Step 2. Import the Monarch 3D model

Time: 5 minutes.

Find the model on disk

The Monarch model ships with the Designer's examples folder at:

examples/butterfly/_3ds/butterfly.3ds

The file is small (about 15 KB) because it carries geometry only. The original Monarch albedo texture is alongside it at examples/butterfly/_3ds/texture.bmp; we will replace that texture in chapters 5 and 6.

Run the import

From the menu bar choose File > Import > 3D Model. The file picker opens. Navigate to examples/butterfly/_3ds/butterfly.3ds and click Open.

The Designer parses the .3ds file, registers it in the mesh library under the name butterfly, and creates a Mesh3D placement at the center of the canvas. The Project Explorer's Objects tab gains a row called butterfly with a tiny mesh thumbnail.

Frame the model

The default placement may put the butterfly off-center or at an inconvenient zoom. Press A (Frame All) or choose View > Frame All to fit the entire scene to the viewport. You should see the Monarch silhouette filling most of the canvas, oriented with the body pointing up and the wings spread.

If the model loaded sideways, your .3ds import inherited the file's native coordinate system. Press E to switch to the Rotate tool and use the on-canvas gizmo to rotate the model 90 degrees around the X axis. The Designer's importer normally handles the Y-up to Z-up flip automatically; if it didn't, file an issue, but proceed with the manual fix for now.

Switch to Textured shading

By default the Designer renders meshes in Smooth Shaded mode (no textures, just lighting). To see the original Monarch albedo, choose View > Textured from the menu bar, or press 6 on your keyboard. The butterfly now shows its bundled Monarch wing pattern.

You can also try View > Textured + Lit (or press 7) to add PBR lighting on top of the texture. For this tutorial we will stay in Textured mode (key 6) until the final render in chapter 7.

Look at the Channel Box

With the butterfly placement still selected (it should have a thin accent-color outline), look at the Channel Box in the right column. You will see numeric fields for x, y, w, h plus a mesh_kind showing butterfly and a texture_path pointing at texture.bmp. The Channel Box is where Maya users will feel at home: it surfaces every keyable attribute on the selection.

Verify in the Assets tab

Click the Assets tab in the Project Explorer (next to Objects). You should see one entry under the 3D Models group:

3D Models
  _3ds/butterfly.3ds   ↗ external

The ↗ external tag means the file lives outside your project's .esk folder. That is fine for the source .3ds; we will export finished bakes into the .esk later.

Checkpoint

You should see:

• The Monarch model centered and framed in the viewport.
• View mode set to Textured (key 6).
• A butterfly row in the Objects tab.
• A _3ds/butterfly.3ds ↗ external entry in the Assets tab.

If the model is sideways or off-screen, hit A to reframe or use the Rotate tool to correct orientation before continuing.

Continue to chapter 3 >>