Loading models

You can find the model component in the toolbar under Gorilla3D > TGorillaModel

A TGorillaModel component automatically manages sub-meshes, materials and animations for you. So this is the best component for loading complex mesh data.

Every model contains a number of TGorillaMesh instances which holds the vertex data of a specific child mesh. At least one mesh will be available in a valid model.

When loading models from file / stream, all materials and animations, defined in the source file / stream, are loaded too. In case you are using explicit animation files (only for Collada DAE format), you need to load them afterwards by AddAnimationFromFile().

A TGorillaModel instance needs to be a child / sub-child of a TGorillaViewport instance, otherwise it will not be displayed.

Currently it is allowed to use the following file-formats: G3D, DAE, OBJ, STL, FBX, X3D, glTF (modified: 2020-05-01)

Creating a model instance at runtime is very easy and often very helpful for creating dynamically loaded scenes.

Form1.pas

uses
  Gorilla.DefTypes,
  Gorilla.G3D.Loader,
  Gorilla.DAE.Loader,
  Gorilla.OBJ.Loader,
  Gorilla.STL.Loader,
  Gorilla.FBX.Loader,
  Gorilla.GLTF.Loader,
  Gorilla.Model;
 
// in our form (TForm1) we added a field named "FModel"
procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
var LPath : String;
    LAssetPckg : TGorillaAssetPackage;
begin
  LPath := 'c:\my3dfile.dae';
  LAssetPckg := nil;
  FModel := TGorillaModel.LoadNewModelFromFile(FGorilla, LAssetPckg,
      OpenDialog1.FileName, GORILLA_ANIMATION_CACHING_DEFAULT);
  FModel.Parent := FGorilla;
end;

For the moment you can ignore the last parameter “GORILLA_ANIMATION_CACHING_DEFAULT” of the LoadNewModelFromFile() call. We will explain this in the Animations section.

You also can ignore the AssetPckg parameter currently. We will explain assets management in the AssetsManager section.

In case you've dragged a TGorillaModel component onto your viewport, you can load the model by the following method.

Form1.pas

uses
  Gorilla.G3D.Loader,
  Gorilla.DAE.Loader,
  Gorilla.OBJ.Loader,
  Gorilla.STL.Loader,
  Gorilla.FBX.Loader,
  Gorilla.GLTF.Loader,
  Gorilla.Model;
 
// in our form (TForm1) we added a field named "FModel"
procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
var LPath : String;
    LAssetPckg : TGorillaAssetPackage;
begin
  LPath := 'c:\my3dfile.dae';
  LAssetPckg := nil;
  GorillaModel1.LoadFromFile(LAssetPckg,
      OpenDialog1.FileName, GORILLA_ANIMATION_CACHING_DEFAULT);
end;

To load a specific file format you need to include the format unit:

• Gorilla.G3D.Loader
• Gorilla.DAE.Loader
• Gorilla.OBJ.Loader
• Gorilla.STL.Loader
• Gorilla.FBX.Loader
• Gorilla.GLTF.Loader
• Gorilla.X3D.Loader
• Gorilla.X3DZ.Loader
• Gorilla.X3DVZ.Loader

Only then the format loader is able to load the specific file.

We provide 2 export formats at the moment: G3D and STL, which are easy to use.

uses
  Gorilla.G3D.Exporter;
 
procedure TForm1.MenuItem1Click(Sender: TObject);
var LG3DExp : TGorillaG3DExporter;
    LToBinary : Boolean;
    LZipped : Boolean;
    LBeautified : Boolean;
begin
  LToBinary := true;
  LZipped := true;
  LBeautified := true;
 
  if Assigned(fModel) then
  begin
    if SaveDialog1.Execute() then
    begin
        LG3DExp := TGorillaG3DExporter.Create();
        try
          if LToBinary then
            LG3DExp.Format := TGorillaG3DFormat.BSONFormat
          else
            LG3DExp.Format := TGorillaG3DFormat.JSONFormat;
 
          LG3DExp.Zipped  := LZipped;
          LG3DExp.Beautified := LBeautified;
 
          LG3DExp.SaveToFile(fModel.Def as TModelDef, SaveDialog1.FileName);
        finally
          FreeAndNil(LG3DExp);
        end;
 
        ShowMessage('File successfully stored:'#13#10+
          SaveDialog1.FileName);
      end;
  end;
end;

<file pascal>
 
uses
  Gorilla.STL.Exporter;
 
procedure TForm1.MenuItem1Click(Sender: TObject);
var LSTLExp : TGorillaSTLExporter;
    LToBinary : Boolean;
    LAllowMultipleMeshes : Boolean;
    LUseMultipleFiles : Boolean;
begin
  // ascii and binary format supported
  LToBinary := true;  
 
  // because STL supports only single meshes per file (per default), 
  // we can split up a model with multiple meshes into multiple files
  LAllowMultipleMeshes := true;
  // but this exporter also allows to export multiple meshes to a single file
  // just set UseMultipleFiles to false
  LUseMultipleFiles := true;
 
  if Assigned(FModel) then
  begin
    if SaveDialog1.Execute() then
    begin
        LSTLExp := TGorillaSTLExporter.Create();
        try
          LSTLExp.Binary := LToBinary;
          LSTLExp.AllowMultipleMeshes := LAllowMultipleMeshes;
          LSTLExp.UseMultipleFiles := LUseMultipleFiles;
          LSTLExp.SaveToFile(FModel.Def as TModelDef, SaveDialog1.FileName);
        finally
          FreeAndNil(LSTLExp);
        end;
 
        ShowMessage('File successfully stored:'#13#10+
          SaveDialog1.FileName);
      end;
  end;
end;

Next step: Animations