Unity and Autodesk: Powering immersive experiences with more efficient workflows

If you’re creating real-time 3D experiences with Unity and Autodesk products, here’s some great news for you. We’ve taken our collaboration with Autodesk to a new level with interoperability advances. All users of Unity and Autodesk’s Revit, VRED, Shotgun, 3ds Max, or Maya products should read on.

Whether you work in the gaming, film, automotive, or architecture, engineering, or construction (AEC) industries, we are working to enable direct tie-ins to many Autodesk formats. More than ever, designers, engineers, creative and construction professionals can easily import massive amounts of CAD or BIM data into Unity to visualize environments, build interactive and virtual experiences, and connect all departments in a simultaneous, collaborative work environment. Our goal is to eliminate design friction among all customers so that you can unlock cost savings, increase efficiencies and better collaborate.

When we announced our collaboration with Autodesk in October 2017, Unity was the first real-time 3D development platform with source code access to the Autodesk FBX SDK, creating a streamlined process for asset sharing and in-game iteration. This means that artists who work with Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max can get their content into Unity more quickly and iterate on it faster. Learn more about Unity + Autodesk DCC round tripping here.

By ensuring Revit and 3ds Max models can be effortlessly imported into Unity, Unity will deliver streamlined workflows and faster time-to-market for users as they publish their interactive and immersive 3D content across 25+ platforms, including VR, AR and mobile.

Previously, importing a Revit model and all its BIM data into Unity could be difficult and time-consuming. Often, customers would create a model in Revit then import it into Unity using multiple plug-ins. When imported, some of the Revit data (like BIM and materials) would be lost, creating additional work for them.

With Revit data flowing smoothly into Unity, this collaboration will make it much easier for AEC developers to quickly assemble VR visualization experiences such as interactive office walk-throughs and lifelike AR models of actual building sites – at any stage of the project.

Read more about how this collaboration benefits those who work in the AEC industry here.

With the improved workflows from this collaboration, automotive designers and engineers can easily import high-fidelity VRED data (including environments, lighting, materials, and animations) directly into Unity. This allows them to quickly develop interactive, real-time applications (such as car configurators and training applications) and run them on multiple platforms, including PC, VR, AR, and mobile.

In the past, converting VRED models for downstream use typically took hours for each version of a model. This new capability will result in major savings across the multiple design versions typical for every vehicle project.

Read more about how VRED and Unity work together here.

The tight integration of Shotgun, Maya, and 3ds Max with Unity will enable technical directors in animation and film to create seamless workflows with a unified UI. Artists will no longer have to worry about asset locations, naming conventions or managing files, but instead focus on their creative work. Animators and modelers will be able to work in the context of a sequence and get real-time feedback on changes in lighting, camera location or asset selection.

Tracking the resulting analytics will provide supervisors with more accurate evaluation of artist management – increasing productivity. Teams will be able to easily manage multiple asset types (Alembic, USD, FBX, etc.) in Unity with the familiarity of Shotgun, the leading asset-management tool in these industries.

Read more about how Shotgun and Unity work together here.

Both the Revit and VRED interoperability, as well as the Shotgun integration, will be coming by next fall.

Learn more about the Unity and Autodesk collaboration here.