the way to create basic shape of model ,import to unity, create application based on unity

Hi all,
These days I'm surfing 3d solutions for the scenario as below:

• create power plant 3d model
• create application(stand alone or web application) based on the 3d model.
• link model with web service to identify asset detail and real-time data from third party system.

I have compared the 3d solutions below:

• sketchup: meet requirements for model creation, but no application available;
• blender: designed for game etc, can create good effect model. has blender4web application integration platform. the community is not very active.
• censium(3d large scale model application): application platform for large scale model display.
• unity3d: a popular 3d platform, designed for game etc, can create good effect model. has web application integration platform. the community is active.

According to the above comparison, my idea is to create basic model in sketch up(no texture, no camera etc).
In sketchup it has easy to create precise dimension model.
Then import it into unity and improve the effects(camera, texture etc) and then to create web application.

Is this way applicable? Thank you for your suggestion.

 

Unity really is not suitable for editing assets on a model. If you want to texture something Blender would probably be the best free solution (probably the best place to make your model as well).

After you have the model, you can certainly use Unity to create a "scene" based around it for the user to navigate. What specific capabilities you want the user to have is probably important here (are they going to be walking around it in first person? Using a zoomed-out cam to rotate around it and select different parts?).

I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say "link model with web service to identify asset detail and real-time data." Like, what real-time data?

 

Whatever applications you choose, you create your models and textures outside of Unity and import them. You arrange them in Unity and can apply camera effects, attach scripts, trigger animations, etc, but you don't actually create anything like textures in Unity generally. (Its not impossible to programically create a texture in Unity, but Unity doesn't really have the tools to make it easy and isn't designed with that use case in mind)

 

Hello EternalAmbiguity:
The functions I want is create one application for end user to zoom ,rotate, pan the 3d power plant model. Select some part to pop up the asset information. Asset data is stored in some database or interface provided by the third party application. There are one dashboard to display operation value in realtime mode. For example the past 24hours temperature curve of turbine steam, the flow curve of hot water etc.

 

I see. So you want to essentially build a 3d model of a real powerplant, and then use the real data from that power plant? I couldn't help you with that side of things, you'd have to ask someone else.

Creating a camera that rotates, pans, and zooms has been done before. I recommend you give it a try yourself, and if you can't figure it out take a look around to see if you can find an implementation online. Try it yourself first though, and if you don't know how to start trying then you should probably start learning from the basics (take a look at the "Learn" link at the top of the page).

From how you describe the 3d model interaction, what sounds most straightforward to me (in my limited understanding--someone else chime in if you think there's a better way) is to make a model in Blender that has multiple objects.

Let me explain. In Blender, you typically build models out of separate objects. If you keep those objects separate when you export the full model, in Unity they remain separate parts. Thus, you could incorporate some functionality for highlighting/clicking them or whatever.

 

I haven't read every post, but is OP interested in architectural visualization?

Because if that is the case, they ought to be looking at Autodesk software specially designed for that purpose.

 

Actually, it looks like they could do it all in sketchfab. Upload your model, insert annotations. That simple.

About building the model and running any scripts to output variable (if you want the numbers involved to be updating based on whatever parameters), you'll need a modeling program and something to run the numbers. Again, check out Autodesk engineering software for that.

If this is a more casual thing, you could probably run in fine in Unity, but then you are using multiple programs to achieve your goal.

 

Thank you so much for your responses. I will research into blender tools.