3D content like 3D configurators has a new home on Facebook today.
Users can now publish a new type of content on facebook alongside text, photos and videos. 3D objects or scenes saved in industry-standard glTF 2.0 format can be dragged directly into a browser windows to add them to your facebook account. The company also added the feature to its platform tools, allowing users to develop ways to export creations from various applications to facebook.
This means you can already see 3D objects in your newsfeed today that you can interact with in a new way. In addition, facebook`s Strata Spaces VR social VR software allows visitors to bring these objects or scenes directly from the newsfeed into their virtual world.
Users should note that 3D content can be uploaded to facebook, but you cannot download it again to use it in an non-facebook application. This approach is very different from Google`s Poly-Service, for example, which also offeres the possibility to download the objects to use them in other software. As a reason, facebook representatives state that you want to ensure the full functionality of the feature before you also allow the download of 3D content. They added that you can customize the privacy of a 3D post just like any other posting. Depending on the settings you choose, the content can be visible only to the user, public to everyone or, for example, friends only. By way of comparison, Poly allows users to make objects read-only or set them so that they can be downloaded by anyone and used in other programs.
Neither of the two services offers commercial providers the opportunity to earn money with their uploads.
Facebook also recently launched animation tools for Quill software to bring scenes and objects to life. In the future, this type of content could also gain in importance in the newsfeed of the social media platform.
Giants like Facebook, Google and Microsoft as well as start-ups like Sketchfab are now facing strong competition to offer useful services that bring the web 3D to life. High-quality smartphone cameras and VR software such as Quill, Blocks and Tilt Brush make it possible to create 3D content faster and easier than ever before. This makes it increasingly possible for anyone to create 3D content that used to be reserved for experts in areas such as video games and movies.
Facebook is officialy commenting this:
“Users using 3D software can drag and drop their 3D files directly on facebook to create a 3D mail. People can easily share their memories that you have created in 3D and recorded with an Xperia XZ1 phone, for example, with Sony`s 3D Creator App.
On the web, you can share objects directly from the Oculus Medium web gallery and soon from Google`s Poly. In addition, the 3D modeling software Modo has added the ability to create facebook-enabled files, and support will soon be extended to other 3D programs.”
Facebook provided some examples of 3D posts prepared by partners to launch the feature. You can try them out here: Sony, Jurassic World or Wayfair.
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