How to prepare multi-story 3D building for Twinzo app
3D models of multi-story buildings are often harder to process, compared to simple single floor model. Currently we are preparing automatic version for you through our Web Portal. However that doesn't mean you cannot upload it. If you are feeling capable to do it your self, you can prepare your model for that. Here is how to do it.
Software we used
Blender 4.0 or newer: https://www.blender.org/
We are using Blender natively but you can use your own software which you are familiar with. Tutorial described bellow should work very similar in other 3D software as well, however there can be small differences.
Automatic way
If you are not feeling capable to divide 3D model into separate floors, you can use our Automatic version. You will find it inside Advanced options during 3D model upload process.
How is it look like ?
When you click on Advanced options you will see this panel:
What “Model has Hierarchy” mean ?
We are using specific hierarchy system to recognize floors. Its made from empty primitive objects, which holds your individual mesh objects based on corresponding floor. Bellow is drop down menu with visualized hierarchy preview. You can also learn more about it in Manual way section:
If your 3D model already contains the required hierarchy, you need to check this option and Floor separation process bellow will be gray out. This will let us know, that your 3D model is prepared for Multi - storey visualization
If your 3D model does not have required hierarchy, you need to leave unchecked this option. Also when this option is unchecked, Floor Separation will become available and you can use it.
You can also leave “Model has Hierarchy” unchecked if your 3D model is single - storey building or you do not wish to use Floor Separation
What should I do ?
Before we proceed further, we need to learn what each field means:
First field is called Number of Floors and here you need to set number of floors your 3d model have
Based on number you entered in the first field, you will see many other columns, where for each floor you need to enter the height at which corresponding floor start in the 3D model. You can learn more in bellow section called How to measure ?
After you set up all numbers into fields, there is one last thing to do. You can see that there are checkmark buttons called Ground floor and Default floor
Ground floor indicates the floor of a building most nearly on a level with the ground
Default floor indicates the floor which you wanna always see at first when you launch your 3D model inside app
How to measure ?
In order to enter the height number into corresponding floor fields we want to share some information on how to do it and which rules to follow.
For each field you should enter the height at which corresponding floor starts. Entered height must be the same inside 3D model and real world. Otherwise we are unable to correctly cut 3D model for you. For example if Floor 3 starts at height 3.5 meters from 0.0, it should also start at 3.5 meters from 0.0 inside 3D model.
What about celling ? Celling is tricky, its recommended to set floor heights in such a manner that celling from previous floor will be included in next floor. For example celling from Floor 0 will not be included inside Floor 0 but in Floor 1. So you should set starting height of Floor 1 right bellow Floor 0 celling. Otherwise you will not see inside because view will be blocked by celling.
We prepared quick animation for better understanding:
Manual way
Hierarchy ?
We are using specific hierarchy system to recognize floors. Its made from empty primitive objects, which holds your individual mesh objects based on corresponding floor. Bellow is visualized hierarchy preview:
Main
Floor 0
Floor 0 Architecture
Your architecture objects
Floor 0 Interior
Your interior objects
Floor 0 Outside
Your objects which are outside main building
Floor 1
Floor 1 Architecture
Your architecture objects
Floor 1 Interior
Your interior objects
Floor 2
Floor 2 Architecture
Your architecture objects
Floor 2 Interior
Your interior objects
Floor 3
Floor 3 Architecture
Your architecture objects
Floor 3 Interior
Your interior objects
Floor 4
Floor 4 Architecture
Your architecture objects
Floor 4 Interior
Your interior objects
In hierarchy preview you can noticed that we have 1 main empty parent called Main and this parent holds additional children divided into the multiple individual floors like Floor 0, Floor 1, Floor 2, Floor 3, Floor 4 and etc… Then each floor holds additional child based on object type like Floor 0 Architecture and Floor 0 Objects or even Floor 0 Outside.
How can I do it ?
For this part we will be using mesh cubes as example to visualize use-case without dividing objects by their type
Each cube represent an object for different floor
Press shift + A and choose Empty and whatever empty type you like. Than rename it as Main by pressing F2
Than create another Empty objects and name them as Floor 0, Floor 1, Floor 2 and etc….
And at last but not least, we need to create another Empty for each floor and name them as Floor 0 Architecture, Floor 0 Interior, Floor 0 Outside … We need to do this for each corresponding floor
On the right side Hierarchy panel locate your Empty objects
Now hold ctrl (command on MAC devices) and select at first Floor 0 Architecture, Floor 0 Interior, Floor 0 Outside Empty objects and as the last select Floor 0. Than right click in the viewport and locate Parent and choose option Object. Repeat this for each Floor
After that hold ctrl (command on MAC devices) and select Empty objects called Floor 0, Floor 1, Floor 2 and as the last select Main. Than right click in the viewport and locate Parent and choose option Object.
Now we need to parent objects into corresponding floors. Since we already created Empty objects for each type like Architecture, Interior and Outside, we can again select desired objects and parent them under corresponding Floor and Empty object type.
To determine which objects parent under Architecture or Interior or Outside, you can follow tutorial bellow:
Architecture: Objects like Walls, Windows, Stairs, Ceilings, Roofs etc…
Interior: Objects like Furniture, Machines, Pipes, HVAC etc…
Outside: Objects which are Outside building like: Trees, Roads, Cars etc…
After that repeat step 8 for each individual floor