Introduction

In this arti­cle we are going to see how to export 3D mod­els, with mate­ri­als, UV maps and ani­ma­tions, from Blender to the Uni­ty engine, in which for­mat and a some use­ful tips to pre­pare mod­els before exporting.

How to export a 3D model?

The process is sim­ple, being in object mode, we select the 3D mod­el or mod­els that we want to export. Then click on File > Export and choose the for­mat to which you want to export it.

In my case I always check the "Select­ed Only" box to export only the select­ed 3D mod­els to Unity.

Format to use

The for­mat I use is .fbx (Film­box), which has not giv­en me any incon­ve­nience and allows me to export the mate­ri­als con­tained in the 3D mod­el, the ani­ma­tion skele­tons, the actions defined with the Action Edi­tor and the Shape Keys. 

Things I take into account before exporting

Before export­ing from Blender to Uni­ty I try to improve cer­tain aspects of the 3D mod­el in order to have every­thing as orga­nized and sim­ple as possible.

About the names of the 3D models

In Blender's Out­lin­er we can mod­i­fy the names of objects and since those names are going to be export­ed direct­ly from Blender to Uni­ty, I like them to be as descrip­tive as possible.

In the long run, when we have many 3D mod­els in our project, orga­ni­za­tion is fundamental.

About the origins of 3D models

The ori­gin of an object is the point in the space that rep­re­sents it. The trans­for­ma­tions of trans­la­tion, rota­tion and scale of the object will be applied with respect to that point. So, in gen­er­al, we are inter­est­ed in its being in a coher­ent place in the 3D model.

The Blender 3D Cur­sor is used to change the posi­tion of the origin. 

We enter the geom­e­try edit­ing mode and select a ver­tex, edge or face where we want to place the ori­gin. Then press "CTRL + SHIFT + S" and choose the option "Cur­sor to Select­ed", to move the 3D cur­sor to the select­ed element.

Go back to Object mode, right click on the 3D mod­el, go to the "Set Ori­gin" option and choose "Ori­gin to 3D Cur­sor". This will place the coor­di­nate ori­gin of the 3D mod­el in the posi­tion where the cur­sor is.