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A quick guide to 3D assets for your Odyssey

· 5 min read
Alex Zanutto
Nic Rutherford

In your Odyssey, you can place custom 3D objects. We put together a bunch of resources on how to get 3D assets (for free...🤩), convert them, and even get started creating your own assets.

We'll go through some tips and tricks that will show you:

  • Where to find cool, open-source 3d assets to use in your Odyssey
  • How to convert 3d object in the right format (GLB)
  • Useful resources if you want to get started with 3D modelling
caution

Currently, the maximum supported size for an object is 50 megabytes, if your asset is bigger, consider splitting it using a 3d modelling package.

Let's dive right in.

Gif of a person belly-diving from a trampolin

Finding cool and open-source 3D assets​

Don't know how to model 3D objects? No problem! There is a ton of free stuff out there, and in this case, "free" definitely doesn't mean "horrible quality".

This is a non-exhaustive list of websites that offer free and open-source objects.

info

Odyssey supports the glTF 3d graphical file format - specifically files with the .glb extension. We recommend you to look for assets in that format, or in .obj, which is easy to convert as we show in this section of the article.

OpenGameArt.Org​

OpenGameArt.Org is a go-to website for 3D objects (and also 2D, sound, etc.) that are open-source and game ready. "Game ready" is an important thing here, as it means that they are optimised to both look good and be kind on your computing resources.

To start browsing through what OpenGameArt.Org has to offer, you can visit their 3D art page. Use the left panel to refine your search, you can even filter by licence if you know which one you want.

When you have found the object you are looking for, if you click on the preview image, it will tell you the format of the asset. Remember: .glb, or .obj are the best!

Poly Haven​

Poly Haven is a South African project that offers open 3D models. They are really high quality, so make sure they are not too heavy.

They also have quite a few HDRI images that can be used as skybox for your Odyssey.

Sketchfab​

Sketchfab is a commercial website, but they accept open-source submissions, which are tagged as such. Due to the hybrid nature of the website, make sure you triple-check the licence of each model.

To view the download format, click on More model information in the model's page.

Open3DModel​

Open3DModel is the last entry in this list, and a huge archive of free 3d assets. They have a filtering option that will allow you to browse .obj objects

Converting your .obj assets to .glb​

We mentioned that .obj files are the easiest to convert to .glb, let's see how it's done with a free online conversion tool.

First things first: an .obj 3d object is made up of three files:

  • The object file itself (.obj)
  • The material (.mtl)
  • The palette (an image file like .png, or .jpg)

You will need all three files for a successful conversion

Convert your .obj object with Aspose​

Aspose offers a free conversion tool that works like a charm:

  1. Go to https://products.aspose.app/3d/conversion/obj-to-glb
  2. Drop all three files in the box
  3. Click Convert now and wait a bit...
  4. Click Download now
  5. Test that your object works by dropping it here: https://gltf-viewer.donmccurdy.com/

Now you are ready to spawn your custom asset in your odyssey!

Getting started with 3D modelling​

Creating objects in 3D is an intriguing experience, and an awesome skill to have. Needless to say, it's hard work, and it takes a lot of studying and fiddling around. Luckily, there are many free and open-source 3D editors and great communities that can teach you how to use them.

Blender​

Blender is the state-of-the-art when it comes to open-source 3D modelling (and commercial too, in some respects). This software is a powerhouse and has quite a steep learning curve, but the possibilities are literally endless.

If you would like to learn Blender, there are a few YouTube channels that have excellent tutorials for free:

MagicaVoxel​

Who doesn't love voxel art? It's fun and a staple of web3. MagicaVoxel is a free software (though not open-source) that allows you to easily create your own voxel models.

Learning how to voxel is a lot easier than full-blown 3D modelling, so if you are completely new, maybe you should start from here. Here are a few good resources:

Final thoughts​

We hope this quick guide is useful to get your Odyssey looking just the way you want. Don't forget to check out the docs for guides on all the tool available in Odyssey, and feel free to drop us a line if you have any feedback or feature request. We can't wait to be part of your journey!

tip

Always read the licence before using a 3D asset. Also, even if an asset doesn't require attribution, it is good etiquette to mention the artist, or at least give them a shoutout on their preferred social media channel. Finally, if they have a donation link, consider supporting their work that way, if you can.

Need help with building your Odyssey, or have feedback? Head over to our dedicated Discord channel, we'll give you a hand 😼