Discover how to find, create and upload your own custom images onto 3D models in the Iventis Planner.
What are custom images on models?
A custom image on a model allows users to change portions of a model to any uploaded image. An example of this might be a bus model with advertisements on the side. The advertisement section of the model can support custom images and allow users to upload their own image onto the side of the bus.
Benefits of custom images on models
Uploading custom images to models allows event organisers and venues to showcase how advertisements and sponsorships might look inside their space. By uploading their own images, users can easily change sponsorship imagery to best showcase their space.
How can I upload a custom image onto a model?
To upload a custom image onto a model in Iventis, you need a model that supports custom images. Iventis provides some ready-to-use models, but you can also make and upload your own.
Selecting a model that supports custom images
Figure 1: Model in model picker that supports custom images
Create a new model layer or, if you already have one, find the ‘edit style properties’ window on the chosen model layer. Select the 3D model you want from the large repository of available models, including those you have uploaded as well as the models that come as standard in the Iventis Planer. Models with the 
icon support custom images. Select one of the models with this icon and click confirm.
Uploading a custom image
Figure 2: Custom Image Style Property
Once the model is selected, a new style property called ‘Customer image’ is shown inside the style properties. This allows you to upload any image to add to the model. Simply click ‘Choose file’ and upload your image file.
Doing this will set every object in that layer as your chosen model, which will feature your custom image in the place where the model had been configured to present the image file.
How can I make my model support custom images?
Prerequisites
- An understanding of 3D modelling software
- Understanding of material slots on 3D models
- Ability to adjust UVs of a 3D model
To support custom images on your model, you will have to change some of the model’s properties inside your choice of 3D modelling software. For the purposes of this guide, we will be using Blender; a free, open-source, 3D modelling tool. You can watch the video to see an in-depth tutorial by one of our developers, explaining how to support custom images on your model.
Creating a new material slot
Figure 3: Material window for our advertisement board model
In Blender, create a new material slot by selecting the model’s mesh and finding the materials tab on the right-hand side.
Here you can see all the material slots for this model. In this case, there is just one material slot called “BoardBase”. Create another material slot by clicking the ‘+’ icon to the right of the material slot list.
Create your material in that new slot by clicking the “new” button below the material slot list. A text field will replace the button, where you can name your material. You must name the material iventis_custom_image so that Iventis can recognise the command.
(Optional) Create new faces for custom images
Figure 4: Blender Modes drop-down
If you want to support transparent sections in your custom image, you’ll need to create new faces for the model. This is useful, for example, if you want to put a logo onto a model.
To create new faces, go into Edit Mode in Blender with your mesh selected by pressing ‘Tab’ or by clicking the drop-down in the top left corner.
Edit Mode shows all the faces that make up your mesh. While in Edit Mode, you want to switch to the face selection tool to make selecting faces easier. You can find this option next to the blender mode drop-down.
Select the faces that you want to display your custom image and press Shift+D to duplicate the faces. Right click to keep the new faces in their original position.
Figure 5: Transform Orientation dropdown
Figure 6: Transform Pivot Points drop-down
Next, move the duplicated faces slightly in front of the existing faces to prevent an issue known as z-fighting. In the top center of the viewport, change the transform orientation mode to normal and set the pivot point to individual origins; see Figures 5 and 6 for details.
Enter translation mode by pressing ‘G’ on your keyboard. Then, lock the translation along the Z axis by pressing ‘Z’ on your keyboard. This will move the faces in their normal direction. You can then use your mouse to move the faces and left click to confirm their new position. You'll only need to move the faces a very small amount, so it might be best to use your keyboard to move them. In Blender, you can also enter a value to move the faces, even as small as 0.001, which will be sufficient to prevent the z-fighting issue.
Assigning faces to the new material slot
If you followed the previous step, you'll already have your faces selected. If not, make sure you have the correct faces elected by entering Edit Mode, choosing Face Selection mode and selecting the faces you need.
Assign the material to these faces by choosing the materials tab on the right-hand side (the same place where you created the material). Select the material in the material slot list and click the ‘Assign’ button below its name.
Adjusting UVs to scale custom images appropriately
Figure 7: UV Wrapping context menu
UVs are coordinates that align pixels on an image to a point on the model. For custom images to look correct, you need to adjust the UVs of the mesh to tell the model how the image should be displayed.
With your faces selected in blender, press ‘U’ on your keyboard. This will open the UV mapping context menu (Figure 5). Here, select ‘Smart UV Project’ or press ‘S’ on your keyboard. This will provide a popup with some settings; the defaults should be fine, so click ‘OK’.
Switch to the UV Editing tab in Blender to see the UVs of your selected faces. The UV editing tab splits the viewport into two sections; the UV editor on the left, and the model viewport on the right.
Inside the UV editor, upload an image to test by clicking ‘Open’ at the top of the pane. Select an image of the same aspect ratio that you plan to use as a custom image to prevent stretching. Next, enter Face select mode at the top left of the UV editor viewport. You can also do this by pressing ‘3’ on your keyboard.
Select the faces in the UV editor and move them (‘G’ on your keyboard), rotate them (‘R’ on your keyboard) and scale them (‘S’ on your keyboard) to make the image fit correctly on your faces.
Top Tip: To preview how the image looks on your model, go into your iventis_custom_image material. Select the yellow option next to ‘Base Color’ on your material and select ‘Image Texture’. This provides an option to open a new image, or you can click the drop-down on the image icon to select an image you have opened previously. Go into material preview in the 3D viewport by selecting ‘material preview’ in the top left, or by holding ‘Z’ on your keyboard and clicking ‘material preview’, to see the image on your model.
Uploading to Iventis
Figure 8: Upload a 3D model
Now that you have your custom image supported 3D model, it’s time to upload it to Iventis. To upload a new 3D model:
- Open an existing model layer, or create a new one
- Inside the style properties of the layer, select to change the model
- Click the ‘+’ icon to add a new model to the model repositories
While in the ‘Upload a 3D model’ tab, there is a new option to ‘Allow custom image’. Upload your model as usual, give it a name and a thumbnail image and then tick the ‘Allow custom image’ option. This will then validate your model to ensure that it supports a custom image. Click confirm and select your model to use.