💾3D Files
Last updated
Last updated
The Knittables core concept was to make a nice 3D collection that people would be able to use as avatars down the line. By making the 3D files accessible, we want to give everyone a chance to manipulate, discover, experiment and experience what the future might be like. The real metaverse doesn’t exist just yet, but it is inevitable, and the Knittables are ready to embrace it. Handing out 3D files just for the sake of it is not really useful, we wanted something that could be used by the majority and wanted to break as many barriers as possible. When setting our goals, we used the post-mint months and discussions with partners to draw conclusions and therefore, we have decided to shift our main workflow. We changed everything, from working with a custom animation rig, to working with a more standard animation workflow. That allows the community, as well as projects willing to build with the Knittables, to have access to banks of animation data and easily bring the Knittables to life. Doing so, we want to show that NFTs hold tremendous power and that we are here to offer new possibilities! What would be 3D without the possibility to make it move? The Knittables are available as .fbx, .glb and .uassets.
There are no real standard file format when it comes to 3D data. The most common file format used is .fbx - it can hold different type of data like geometry, textures, animation, etc. GLTF (.glb) is a different kind of format that can hold different type of data and allow web interaction. It is not very common to use but has a great potential for future applications.
Uassets are the native Unreal Engine format. Every file added to an Unreal Engine project will be ingested and converted by the program for it to work with. These files can be transferred between projects.
As .fbx, the community has access to each single NFT as a combined version and its textures. The textures are in 1k resolution and are not embedded in the files. Why? Because it offers the highest flexibility in terms of use cases. Embedded textures usually don’t work with all software packages right off the bat and increase drastically the size of the FBX file. All 10,000 NFTs as 3D files + textures represent about 140gb of data that needs to be stored, accessed and moved. It is effortless to add the textures afterwards when working with the files or create a bit of scripting that automates that process. Not including the texture in the .fbx file offers therefore more flexibility and scalability.
You can use your .fbx file in Mixamo to get your Knittable to move !
The GLB files will be the web, as well as the more versatile version of the Knittables. They will contain embedded textures and offer more flexibility in terms of applications. These files will be used in projects like Portals, that are internet browser-based.
Use your .glb files as a web avatar in web applications like portal
For builders, there will be a Unreal Engine 5 assets library that will offer preset textures for each individual trait, each individual trait with bone weight/capture on a Mixamo skeletal mesh base that will allow anyone to use and build thanks to the Knittables assets. For game purposes, it is literally impossible to package 10,000 individual NFTs - the ideal workflow is based on creating a trait library and rebuilding the NFTs based on the JSON file thanks to scripting and automation tools.
Create your own game and include some Knittables in Unreal Engine ! This ensures that the total file size remains as low as possible and that redundancy is avoided. These files will be made public at first, until we are sure of what kind of data the community needs. We will then incorporate the access to the files into the metadata and only made available to holders. For now, we need to keep the process open and be ready to adapt to much-needed innovation in terms of 3D file standards and conventional workflows overall. The metaverse is coming, so are the Knittables.
