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Step 3. Import the Blue Morpho reference image

Time: 4 minutes.

Find the image

The reference photo of an iridescent-winged Blue Morpho ships with the Designer's examples folder at:

examples/butterfly/iridescentwinged_butterfly.png

The file is about 2.5 MB at 1536 by 1024 pixels. The photo is taken straight on so the wings sit flat in the frame, which is exactly what the texture transfer pipelines want.

Run the import

From the menu bar choose File > Import > Image. Navigate to examples/butterfly/iridescentwinged_butterfly.png and click Open.

The Designer creates an Image placement and drops it at the center of the canvas, on top of the Monarch model. The Project Explorer's Objects tab gains a row called BlueMorphoSrc (the Designer names it from the filename and a hint from the importer).

Move the reference next to the model

The two placements are now stacked. With the new Image placement selected, press W to switch to the Move tool, then drag the photo to the left of the model so you can see both at once. A small gap of about 40 pixels between the two looks tidy.

Alternatively, use the Arrange menu: Arrange > Align Left will snap the selected placements to their leftmost edge, useful for getting a clean side-by-side composition.

If the photo is much larger or smaller than the model, the Designer also offers a helper to equalize them. Choose Mesh > Inspect > Match Reference Image Size to Selected Mesh and the Designer scales the photo to match the model's bounding box. This keeps the landmark pairs in chapter 4 within the same approximate scale.

Lock the reference for landmarks

We want the photo to act as the source of truth for the texture transfer; we do not want to accidentally nudge it once landmarks are placed. With the BlueMorphoSrc placement selected, expand the Properties pane at the bottom of the right column and find the Locked checkbox. Tick it. The placement is now read-only until you unlock it.

Verify in the Assets tab

Click the Assets tab in the Project Explorer. You now see two entries plus the Reveal in Finder row at the top:

butterfly.esk  · Reveal in Finder
+ Import Asset...
Textures · 1
  ../butterfly/iridescentwinged_butterfly.png   ↗ external
3D Models · 1
  _3ds/butterfly.3ds   ↗ external

Both source assets are external (they live outside the .esk folder). That is the right setup for this tutorial; the bake we run in chapter 5 will land inside the .esk folder.

Checkpoint

You should see:

  • The Monarch model on the right of the canvas.
  • The Blue Morpho photo on the left, locked.
  • Both visible at roughly the same height.
  • Two entries in the Assets tab (one Texture, one 3D Model), both flagged external.

If the photo is hiding the model, click the photo and choose Arrange > Send Backward to drop it behind the model, then move it left. If you accidentally locked the wrong placement, expand BlueMorphoSrc in the Properties pane and untick Locked.

Continue to chapter 4 >>