Plant 3D to Unity via 3Ds Max

At the current time of October 2020,

There is no way to directly import your model into Unity 3D,

We have two main programs that we can use as a middleman,

Navisworks or 3Ds Max.

 

In this blog I will show off 3Ds Max.

this also allows you to add some nice textures and models in from within 3Ds Max.

 

To do this,

We first need to convert the AEC objects in our Plant drawing to AutoCAD objects,

If we don’t, we will be missing parts of our models, normally things like Elbow, nozzles, etc,

On a side note, make sure you have used the BIND command to compress all your Xrefs into one drawing.

 

Use the EXPORTTOAUTOCAD to convert these AEC objects to normal AutoCAD components

 

 

 

 

 

Select a Location to save the file in, give it a file name, then Save.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open your 3Ds Max,

Go to the File Menu, Import, then select Link AutoCAD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse to where you have exported the file,

Select it and then click the Open button.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Manage links window opens,

Most of the options here can be left as default,

though I would recommend playing with these options to fine tune the import if you are having issue.

Here I used the Re scale option just to make sure my units where correct.

Select Attach this file.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the model loads,

You can do any adjustments in 3Ds Max like applying textures, lights, etc.

For now, I am just saving the file in a location I can easily find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go to Unity,

Open the Assets drop-down off the file menu.

Select Import New Asset…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse to the location you saved the model,

Select it and then click Import.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once imported,

select the model and on the right panel, Check the Generate Colliders box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now just drag the model into the scene Hierarchy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations!

Your scene should now be in Unity!

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