KNOWLEDGE BASE
What helps when working with a 3D artist
Practical answers to the questions that come up when you order 3D models, renders and interactive graphics: what to prepare, how to brief the work, which files to ask for. Written from our own practice, with examples from our case studies.
Preparing source materials
What to send a 3D artist so the model comes out accurate.
- What materials a 3D artist needs — drawings, CAD, photos or a sampleTwo kinds of information are needed: shape and size (a CAD model, dimensioned drawings or a physical sample) and appearance (photos, color codes, material samples). The most accurate start is a CAD model plus photos of the finished product; without drawings, the model is built from a sample or from detailed photos with a tape measure in the frame. And always say where the result will be used: that decides how detailed the model has to be.Read
- How to photograph a product for 3D modelingShoot the product straight from the front, back, left and right, then from the four corners at three-quarter angles, and from above and below if there are details there. Place a tape measure right against the product, step back a couple of meters and zoom in to avoid distortion. Use soft light without flash, and take separate close-ups of fasteners, joints, markings and texture. Send the original files, not copies compressed by a messenger.Read
- How to specify color and material so the render matches the productColor is set with a code — RAL, Pantone or NCS — or better, a physical sample of the finish: photos are unreliable for color because the camera and the light shift the shade. Also state the gloss level — matte, satin or gloss — and send close-ups of the texture shot with side light. For fabric and veneer, a sample in hand works best. The final render is checked against the sample in daylight, not from memory.Read
Brief and approvals
How to set the task and sign off the work stage by stage.
- How to brief a 3D artist so nothing needs redoingA good brief answers six questions: where the result will be shown, which items and variants are needed, from which angles, on what background, at what size and format, and what to follow for style. For a product series, angles and lighting are set once for the whole series. The earlier this is said, the fewer redos: changing an angle before rendering is easy, after it means a new render.Read
- Stages of 3D visualization — what to approve and whenA visualization is built in layers: shape first, then materials, then light and angle, and the final render last. Each layer sits on the one before, so approvals go in order: shape on a gray clay render, color and texture on the materials, mood on the lighting. A shape change at the first stage touches only the shape; at the last stage it touches all four layers.Read
- How to give feedback on 3D so it's understood the first timeGood feedback is tied to a place and describes the result: a number on a screenshot of the render and a line in a list — "darker knob, like the sample". Edits are collected into one list per round from one person, so contradictions are settled before they reach the artist. Errors — differences from the product or the brief — are kept apart from wishes, and instead of "make it pop" you give a reference.Read
Formats and deliverables
Which files to ask for and where to use them.
- 3D file formats — GLB, FBX, OBJ, USDZ, STEP — which one for whatFor a website and AR on Android, GLB; for AR on iPhone, USDZ; for handing over to another 3D program and for animation, FBX; for plain geometry, OBJ; for manufacturing and CAD, STEP. GLB and USDZ keep the model together with materials and textures in one file, OBJ keeps geometry with basic materials, STEP keeps exact surfaces without materials. Going from CAD to polygons turns the exact shape into a mesh of triangles, and materials often have to be set up again when moving between programs.Read
- Images for the web, marketplaces and print — size, format, resolutionOn screen only pixels matter: an image for a website is made about twice as wide as the space it takes on the page, so it stays sharp on phones and laptops. As of October 2026, WB and Ozon expect a vertical 3:4 frame; 900×1200 passes on both, but more headroom is better, for example 1500×2000. For print, work from the sheet size: 300 DPI at the final size, lossless TIFF. A transparent background means PNG — JPEG can't store transparency.Read
- What to ask a 3D artist to hand over when the work is doneA project produces five kinds of files: renders, the 3D model in a universal format (GLB or FBX), textures, the scene source with lights and cameras, and video if it was made. Renders are needed now; the model and the source let you make a new angle, color or AR a year later without starting from scratch. Agree at the start on what gets handed over: the scene source isn't always part of the job.Read
Where 3D pays off
Renders, exploded views, animation and marketplace content.
- 3D renders instead of a photo shoot — when it pays off and when it doesn't3D wins when the product doesn't exist yet and there are only drawings, when it comes in many colors and configurations, when a series has to look consistent and when you need to show what's inside. Photos are better where people, emotion and a live setting matter, and when you need one shot with the sample at hand. The main work in 3D is the model: after that, each new color or angle is a relatively small revision, not a new shoot.Read
- Exploded view — when it helps sell and what it takesAn exploded view shows the product taken apart along one axis: you see what it's made of and how the parts connect. It helps products whose key value is hidden inside or in the box: electronics, housings, mechanisms, kits. It takes the product's composition — a CAD model, an assembly drawing or a disassembled sample — and a decision on which assemblies to show: on a marketplace, four large assemblies beat forty screws. If you need to show how things sit inside, you need a cutaway, not an explosion.Read
- 3D content for Wildberries and Ozon — what one model can give youOne 3D model gives you almost the whole listing: the cover, angles, close-ups, an exploded view, a dimensions slide, the product in a room, color variants, a short video and, on platforms with augmented-reality viewing, a model for AR. All frames are vertical 3:4 with size headroom. Listings are viewed on phones, so the product is large, text is minimal, and nothing important goes into the zones covered by platform badges.Read
- Product animation — which videos work and what to prepare for the scriptA product animation answers one of three questions: how it's built, how it works or how to assemble it. A video starts with a script and a storyboard, then an animatic — these three stages are where approvals happen, because after rendering any change to the motion means redoing it. For the script you need: the main thing to show, where the video will run (format and length), whether you need music, voice-over and subtitles, and references.Read
3D on the web, in AR and in games
Interactive models: formats, file size and speed on phones.
- An interactive 3D model on a website — how it works and what the model needsA model on a website is a GLB file that the browser downloads and the device's GPU draws, which is why you can rotate it with a mouse or a finger. Speed depends on the file size and how much memory the model takes on a phone, so for the web the model is made lighter: simpler geometry, compressed textures. While it loads, a poster image shows in its place. The model is embedded with a ready-made viewer, such as Google's open-source model-viewer, or a custom one built on three.js.Read
- Why a 3D model lags on a phone and how to fix itA model lags when it's too heavy for the phone on at least one of three counts: file size (slow to load), GPU memory (textures and geometry don't fit) and the number of draw calls (too many separate parts and materials). The fix is lighter geometry, smaller and compressed textures — KTX2 stays compressed even in GPU memory — geometry compression with Meshopt or Draco, and merged materials.Read
- A product or a house in augmented reality — how AR on a website worksAR on a website is a button next to the 3D model: the phone opens the camera and places the model on the floor, a table or a plot at full size, without a separate app. iPhone and iPad need the model as USDZ, Android as GLB; ready-made viewers such as model-viewer show the button and pick the file on their own. The model must be at real-world scale and light: the phone keeps it in memory alongside the camera and spatial tracking.Read
- LOD — what levels of detail are and when you need themLOD means several versions of one model with different detail: the full one for close-ups, a simplified one for mid-range and almost a silhouette for far away. The engine switches between them by distance to the camera, so a scene with hundreds of objects stays fast. LOD is needed in games and large interactive scenes; for a single product in a website viewer, one well-optimized model is usually enough.Read