Import other custom 3D models

Importing models larger than 100 MB requires a Pro or Enterprise license. You can learn more about our paid features and start a free trial to try this.

We currently support loading the following files to Arkio.

• OBJ / GLB / GLTF

• JPG / PNG

• Archicad, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, Navisworks (Windows installer plugin)

OBJ, GLB, and GLTF models can be loaded directly into Arkio by placing them in your device's Import folder (Documents/Arkio/Import/Models on Windows) or by uploading the files to your Arkio Cloud

Via our supported plugins

If you have access to CAD/BIM tools like Archicad, Revit, Rhino, Sketchup and Navisworks, this will offer the easiest and fastest way to get your models to Arkio. Our plugins optimize 3D geometry, export all objects and textures at the correct scale and orientation, and include Layers and BIM data, making it easier to work with these models on all your devices.

BIM formats like IFC can first be loaded into Navisworks, Revit, or Archicad to keep all the BIM data and filter the elements you want to export to Arkio in your 3D view.

CAD geometry can best be loaded into Rhinoceros, which supports importing more than 50 different mesh and CAD formats and offers a 90-day free trial. Allowing you to load various 3D models into Arkio using our plugins and professional features like Layers

Native exporters

You can often export to OBJ or GLB/glTF from your original application. Most applications can export to OBJ, a widely used legacy 3D format that can be imported directly into Arkio, either in the cloud or locally. When you export, you may need to rotate and scale your models to ensure they load correctly in Arkio and other 3D applications.

The OBJ format is old and has limitations outlined at the bottom of this page. We recommend exporting to GLB if your software supports this format. The GLB format is much easier to work with because it stores all texture and material data in a single file.

Third-party exporters

If your CAD application does not support exporting to our supported mesh formats, you can often find third-party plugins that allow you to export GLB/glTF files directly from your app. (Examples of this are this Plugin for Solidworks)

For exports from tools that support complex coordinates, ensure the models are exported near the origin (translate the model to 0, 0, 0) and flipped with the Y-axis up. You can also use free tools like Blender to convert models from various file formats (like FBX, USD, DAE, STL) to Arkio's compatible formats (GLB/glTF or OBJ)

Point cloud files

Point clouds cannot be imported directly into Arkio because these datasets are often too large for mobile devices. If you simplify your point cloud to a mesh, you can import the mesh into Arkio as an OBJ or GLB/GLTF file. Autodesk Recap 2022 introduced a scan-to-mesh workflow that can achieve this. You can also utilize external tools like Pointfuse, which supports importing a wide range of point cloud formats and exporting meshes.

Correct the scale and orientation models.

Arkio can import models in inches, feet, mm, cm, and meters from the import panel. If your modeling tool supports exporting to OBJ and GLB, you can often select the export units. We recommend exporting your creations in meters, the default 3D unit used by most 3D tools. If your model is exported in units other than these, you can manually scale your imported files by proportionally scaling the imported file after placement using scale increments by editing the corner.

3D modeling programs can use different coordinate systems. It is easiest to correct your orientation from the source modeling tools. Arkio uses a left-handed Y-axis-up coordinate system, similar to Unity. If you are using Blender or other modeling tools, you can set the coordinate system at export time to ensure your models are exported in this orientation.

If models are displayed in the wrong orientation in Arkio, you can choose a different up-axis from the import panel or use your hand in VR to pick up the geometry and rotate it to the correct position. When you load your models with Arkio's plugins, we prepare, scale, and orient them for you, so you don't need to worry about these settings.

OBJ files

OBJ (Wavefront) files are an old 3D format that only store geometry data. Material data is stored in a separate MTL file, and textures are referenced by file paths. For OBJ models with all their materials and textures to load correctly, you need to have your .obj, .mtl, and all your texture files together in one relative path.

OBJ files cannot contain spaces in the materials or texture files, as this is not supported in this format. If your .mtl and/or texture files have spaces, the materials won't load correctly. To verify that your 3D file and texture paths are correct, you can open the OBJ file in the Windows 3D viewer, which supports viewing both OBJ and GLB formats.

We recommend exporting your geometry in the modern GLB format, which includes materials and textures and is less prone to loading errors. You can use the following blender settings to load OBJ files directly into Arkio.

More information is available online about modeling software, including textures with their relative paths to the OBJ files. In Blender, you can use the materials Path Mode 'Copy' option to copy all needed textures in a subdirectory next to the exported .obj file.

Once exported, you can open the MTL file in Notepad to check if the texture paths are pointing to the correct textures. The map_Kd parameter should point to a relative path (eg, folder\texture.jpg) and not an absolute path that can only be accessed on your system (eg, C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk)

After testing the textures load correctly in the Windows 3D viewer, and before you custom-export files to Arkio, you can best zip the OBJ and GLB/GLTF files to keep all the materials and other files together for easy uploads and sharing. A GLB file can contain all the geometry and textures inside, but can also have some external texture files. glTF files can include a textures folder and a BIN file, which must be present for the model geometry and textures to load correctly.

The easiest way to load custom 3D files is to use Arkio Cloud to upload all files that belong together as a folder or a zip file. You can read more about this on Arkio Cloud portal