structures should be simple and well-organized, avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Quads and triangles should be preferred for topology. They deform more predictably and are easier to edit during modeling, making adjustments more efficient. They also help prevent deformation issues caused by irregular polygons.

In addition, quads and triangles are the basic geometry types supported by most 3D engines, ensuring better compatibility across rendering engines and post-processing tools.

Model Material *

You should follow the Physically Based Rendering (PBR) workflow when creating object materials.

Note: 

PBR is a rendering technique that simulates how light interacts with materials based on real-world physical principles to produce realistic visuals.

FVS supports the following texture channels:

• Albedo: It defines the color reflectance of a surface, representing the base color of a material.

• Metalness: It specifies which parts of a surface are metallic and which are non-metallic, and determines how the metallic areas of the material are rendered.

• Roughness: It defines the degree of surface roughness. Higher values indicate rougher surfaces.

• Emission: It defines whether a surface emits light, used to create self-illuminating effects on objects.

• Alpha (Opacity): It defines the transparency of a surface. Lower values indicate greater transparency, and 0 means fully transparent.

• Normal: It defines the normal information of a surface to fake surface details by altering how light interacts with geometry, thus enhancing realism.

• AO (Ambient Occlusion): It simulates light occlusion in crevices, enhancing the interplay of light and shadow between objects and thus realism.

Note: 

You only need a basic understanding of the seven channels above. Other channels are neither required nor supported in FVS.

The following figure shows commonly used material nodes that remain effective after the model is imported into FVS.

1. Blende Mode Setting

Note: 

1. For Blender of V3.6 and prior versions, to adjust material transparency, you need to select a proper Alpha mode under Material > Settings > Blend Mode.

2. Starting from Blender V4.2, the Blend Mode option has been removed. You can adjust the value of Alpha directly without selecting a mode; thus, the following steps can be skipped.

In real-time rendering, transparency is not determined by the value of Alpha alone; different blend modes can produce varied transparent effects.

In the Alpha Clip mode, materials are only fully transparent or opaque. In the Alpha Blend mode, materials can be semi-transparent.

Note: 

In the Alpha Blend mode, rendering order issues may occur. In such cases, you can enable Backface Culling to resolve the problem.

For example, when Alpha is set to 0.6 and Blend Mode to Alpha Blend with Backface Culling disabled, the rendering order is visibly incorrect, resulting in overlap between the object's front and back faces, as shown in the figure above.

When Alpha is set to 0.6 and Blend Mode to Alpha Blend with Backface Culling enabled, the rendering order is correct, and the front face is clear.

2. Material Texture Control

For smooth, metallic, mirror-finish, and similar surfaces, you need to set material parameters so that the surface differences are clearly distinguishable.

You can adjust the values of Metallic and Roughness to distinguish smooth, rough, metallic, and mirror-like materials.

3. Environment Texture / HDR / World Environment

You can download the built-in HDR resources in FVS as needed: FVS Built-in HDR.zip

You can add a world environment when Render Engine is set to EEVEE in Blender.

You can also use a custom environment texture in FVS.

Note: 

Keeping the environment texture consistent between your modeling tool and FVS helps reproduce the effects you tuned during modeling.

4. How Environment Textures Affect Reflective Materials

Reflections are visible on materials such as metal and glass. To achieve the desired look, switch to a different environment texture or use a custom one.

The strength setting of the environment texture also affects the brightness of reflections on materials. You can adjust the strength as needed.

Effect comparison of different environment textures 

Effect comparison of the same environment texture at different strengths

5. Emission

You need to enable and configure material emission in both Blender and FVS. You can set relevant parameters based on desired emission effects.

Comparison of different emission strengths

When varied levels of strengths are set for objects with the same blue emission color in Blender and the same emission settings are applied in FVS, the emission effects are not consistent, as shown in the figures above.

Note: 

In Blender, emission textures with the Strength value greater than one cannot be exported correctly. To ensure that brightness levels are clearly distinguishable and emission colors are reproduced accurately in FVS, set the Strength value to one or lower.

Hierarchy *

You need to organize multiple sections or floors (if any) in a scene into a clear hierarchy, such as parent-child sets or groups, to facilitate object management. You are advised to limit the hierarchy to two levels of empty parent nodes, with mesh objects at the third level. Excessive levels should be avoided.

Otherwise, when mesh object nodes are hidden or disabled in FVS, their child nodes cannot be displayed.

You should also avoid duplicate names across nodes; otherwise, issues related to data layer settings may occur.

Object Origin *

For single-object models, set the origin at the bottom center to facilitate object rotation and scaling in modelling software and FVS.

For multi-object models, set the origin to the world origin to make it easier to locate objects, adjust their position, and configure functions such as self-rotation in FVS.

Normals

All face normals should point outward to prevent rendering issues.

Red indicates inward-facing surfaces (incorrect), and blue indicates outward-facing surfaces (correct). If the face orientation is incorrect, select the affected faces and press Shift + Ctrl + N to recalculate the normals.

Linked Duplicate *

You should use linked duplicates for identical objects, as linked duplicates allow multiple objects to share the data with the original object, reducing file size and improving viewport performance (FPS).

Note: 

In Blender, press ALT + D to create a linked duplicate.

UV Mapping

UV mapping controls how textures are applied to a 3D model. You need to ensure UVs are properly unwrapped and the texture scale appears reasonable in the scene.

Texture Size *

The resolution of texture images should be kept below 2K and the size below 2 MB.

The size of texture images can impact the initial loading speed of resources.

Excessively large texture images slow initial loading, but the impact is reduced once resources are cached. Still, you are advised to compress texture files as much as possible without sacrificing image quality.

Model Animation *

When creating animations in 3D software, you should start at frame 0 or 1.

The frame rate should be set to 30 FPS. Animations should be logical.

1. Looping animations

For looping animations, such as vehicle movement and cargo transport, you should only export a single non-repeating clip and enable loop playback in FVS. First and last frames should match seamlessly for smooth playback.

2. Nonlinear animations

For nonlinear animations, such as folding and unfolding scenarios, you should use Blender's NLA (Nonlinear Animation) editor to divide the animation into separate clips, export each clip individually, and name each clip accordingly.

3. UV animations

For UV animations, such as speeding vehicles and electronic fences, you need to create the required textures (supported in Blender V4.2) and follow the PBR workflow to ensure the model can be exported to the GLB format.

Open the Timeline panel, move the playhead to frame 0, select the Mapping node, right-click any axis value of the transform property (Location, Rotation, or Scale), and select Insert Keyframes.

Note: 

Material animations cannot be exported, so keyframes added to any material channel will not take effect in the exported model.

UV Animation Export Method *

Note: 

The export method is intended exclusively for FVS.

Choose File > Export > glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf). In the export settings, set Animation Mode to Scene, tick Animation Pointer (Experimental), and configure other settings as needed.

Export Format *

Note: 

Currently, only models of the GLB (GLTF 2.0) are supported in FVS.

Model Compression *

In Blender's export settings, tick Compression to apply Draco compression.

Model Check *

You need to check the model for issues such as missing materials, broken geometry, overlapping faces, and black patches.

You can upload the exported GLB model to Babylon.js Sandbox to check. You are advised to keep the total mesh count of models below 3000. Exceeding this limit may result in performance issues, such as preview lag.

Note: 

You are advised to keep the total mesh count of all models in a 3D scene below 3000. For details about how to reduce the mesh count, see Performance Optimization Guide for FVS Models.

Open the Babylon.js Sandbox webpage, drag the GLB file into the window, and wait for it to finish loading. You can then quickly preview the model and perform a self-check.

Object Merging *

You can identify which objects require interaction and labeling and merge those that do not. Merging objects can improve model performance by effectively reducing the mesh count.

Note:

In Blender, you can select the desired objects and press Ctrl + J to merge them into the last selected object.

For details about how to optimize models, see Performance Optimization Guide for FVS Models.

GLB File Naming

GLB files should be named properly and avoid special characters, including #, ￥, $, +, and =, as the special characters may cause loading failures.

Lighting and Shadow *

You can adjust lighting and shadow settings as needed in FVS.

Lighting and shadows are required for realistic scenes; without them, the scene may lack volume and depth and thus appear unnatural. Shadows are optional in sci-fi scenes.

Note: 

In realistic scenes, the presence and absence of lighting and shadows make a substantial visual difference.

For details about lighting and shadow settings, see Light Source and Projection of FVS Custom 3D Scene Component.

Sky Background and Ground Effects *

1. You can set the sky background in FVS based on the model style.

For realistic scenes, the ground and roads are usually already modeled. Therefore, you only need to set a realistic sky background. Ground effects are generally unnecessary.

Two sky background options are available: Dynamic and Static.

For sci-fi scenes, the sky background and ground effects should be configured to match the overall color scheme. A solid-color sky is generally preferred, with a sci-fi grid used as the ground effect.

Two color schemes are available for the sky background: Gradient and Solid.

2. For ground effects, you can select built-in assets or upload custom assets in FVS.

For details about ground effects, see Ground Effect of FVS Custom 3D Scene Component.

Environment Texture

You can configure environment textures in FVS based on scene requirements.

Environment textures are used to simulate ambient lighting and background details, making the scene appear more realistic and vivid.

In FVS, you can use built-in environment textures for model adjustment or upload custom ones.

Special Effect

1. If you want to blur the boundaries of a scene, you can use the fog effect.

2. You can add particles, shockwaves, and rising light streaks to sci-fi scenes to enhance the visual impact.

Glow

You can configure glow effects in FVS based on scene requirements.

Because sci-fi models should convey a futuristic feel, glow is essential for enhancing the sci-fi atmosphere.

Overall Display Adjustment (Filter)

You can adjust the overall display through Saturation, Brightness, and Contrast settings.

Anti-Aliasing

You can select an anti-aliasing mode based on scene requirements.

Environmental Reflection

If ground reflections of models are required in a scene, you can select the model and tick Enable Environmental Reflection under Model > Reflection.

Note:

Enabling environmental reflections in large scenes can affect performance. Enable or disable the function as needed.

Model Animation Management *

In FVS, you can enable animations created during modeling and configure loop playback under Scene Event > Animation Scheme.

GLB File Replacement

Do not use overly similar file names for models intended to replace existing ones in FVS. Otherwise, display issues may occur after replacement.

Custom Wireframe Style

In FVS, you can enable the wireframe style to create a sci-fi wireframe effect and enhance the sci-fi atmosphere of the 3D scene.

During model import, you can preprocess model styles. After the model is imported, select the model, and you can customize the wireframe width and color.

Comparison of model effects with the wireframe style enabled and disabled.

For details, see Wireframe Style of FVS Custom 3D Scene Component .

Smooth Rendering

You can enable smooth rendering in the top toolbar. When the function is enabled, the system reduces the rendering effects for 3D components in the editing mode, thereby improving the editing performance.

Note: 

Enabling smooth rendering does not affect the related settings. Visual effect will still be fully displayed during template previews.

The following figures show the frame rate differences before and after smooth rendering is enabled.

For details, see Smooth Render Mode in 3D Scenes.