Importing Assets, Shapes, and Animations

Introduction

Once your project is initialized and you’ve added your first character Template, you can begin importing your assets, such as:

• 3D models (e.g., clothing, hair)
• textures and materials
• alternative character variants (Shapes)
• animations

Popul8 Express recognizes different asset types, but each asset must be manually assigned to its correct category (Template, Shape, Deformable, Animation) in order to function properly.

🎬 Check our Tutorial Video:

Supported File Formats

• 3D Models - .fbx
• Textures - .png, .jpg

Important: For Normal Maps and Mask Maps, make sure to set the color space to Linear (not sRGB).

Before You Start

To preview any object in Popul8 Express, simply drag it into the Outliner window.

This works for:

• Templates
• Shapes
• Deformables
• Animations (when assigned to a Template)

Note: It’s the fastest way to check how your assets look and behave in the scene.

1. Importing Folders

1. Right-click in the Project panel
2. Select:
   → Import → Folder – to import an entire folder (e.g., with textures)

3. Locate the folder containing your model (e.g., Male/Categories/Deformables/Legs/Sport_Shorts) and click Open

4. Wait for the Building Assets process to finish

4. The imported asset will appear under:
   Imported Assets → Male → Categories → Deformables → Legs → Sport_Shorts

Note: All imported elements will be listed under the Imported Assets section.

2. Importing Files (FBX or PNG)

1. Right-click in the Project panel

2. Select:
   → Import → File

3. 

   Locate the file you want to import (e.g., Male/Categories/Deformables/Torso/Sport_Shirt/Spott_Shirt_LOD1.fbx) and click Open

4. 

   Wait for the Building Assets process to complete

5. 

   The asset will appear in:
   eg., Imported Assets → Male → Categories → Deformables → Torso → Sport_Shirt → Sport_Shirt_LOD1.fbx

3. Converting Assets to the Correct Type

In order for Popul8 to use an asset correctly, you need to assign it to the correct type:

Right-click the selected asset

1. Select:
   → Convert To → [Type], where:
   1. Template – base character model
   2. Shape Of → [Template] – visual variant of a character
   3. Deformable Of → [Template] – wearable or accessory (e.g., clothing)
   4. Animation Of → [Template] – motion data

Note: Shape, Deformable, and Animation assets must be linked to an existing Template.

4. Converting an Asset into a Deformable

1. Navigate to the imported asset in:
   Imported Assets → Male → Categories → Deformables → Legs → Sport_Shorts

2. 

   Right-click the asset → Convert To → Deformable Of → [Template name]
   (eg., → Convert To → Deformable Of → Male)

3. 

   After a moment, a new Deformable object (e.g., Sport_Shorts_LOD1) will appear under the selected Template in the tree view.

5. Assigning Materials to a Deformable

Once the Deformable is imported, you can assign texture maps:

1. In the asset tree, go to:
   eg., Male → Sport_Shorts_LOD1 → Model and select ddmo_shorts_MAT

2. Drag and drop the following files into the Inputs section under the Outliner:

• Albedo
• Normal Map
• Mask Map

3. Click Apply Changes

Note: Previously imported texture files can be found in:
eg., Imported Asets → Male → Categories → Deformables → Legs → Sport_Shorts

6. Previewing Deformables on the Character

1. Drag both the Template and the Deformable into the Outliner

Popul8 Express Magic: Once assigned, a Deformable automatically works with all Shapes linked to that Template!

7. Adding Shapes (e.g., Tall Character)

1. Right-click in the Project panel
2. Select:
   → Import → Folder

2. Locate and select your alternate character model
   (e.g., Male/Categories/Shape/Height/Tall/avatar_model.fbx) and click Open

3. After import, go to:
   eg., Imported Assets → Male → Categories → Shape → Height → Tall

4. Right-click the asset → Convert To → Shape Of → [Template]
   (eg., → Convert To → Shape Of → Male)

5. Optionally rename the Shape to something recognizable (e.g., Tall)

6. Drag and Drop the Shape into the Outliner to preview the character, you can also drag in any Deformables assigned to the Template

Note: All Deformables previously assigned to the Template (e.g., clothing) will automatically apply to the new Shape!

8. Adding Animations

1. Right-click in the Project panel
2. Select:
   → Import → File

3. Locate and select your animation file
   (e.g., Male/Categories/Animation/Walk/template_male.fbx) and click Open

4. After import, go to:
   eg., Imported Assets → Male → Categories → Animation → Walk

5. Right-click the file → Convert To → Animation Of → [Template]
   (eg., → Convert To → Animation Of → Male)

6. Optionally rename the animation (e.g., Walk)

Note: The animation will automatically be linked to the Template and all its Shapes.

7. In the upper-left corner of the Template or Shape preview window, select the animation (e.g., None or Walk).