Importing your product

Before you can begin setting up the configurator, you must import your product (as an Asset) into Unity.

Supported formats

Unity Forma lets you import Assets from these formats:

  • Unity Prefab
  • FBX
  • VRED (through Pixyz)
  • Any other Pixyz-supported format

When you import your product into Unity, the system can use any industry-standard data, structure, or Assets associated with your product to automatically create and organize Variants for your configurator.

Because each supported format includes different data about your Asset, the steps you follow to successfully import your product to Unity can differ.

Preparing your data

The format, quality, and structure of your product data before you import it determine how much time you must spend on tasks like deleting redundant parts, flipping assemblies, separating overlapping geometries, and organizing different parts of your data in Unity. It is very difficult to fix problems with your model once it is in Unity. Do everything you can to make sure your product is complete and verified before importing it.

Orientation and axes

Different authoring products use different coordinate systems. For example, one tool may label the vertical axis z while another labels the same axis y. The way axes are labeled in your authoring tool may not match the way Unity labels axes when you import your product. To make sure your product is positioned correctly in the scene and that any rotating parts turn around the correct axes, you must account for differences in coordinate systems.

Scale

Verify that the scale setting in your product are the same as the scale settings you will use in the Unity. For example, if your product was authored in a tool where the scale was set to 1 inch and Unity uses a scale of 1 meter, you must account for the difference.

UV data and lightmaps

If you want to use Lightmaps for your material in Unity, make sure that your product includes the correct UV data before you import it.

Use a Unity Prefab to set up your configurator

  1. In the Configurator window, select the Product Setup tab.

    Add Product

  2. Select Add Product, and then select Add from Project.

  3. Select and open the Asset you want to import.

Use an FBX file to set up your configurator

Tip For information about preparing an FBX file that you can import to Unity, see Using FBX files in other applications

  1. In the Configurator window, select Product Setup tab.

    Add Product

  2. Select Add Product and then select Add from File.

  3. Select and open the FBX file you want to import.

Use a Pixyz-supported file to set up your configurator: VRED example

Before you can import a Pixyz-supported file, such as a VRED model, you must install the Pixyz Plugin for Unity and import the VRED model to Pixyz Studio.

For information about installing and using the plugin, see: https://www.pixyz-software.com/plugin/.

To import a Pixyz-supported file into Unity and convert it to a product that you can use for your configurator, you must be in the Unity Editor interface.

Converting a Pixyz model into a product that you can use in your configurator involves these activities:

A. Using a Pixyz-specific menu to import the Pixyz model to the Unity Editor.

B. Coverting the imported file to a Prefab Asset that you can use in Forma.

C. Importing data from the Prefab Asset to Forma to set up your configurator.

A. Import the Pixyz model to Unity

  1. To switch to the Unity Editor interface, in the upper left, select Forma and then select Toggle Mode.
  2. In the Unity Editor interface, use the Pixyz menu options to import your VRED model (see Pixyz documentation here: [https://www.pixyz-software.com/documentations/html/2019.2/plugin4unity/ImportingintotheUnityEditor.html]). The system converts the Pixyz VRED model into an Asset that you can convert to a Product Prefab in Forma.

B. Convert the imported file to a Unity Prefab Asset

  1. Switch back to the Forma interface (select Forma > Toggle Mode).
  2. Select Forma > Import > Pixyz VRED Product.
    Import project menu
  3. Complete the Pixyz VRED Prefab field with your Pixyz VRED Asset.
  4. Select Import.

C. Import data from the Prefab Asset to Forma

  1. In the Configurator window, select the Product Setup tab.
    Select parts
  2. Select Import Data > Import from Project.
  3. Select and open the Prefab.

After you import your product

After the system imports your files, your product appears in the Scene tab. You can see how the system structured your product in the Product Outline tab.

In the Configurator window, the Product Setup tab appears empty until you set up Variants.