3D Content Guidelines for Microsoft

Jeremy Kersey, Fiona Mok

Version 1.3 2019

00 Introduction 03 Content Creation 04 Additional Resources
3D Content Guidelines for Office Creating Custom 3D Assets for Office Tools
Guide overview Content creation overview Preview tools
Polygon modelling Validation tool
Surfacing Appendix
01 3D Engine Overview Animation
Useful links
Rendering Overview Export Workflows
What is rendering? Export overview
Offline rendering GLB
Real-time rendering FBX
OBJ
Office 3D Engine PLY
Real-time rendering in Office
STL
Performance targets
3MF
Office 3D feature support
Conversion Workflows
CAD

02 Sourcing Assets Intermediate file formats

Optimizing
Acquiring 3D Assets for Office File size and memory consumption
Acquiring 3D assets overview Performance
Online marketplace search terms
Selecting content
Visual Artifacts
Common visual artifacts
Vendors
Introduction
3D Content Guidelines for Office
Introduction

Guide overview
Whether you are a Microsoft Office 365 user looking to acquire
3D assets for your documents or a 3D professional creating
content for your clients, this guide is designed to help you be
more successful with 3D in Office.

The guide is split into four major parts:

01 3D Engine Overview
02 Sourcing Assets
03 Content Creation
04 Additional Resources

If 3D in Office 365 is new to you, be sure to check out this quick

start guide and video. These templates are also a great way to
explore using 3D in PowerPoint and Word.
Introduction
Guide overview
Each of the four major parts of the guide can be read in sequence or independently in any order you choose.
01 3D Engine Overview
Learn about the inner workings of the
real-time 3D engine used in Office
and how it compares to other
methods of rendering 3D content.
Recommended reading for:
Everyone
02 Sourcing Assets
Tips and tricks for finding quality 3D
content in online marketplaces and
working with vendors to build your
custom assets.
Recommended reading for:
Office users looking to acquire 3D assets
03 Content Creation
Step through the process of creating
content for real-time rendering in
Office. From modelling, surfacing and
animation through to optimizing and
exporting your assets.
Recommended reading for:
3D Professionals
04 Additional Resources
Discover tools for viewing, analyzing
and validating your 3D content as
well as links to other valuable
resources.
Recommended reading for:
3D Professionals
Office users reviewing 3D content
3D Engine Overview
Rendering Overview
3D Engine Overview

What is rendering?
To create the computer-generated images used in today’s films,
video games and applications, 3D models are created with
complex materials and textures and then lit and animated in
virtual simulations of real-world physical properties.

Rendering is the process of calculating the results of these

simulations and turning it into the final image on screen.

Depending on the intended usage of the resulting images,

different types of renderers can be used to achieve varying
levels of quality and accuracy versus the time it takes to render.

Recursive Ray Tracing of a sphere, which incorporates the effects

of diffuse interreflection, limited depth-of-field and area light
Learn more about the process of computer graphics rendering on sources. Generated using a custom Java renderer.
Wikipedia. Tim Babb, 2018. Wikipedia license.
3D Engine Overview

Offline rendering
Offline rendering makes use of a technique called Ray Tracing to
achieve the photorealism and ultra high precision seen in
today’s films and product visualizations.

Ray Tracing aims to replicate the way light interacts with objects
and reflects to your eyes in the real world. This simulation of
physical properties is what creates realistic surfaces, lighting
phenomenon, accurate reflections and shadows.

This level of quality comes at a high computational cost and is

usually carried out on large server farms and can take several
minutes or even hours to produce a single high-resolution
image of complex scenes.

Ray Tracing is commonly used in offline rendering, where as most

of today’s real-time renderers rely explicitly on Rasterization. For Illustration of the Ray Tracing algorithm for rendering an image.
more information on the differences see Nvidia’s article here. Henrik, 2018. Wikipedia license.
3D Engine Overview

Real-time rendering
The power of real-time rendering really shines in interactive
experiences where the action on screen in not predetermined.

Rasterization is a real-time rendering technique used in today’s

video games and simulators. Rasterization is hardware
accelerated by the Graphics Processing Unit or “GPU” in your
computer to achieve a constant frame rate with smooth
interactions and fluid animations.

Rendering complex scenes at this pace on today’s hardware

requires some tradeoffs in physical accuracy compared to an
offline renderer where speed is less of a constraint.

Visit Scratchapixel for an in-depth breakdown of a Rasterization Principle of the geometrical perspective projection.
implementation. Joachim Baecker, 2005. Wikipedia license
Office 3D Engine
3D Engine Overview

Real-time rendering in Office Supported 3D File Formats

File Extension Meshes Materials UVs Textures Vertex Colors Animation
Office is using a real-time Rasterization renderer to create the GLB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
resulting images you see when you insert a 3D model.
FBX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
glTF or “GL Transmission Format” is the open source 3D file
OBJ Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
format used by Office to store and render all 3D models.
PLY Yes No No No Yes No
Many different 3D file formats can be imported and are
automatically converted to glTF before rendering in Office, STL Yes No No No No No
because of this it is important to understand the feature set of 3MF Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
the glTF specification.
Each supported 3D file format has its own limitations that need to be considered when
authoring content. Click the links in the table above to jump to the export guide for each
format in the Content Creation section.

GLB is the binary version of glTF which allows you to store complex
3D assets in a single file for maximum portability.

GLB is recommend when exporting to the glTF format for Office.

3D Engine Overview

Performance targets

The hardware and the resolution of the screen used to view or present your 3D documents will have
a direct impact on what fidelity of models you will be able to display while remaining performant.

This table defines some conservative targets to aim for when acquiring or authoring 3D content for
a range of hardware. When in doubt, target models to the Mid-Range profile for a balance of fidelity
and performance.

Low End Mid-Range High End

Processor and Graphics i3 i5, Integrated Graphics i7/i9, Discrete GPU
Triangle Count Maximum 25k 40k 60k
Texture Count Maximum 5 9 12
Texture Resolution Maximum 512x512 2048x2048 4096x4096
Texture Resolution Average 256x256 1024x1024 2048x2048
3D file sizes should be kept below 50mb whenever possible. Draw Calls Maximum 4 6 8

Large 3D file sizes will directly affect the size of your documents Joint Count Maximum 40 100 180
and make them less portable. Share large documents easily using a Joint Count Mapped to Vertices Maximum 20 50 100
cloud service such as OneDrive or SharePoint.
Multiple Texture Passes per Material Not Recommended Yes Yes
3D Engine Overview

Office 3D feature support 3D Feature Office on *Windows PC Office on **Mac

3D Model Support
Mesh Primitives with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) Office 2019 Office 2019
Depending on the version of Office you are working Metallic Roughness material workflow Office 365 Subscription Office 365 Subscription
with, there will be differences in the available 3D Points and Lines Primitives - -
features. Animated 3D Model Support
Skinned skeletal animation Office 365 Subscription -
Office 365 receives regular updates and will provide Node transform animation - -
access to the latest features as they become available. Morph Target animation - -
glTF Extension Support
3D features are supported on:
Office 2019 Office 2019
• Office for Mac KHR_materials_pbrSpecularGlossiness
Office 365 Subscription Office 365 Subscription
• Office for Windows Office 2019 Office 2019
KHR_materials_unlit
• Office Mobile for Windows 10 Office 365 Subscription Office 365 Subscription
*Supported Windows PC Versions: Win7 (with latest updates), Win8 and Win10
**Mac 2012 or greater with OS X Sierra or greater

Documents authored with 3D content will still be viewable by users

on the web clients or previous versions of Office. However, 3D
models will be displayed as images with no embedded animation
or interaction capabilities.
Sourcing Assets
Acquiring 3D Assets for Office
Sourcing Assets

Acquiring 3D assets overview

There are a couple of options to consider when acquiring 3D content,
each has its own advantages depending on your needs.

Online marketplace Vendors

Advantages Advantages
• Plenty of pre-made content in many different art styles • Completely custom assets built to your specifications
• Assets ready for immediate download • glTF compliant and performant
• Attractive pricing • Assets can be owned outright when the proper agreement is in place

Disadvantages Disadvantages
• You may not be able to find a suitable asset • Lead time
• Assets may require modifications to be glTF compliant and performant • Requires more time investment up front and during development
• Licensing terms may prevent the intended usage • High quality vendors can come at a high cost
Sourcing Assets

Online marketplace search terms

There are many online marketplaces offering a huge selection of
content which means that finding the right 3D asset can be challenging.

Here are some things to keep in mind while searching marketplace

content to help narrow down the selection quickly.

Filters Visual Style Animated Content Technical Specifications

• Setup a filter for the supported
file types such as .GLB and .FBX
• Filter by license type to avoid
unusable content
• Content categories. Examples:
animals, dogs, animated
• Use keywords that describe the
art style
• Examples: realistic dog, hand
painted fire hydrant, cartoon
sports car, photorealistic human
• Animated content should be in
.GLB or .FBX
• Animation style terms: squash
and stretch, exaggerated, realistic,
motion capture, mo-cap
• Technical terms: rigged, skinned,
takes, clips, looping, walk cycles
• Technical keywords can help
focus on options that will work
out of the box with Office
• Examples: glTF compliant, Real-
time, no plug-ins, polygons,
triangles, clean topology, UVs,
texture, PBR, Metallic Roughness
Sourcing Assets
Selecting content
After narrowing down the options using filters and search terms
there are still a few things to consider before making a purchase.
Licensing
• Pay close attention to the details of the licensing agreement before
making a purchase and when using the content.
• Each piece of content is subject to its own license terms which may
impose limitations on its usage such as redistribution restrictions.
• Some content may have 3rd party branding. In this case usage
clearances need to be requested directly from the original rights holder.
Refer to Performance targets in the 3D Engine Overview section to
ensure that asset fidelity is aligned with hardware requirements.
Quality Listings
• Always look for highly rated assets with artists who are active and
responsive to feedback on their listings.
• Many marketplaces display certification badges or tags for assets that
have been verified for quality.
• Most marketplaces sell content provided by many different vendors, so
don’t be afraid to ask questions or request fixes if the asset received is
not as advertised.
Technical Notes
• 3D content creation applications provide many workflows that are not
supported by glTF and the Office 365 renderer.
• Be aware that these types of assets may have to be heavily modified
before they are ready to use in Office.
• Examples of unsupported features to avoid: NURBS, subdivision
surfaces, parametric solids, procedural materials, subsurface scattering,
curvature maps, cavity maps, height maps, displacement, hair and fur
simulations, cloth and muscle simulations
Sourcing Assets
Vendors
There are plenty of readily available vendors that could help
build custom 3D assets for your project.
Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when choosing and
working with a vendor.
Choosing a vendor
• Demonstrates clear communication skills and responsiveness to clients
• Proven track record of successful job completion
• Portfolio containing examples of the required art style or asset type
• Experience producing assets for real-time rendering
• Local time zone of the vendor may impact the scheduling and communication
Provide to a vendor
• Detailed delivery schedule for major milestones
• Work in progress review terms
• Asset delivery terms: method of delivery, final file format, source files
• Reference package: Art targets, color palettes, animation style examples, object
reference images or drawings, dimensions
• Technical specifications: Draw call limits, texture resolutions, texture counts, triangle
count, joint count, file size targets
• Quick turnaround on feedback and answering questions
Content Creation
Creating Custom 3D Assets for Office
Content Creation

Content creation overview

Following the overview of feature support, the Content Creation guidance is

split into four major sections.

The guidance may be read in sequence or you can jump to the section that is
most relevant to your workflow.

Export Workflows Conversion Workflows Optimizing Visual Artifacts

Example export workflows for each of General guidance on converting Guidance for reducing file size and Tips for identifying and resolving
the supported 3D file formats and parametric CAD models and working memory consumption as well as tips common visual rendering artifacts.
tips for avoiding common issues. with intermediate 3D file types. for resolving common performance
bottlenecks.
 Autodesk Maya

Content Creation

Polygon modelling

Create meshes with real-time rendering in mind and

use the performance targets to inform your modelling
budgets.

Combine sub-meshes whenever possible to reduce

draw calls. Be aware that glTF will split meshes with
multiple materials into a sub-mesh per material.
Supported Mesh Features
• Triangles or quads
• Vertex normals for hard or soft edges
• 2 UV sets
• UV tiling
• 1 vertex color set

All meshes will be triangulated when exporting to .GLB or during Textured Mesh Vertex colors Blended Result

the conversion process that occurs while importing any of the other
supported 3D file formats into Office.
Content Creation

Surfacing

glTF and the Office renderer makes use of Physically

Based Rendering or “PBR” with a Metallic Roughness
workflow.

A detailed breakdown of the PBR texture and material

creation process is covered for a variety of applications
in the Khronos Group’s Art Pipeline for glTF.

Supported Textures
• Base Color
• Normal
• Metallic
• Roughness
• Ambient Occlusion
• Emission

Metallic Roughness is the standard PBR workflow for glTF. Specular

Glossiness is also supported via a glTF extension. For an example of
Specular Glossiness usage see FBX export workflow.
Content Creation
Autodesk Maya

Animation
Animations can be embedded in .GLB and .FBX files
and show up as “Scenes” in Office. These Scenes can
be triggered just like any other animation type found
in Office.

See the Export Workflows section for more details on

exporting multiple animations to .GLB or .FBX.
Supported Animation Features
• Skinned skeletal joint hierarchies
• 4 influences per vertex maximum
• Normalized weighting
• 30 frames per second with keys on frame recommended
• glTF animation interpolation: linear, cubic spline
• FBX animation interpolation: linear
• Up to 18 animations within one .GLB or .FBX file

Support for node transform animation and morph target

animation is coming soon. Check the Office 3D feature support
table for updates.
Export Workflows
Content Creation

Export overview glTF Exporters

Content Creation Package Compliance Description

Now that your 3D content is complete, you will need Blender.org Blender glTF 2.0 Native import / export Blender 2.8 or later
to export it in a supported 3D file format which can
Autodesk 3DS Max glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Max 2015 or later
handle all the features the asset requires.
Autodesk Maya glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Maya 2018 or later
glTF is the open source 3D file format recommended
for Office. If your content creation package doesn’t Trimble SketchUp glTF 2.0 Separate extensions for export and import
have a glTF exporter yet, we recommend exporting to
Allegorithmic Substance Painter glTF 2.0 Native exporter
.FBX for animated and textured assets.
SideFX Houdini glTF 2.0 Native import / export

Foundry Modo glTF 2.0 Native exporter

Visit Khronos Group on GitHub for a full list of glTF Import, Export and Conversion tools.

No glTF exporter? Consider requesting one from your software

vendor or the glTF community on the Khronos Group’s GitHub.
Content Creation
GLB
Exporting directly to GLB from your content creation
tools is the best option for more direct control over
how your assets will look in Office.
The Babylon.JS plug-ins for Autodesk Maya and 3DS
Max allow you to work directly with the glTF metallic
roughness workflow; further reducing the conversion
that needs to happen during the export process.
Create multiple animations on the timeline and use
the Babylon.JS Animation Groups panel to define
frame ranges and export multiple animation clips in a
single file.
Read more about the glTF file format here on Wikipedia.
Visit Khronos Group on GitHub for a full list of glTF Import, Export and Conversion tools.
glTF workflow documentation
• The Art Pipeline for glTF from Khronos Group provides an excellent breakdown of the whole glTF
workflow in a variety of applications.
• Autodesk Maya | Babylon.JS:
• Metallic roughness workflow with Stingray PBS or the Arnold Standard Surface material
• Autodesk Maya | Babylon.JS:
• Multiple animations in a single GLB file
• Autodesk 3DS Max | Babylon.JS:
• Metallic roughness workflow with PBR materials or the Arnold Standard Surface material
• Autodesk 3DS Max | Babylon.JS:
• Multiple animations in a single GLB file
Tools
Content Creation Package Compliance Description
Autodesk Maya glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Maya 2018 or later
Autodesk 3DS Max glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Max 2015 or later
Content Creation

FBX

Wide availability and feature support make FBX the

next best choice after GLB when exporting content for Embed Media option in the Maya FBX exporter dialogue.
Office.
Autodesk Maya: Phong Specular Gloss workflow mappings for glTF
When authoring FBX files you must use the Specular glTF attribute Phong attribute Texture type
Glossiness workflow. This can be achieved in Autodesk
Base Color Color RGB + A for optional transparency
Maya with a standard Phong material.
Specular Specular Color RGB + A for Glossiness
Use the Embed Media export option to package
Glossiness Specular Color A channel of Specular texture
textures inside the exported FBX file. If your exporter
does not have an embed option, textures must be in Normal Bump / Normal RGB
the same directory as the FBX file on a local drive.
Textures must be referenced with relative paths. Emission Incandescence RGB

Ambient Occlusion Ambient Color RGB

Importing FBX files into Office will result in a GLB that uses the
Specular Glossiness glTF extension. FBX files that reference loose
textures must be imported from a local drive.
glTF only supports .PNG and .JPG textures, all other image formats will be converted during the import process.
Color factors can be used in place of textures for Base Color, Transparency, Specular, Emission and Ambient
Occlusion.
Content Creation

FBX

Multiple animations can be authored on a single

timeline or by arranging clips with the Time Editor in
Autodesk Maya.

Frame ranges of multiple animations can be defined in

the Animation Clips tab of the Game Exporter.

The Time Editor tab in the Game Exporter is used to

select which animations clips will be exported and
their desired frame ranges.

Read more about the FBX file format here on Wikipedia.

Three animations defined for export in the Animation Clips tab of Maya’s Game Exporter panel.
Content Creation

OBJ

When authoring OBJ files you must use the Specular

Glossiness workflow. This can be achieved in Autodesk
Maya with a standard Phong material.
Autodesk Maya: Phong Specular Gloss workflow mappings for glTF
Exporting an OBJ will also create an MTL file. The MTL glTF attribute Phong attribute Texture type
file can be opened in a text editor to see material
Base Color Color RGB + A for optional transparency
settings and references to texture files.
Specular Specular Color RGB + A for Glossiness
The OBJ, MTL and loose texture files must all exist in
Glossiness Specular Color A channel of Specular texture
the same directory on a local drive when importing
OBJ files in Office. Normal Bump / Normal RGB

Emission Incandescence RGB

Ambient Occlusion Ambient Color RGB

glTF only supports .PNG and .JPG textures, all other image formats will be converted during the import process.
Read more about the OBJ file format here on Wikipedia.
Many OBJ exporters will interpret normal maps as bump maps on export.
Content Creation
SideFX Houdini

PLY

PLY files were primarily designed to store mesh data

from 3D scanners. Vertex normals can be used to
create hard and soft edges. A single vertex color set
with alpha is also supported.

Both binary and ASCII versions of PLY are available.

Read more about the PLY file format here on Wikipedia.

Content Creation

STL

STL files are commonly used in 3D printing workflows

and only describe surface geometry with hard edged
faces.

All color, texture and UV information will be stripped

on export. STL files contain no scale information and
the units are arbitrary.

Most STL exporters provide an option to output files

in either binary or ASCII.

Read more about the STL file format here on Wikipedia.

Content Creation
3D Builder

3MF

The 3D Manufacturing Format or 3MF, is a 3D printing

format designed for interoperability of full fidelity
models across platforms, applications and services.

3MF files can be imported into Office with vertex

colors, UVs and embedded textures for base color.

Read more about 3MF and the consortium here.

Conversion Workflows
Content Creation

CAD SideFX Houdini

Modelling tools in most CAD applications use sets of adjustable

mathematical parameters to define parametric solids.

Parametric solids are highly accurate volumes that can be used

to carry out engineering simulations and manufacturing
processes.

glTF and the Office renderer require models to be represented

as a triangulated polygon surface.

Additional Notes
• Many CAD applications can perform the required tessellation step
when exporting to another file format.
• CAD assemblies often contain large amounts of individual parts each
with their own material assignments.
• Refer to the Content Creation guidance on Draw Calls and Hierarchy
Complexity to improve the performance of exported CAD files. If your application does not support tessellation on export, there
are several 3rd party solutions on the market for converting CAD
models to polygon surfaces.
Content Creation

Intermediate file formats

Even if your content creation package cannot export
to any of the supported 3D file formats, you may be
able to export your assets to an intermediate file
format which can be converted with another tool.
The widely supported COLLADA exchange file format
Example .DAE to .GLB conversion workflow
• Install the OpenCollada plug-in for Autodesk Maya or 3DS Max
• Install the Babylon.JS exporter for Autodesk Maya or 3DS Max
Launch Autodesk Maya or 3DS Max and enable the OpenCollada and Babylon.JS plug-ins
•
• Import the .DAE file
• Use the Babylon.JS exporter to generate a .GLB
Alternatively, export as .FBX with embedded media
•

is the precursor to glTF from Khronos Group.

COLLADA’s .DAE files can be imported and exported

with a variety of applications. Tools
Content Creation Package Compliance Description

Autodesk Maya | 3DS Max glTF 2.0 OpenCollada plug-in

Autodesk Maya glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Maya 2018 or later

Autodesk 3DS Max glTF 2.0 Babylon.JS plug-in for Max 2015 or later
.ZAE is the archive version of .DAE. Changing the extension from
.ZAE to .ZIP will allow you to unpack the contents. Visit Khronos Group on GitHub for a full list of glTF Import, Export and Conversion tools.
Optimizing
Content Creation Use 3D Viewer to compare stats and visualize optimization results.

File size and memory consumption

Autodesk Maya

Textures Unused Data Triangle Reduction

• Reducing the resolution and the amount of textures will have the • Be sure to remove any data that is not required by your Office • It takes a massive reduction in triangle count to make a meaningful

largest impact on memory consumption and file size on disk. document. Extra nodes, meshes, materials and textures can add up change to file size. Use this method when it is the only remaining

quickly. option.
• Reduce textures based on their visual impact. For example metallic

roughness maps can often be half the resolution of base color and • Animations can consume a lot of disk space, especially in assets • If the model usage is known ahead of time, use that to inform

normal maps with no discernable reduction of quality. with large skeletal hierarchies. Remove all key frames on channels triangle reduction choices. Focus on less important areas with high

that are not changing for the duration of the animation. mesh density while being mindful of the silhouette impact.
• JPG compression and PNG quantization will further reduce file size

on disk, however it will have no impact on the memory required at • Remove any extraneous animations and trim the range of the • Fine geometric surface details can often be replaced by baking

runtime when the asset is loaded. required animations to only the frames you need. them into normal and occlusion maps for large triangle savings.
Content Creation Use 3D Viewer to compare stats and visualize optimization results.

Performance

Autodesk Maya

Draw Calls Transparency Textures

• The most common runtime performance bottleneck can usually be • Transparency has significantly more cost to render compared to a • Large textures require a lot of system resources and can be

attributed to large amounts of draw calls. fully opaque material. especially taxing on devices without a discrete GPU.

• While there are many reasons an asset may incur more draw calls • Split texture sets into opaque and transparent materials to • Reduce textures based on their visual impact. For example metallic

the most likely cause is simply many materials assigned to the minimize the amount of geometry rendered with alpha. roughness maps can often be half the resolution of base color and

meshes in the scene. normal maps with no discernable reduction of quality.

• If the model only has one texture set, duplicate the material,

• Create texture atlases out of multiple materials and merge the remove the transparency and assign the newly created material to • Consider completely removing textures based on their visual

meshes together to consolidate draw calls. all the opaque triangles of the mesh. impact, especially if you are targeting a lower end hardware

specification.
Content Creation Use 3D Viewer to compare stats and visualize optimization results.

Performance

Autodesk Maya Allegorithmic Substance Painter Autodesk Maya

Hierarchy Complexity Triangle Reduction Joint and Skin Count

• Grouping, parenting and large amounts of nodes such as nulls, • High triangle or vertex counts can hinder performance especially • Skeletal hierarchies with large amounts of joints skinned to vertices

locators, meshes and joints can contribute to poor runtime on devices without a discrete GPU. can be costly at runtime especially if there are multiple skin

performance. clusters.
• If the model usage is known ahead of time, use that to inform
• Simplify your hierarchy, remove unnecessary nodes and combine triangle reduction choices. Focus on less important areas with high • While it may increase the complexity of the skin weighting process,

meshes where possible. mesh density while being mindful of the silhouette impact. reducing skin clusters by combining meshes is one of the best

options for improving skin and skeletal performance.

• glTF will create a mesh per material, atlas materials together to • Fine geometric surface details can often be replaced by baking
reduce node count and draw calls. them into normal and occlusion maps for large triangle savings. • Remove joints that won’t be used in the required animations.

Consider reducing joint count in dense parts of the hierarchy, often

• For animated models consider how the model needs move and
a similar deformation can be achieved with skin weighting
consolidate the hierarchy into as few nodes as possible.
adjustments.
Visual Artifacts
Content Creation Use 3D Viewer to identify visual artifacts and test your revisions.

Common visual artifacts

Autodesk Maya

Coplanar Geometry Inverted Face Normals

• Flickering can occur when geometry faces are coplanar or nearly • Inverted face normals can cause the model to be shaded

coplanar. This is especially prevalent when the model is animating. incorrectly.

• Increasing the distance between geometry faces by a small amount • Flip the normals of the incorrectly shaded faces to resolve the

will resolve the flickering issues in most cases. rendering issues.

Content Creation Use 3D Viewer to identify visual artifacts and test your revisions.

Common visual artifacts

A single mesh with both opaque and

transparent faces that overlap can cause
sort order artifacts.

Tangent Basis Alpha Sorting

• A conflicting tangent basis can cause your normal maps to appear • A mesh with a single material for both opaque and transparent

inverted. faces can introduce sort order artifacts depending on the position

of the model.
• If you don’t export tangents with your model, glTF and the Office

renderer will assume right-handedness. • Texture sets should always be split into opaque and transparent

materials to improve render sorting.

• Export your model with tangents if you are baking tangent space

normal maps in a left-handed setup. Alternatively you could invert • If the model only has one texture set, duplicate the material,

the green channel (Y axis) of your normal map. remove the transparency and assign the newly created material to

all the opaque triangles of the mesh.

Additional Resources
Tools
Additional Resources

Preview tools

3D Viewer is a Microsoft Store application built on the

same 3D rendering engine used in Office 365. This is
the fastest way to preview how your assets will look in
the renderer.

Asset stats and the detailed visualizations found in

3D Viewer can help identify performance bottlenecks.

Import supported 3D file types and save them as .GLB.

3D Viewer can be found in the Windows 10 Start menu

3D files on your local hard drive can also be previewed in Windows

File Explorer by enabling the Preview pane under the View menu.
Additional Resources

Preview tools

Babylon.JS Sandbox is a drag and drop web tool built

on the fully glTF compliant Babylon.JS renderer.

Preview .glTF, .GLB, .OBJ and .Babylon files in your web

browser.

Files that are performant and render well in Babylon.JS Sandbox

will most likely render as expected in the Office renderer.
Additional Resources

Validation tool

The Khronos glTF Validator is a drag and drop web

tool that verifies the output from your glTF exporter or
converter against the glTF specification.

When loading a glTF file, the tool will generate a pass

or fail state as well as a detailed report that outlines
any errors that have been encountered.

The errors can be used by developers to determine if

there are any issues with the tools used to generate
the glTF file.

Your software vendor or developer may be able to use this data to

improve the compliance of their glTF tools.
Appendix
Additional Resources

Useful links
glTF Specification
The official glTF specification from Khronos Group

Babylon.JS
Open source 3D engine based on WebGL and JavaScript

Windows Mixed Reality

Development guidelines for Windows Mixed Reality headset experiences

HoloLens
Development guidelines and resources for HoloLens experiences

Allegorithmic PBR Guide Part 1

Excellent guide on the theory behind Physically Based Rendering

Allegorithmic PBR Guide Part 2

A guide to authoring PBR textures and materials focused on the Substance toolset