Zanoza Software

7th May 2021.ZModeler3 has moved to the new server

ZModeler3 has moved to the new server. Its uptime and response time should be the same or even better, so in general your should not notice any difference.

To summarize recent updates and bug fixes, I have re-uploaded the latest version of ZModeler. It is still version 3.2.1, but contains the latest versions of all components. As an addition, the package includes Autodesk FBX filter for import and export. This filter could be a good alternative to bring models to or from 3D packages of your choice, as it can retain Skeleton, rigging information, multiple UV channels, multiple color channels, normals and tangents. Yet you might still need to play around with objects scale or axis system before and after importing models, but it's still a much better choice than commonly used Wavefront OBJ model format.

Keep in mind that ZModeler does not handle geometry objects with more than 64K vertices, so heavy geometry meshes will get exported as a group of objects combined together. Also, native LODs system in FBX differs from the one offered by ZModeler and games: the LOD object in FBX can not have any child other than LOD geometry, so you might get incorrect hierarchy when exporting scene containing LOD (compounds).

FBX does not offer much freedom and flexibility still, so most of user-defined or ZModeler-specific data can not be retained in FBX file, be it object/elements properties, IDs, or user-defined data. Also, materials and shaders system offered in FBX can not retain all the material's data you have in ZModeler, be it dual-layer or triple-layer materials. I did my best to make conversion of ZModeler materials to FBX materials as close as possible to avoid loosing texture layers assignment, but you will still need to do a big job on materials before you export scene from ZModeler into the game.

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