Shockwave 3D Frequently Asked Questions
 | Is animation information exported? Yes, animation information is exported. 3D Canvas Pro has a much broader range of animation functions than Shockwave 3D supports. 3D Canvas supports operation animation, camera field of view animation, and light attribute animation which are not supported by Shockwave 3D. |
| Are skeletal shapes exported? Yes, skeletal shapes are exported. The Shockwave 3D export requires that the "skin" be located in the same group as the "root" bone. |
| Is there a discussion forum for the Shockwave 3D
export? Yes, discussion forums are available for all 3D Canvas Pro users. |
| What texture formats are supported? The only texture format currently supported is Targa (tga). Targa textures must be either 24 bit or 32 bit. When 3D Canvas exports to the Shockwave 3D format, the texture is embedded in the Shockwave 3D file so there is no need to distribute the texture with the model. Note that 3D Canvas always expects a translucency layer within Targa files. If it does not find one it creates one that is 50% translucent. |
| How do I animate a light/camera position? In order to animate a light/camera, Shockwave 3D requires that the light/camera be a child of an animated shape. Lights and Cameras cannot be animated on their own. You can however, create an animated "placeholder" shape, such as a cube, and make the light/camera a child of the "placeholder". Once you have animated the light/camera you can simply scale the shape so that it is so small that it will not be visible. |
| Does 3D Canvas support Shaders? No, 3D Canvas does not support Shaders. As a result, Shaders cannot be exported to the Shockwave 3D Format. |
| Can I apply multiple materials to a single shape? No, Shockwave 3D does not support this. You can however get the same effect by selecting a group of faces, cutting and pasting them back into the same position as a separate shape. These faces can then be set to a different material. |
| What units do Shockwave 3D files use? Shockwave 3D files use inches. 3D Canvas by default uses meters. The 3D Canvas unit can be changed by selecting Options from the tools menu. 3D Canvas automatically converts to inches on export. In general, smaller items should be built large and then scaled smaller once completed. For example, if you are creating a human you may want to create the model 18 meters tall (10x scale) and scale to 1.8 meters once completed. |
| Are there features of 3D Canvas that Shockwave 3D
does not support? Yes. Shockwave 3D does not support multiple materials on a single shape, operation animation, camera field of view animation, or light attribute animation. |
| Are there any features of Shockwave 3D that 3D
Canvas does not support? Yes. 3D Canvas does not support the use of Shaders, so no Shader information is exported. Also, there are other material attributes in Shockwave 3D that have no equivalent in 3D Canvas. |
| How did you validate your Shockwave 3D export? Our Shockwave 3D export was validated using the Shockwave 3D Viewer available at www.directordev.com. |