# What to ask a 3D artist to hand over when the work is done

> A 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.

Source: https://gluke.ru/knowledge/deliverables · Author: Alexander Glukhov · Updated: 2026-10-08

Six months from now you'll need the same product in a new color, one more angle or 3D on the website. If all you have is pictures, that's new work. If you have the model and the source, it's a short revision.

## What comes out of a project

> **Illustration:** A project folder and five kinds of files in it: renders, 3D model, textures, scene source, video — each with a note on what it contains.
>
> Five kinds of files handed over when the work is done.

1. **Renders**: at full size and in versions for the website and platforms.
2. **The 3D model**: in a universal format — GLB for the web, FBX for another 3D program. More in [3D file formats](https://gluke.ru/knowledge/3d-file-formats).
3. **[Textures](https://gluke.ru/knowledge/glossary#texture)**: material maps, if the model is handed over separately from the scene.
4. **The scene source**: the 3D program's working file, for example Blender, with lights, cameras and materials.
5. **Video**: if animation was made, the final clip and versions for the platforms.

## Source and export are not the same thing

> **Illustration:** Left: the scene source as a stack of layers — cameras, lights, materials, model. Right: the export as one finished object where everything is already combined.
>
> In the source each layer can be edited on its own. The export is a finished result.

An export — a GLB or an image — is a finished result: you can open it and show it, but you can't change the light or the angle. The source keeps everything in layers, and any of them can be edited on its own. If more work is planned — new items in the series, new colors — the source is worth more than anything else.

## What will be useful a year later

> **Illustration:** A 3D model in the middle with uses branching out: a new angle, a new color, AR, 3D on the website, video, print.
>
> One model, many uses. Without it, each of them starts from scratch.

With the model and the source you can make a new angle, another color, AR, 3D on the website, video and print materials. Without them, each item starts over.

## Agree at the start

- **Which files are handed over** when the work is done, and whether the scene source is part of the job — by default it isn't always.
- **How the images and model can be used**: on which platforms and in which materials. If in doubt, discuss it and write it down before the work starts.
- **How everything is delivered**: a cloud folder, an archive, how the files are named.

## How to store it

- One folder per project, organized by type inside: renders, model, textures, source, video.
- Clear names: SKU, color, angle — `ts-120_black_front.png`, not `final_final2.png`.
- A copy somewhere other than one computer.

## What it looks like in practice

- [Prime Box](https://gluke.ru/projects/prime-box): the Blender working files were handed over along with the renders.
- [Velesgard](https://gluke.ru/projects/velesgard): high-resolution renders and all of the project's source files.
- [WiederKraft](https://gluke.ru/projects/wiederkraft): the same model goes into the product listing, the catalog and large-format print without being modeled again.

## Common mistakes

- Getting only web JPEGs and finding out a year later there's no model.
- Not discussing the source upfront.
- Keeping everything in a messenger chat.
- Naming files "final" and "final_new".

## Checklist

1. Renders at full size and in versions for the platforms.
2. The 3D model as GLB or FBX.
3. Textures, if the model is handed over separately.
4. The scene source, if agreed.
5. Video, if it was made.
6. Where and how the materials can be used — agreed in advance.
7. A folder with a clear structure, plus a backup.