{"id":82980492705,"date":"2014-04-17T02:34:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T00:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/post\/82980492705"},"modified":"2019-08-15T17:59:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T15:59:49","slug":"guest-post-blender-to-sketchfab-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/guest-post-blender-to-sketchfab-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest post : Blender-to-Sketchfab tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>This is a guest post by <a title=\"Phil's profile on Sketchfab\" href=\"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/saphires\">Phil Gosch<\/a> from <a title=\"Phil's website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saphirestudio.at\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">SaphireStudio<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>This tutorial will focus on uploading directly from within Blender. I\u2019ll be using my model of Majoras Mask from the Legend of Zelda series as an example for this tutorial.<!-- more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"sketchfab-embed-wrapper\">    <iframe title=\"Majoras Mask\" class=\"\" width=\"690\" height=\"388\" src=\"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/models\/c0671fc7d350432eb6c2e1dd88b9bd80\/embed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; xr-spatial-tracking\" allowfullscreen=\"\" mozallowfullscreen=\"true\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"true\" xr-spatial-tracking=\"true\" execution-while-out-of-viewport=\"true\" execution-while-not-rendered=\"true\" web-share=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>So let\u2019s start Blender version 2.70 or above. If you have a look at the toolbar (<b>T<\/b>) you can see the newly introduced tabs. One of them should read \u201c<i>Upload<\/i>\u201d and, if clicked, show the fields for Sketchfab uploads. If this tab isn\u2019t there you have to first activate the addon. You can do so by opening the User Preferences (<b>Ctrl+Alt+U<\/b>), go to the \u201cAddons\u201d section and search for \u201csketchfab\u201d there. If you found \u201c<i>Sketchfab Exporter<\/i>\u201d simply activate the checkbox next to it and the Upload tab should be available.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46g3nFk1V1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46g3nFk1V1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><br \/>\nThe next step is to prepare your model\/scene. First you should convert your paths\/surfaces\/text objects to polygon meshes (you can do so by selecting the object and pressing <b>Alt+C<\/b>). \u00a0Odds are high you have a finished model originally intended for rendering with cycles or Blender Internal, if that\u2019s the case and you\u2019re using complex node setups for mixing different color textures for a single material inside Blender it is best you bake down your textures to a single color-texture (<a href=\"http:\/\/wiki.blender.org\/index.php\/Doc:2.6\/Manual\/Render\/Bake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Blender Internal Baking<\/a> does a fine job at this). The same applies for specular-, specular-color-, glossines- etc. maps. I recommend using UV-mapped textures. The <a href=\"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/faq\/upload#blender-support\">Sketchfab FAQ mentions support for Blender Internal materials<\/a> (diffuse: toon, lambert, fresnel, Oren Nayar, mineart and specular: cooktorrence, phong, blinn toon, wardiso) and mixing\/multiplying of textures, however I recommend the way described above for full control over the end result.<\/p>\n<p>Also very important:<b> Give meaningful names to your materials<\/b>! When you have a drop-down menu in the sketchfab interface and all the entries just read \u201cmaterial.001, material.002, material.003, \u2026\u201d you\u2019re going to have a very hard time finding the one you\u2019re looking for. We will be fine tuning the materials and textures later via the sketchfab online interface, so be sure to properly name your materials. And related: Try to avoid special characters in your material and texturefile names!<\/p>\n<p>After that is done, let\u2019s have a closer look at the upload-options, most of them are pretty self explanatory:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46g87qdvn1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46g87qdvn1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><b>Export<\/b>:<br \/>\nThe \u201c<i>Model<\/i>\u201d setting lets you choose if you want to upload the current selection (\u201c<i>Selection<\/i>\u201c) or all objects in your current scene (\u201c<i>All<\/i>\u201c). Pay attention to hidden objects and layers as these could result in uploaded models being empty! The \u201c<i>Lamp<\/i>\u201d setting works similar tot he \u201cModel\u201d one, it let\u2019s you select if you want to export all lamps in the scene (\u201c<i>All<\/i>\u201c), only the currently selected lamps (\u201c<i>Selected<\/i>\u201c) or no lamps from your scene at all (\u201c<i>None<\/i>\u201c). In the case of \u201cNone\u201d the default sketchfab lighting will be used, which is\u00a0two default directional lights on the camera. All of Blenders lamp types except Area are supported, Arealights will be converted to Hemi. You can also use an environment for image-based lighting, which will be covered later in this tutorial.<\/p>\n<p><b>Model info<\/b>:<br \/>\n\u201c<i>Title<\/i>\u201c: This is the name of the Sketchfab model you\u2019re about to upload.<br \/>\n\u201c<i>Description<\/i>\u201c: Describe your model in a few sentences.<br \/>\n\u201c<i>Tags<\/i>\u201c: This lets you specify tags for your model, seperate the tags with a \u201c,\u201d.<br \/>\nThe \u201c<i>Private<\/i>\u201d checkbox finally lets you upload your model as private and only be visible to the people you choose to. This option requires a Pro account to work.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sketchfab account<\/b>:<br \/>\nThis is maybe the most important setting, as it tells the addon which account the model should be uploaded to! For this you have to enter your unique API token. You can find your API token by <b>1.<\/b> going to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sketchfab.com\">Sketchfab.com<\/a>\u00a0and logging in or signing up if you haven\u2019t already (remember it\u2019s free!). Then <b>2.<\/b> hover your mouse cursor over your account name at the top of the page and click on \u201c<i>My settings<\/i>\u201c. And finally <b>3.<\/b> click on \u201c<i>Password<\/i>\u201d to find your API token. You can also click on \u201c<i>Claim your token<\/i>\u201d inside Blender, which prompts you to enter your email adress and get a Sketchfab token.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gb2jRBr1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gb2jRBr1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><b>Upload<\/b>:<br \/>\nFinally this button starts the upload process and you get a notification after your model was uploaded successfully! yay! :)<\/p>\n<p>Additionally a button reading \u201c<i>View Online Model<\/i>\u201d will be displayed under the \u201c<i>Upload<\/i>\u201d button, which should open your model in a web-browser.<\/p>\n<p>But we are only half done at this point. Now that the model is uploaded we have to fine-tune the settings and materials. So head to the Sketchfab homepage and find the recently uploaded model in your dashboard(\u201c<i>My models<\/i>\u201c). It probably won\u2019t have any textures applied to it, but don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll take care of that now. Click on it to view the model and find the orange \u201c<i>Settings<\/i>\u201d button underneath, which opens a submenu if you hover your mouse cursor over it. If you click on \u201c<i>Properties<\/i>\u201d you can change or add to the title, description and tags. But we are looking for the \u201c<i>3D Settings<\/i>\u201d now, so click on this menu entry.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gd1sRzq1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gd1sRzq1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>After you clicked on \u201c<i>3D Settings<\/i>\u201d you should see the following screen, showing the general settings for your model:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46ggbn1om1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46ggbn1om1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>Here you can change settings like the models orientation, camera properties, shading mode, wireframe view, and so on. Most of the settings are pretty self explanatory again. Under \u201c<i>Fixed Background<\/i>\u201d you can change your background, or even turn it off completely. Pro accounts can even define their own custom backgrounds. Finally the \u201c<i>Environment<\/i>\u201d tab lets you specify an HDR environment for reflections and lighting. I usually set \u201c<i>Exposure<\/i>\u201d pretty high and turn off \u201c<i>Replace Background<\/i>\u201c. Then when working on the materials I individually set the environment reflection amount for each of them, which works pretty well. To edit the materials just switch to the \u201c<i>Materials<\/i>\u201d tab:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gf0gwmJ1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46gf0gwmJ1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>From the dropdown menu at the top you can choose which material to edit. Because of this it was important to give proper names to your materials in Blender, remember? So choose a material to edit and you see the individual components like <i>diffuse, specular color, glossines, normalmap<\/i> etc. With the little switch next to each components name you can turn this component on or off and with the slider underneath you can control the amount this component is contributing to the material. If you don\u2019t know what an individual component is used for just hover over the little \u201c?\u201d next to its name. To add a texture to a component of the material click on the square that is on the left hand site of the slider. In the floating window that pops up select \u201c<i>Texture<\/i>\u201d and then \u201c<i>Import<\/i> <i>Image<\/i>\u201d as shown here:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46giqwZPl1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_inline_n46giqwZPl1rh8rjh.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>After clicking on \u201c<i>Import Image<\/i>\u201d just find the texture file on your hard drive and open it. You can do this for each component you have a separate texture for, usually that\u2019s color, specular-color, glossiness and bump\/normal. You can also apply a pre-baked lightmap if necessary or a separate texture for <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/post\/57726641144\/how-to-deal-with-transparency-on-sketchfab\">transparency<\/a>. I wanted the eyes of my model to glow a little, so I added the color texture also in the \u201c<i>Emission<\/i>\u201d component and turned up its power a little. In the \u201c<i>Environmental Reflection<\/i>\u201d tab you can then fine tune how much each material should reflect the environment. And under \u201c<i>Faces Rendering<\/i>\u201d you find options to turn a metrial two-sided or single-sided. You can find out more about the material editor by <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.sketchfab.com\/post\/45409770868\/material-editor\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As a last step rotate your model so it looks nice and click on \u201c<i>Take Screenshot<\/i>\u201d to get a nice thumbnail for your model. And that\u2019s basically it, play with the settings some more until you are satisfied and then share your model with the world! ! hope this guide was helpful, let me know in the comments!<\/p>\n<p>Have fun and don\u2019t forget to show your models to me :)<\/p>\n<p><i>We\u2019d like to thank Phil for this in-depth tutorial, we\u2019re sure our Blender users will find those tips valuable.<\/i><i>The original tutorial can be found <a title=\"Blender to Sketchfab Tutorial\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saphirestudio.at\/wptest\/blender-to-sketchfab-tutorial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guest post by Phil Gosch from SaphireStudio. This tutorial will focus on uploading directly from within Blender. I\u2019ll be using my model<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[582],"tags":[18,996,584],"class_list":["post-82980492705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tutorial","tag-blender","tag-tutorial-sketchfab-feature","tag-tutorials"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82980492705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82980492705"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82980492705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142059990830,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82980492705\/revisions\/142059990830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82980492705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82980492705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchfab.com\/blogs\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82980492705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}