ARchi VR Assets

Revision Info: Documentation for ARchi VR Version 3.3 - April 2024

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ARchi VR Assets

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3D Models

The ARchi VR app supports in the AR view the following 3D file formats::

USDZ (.usdz, preferred)
SCNZ (.scnz)
Collada (.dae)

There are a number of useful tools to create 3D assets for ARchi VR:

Blender 3D editor
gltf2usd file convertor
Sketchup 3D Warehouse
Reality Convertor
Xcode 3D Editor

The 3D view of ARchi VR is using Web3D technology and needs referenced 3D models in the glTF file format. For 3D items referencing 3D assets that should be persistent and be visible in the AR view as well as in the 3D view (e.g., catalog elements), you should provide both 3D file formats such as:

../3D/model1.usdz
../gltf/model1.glb

Use the glTF binary format with the .glb file extension. The glTF URL is derived from the original *.usdz file location by using the same base name with the .glb ending and by looking up the ../gltf/directory.

Creation of 3D Assets with Blender on macOS

Create 3D model in Blender
In Blender export the model (without camera and light) as binary glTF with .glb file extension
Drop glTF file to Reality Convertor on macOS to get a USDZ file
save both files to the corresponding directories

Pixar Scripts for 3D File Conversion

Steps for converting 3D models from Sketchup 3D Warehouse:

Download 3D as Collada .dae file
Open Blender
- Import in Blender via .dae
- Delete the lights and camera from the scene
Export as gltf
- choose "gltf with separate files"
Open a terminal in the same folder as the saved gltf file
- $ python /Users/philipp/Documents/dev/repository/gltf2usd/Source/gltf2usd.py -g 'model.gltf' -o model.usdz
Check model as usdz file on a Mac
- import in Xcode 3D editor
- or open from Finder in Desktop viewer
Add an entry to the catalog.json file
Check scaling (mm vs. cm vs. m)
- set the appropriate scale factor (meter as 1, cm as 100)

DeclARe 3D

Declare and combine in an Action several items with their corresponding 3D visualizations:

Basic 3D primitives as geometry items: Plane, Box, Sphere, ...
Item types such as Spot, Route, and Zone
3D Model and 3D Catalog items
Interactive data items such as Lamp, Switch, Slider, Knob, ...
Group items into assembly hierarchies

3D Assembly Tree

Group items into assembly hierarchies using children dependencies. Only add root item of assembly hierarchy to the AR scene, all children elements will be added automatically to the scene tree.

Example of a delARed item with a hierachical assembly tree:

{
    "$schema": "https://service.metason.net/ar/schemas/action.json",
    "items": [
        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.labelline",
            "type": "Route",
            "subtype": "Polyline",
            "vertices": [
                [
                    0.0,
                    0.0,
                    0.0
                ],
                [
                    0.4,
                    0.0,
                    0.0
                ],
                [
                    0.6,
                    0.2,
                    0.0
                ],
                [
                    0.6,
                    0.4,
                    0.0
                ]
            ],
            "attributes": "color:white;"
        },
        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.underline",
            "type": "Route",
            "subtype": "Line",
            "vertices": [
                [
                    -0.24,
                    -0.05,
                    0.0
                ],
                [
                    0.24,
                    -0.05,
                    0.0
                ]
            ],
            "attributes": "color:white;"
        },
        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.textlabel",
            "type": "Spot",
            "name": "ARchi VR",
            "subtype": "Text",
            "attributes": "color:white;"
        },
        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.underlinedlabel",
            "type": "Geometry",
            "subtype": "Group",
            "attributes": "wxdxh:0.4x0.0x0.1;billboard:1;x:0.6;y:0.4;",
            "children": "net.metason.archi.underline, net.metason.archi.textlabel"
        },
        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.labelgroup",
            "type": "Geometry",
            "subtype": "Group",
            "attributes": "wxdxh:0.6x0.0x0.5;",
            "setup": "https://service.metason.net/ar/content/testcuration/children.json",
            "children": "net.metason.archi.labelline, net.metason.archi.underlinedlabel"
        }
    ],
    "tasks": [
        {
            "do": "add",
            "id": "net.metason.archi.labelgroup",
            "ahead": "0.0 0.0 -1.0"
        }
    ]
}

3D Asset as Action URL

DeclARed 3D items with assembly tree can be created by referencing the Action script URL in the asset field such as:

        {
            "id": "net.metason.archi.subgroup",
            "type": "Geometry",
            "subtype": "Group",
            "asset": "https://service.metason.net/ar/content/testcuration/geomgroup.json"
        }

Images

The ARchi VR app supports the following image file formats:

PNG (.png)
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
GIF (.gif)

Audio

The ARchi VR app supports the following audio file formats:

MP3 (.mp3)
ACC (.m4a)
PCM (.wav)

Video

The ARchi VR app supports the following video file formats:

MP4 (.mp4)
Quicktime (.mov)
MPEG-4 (.m4v)
3GPP2 (.3g2)
AVI (.avi)

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